July 19 – 1:22pm
We’re off to Namibia again!
But I’ll go back first to where I left off a few days ago…
The people who stayed in tents at the Fawlty Towers Lodge had quite a cold night.... we luckily got good news in the morning though. All of us were moved into the rooms for the next night!
In the morning we went on a cruise on the Zambezi river. It was awesome! It was such a huge river (maybe about twice as wide as the North Saskatchewan River) We saw a whole bunch of hippos in and out of the water. I love watching their ears! So cute! They make some pretty funny noises. We only saw one crocodile but that was pretty neat anyways! ….this was actually the first place that we saw monkeys chilling in the trees too!!
After spending just over an hour on the boat we came back and heading to Victoria Falls. There was some discussion going on to whether or not these are one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
After seeing them – I would say yes!! They were INCREDIBLE! It was way different than seeing Niagara Falls. (way taller and way wider!) They had a pathway that went sort of directly in front of the falls. It was gorgeous… it felt like we were in a rain forest. Everyone who went that way got pretty much completely soaked! It was neat because just as we arrived the President of Djibouti was just leaving. He had a huge convoy with tons of security.
After we did the falls there was a little wood market area where some of us bought some goodies! I must say I’m getting way better at bartering! I got a hippo and a rhino made out of mahogany wood. He originally wanted like 400 Rand for one but I was able to get him done to 100 Rant (about $18 Cnd) for both plus two presents! (a bracelet and a giraffe)
I also picked up a neat painting of three musicians!
After the falls we heading back to our lodge where we had the choice of chilling out there or going on helicopter trips/bungee jumping/gorge swing. I decided to just relax since I didn’t get too much sleep in that tent the night before. We just relaxed around the pool which was really nice! The gorge swing sounded like tons of fun though…quite a few people did that! (Basically just fall of a cliff and swing back and forth over the water from Victoria Falls!)
The night we had probably one of the weirdest concerts we had since we’ve arrived! It was at a shooting range and was a beautiful building with amazing scenery. We sang outside on the steps up to the main building. The concert didn’t start until sunset and there was two other groups before us. (so it was pretty much completely dark by the time we were to perform!)
The first people performing were just two guys from Cape Town. They were called the Drum Company and had a REALLY cool instrument called a “hung”. They said they got it in Sweden. (check it out… www.hung.sh)
The next group to perform was the Brethren Church Choir. They were really groovy and fun to watch. They had some great drummers with them as well (almost more ike west African drummer…it was really complex!)
Then we performed...it was the first formal concert we’ve done since we left Swakopmund! It was a little weird cuz I think there where almost more people in the choir than there were in the audience! Lots of people just brought their own lawn chairs along and sat in those instead of the seating they had set up. And there was a BBQ so people kept getting up to get burgers/chicken/steak and drinks. It was a little weird but still a really nice place to perform!
The next day we got up super early to start heading for Botswana. It was a SUPER long drive (about 13 hours or so by the time we got to our hotels)
It was pretty uneventful aside from when we had to make random stops along the way to wash our shoes. They are very aware of bringing foot-mouth disease into that country so they have stops along the way where you have to step on the mat thing with chemicals. The bus had to drive through a big puddle of it too. Really bizarre.
Oh…and the “ferry” ride from Zambia to Botswana was pretty scary too…One of our bus drivers had to bribe them to let us on in front of the line (with a whole $10 US dollars!)
But once we got on the ferry we noticed the wood floor had tons of whole in it…You could see rocks under some of the planks of wood to keep them from falling and they basically just laid metal sheets over most of the whole. A little sketchy but we made it anyways.
We spent the night in Botswana split up between 5 different hotels. Everyone was pretty tired and just hit the pillow as soon as they could. We are currently on the road again now…on our way back to Namibia! YAY!
I wish we could have spent a little more time in Botswana because it seemed like a really nice place. But I wasn’t too sad about leaving Zambia…That was about the only place so far that I felt a little scared. The people there are definitely more forward in trying to sell you stuff/pickpocket you. The hotel even had hired a guard to watch our buses over night so they wouldn’t get broken into!
We spend tonight in Windhoek and then head to the airport bright and early to catch our flight to Cape Town! I’m so excited to get to South Africa!
July 19 – 6:33pm
So…we’re still on the bus but we’ve been having a great time on the last leg of our super long bus rides! It all started at the border from Botswana to Namibia when we all decided we were going to make a run for the border instead of driving it on the bus.
