Lets talk about children from Norway and kids elsewhere.

15 July 2006 - Most parents (if the kids are lucky to have one or both of them) in rural areas do not own a television and of course they don’t have electricity. Tap water and toilets are again things they would never dream of having inside their own house. And how inconvenient, the kitchen is outside on the ground around the campfire. Wow, how cosy that must be! Well maybe weekends and when you can choose which you are not able to during winter when temperatures can be 0 degrees Celsius in some parts of southern Africa. Why do I mention this about Africa when we were going to talk about kids in Norway? Well, to be totally honest (which I don’t need be, because this is my blog)...

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Well, just to make a point. There are lots of photos on the web

10 June 2006 - About time to brag about this site again, while people are still complaining about the lack of pictures on the web. So, that's why I found myself counting the photos. And even though I knew there were quite a number, I had no idea of how much. Incredibly 403 photographs have been uploaded on my site since the project started 1 February 2006. This is pictures from this project and not counting the old ones prior to takeoff. A detailed explanation follows; On the main pages which are updated every second or third day we post a picture. Which means we already have over 60 photos in that section pr 10 June 2006. Overview here

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Camping life suited for a King

29 May 2006 - I found myself so far away from reality and my actual me, that I had to pinch my arm! If there were anything called the opposite to campfire, bush camping and social rural village life, this is it. It has been a real treat to see this castle or palace as it is rightly called, Trondheim Palace. Trond Kolstad and Basit, two world known characters in Trondheim, owns two hotels in Bulawayo and they invited me to stay here when I visited Bulawayo. They might have thought that I was only going to stay a night or two, but this is so comfy, I think I will be here for a while :-)

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I miss South Africa already

13 March 2006 -

I am not said to be very emotional by nature, but there was something that moved me when I got my stamp exiting the border post at Vioolsdrif. I don’t know what it was, but it surely had something to do with leaving this great nation behind and maybe a bit to do with the hospitable customs officers that I knew possessed the very thing that I have appreciated so much in South Africa. The smile in people faces, people listening and the people’s ability to be happy even though life is sad, THAT I am sure will be greatly missed.

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The Book Project "Children in Africa"

3 March 2006 -

During this marathon journey through Africa, the aim is to produce enough material to publish a coffee table book (with the working title Children in Africa). There is yet no definite red thread in which way the children will be exposed, but the aim is for the readers to understand the diversity of minds, dreams and goals these kids have. This is also no scientific study of the lives of children in different parts of the African continent, but merely a presentation from the children themselves.

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Travelling through the landlocked miniature state of Lesotho

20 February 2006 -

How on earth will this adventure end, as there have been so many exciting experiences already, that there will be hard just to describe them in a web blog like this. After five days touring Lesotho’s highlands. We departed from Heather, Patrick and close to one hundred orphaned children at Gods Golden Acre in Kwazulu Natal on Thursday 16 February and it was really sad that we had to leave. We had made so close friend in just a few days and I believe this friendship will last for many many years. We had to continue to keep up with the itinerary and planned tasks, so we ascended the Sani Pass late in the afternoon and tried to exit the South Africa border before closing time.

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An unforgettable experience together with Gods Golden Acres

15 February 2006 -

If there is any possibility what so ever, you should and MUST go and visit Gods Golden Acre in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. If you are not able to travel, do something to help them continue their excellent job providing help, food, clothing and medicine for the poorest of the poor in South Africa. If you have money to spare, and would like to make sure that your money is well spent and goes directly to the needed, support Heather in her effort to make life easier for people in this forgotten area of the prosperous South Africa.

Getting to know Heather Reynolds in person was a treat in it self, and of course her dedicated husband and all the employees and volunteers. The warmth and the genuine humanitarian mindset of this woman is remarkable and it has to be said that you would find someone like Heather, with the same engagement towards protecting the people of need might be 1 to 100 million. And its not only humans that gets her attention, animals as well, has a place in her heart and if she trembles over a homeless dog or a wounded sheep left to die, well, Heather has to save them. I sometimes wonder why she hasn’t become a vegetarian as her daughter Brenwyn. The day before we arrived, one of the “house sheep’s” died and she was feeling terrible and thanked us for making her think of something else.

 

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Swaziland, our pilot country is done. And we are happy

9 February 2006 -

After two relaxing days in Swaziland, we are starting to get the hang of it! The life with Betsy that is. I knew it would be a challenge to pack the car, pack it so we could easily find it again, and also make the weight balance on both sides of the car. Well, not at all easy when you feel that you have to bring this, bring that and definately bring those things. I had planned to go through every magazine that I have bought and save only the pages that was of utterly importance or interest to me on this journey. Well, I had to bring them all along, so I guess that I have 50 kilos of Getaway, Land Rover, Africa Geografic magazines in the car. Still there is stuff left behind that I think that I should have brought along.

Cape2Cape is now rolling steadily towards new destinations and Swaziland was the first country besides South Africa that we have visited. Four days in a beautiful country as Swaziland is not enough. Even though this is a tiny country, the size of Israel, it deserves much more attention than what we were able to give it.
 

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