As Tina and I were waking up this morning I was blabbering about how great I slept, how comfortable the bed was, how rested I felt, blah, blah, blah…and Tina said, “Well, you’re just happy all around aren’t ya!” And I stated, “That’s our phrase of the day!” And voila!!
Chris, Zali and Tina at SANBS
We started our day by officially being “fetched” by our driver, Simon, who was taking us for our tour of SANBS (South African National Blood Service) and lunch with my good friend Zali. Simon drove us to SANBS and we met up with Zali and her amazingly dedicated and passionate staff. We were whisked off for a tour of the blood lab where Lillian very passionately described the cutting edge technology they were using to screen their blood donations for Hep A & B and HIV. They are truly world leaders in paving the way for other centers throughout the world to have a diverse sampling of HIV+ blood to test new serums against this deadly disease.
Zali, Tina, Chris and Lillian at the blood lab
After discussing the details for my workshops for the Congress, we then headed to Maropeng for lunch where we proceeded to get lost in the desert of Africa with Zali as our chauffer, Gail as our back-seat driver and Tina who knew all along how to go (those of you that know me KNOW I was absolutely no help in the direction department!). We made getting lost a game between the car full of women vs. the car full of men that we were following. Of course, once the women took over the lead, we found our way to the restaurant! (Sorry guys!)
At lunch, to mine and Tina’s pleasant surprise, we ended up having a very spiritual discussion with Zali, Gail, Jerry, William and Justus. We discussed traditional healing methods, crystals, channeling with angels and tarot cards. Then we took an unplanned trip into the “Cradle of Humankind” at the Sterkfontein Caves. WOW! What a tour! We “met” the world famous “Mrs Ples” and “Little Foot”, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton dating back more than 3-million years. We saw stalactites and stalagmites and generally just had a blast literally crawling through the caves!
Chris and Zali squeezing through the cave
Then, Chris’ most favorite surprise was Gail mentioning that she knew of a great store in Clear Water to buy crystals. (I was totally in heaven at this point – I was just happy all around!). Tina and I bought many crystals and were assisted by one of the strongest Indigos I have ever met, Philipe. Let’s just say we were vibrating when we left…
We headed back to Zali’s office to catch our “fetch” back to the hotel and she presented us both with gifts which included homemade drums, bags, a hand-beaded notepad folder and pen, and a paper pad made from bananas.
At dinner, Tina and I discussed how even if we planned this day we could not have done it better. Everything just fell into place…as it should and always does when you live in the present moment and stay in a state of joy.
One of the most amazing things we noticed was the level of pride everyone here has for their country and even though the country is very diverse, the respect and admiration they all have for each other. Also, the incredible level of hospitality that has been shown to us just in the two days we have been here.
“See-a-bonga” (Zulu word for thank you) for sharing our adventure with us through our blog!
Headed to Mabula Game Lodge tomorrow until the 13th. We are not sure if we will be able to blog there but stay tuned because we will catch up when we return.
Chris-Tina
P.S. We did see two “wild” animals today…a Meerkat that crossed our path on our way to lunch and a…wait for it…snail! Yes, I said a snail! The sad part is that Chris was most excited because she had never actually seen a snail before. (You’re in Africa and you get excited about a SNAIL Sopa!!! OMG!!)