It was so nice to get a little bit of exercise!
Kim met a lovely guy from Halifax named Rob in the border control area who had just been robbed and needed to get to Windhoek. So he is now riding on our big booty bus instead of dangerously hitch hiking after dark!
After spending forever at the passport place in Namibia we all headed back on to our respective buses to make the last 4ish hour drive.
Erin Lange has a wonderful little speaker set that you can stick your iPod into. So we had a little dance party on our bus with everything from Bootylicious to choir stuff to Cadillac Ranch! It was great fun…
We are all getting a little antsy thought being on a bus for about 3 days straight! I can’t even begin to imagine what the bus drivers are feeling like! This would be illegal in Canada!
Oh well…we’re almost at Windhoek! I can’t get to see the Roof of Africa Inn again! And I can’t wait for supper…they always have such amazing food there!!
w00t!!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Finally! An update!!
I've been writing these on my computer on the bus the past few days....enjoy!
July 11
Well...I feel like I’m officially on tour now. We left Swakopmund early this morning and are currently on the bus on our way to Waterberg.
Last night was our last time with Mascato until the end of our tour when we reunite in Windhoek for one last concert. We had such an incredible time at our dinner.
It was about 20 minutes outside of Swakopmund in the dunes. We were lucky the east weather had died down a bit so it wasn’t quite so windy. But they come prepared and had huge tents setup where we ate our dinner.
I had planned before hand with Afro Shine to have them perform at the dinner. At first I thought we could just do it informally and just have their piano player come and have them sing off mic. But the more Dollar and I talked about it we thought it could be cool to have their entire band come (Bass, drums and keyboard…plus the 3 guys on mic)
It was SO amazing! Between Mascato all dancing around us and Afro Shine singing their butts off, I think Kokopelli had an experience they won’t ever forget! (plus the food was INCREDIBLE!!!)
July 12
We spent our night last night at the Waterberg Plateau. It was a really neat place…it actually almost reminded me of the Jasper Park Lodge except warmer and in Africa. Haha….it had an AMAZING view! A few people decided to climb up to the top of the plateau last night. I decided to take it easy and go in the morning instead. We went last night to watch some crazy people go swimming in the outdoor pool. Amanda has now decided to never do that again.....in life.....ever!
We had an incredible meal and I headed to bed early so I could be up by 6:00am to climb the plateau. I think I was asleep by 9pm!! Crazy!! Lots of people are getting sick (with colds) including me, so going to bed early was a very nice thing!
A few of us got up at 6:00 then and did the climb. It took almost a half hour and was one of the biggest workouts I’ve done since I’ve been here! Ow! But so worth it! The view was incredible....unfortunately we miscalculated the sunrise and it came up on one of the sides of the plateau and not on the horizon. It was still really amazing though!
July 16
I’ve kind of fallen behind on this! After we left the Waterberg Plateau we headed to Etosha stopping at a cheetah sanctuary along the way. That was pretty neat…we saw a bunch of cheetahs and learned all about them.
After that we finished we finally hit the Okaukuejo Camp where we would be staying for the next 2 days. Just driving to the camp we saw more animals than we did the entire time we were in Africa last time! It was ridiculous!!! We saw SO many elephants and giraffes (which we barely saw any of last time!) And of course many zebras, springbok, jackals, gemsbok, kudu and wildebeests!
John and my room was pretty sketchy… almost everyone else got beautiful renovated rooms so we were a little disappointed. There was a mix up with the rooms and somehow one got cancelled so John and I basically just got whatever they could drudge up on short notice! All the bungalows around us were under construction which was weird….we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! At dinner though we had a nice surprise…. Just as we were all finishing eating we heard music. Suddenly a bunch of little kids came into the dining hall all singing and dancing! They were from the Okaukuejo Primary School where we were supposed to sing in the morning! Apparently they do this every Tuesday and Thursday night for the tourists that come through to get some donations! They were so shocked when we started singing along with some of the songs that we knew! It was a total party…the kitchen staff came out and said it was the best night they had ever had there! They didn’t want us to leave!!
The next morning we went to the Okaukuejo Primary School. We were very excited to see the kids that we had met the night before! The concert was great and the kids loved it. They sang and danced for us afterwards and we had a great time with them afterwards!
