i live in the mountains and i hate hiking. that is kind of ironic, isn't it? well you all will be happy to know that i finally went on a hike. my australian friend jenny and i went to royal natal national park, which is about 25 mins from my village of moyeni. it is in the northern drakensberg mountains and contains come of the peaks that i can see from where i stay. neither jenny or i really like to hike (or are in shape enough to do anything too extreme) so we decided to go for an easier hike along a gorge in the park. it was a beautiful sunny saturday, perfect for walking in the mountains and enjoying the area we get to live in. we set off around noon and walked along a relatively easy path down the gorge, which offered amazing views of the mountains and the valley around them. of course, about 10 mins into the hike my camera batteries died and i could no longer take photos. great! for some reason i also thought the path we were taking was paved, so i wore flip flops at foot attire. when we got there i quickly realized how that was a bad decision. although the path was by no means difficult, it was not really flip flop terrain. luckily, i made it in and out without any sprained ankles or broken bones. the two of us walked for about an hour and a half down the path and then decided that it was a good time to turn around and walk back. the whole hike is about 8km in and then 8km back. we didn't do the whole thing (clearly) but we made a decision to come back one day and do the whole thing. we shall see if that actually happens. either way, we had a lovely time just wandering around in nature, enjoying the warmth of the sun that is sure to leave us soon.

when we finished our hike, we decided that we absolutely needed to get pizza and beer (obviously we are real hardcore hikers). we went to the best pizza restaurant around bergville, which is way out of town on this random road. the place was super cute with chairs made of shovels and candle holders that were dancing african women. we split a pizza and had a couple beers and then decided to call it a night. jenny drove me home, stopping along the way at the water pump so i could fill my 6 liter bag of water to use that night on laundry.

the next day i decided to have a relaxing day in my hut. i woke up late (around 7:30) and made french toast. as i was getting back into bed to read for some hours, the children visiting my home decided to start harassing me. they were peaking in my windows and banging on my door and they absolutely would not leave me alone, even after i gave them a toy to play with. finally i gave up and had them come in to color a coloring book i was sent from america. they colored the whole book, using one color to scribble the entire page, not caring about the lines or the shapes. they also broke all of the crayons i had given them. this is why i love children. after an hour or so of this, i asked them to leave so i could do laundry and they went about their business. i spent the rest of the day relaxing and cleaning and playing with my kitten. i made pizza for dinner using a technique my dad told me about. i took two cake pans and placed one on top of the other so it would act like an oven. the pizza turned out ok although i burnt the shit out of the crust. such is life with no electricity i suppose. i made another pizza and took it to my host family so they could have some as well. all in all it was a good weekend. i try and appreciate them when they happen cause they don't occur all the frequently these days. one day at a time...