mountain biking | The Traveling Scarf

Hello! Ki kati! Sawubona! Mwaramutse! Bonjour! The amount of languages and currencies in my head right now is a little overwhelming! I left Uganda 3 weeks ago , traveled to Swaziland for 12 days, South Africa for 3 days and finished it up with 4 days in Rwanda. Its a lot to write about in one blog so please bare with me over the next week as I break it down into 3 different ADHD friendly posts 🙂

So where to begin? I guess the most logical thing would be to go in order! Destination #1 – The Kingdom of Swaziland! One strange fact about me some of you would probably never guess is that I absolutely hate flying. I calculated the number of planes I have been on in the last year and it totals 20, 20 take offs and thankfully 20 landings! The reason I mention this tidbit? on the plane from Kigali, Rwanda to Johannesburg there was a woman sitting behind me that was singing Jesus music… and not at the volume that you are singing to yourself so that no one can hear you but at about the same level you would sing if you were a contestant on American Idol. This went on until the seatbelt sign came off and I was handed headphones and able to enjoy, or at least watch Wolverine, can’t say I much enjoyed it. Thankfully this was the shortest trip to Joburg I’ve ever taken (5 hours compared to the 19+!) but sure enough as soon as the captain made the announcement that we would be landing shortly Jesus lady was back at it! until the plane touched the ground and the signing stopped but not before she could get out an “Amen! Thank You Jesus!” So that makes at least 2 people who were very happy to get off that plane but one of us was just a tad bit more vocal about it!!

So when I planned my trip to Swaziland for these dates I was informed I would be helping out with a cycling event for my friends, “Sounds great, Looking forward to it just let me know what you need” whoops! My over enthusiasm led to me actually helping BUILD the track… ok well maybe thats an exageration because there is no way Kieren would have ever let me put pieces together but I helped lift some logs with a crane and carry lots of planks and jump on rocks! You can’t really complain about free labor though can you??

Now about the park, I cannot begin to describe how impressed I was and how proud I am of all my friends! Meet VéloCycle eSwatini!

Rebecca Lewis, Kieren Vincent and Sebbie and Carol du Pont!

Coronation Park in Mbabane, Swaziland up until a few weeks ago mainly served as a place for people to go and hang out and do their “unmentionables”, for the sake of my PG rated blog I will let your imagination take you where it wants. Becca, Kieren and the Du Ponts had a vision to create a safe family place in Swaziland to cycle and get the whole family involved! With the help of the City Council and the Epilepsy Foundation they turned that vision into reality and thus you have the Coronation Cycle Park!

The Velo event on the 6th was a huge success and tons of people showed up! Even a family of 8! So I started out helping at the registration table until someone (not sure exactly who) decided to give me and my new buddy Sonia the important job of time keeping…

We thought we did an excellent job…. until the winner of the intermediate group cried because he wasn’t given credit for winning both races… In the end it was resolved but ah! too much pressure! whoops!

The greatest part about the whole day was all the kiddos who showed up!

All together it was so awesome to see people be so passionate about something and follow through with it. It’s a rare thing these days to see people chase big dreams and turn it into reality and I was glad I was there to experience my friends’ success with them! Thank you for letting me be a part of VéloCycle eSwatini for the day even if I wasn’t a very good timekeeper!

The day after the race my dear friend Rebecca picked me up and took me out to a wonderful belated birthday lunch at Malandelas! It was also the first time I got to meet her beautiful daughter Sian! Thank you Becca and Sian fir a great day!

But I didn’t come to Swaziland just for cake and bikes, I had a very important visit to make to two very special sisters. If you recall in previous posts the mention of Nomfundo and Sibo, the 2 young girls I sponsor for school in Swaziland that I met almost 3 years ago. Here is a picture of the first day I met them…

and some more from 2012…

They were just little babies! You can imagine my surprise to show up to two little women… I mentioned before in one of my blogs how sometimes people have those moments where you feel like you are becoming one of your parents? Well this was definitely a Mom moment for me! In my head I am thinking “You grew so tall and what the heck are those other things you grew???” ummm somebody please tell me where the little girls I left 9 months ago have disappeared to???

So I took them to a cartoon movie… again not realizing I had teenagers on my hand and not little girls… but I just couldn’t bare the idea of sitting through anything with them that wasn’t G rated! and if that wasn’t bad enough I was even less prepared for our annual shopping trip. “Oh my God! Do you not see how short that skirt is?” “I can see right through that shirt!” “Why would you pick those jeans I can put holes in a pair for free for you if you really want holes in them!” Everything I picked out seemed to get a funny look that implied “Ummmm you’re joking right? I wouldn’t be caught dead in that?” I’m pretty sure this may have been the same look I gave my Mother when she used to pick out “uncool items”. Ughh… I am not ready for Motherhood that’s for sure! In the end I think we made out pretty well… depending on who you ask of course! 🙂

STOP GROWING!!!!! I wish I would have gotten in a picture with the 2 of them because then you would see how they are almost as tall as me now! I can’t even imagine how big they will be next time!!!

If you recall in one of my recent posts I mentioned how the Scoville house was turning into the Scoville Zoo. I think I might have found some competition at Buhleni Farm! The Vincents were too kind letting me sleep there and I enjoyed waking up everyday to their 6 dogs, 5 horses, I think 3 cats? a new kitten and a very talkative bird! Wonderfully peaceful spot in the Ezulwini Valley with wonderful people. Thank You Vincents!!!

Now one of the big differences between Swaziland and Kampala, other than the fact that there are more people in the city of Kampala than there are in the whole country of Swaziland is all the beautiful spots! Now don’t get me wrong, you have even seen in my other pictures how beautiful the rest of Uganda is, but Kampala doesn’t leave much beauty to be desired.