After we left the school we went on a game drive and saw tons of animals again. Later on we headed back to the camp where we saw 47 elephants at the waterhole! It was awesome!! John and I headed back to our room then and found out we had no electricity. We went to the front desk to ask them about it and they said they’d look into it. By the time we got back to our room we found out we had no water at that point either....the renovations that surrounded us where closing in! The workers seemed very surprised that we were actually still living there!
We headed back to the front desk to let them know we now had no power or water. We were a little worried because earlier they had told us they were completely booked and couldn’t move us. So...we waited for them to figure something out and they told us we could move to room #34. I figured it would be like any other room until they showed us the map... it was the best room at the entire camp!!! It costs over $6000(Namibian) per night, has two floors with a balcony and overlooks the waterhole straight on! I almost died!! It looked like a friggin honey moon suite!! I’ll try to post pictures soon!!!
We left Okaukuejo the next day and went to Namutoni to stay over night. We’ve been mostly driving the past few days. (Zambia is a loooong way away!)
Namutoni was fantastic! The staff from Okaukuejo phoned Namutoni to tell them a choir from Canada was coming and that we were great so they decided to do something special for us! They made a huge outdoor braai and it was SO much fun! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much meat in my life! Hahah…it was really great though! We sang a couple of song for them afterwards!
The next day we traveled on our way to Zambia a little further... we had to be split up into 4 separate camps because our contact in Tsumeb was cancelled. I stayed in the Ngepi Camp which was surprisingly really cool but very outdoorsy. Out little ‘huts’ had thatched roofs and bamboo walls. You could see people walking by through the walls. It was crazy! The bathrooms were like that as well but didn’t have ceilings. It was really neat! Some people at the other camps actually saw some hippos!! We just heard them around our camp but didn’t actually see them!
Today we just spent another day traveling! We finally made it to Zambia! We’re staying at the Fawlty Towers Lodge. It’s kind of like a hostel except that some of us are in tents (including me and John) I don’t mind camping when I’m prepared for it but lugging around a huge suitcase and not having a shower in a few days is not making me to happy of a camper. But then again…I guess we’re officially half way through the tour and everyone is kind of getting a little more uptight with things! We just need a day to relax when we aren’t all crammed in a bus with each other!
I’m so excited cuz we’re going on our cruise tomorrow morning and we’re supposed to see hippos! (and maybe crocs as well!!)
Well…I’m going hit the tent now.... hopefully we’ll get internet sooner than later next time….
Hope the weather is good at home! Miss you all!
July 11
Well...I feel like I’m officially on tour now. We left Swakopmund early this morning and are currently on the bus on our way to Waterberg.
Last night was our last time with Mascato until the end of our tour when we reunite in Windhoek for one last concert. We had such an incredible time at our dinner.
It was about 20 minutes outside of Swakopmund in the dunes. We were lucky the east weather had died down a bit so it wasn’t quite so windy. But they come prepared and had huge tents setup where we ate our dinner.
I had planned before hand with Afro Shine to have them perform at the dinner. At first I thought we could just do it informally and just have their piano player come and have them sing off mic. But the more Dollar and I talked about it we thought it could be cool to have their entire band come (Bass, drums and keyboard…plus the 3 guys on mic)
It was SO amazing! Between Mascato all dancing around us and Afro Shine singing their butts off, I think Kokopelli had an experience they won’t ever forget! (plus the food was INCREDIBLE!!!)
July 12
We spent our night last night at the Waterberg Plateau. It was a really neat place…it actually almost reminded me of the Jasper Park Lodge except warmer and in Africa. Haha….it had an AMAZING view! A few people decided to climb up to the top of the plateau last night. I decided to take it easy and go in the morning instead. We went last night to watch some crazy people go swimming in the outdoor pool. Amanda has now decided to never do that again.....in life.....ever!
We had an incredible meal and I headed to bed early so I could be up by 6:00am to climb the plateau. I think I was asleep by 9pm!! Crazy!! Lots of people are getting sick (with colds) including me, so going to bed early was a very nice thing!
A few of us got up at 6:00 then and did the climb. It took almost a half hour and was one of the biggest workouts I’ve done since I’ve been here! Ow! But so worth it! The view was incredible....unfortunately we miscalculated the sunrise and it came up on one of the sides of the plateau and not on the horizon. It was still really amazing though!
