Hlokomela

       I think that one of the very best things about travel is the totally unexpected, unplanned-for thing that turns up by the merest of chance.  Hlokomela was one of those things.
       While we had been driving around, Mona told me about her work.  Mona is a 22-year-German woman who has not quite decided what she wants to do with her life.  She has no children, no boyfriend, but a big sense of adventure and of social commitment.  She decided to work as a volunteer for Hlokomela near Hoedspruit.  She was offered housing at Otters Den, a walking distance away, for the duration of her one-year commitment (which she hopes to extend), and that's how I was lucky enough to meet her.
       I find it difficult to describe precisely what Hlokomela is, so I have resorted to the Box of Truth (the internet) for a description.  Here is what I find:  "Hlokomela is an award winning HIV and AIDS educational and treatment programme targeting workers and communities in the Kruger to Canyons Area, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces.  The programme aims to reduce the HIV vulnerability through peer education, awareness raising, prevention and treatment.  The project has been runing successfully for the past 6 years and is currently rolled out on 70 sub project site.  An estimated 12,000 people are reached through the activities of the programme."  http://www.givengain.com/cause/2936/
       One of the activities Hlokomela conducts to raise funds is an herb farm, and that is principally where Mona works.  The herb farms grows and sells beautiful fresh herbs and flowers to local restaurants and markets and uses the proceeds to help support the services.

 

Here are the extraordinarily well-tended gardens--all under protective netting to provide shelter from the blistering African sun, cut down on evaporation, and provide protection from bugs.  The gardens are tended to by the people requiring the services, and the care is meticulous.  Check out these gorgeous lettuce beds!     Not a weed or even so much as a yellowed leaf in sight!

And here is the building where they dry herbs and make items for sale, such as lavender pillows,

potpourri, dried flower arrangements, food items, and the like.  Like the gardens, it was completely well-tended and neat as a pin.

                                                                                                                                  

      By the way, you can just see how blistering the sun is, can't you?  My poor little iPad could hardly stand up to the glare!

      And here are my heroes, Mona and Angie (one of the main directors of the program) and her husband (who are English).  They are standing on the porch of their extremely modest little home overlooking the Blyde River and the Drakenburg mountains.  It was as pretty a location as I've ever seen, and these people were doing work as good as any I've ever seen.

                                                                     

                                                                            

  Hippos hang out in the river in front of their home.  I could have sat and watched them for hours.  But, I couldn't.  It was my departure date, and Mona still had more to show me before I left.  I did make a modest donation to Hlokomela.  If you feel moved to make a donation too, I see there is a place on their website where you can.  I doubt whether you'll ever make a more appreciated charitable contribution.http://htt.org.za/

 

Kruger National Park

       It turned out that the road Mona and I had taken from Hoedspruit to Hazyview ran parallel to the west boundary of Kruger National Park, so we decided that on the way back, we would drive into the park and see what we could see.  The photos that I got there are much more indistinct than the photos I got at Moholoholo and Hazyview because the animals we saw were truly (or maybe, MOSTLY truly) wild animals and definitely not approachable.  I have no fancy zoom lens; the only camera I used the whole trip was my iPad mini. 
       One is not permitted to even get out of one's car in all of Kruger National Park except in extremely specified (and fenced-in) areas.  The areas of the Park we saw were NOT spectacularly beautiful, though some areas were quite pretty.  One thing one can't help noticing from the get-go is that LOTS of elephants live there--in fact, way too many!  [I never thought I'd ever think there were too many elephants ANYWHERE!]
       The land reminds me of an area where there was a tornado last year.  The trees and bushes are smashed down and torn up--this is the result of over-grazing by elephants.  And the roads are amazingly strewn with elephant turds!  I can't for the life of me imagine why the resident elephants like to walk on the road so much, much less use the roads as a pooping grounds!
       Anyway, here is a blurry--sorry--photo of a small herd of elephants in Kruger.  It was thrilling to see some actual "wild" elephants.

This guy did not seem to be happy about having to yield the road to motorists.  We waited about 10 minutes for him to complete his business and saunter off.  If you google Kruger National Park, you will see many reports of elephants charging cars.  Oh, and by the way, it seems that virtually all cars in South Africa are white, for obvious climate-related reasons.

Here's a pretty big crocodile sunning himself on the mud flats.  Thankfully, the only crocodiles I saw in Africa were this one and a couple of others a safe distance off in Kruger National Park.  I am truly afraid of crocodiles!







 





And here is a contemplative water buffalo enjoying a drink
in one of Kruger's many rivers.                        









We saw many many elephants, zebras, giraffes, baboons, impalas, kudus, and lots of other wildlife, but none of my photos of them are very good.  But this one photo is the Kruger National Park photo
I like best of all--unexpectedly, not of an animal at all, but rather of a BAOBAB tree.  What a wonder!

 

Well, after all this excitement, two weary, dusty, but very happy travellers found their way back to Otters Den, had an OSTRICH supper, and I settled in for my last night in Africa.