The Journey Begins...

I know I promised to explain more about the work I'm helping with here and how it relates to marine conservation in South Africa (did I really say that?) but things with our road trip have been so busy that we barely have time during the day to stop and eat. Since setting out from Grahamstown on Friday morning we've touched town in East London, Port St Johns and now Shelly Beach. It has only been 4 days in real time, but I feel like a few weeks have gone by instead. 


We've met a wide variety of people involved with the oceans and coasts, from sailors to divers and backpackers running seaside hostels. It's hard to find good office space on the road, but we've improvised and seem to be adapting well to each place we encounter. As you can see we've been really spending a lot of time outdoors enjoying the spectacular views and weather.

All jokes aside, the scenery since we left East London has been truly amazing, and I'm blessed to have a guide who can provide historical context to all the places we pass along the way. The driving has been along winding and sometimes narrow roads, but heading along on the hills you can see so far away that the mountains get hazy, and no matter how many photos I take it still feels better to watch it pass by in real time rather than trying to squeeze it all into a tiny frame. 

Although it sounds like I've been spending most of my time working and travelling, I haven't really been lonely. On Saturday night I had two roommates who kept the mosquitoes away very well, helping me get a solid 8 hours of insect-free sleep. Ma and Pa Gecko patrolled the walls and ceilings all night but were gone when I woke up on Sunday morning. I'm not sure where they went but I'm thinking that maybe my snoring was too much for them to handle and they needed to get some rest as well.

Tomorrow should be a day of hard work here in Shelly Beach, but there may be some down time where I can take some more pictures of the area and maybe even get a much needed hair cut. I'm also hoping to get in the water at some point and give a proper description of the Indian Ocean from an insiders point of view. 

Until we meet again, get lots of sleep and eat some oranges - flu season is just around the corner.

Jill