July 16
I’ve kind of fallen behind on this! After we left the Waterberg Plateau we headed to Etosha stopping at a cheetah sanctuary along the way. That was pretty neat…we saw a bunch of cheetahs and learned all about them.
After that we finished we finally hit the Okaukuejo Camp where we would be staying for the next 2 days. Just driving to the camp we saw more animals than we did the entire time we were in Africa last time! It was ridiculous!!! We saw SO many elephants and giraffes (which we barely saw any of last time!) And of course many zebras, springbok, jackals, gemsbok, kudu and wildebeests!
John and my room was pretty sketchy… almost everyone else got beautiful renovated rooms so we were a little disappointed. There was a mix up with the rooms and somehow one got cancelled so John and I basically just got whatever they could drudge up on short notice! All the bungalows around us were under construction which was weird….we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! At dinner though we had a nice surprise…. Just as we were all finishing eating we heard music. Suddenly a bunch of little kids came into the dining hall all singing and dancing! They were from the Okaukuejo Primary School where we were supposed to sing in the morning! Apparently they do this every Tuesday and Thursday night for the tourists that come through to get some donations! They were so shocked when we started singing along with some of the songs that we knew! It was a total party…the kitchen staff came out and said it was the best night they had ever had there! They didn’t want us to leave!!
The next morning we went to the Okaukuejo Primary School. We were very excited to see the kids that we had met the night before! The concert was great and the kids loved it. They sang and danced for us afterwards and we had a great time with them afterwards!
After we left the school we went on a game drive and saw tons of animals again. Later on we headed back to the camp where we saw 47 elephants at the waterhole! It was awesome!! John and I headed back to our room then and found out we had no electricity. We went to the front desk to ask them about it and they said they’d look into it. By the time we got back to our room we found out we had no water at that point either....the renovations that surrounded us where closing in! The workers seemed very surprised that we were actually still living there!
We headed back to the front desk to let them know we now had no power or water. We were a little worried because earlier they had told us they were completely booked and couldn’t move us. So...we waited for them to figure something out and they told us we could move to room #34. I figured it would be like any other room until they showed us the map... it was the best room at the entire camp!!! It costs over $6000(Namibian) per night, has two floors with a balcony and overlooks the waterhole straight on! I almost died!! It looked like a friggin honey moon suite!! I’ll try to post pictures soon!!!
We left Okaukuejo the next day and went to Namutoni to stay over night. We’ve been mostly driving the past few days. (Zambia is a loooong way away!)
Namutoni was fantastic! The staff from Okaukuejo phoned Namutoni to tell them a choir from Canada was coming and that we were great so they decided to do something special for us! They made a huge outdoor braai and it was SO much fun! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much meat in my life! Hahah…it was really great though! We sang a couple of song for them afterwards!
The next day we traveled on our way to Zambia a little further... we had to be split up into 4 separate camps because our contact in Tsumeb was cancelled. I stayed in the Ngepi Camp which was surprisingly really cool but very outdoorsy. Out little ‘huts’ had thatched roofs and bamboo walls. You could see people walking by through the walls. It was crazy! The bathrooms were like that as well but didn’t have ceilings. It was really neat! Some people at the other camps actually saw some hippos!! We just heard them around our camp but didn’t actually see them!
Today we just spent another day traveling! We finally made it to Zambia! We’re staying at the Fawlty Towers Lodge. It’s kind of like a hostel except that some of us are in tents (including me and John) I don’t mind camping when I’m prepared for it but lugging around a huge suitcase and not having a shower in a few days is not making me to happy of a camper. But then again…I guess we’re officially half way through the tour and everyone is kind of getting a little more uptight with things! We just need a day to relax when we aren’t all crammed in a bus with each other!
I’m so excited cuz we’re going on our cruise tomorrow morning and we’re supposed to see hippos! (and maybe crocs as well!!)
Well…I’m going hit the tent now.... hopefully we’ll get internet sooner than later next time….
Hope the weather is good at home! Miss you all!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
the past few amazing days!
alrighty...it's been a while since I've been able to hit the internet cafe! I have no idea when I'll be able to visit one next so i guess I'd better make this one count! haha
We had a some FANTASTIC concerts here! On friday we visited Swakopmund Secondary School (Linus teaches the choir there) and also Namib High (where Mascato rehearses)
The audiences were huge and so into the music! They cheered so loud at the end I thought they would make us deaf!!
