Day 17: Buccaneers Backpackers Lodge, Chintsa West
September 21st, 2012
Courtesy of Sal and the Buccaneers Backpackers Lodge, South Africa we really didn’t have to plan anything today.
All shuttles, excursions and fun was planned ahead of time. We can definitely say our lives have never been easier! Before we start our blog, I just want to begin by expanding on my ‘I have to come back’ comment from yesterday’s blog.
Sal is the most nurturing, mothering figure we have met here in South Africa and she makes absolutely every backpacker feel welcome and at home.
We visited the Chinsta East school today to spend some more time with the kids and learn more about the Xhosa culture. These kids, I cannot tell you enough, are so loving, friendly and excited everyday we come back to see them, it gets harder and harder to leave.
All of the arrangements are supported through Buccaneers Backpackers Lodge and the support of Sal. This amazing initiative getting all children in school and being fed proper lunches is inspiring us to come back – very, very soon!
Alicia took tons of photos from the school today, it is all very hard to describe in words how loving and wonderful these children and teachers are here so make sure you take a look at Alicia’s incredible photos of the kiddies to get a little bit more of an understanding.
Next up on our pre-planned adventures was to visit Mama Tofu in a village just outside of Chinsta. Mama Tofu is 92 years old, still going strong and taught us today all about the Xhosa traditions and the way of the village life.
If we were to write it all down in a blog you would have hours if reading to do… Instead I will explain a little about what we learned in point form.
– Xhosa people have 82 different clans
– They are able to choose who they marry
– Each woman is to wear a different piece of clothing to symbolize virginity and marriage (much like a ring in Canada)
– The boys are to be circumcised in a straw built tent after washing off in the river, after the procedure has finished the hut is burned to the ground and the boys are not to look back (this is to rid them of all their previous sins they may have done while they were adolescence
– To determine if a child has lost their virginity they take all out for a fit test, those who cannot keep up are taken away and asked to point out which male they ‘did sex’ with. That male has to pay 1 cow to the female in return. There is still much to learn and a lot that is difficult to explain in a blog however, if you are ever in Chinsta, South Africa, Mama Tofu is not to be missed!
ATTENTION: Alicia has finally met a wild cat!
We are at the Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve today playing with the 5-year-old cheetahs and going through an afternoon game reserve tour. Lively and exciting, this experience has been one in a million!
It is official, Alicia has gone InkwenCRAZY! Probably the best day of her life haha we were able to get next to white lions (only 300 in the world and they have 8 on site). As well as zebra, giraffe, warthogs, antelope, rhino and many more!