On Saturday we had our major concerts in Swakopmund. They ended up adding a second show because the evening show sold out so fast! They were SO much fun! Anytime during the performances if we ever felt like we weren't feeling it all we had to do was look up to the balcony where Mascato was sitting! They are so incredible! I'm definitely going to miss them ovewr the next few weeks! I'm so thankful I get to still come back and have another month and a half with them!
Mascato unfortunately didn't sing along during our concert though...I know everyone has been dying to hear them but Mrs.Venter wanted the concert to just be us. (But I guess it makes sense - when Mascato was in canada last year our audiences wanted to hear them...not us!)
So we just finished all the concerts with the 7 mass choir pieces that I've been teaching them since I got here! They went SO well! Everyone had so much fun!!
On Sunday we had one last concert together in Walvis Bay...It went just as well as the ones on Saturday!
Yesterday we went to Hunganini (One of the primary schools in the DRC) This is where we decided to give out all the school/hygiene packs that Wendy put together. We sang a little concert for them. They were blown away...literally! Unfortunately the east weather started up (which means it gets REALLY hot and REALLY REALLY windy) The school doesn't have a room big enough for everyone so we sang outside in their 'courtyard' area. The wind was so bad and kept blowing sand all over the place. Just as the kids started singing for us there was literally a 'brown out'! It's like the craziest blizzard you've been in at home but with sand instead! It got everywhere and was sticking to our lips and teeth! Those poor kids kept singing though because they wanted to finish their song! As soon as they finished the teachers quickly got all the kids and us into their classrooms to try and hide from the sand. We went around then to tell them about the packs. They were very happy with them and didn't want us to leave! We all had kids clinging to us and didn't want to let go! I had two little girls who I must have said goodbye to 20 times!! Everytime I turned around to go they would run back to give me "One last hug"! Oh...it's just heart breaking sometimes like that...They just don't get enough love at home! If they don't get beat at school they usually get beat at home so I think they just wanted a loving touch for a while! They're so cute!!
Anyhoo...I need to run! I only have a couple minutes left on my internet time!
We're off to our dinner in the dunes tonight with Mascato and everyone is SO excited!! And then we leave tomorrow morning!
Miss you all at home! *mwah*
We had a some FANTASTIC concerts here! On friday we visited Swakopmund Secondary School (Linus teaches the choir there) and also Namib High (where Mascato rehearses)
The audiences were huge and so into the music! They cheered so loud at the end I thought they would make us deaf!!
On Saturday we had our major concerts in Swakopmund. They ended up adding a second show because the evening show sold out so fast! They were SO much fun! Anytime during the performances if we ever felt like we weren't feeling it all we had to do was look up to the balcony where Mascato was sitting! They are so incredible! I'm definitely going to miss them ovewr the next few weeks! I'm so thankful I get to still come back and have another month and a half with them!
Mascato unfortunately didn't sing along during our concert though...I know everyone has been dying to hear them but Mrs.Venter wanted the concert to just be us. (But I guess it makes sense - when Mascato was in canada last year our audiences wanted to hear them...not us!)
So we just finished all the concerts with the 7 mass choir pieces that I've been teaching them since I got here! They went SO well! Everyone had so much fun!!
On Sunday we had one last concert together in Walvis Bay...It went just as well as the ones on Saturday!
Yesterday we went to Hunganini (One of the primary schools in the DRC) This is where we decided to give out all the school/hygiene packs that Wendy put together. We sang a little concert for them. They were blown away...literally! Unfortunately the east weather started up (which means it gets REALLY hot and REALLY REALLY windy) The school doesn't have a room big enough for everyone so we sang outside in their 'courtyard' area. The wind was so bad and kept blowing sand all over the place. Just as the kids started singing for us there was literally a 'brown out'! It's like the craziest blizzard you've been in at home but with sand instead! It got everywhere and was sticking to our lips and teeth! Those poor kids kept singing though because they wanted to finish their song! As soon as they finished the teachers quickly got all the kids and us into their classrooms to try and hide from the sand. We went around then to tell them about the packs. They were very happy with them and didn't want us to leave! We all had kids clinging to us and didn't want to let go! I had two little girls who I must have said goodbye to 20 times!! Everytime I turned around to go they would run back to give me "One last hug"! Oh...it's just heart breaking sometimes like that...They just don't get enough love at home! If they don't get beat at school they usually get beat at home so I think they just wanted a loving touch for a while! They're so cute!!
Anyhoo...I need to run! I only have a couple minutes left on my internet time!
We're off to our dinner in the dunes tonight with Mascato and everyone is SO excited!! And then we leave tomorrow morning!
Miss you all at home! *mwah*
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Pictures!!!
We had a great couple of performances yesterday morning at two Seconday school in Swakop! The audiences were unreal!!
We had a bit of free time in the afternoon which was nice! Unfortunately the internet cafe was too slow in the afternoon to upload picture so I had to wait until just now!
We had a fantastic rehearsal with Mascato last night! We're going to have a coupel of great concerts today! I'm SO excited!!
(sorry I don't have time to write more...check out the Koko Blog if you want to read about more!)
I'm off to rehearsal!
Miss you all!! *mwah*
Dune 7 pictures
Boat trip pictures
and of course more importantly... The Ring!
We had a bit of free time in the afternoon which was nice! Unfortunately the internet cafe was too slow in the afternoon to upload picture so I had to wait until just now!
We had a fantastic rehearsal with Mascato last night! We're going to have a coupel of great concerts today! I'm SO excited!!
(sorry I don't have time to write more...check out the Koko Blog if you want to read about more!)
I'm off to rehearsal!
Miss you all!! *mwah*
Dune 7 pictures
Boat trip pictures
and of course more importantly... The Ring!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
EXCITING TIMES!!!
wow! It already seems like a crazy tour and we've only done two days!
Yesterday we got started a little bit late due to people/bus drivers not knowing the plan for the morning... (we had a few stranded choristers who were randomly found by Scott in his rental car!)
Once everyone made it to the school where we were meeting we headed off to Walvis Bay for a ltitle tour. First we went to Dune 7 which is HUGE!! Almost everyone made it to the top huffing and puffing (even though a few people ended up tossing their lunch in the process)
It was an incredible climb and made for some incredible pictures!! (And incredible amounts of sand getting in places we didn't even know we had places!)
After spending a couple hours at the dune we heading back into Walvis Bay to go for lunch. We had about an hour to kill before we headed back to Swakopmund for a rehearsal. Unfortunately the restaurant that most of us picked ended up being the SLOWEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD!!! After waiting for an hour and twenty minutes and only having 5 people be served we all just paid for our drinks and left... That was unfortunate! But then when we got back to the buses we discovered one had broken down... so we all crammed onto one and drove back quickly to try and save the last little bit of our rehearsal!
Once we got back to Swakop we actually ended up having a really great rehearsal! After that we heading to the Lighthouse Restaurant for a fantastic dinner! Everyone went off on their own ways after that, either back to billets houses or out to party. John and I had booked a really cool hotel for last night called the Stiltz. I'll get back to that later though...
Today was our "free" day. We got to chose activities from skydiving, boat tours, plane tours, sandboarding, quading or just sticking around town. I'd say probably about 90% of the choir chose to go on the boat tour which was AMAZING!! I did the boat tour last time we were in Africa and knew that I definitely wanted to do it again! Everyone had such a great time taking pictures with the seals that jumped up into our boats, trying to touch the dolphins swimming in front of us, throwing fish to pelicans and seagulls flying beside us and of couse jumping into the ocean! Our favorite moment was when Anne McIntyre jumped into the ocean fully clothed!!!
We finished the tour with a lovely lunch of fresh oysters, sparkling wine and other fish/nibblies!
We just finished an evening rehearsal with Mascato tonight! The concerts on the weekend are going to be so great! The one on Saturday is almost sold out so they actually added a second one earlier in the day!!
NOW! Back to the biggest of news!!! Last night as John and I were heading to our hotel I could tell something was up. He was kind of hanging back a little bit even though I was in a rush to get there... Suddenly he stops and tells me he needs to talk for a second and proceeds to pull a little box from his pocket.
He starts talking but I'm not really listening as I'm slowly figuring out whats going on...
I interrupt him "Is this what I think it is?"
he says "yes"
...and I open the box to find the most amazing engagment ring EVER!!
That's right...I'm engaged! (of course I said yes!!) HOW CRAZY IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is NOT something I was expecting to happen in Africa!!! (not that I'm complaining or anything!)
But holy cow! I didn't even know what to say! I'm such a moron...I was just like "Can I put it on?????" And he says "well, only if it's a yes!"
"UH-HUH!!!!!!!!!!"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Yesterday we got started a little bit late due to people/bus drivers not knowing the plan for the morning... (we had a few stranded choristers who were randomly found by Scott in his rental car!)
Once everyone made it to the school where we were meeting we headed off to Walvis Bay for a ltitle tour. First we went to Dune 7 which is HUGE!! Almost everyone made it to the top huffing and puffing (even though a few people ended up tossing their lunch in the process)
It was an incredible climb and made for some incredible pictures!! (And incredible amounts of sand getting in places we didn't even know we had places!)
After spending a couple hours at the dune we heading back into Walvis Bay to go for lunch. We had about an hour to kill before we headed back to Swakopmund for a rehearsal. Unfortunately the restaurant that most of us picked ended up being the SLOWEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD!!! After waiting for an hour and twenty minutes and only having 5 people be served we all just paid for our drinks and left... That was unfortunate! But then when we got back to the buses we discovered one had broken down... so we all crammed onto one and drove back quickly to try and save the last little bit of our rehearsal!
Once we got back to Swakop we actually ended up having a really great rehearsal! After that we heading to the Lighthouse Restaurant for a fantastic dinner! Everyone went off on their own ways after that, either back to billets houses or out to party. John and I had booked a really cool hotel for last night called the Stiltz. I'll get back to that later though...
Today was our "free" day. We got to chose activities from skydiving, boat tours, plane tours, sandboarding, quading or just sticking around town. I'd say probably about 90% of the choir chose to go on the boat tour which was AMAZING!! I did the boat tour last time we were in Africa and knew that I definitely wanted to do it again! Everyone had such a great time taking pictures with the seals that jumped up into our boats, trying to touch the dolphins swimming in front of us, throwing fish to pelicans and seagulls flying beside us and of couse jumping into the ocean! Our favorite moment was when Anne McIntyre jumped into the ocean fully clothed!!!
We finished the tour with a lovely lunch of fresh oysters, sparkling wine and other fish/nibblies!
We just finished an evening rehearsal with Mascato tonight! The concerts on the weekend are going to be so great! The one on Saturday is almost sold out so they actually added a second one earlier in the day!!
NOW! Back to the biggest of news!!! Last night as John and I were heading to our hotel I could tell something was up. He was kind of hanging back a little bit even though I was in a rush to get there... Suddenly he stops and tells me he needs to talk for a second and proceeds to pull a little box from his pocket.
He starts talking but I'm not really listening as I'm slowly figuring out whats going on...
I interrupt him "Is this what I think it is?"
he says "yes"
...and I open the box to find the most amazing engagment ring EVER!!
That's right...I'm engaged! (of course I said yes!!) HOW CRAZY IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is NOT something I was expecting to happen in Africa!!! (not that I'm complaining or anything!)
But holy cow! I didn't even know what to say! I'm such a moron...I was just like "Can I put it on?????" And he says "well, only if it's a yes!"
"UH-HUH!!!!!!!!!!"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
KOKOPELLI
They're HERE! ...ooh..and it's so nice!!
They arrived yesterday just after 3pm to a chilly, misty Swakopmund!
We had a small break before we started rehearsing where people took full advantage of this beautiful little town ....we took over every restuarant, cafe, grocery store, clothing store and internet cafe! The invasion of the 80 Canadians has began! (as the people here have officially dubbed it!)
It was SSSSOOOO nice to sing with Kokopelli again! I have missed the sound and the music a lot! I also LOVE what they've done with some of the pieces!! We're going to take the African audiences by storm! They won't know what hit them!
We had an amazing supper that was shared with Mascato and a South African choir, Cantu Maluti. Then we began our concert....(mini sharing session)
Cantu Maluti was up first. They are a small chamber choir (about 16 members or so) and are only about 3 or 4 years old. They were really great though!!
Mascato went next and sang three songs...it was great singing with them having Kokopelli in the audience. Our last song, Ti Mama, (which is an Afro Shine song) had half of Kokopelli in tears! (which was basically the same thing that happened to me when I first heard that song!)
Kokopelli was last and it was SO great to have Mascato in the audience. All the members that came to Canada last year were just vibrating with excitement and all the new members/people who didn't come to Canada just sat there with their mouths dropped! I loved it!! hahaha....
It's so amazing having these two groups here right now which I both love so much! Scott asked me if it was like two worlds colliding, but I don't really think it feels that way. It just seems natural to me.... When everyone got off that bus it didn't even feel like I had been gone for two months already! It's like I'd never left!
Today we're heading off to Walvis Bay to do a little bus tour around there... and also to climb Dune 7!
I'm still SO excited!! I woke up again at just after 6 this morning!
Soon I'LL be the one that's jetlagged! hahaha
We miss you all at home! Wish you were here!!
They arrived yesterday just after 3pm to a chilly, misty Swakopmund!
We had a small break before we started rehearsing where people took full advantage of this beautiful little town ....we took over every restuarant, cafe, grocery store, clothing store and internet cafe! The invasion of the 80 Canadians has began! (as the people here have officially dubbed it!)
It was SSSSOOOO nice to sing with Kokopelli again! I have missed the sound and the music a lot! I also LOVE what they've done with some of the pieces!! We're going to take the African audiences by storm! They won't know what hit them!
We had an amazing supper that was shared with Mascato and a South African choir, Cantu Maluti. Then we began our concert....(mini sharing session)
Cantu Maluti was up first. They are a small chamber choir (about 16 members or so) and are only about 3 or 4 years old. They were really great though!!
Mascato went next and sang three songs...it was great singing with them having Kokopelli in the audience. Our last song, Ti Mama, (which is an Afro Shine song) had half of Kokopelli in tears! (which was basically the same thing that happened to me when I first heard that song!)
Kokopelli was last and it was SO great to have Mascato in the audience. All the members that came to Canada last year were just vibrating with excitement and all the new members/people who didn't come to Canada just sat there with their mouths dropped! I loved it!! hahaha....
It's so amazing having these two groups here right now which I both love so much! Scott asked me if it was like two worlds colliding, but I don't really think it feels that way. It just seems natural to me.... When everyone got off that bus it didn't even feel like I had been gone for two months already! It's like I'd never left!
Today we're heading off to Walvis Bay to do a little bus tour around there... and also to climb Dune 7!
I'm still SO excited!! I woke up again at just after 6 this morning!
Soon I'LL be the one that's jetlagged! hahaha
We miss you all at home! Wish you were here!!
Monday, July 2, 2007
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
ONE MORE DAY!!!!!! Kokopelli is officially in Africa right now and I’m sure they’re all exhausted! Mrs.Venter told me that it was only 5 degrees in Windhoek yesterday so hopefuly it won't be too cold for all the kokos today! At least it's gorgeous right now in Swakop! (Hopefully that'll keep up for them tomorrow!!)
Everyone here has been getting VERY excited for them to arrive (especially me and Lex!)
We had a great (long) rehearsal on Saturday! Mascato has everything by memory now and sounds really great on some of these pieces! I’m so excited to put everything together with Kokopelli!
Yesterday I went back out to Walvis Bay to rehearse with the Mascato guys that are coming on tour with us….they have A LOT of work ahead of them (I don’t even know some of the pieces yet!! Tsk tsk) but they are prepared to work hard and know that it is a huge privilege for them to join us on tour (and a huge privilege for us to have their incredible voices joining ours!)
They are getting together to practice with the CD I made for them tonight! Tomorrow they are coming to Swakopmund early so we can rehearse before Kokopelli comes (and maybe even teach them some of the movement that goes along with the songs!)
So now I’m down to counting the hours instead of weeks and days! I can’t even sleep anymore I’m getting so excited!! I woke up at 6:30 this morning!!
I’M PUMPED!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Everyone here has been getting VERY excited for them to arrive (especially me and Lex!)
We had a great (long) rehearsal on Saturday! Mascato has everything by memory now and sounds really great on some of these pieces! I’m so excited to put everything together with Kokopelli!
Yesterday I went back out to Walvis Bay to rehearse with the Mascato guys that are coming on tour with us….they have A LOT of work ahead of them (I don’t even know some of the pieces yet!! Tsk tsk) but they are prepared to work hard and know that it is a huge privilege for them to join us on tour (and a huge privilege for us to have their incredible voices joining ours!)
They are getting together to practice with the CD I made for them tonight! Tomorrow they are coming to Swakopmund early so we can rehearse before Kokopelli comes (and maybe even teach them some of the movement that goes along with the songs!)
So now I’m down to counting the hours instead of weeks and days! I can’t even sleep anymore I’m getting so excited!! I woke up at 6:30 this morning!!
I’M PUMPED!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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