Gap Year Experiences

So Long, Farewell and thanks for the memories!

Tuesday 27 April 2010

So I am back where it all started in good old Cape Town. Hopefully you all didn’t take too long to get home, it seems that nature itself even wanted you to all stay behind, luckily the Volcano was just too slow on the uptake. I just wanted to be say to everyone on the January 2010 Pepper experience; Thank you so much for an incredible trip! I think you all can agree that we had an extremely interesting and exciting group and really did become a pretty tight bunch by the end of it. Every single one of you really added your own little bit of spice to the trip and made it what it was – awesome!

First of all, Jake, although your time with us was shortlived in comparison to the rest, yiu really managed to make your mark on everybody and we reminisced about your background guitar presence many times. I must say I do really miss your ipod. But seriously you were a pleasure to have around and I hope that the rest of your gap year in the east is absolutely incredible!

Hughbert!!!!! Well to be honest you are a diamond in the rough! I will sorely miss your stories about Thailand, although there were an obscene number of them, you did tell them with so much enthusiasm! Now with the incredible hairstyle and keenness for photography(even if it is underwater) I can say you truly have embraced the Asian within you! Schnube, congratulations on becoming a master scuba diver in Mozam, with your enthusiasm in the sport I know you are going to have so many more amazing opportunities.

Freddie AKA Mountain Goat, Javelin, Frederick.....what a champion to have around! I will definitely miss your abilty to out-eat Big Ed! Its a rare rare talent my friend and as you always said; why not make the most of it while you can! To be honest Frederick, you really were a gem to travel with, forever enthusiastic! I hope You are wearing that flat peak proudly.

Georgie, wow! Never a dull moment (or quiet moment) with this kid around! For goodness sake, I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to picking out your memorable moments as you always managed to add a certain level of absolute madness to everything. From double bungy to jumping out of planes to diving with sharks, you literally threw yourself into everything humanly possibly in the space of three months! Stay in touch you wild child as I’m sure you will have some great stories to tell.

Georgia, our dear old friend from Bath!!! You really were the team player of the trip! Your subtle ways of being constantly awesome to everyone and about everything just made you pleasure to have around! I have to admit  I will really miss hearing your jokes (even if they are the same ones over and over again), especially after a few cocktails – you really do have an incredible talent in telling stories! George, good luck in everything you do, you really are an amazing individual!

Abi you were a suprise to us all (it just feels weird calling you Abi now)! It is amazing how you just took every opportunity thrown at you with an obscene amount of enthiusiasm! Even though you scored top marks in every test you came across you had an awesome balance of being extraordinarily entertaining at the same time! I will never forget our very own Bridget Jones lying across the bar counter of Loskop! You are a driven young lady and I think there is an obscene amount of passion within you waiting to burst out, hopefully the photography was just one example of a whole world out there of things you still have to excel in!

My dear Olivia! You are one special girl and have a heart of gold! From your sometimes incredibly ‘blonde’ comments to your hilariously entertaining weather watch, you were a pleasure to have around. Although there were some uncertain late nights with hot water bottles, painkillers and meditation (which I still swear by) you really were a trooper and taught me so much more about parenting than I could ever imagine! Liv, you are born to help the world and somehow in your funny little way of doing things I know that you will definitely be living your dreams sooner than you think. I hope the weather has been fantastically sunny for you since you got home.

Annabelle Sargent! No words can explain what an interesting character you are! To be quite honest, I think everyone will agree with me saying you brought your own very interesting element to the Pepper crew! I had my doubts in the beginning from that first night with your complete overtake of music, I thought to myself that there could be some painful hours of music during the three months, but to be fair at least you made your mark and I will never listen to dub-step again without thinking of you! Thank you for always just being exactly who you are, no one can deny that. You really are a truly amazingly unique individual and an absolute laugh to have around. I’m not even going to wish you luck for your future as I know that everything you do you will make sure that it will be something you love and are amazing at!

Harry, Harry, Harry! From your weird fascination with stray dogs on our first weekend to your obscene reading habits, you are actually quite a normal kid! In the beginning I figured you would be a bit of a live wire, this luckily wasn’t too prominent except for an unfortunate night for an Israeli guy in Hogsback! Even though you wear your pants very low (Mark at leats enjoyed this) and abnormally short T-shirts you actually have a pretty darn good angle on life and I’m pretty sure that you will always cruise through with an almost annoying ease.

Joshua, our resident army man! From your obsession with balsamic to your inability to allow anything to be simple, I actually believe you have potentially chilled out a bit the last few months. You really out did yourself by trying to be as different and complicated as possible but I do believe that one day this will actually be a beneficial characteristic for you. You were pretty useful to have around I have to admit and all I can say is Good luck with the army I hope you have stocked up gunpowder to keep you going.

So once again Thank You to everyone for addind your own little bit of personality to everything you did. It was an amazing trip and please stay in touch and come back to visit!

Much love to you all, if there was a microphone I would tell you all its now 11:37 so I must get going.

Keep in touch,

Love Pip.xxx

Harry sums it all up

Tuesday 20 April 2010

So this crazy Pepper Experience has finally ended. Looking back however, there is one question that needs answering. What have I learnt? Well, in simplicity, I’ve learnt that nearly anything is made better by being by the beach, whether it's a cold beer or even a nap in the sun. I’ve learnt that hackey sack is one of the greatest pastimes ever kicked into creation, and not just a game for hippies. I’ve learnt to appreciate the little things in life, like a warm shower on a cold(ish) day, or a cold shower on a hot one. But have I learnt anything about myself? I now know that my hair looks good with a mullet. I have also learnt how fantastic a sneaky shot of tequila can be on a night out. Or a night in for that matter. I have also learnt that jumping out of an aeroplane is very fun rather than idiotically stupid as I have always believed. I have learnt that running through a forest covered in war paint is amazing fun. I have learnt never to drink with my right hand. There are many other things I have learnt, yet so little time to mention them.

One thing that Pepper has definitely taught us is the need to try new things in life, whenever the opportunity presents itself, because you never know, it may be your last chance. Another is the need to chill out occasionally. Take a moment away from the hectic pace of life and watch a sunset, climb a mountain, admire a waterfall, look at the world from a different perspective. When you look at things from a different angle, then you can truly appreciate the beauty of it all, and when you return to normality, you can remember what you saw, what you did, and marvel. You can say to yourself ‘I did that’.

Harry.

Images of Mozambique

Monday 19 April 2010

Freddie contemplating life on a Mozambican beach

Not a bad way to spend the day!

Life on the road

Another jumping picture

The streets of Maputo

A hard day in the sun

Mozambican sunsets

The surfers and Harry

Public transport in Mozambique!

Onward to Mozambique!

Monday 19 April 2010

Annie, Bridge and Liv left us Sunday afternoon, and following morning the ”Mozam Crew” head north to the border. We left bright and early in the chance of huge border delays. Luckily we were into Mozambique after only a couple of minutes waiting and in the capital, Maputo, just before sundown. We spent the early evening walking the streets and tucked away in a small market sipping beers. Dinner was simple and sweet, and then early bed. Tomorrow beach!

Again we attempted an early departure but we only got on the road proper after an age at the bank and a mix up with the local traffic police (more like gendarmes with their assault rifles) , nothing that couldn’t be sorted with a few Rand. The road to Tofo was long and under development. Pip was a trooper driving through the bumps and the dust.

So far on the trip we hadn’t experienced all of the ‘Africa’ imaged in Hollywood, the news and National Geographic. Yes, there were parts without the glam, tourism infrastructure and development of places like Cape Town, Coffee Bay and Plett.  Losotho, Transkei and Hogsback are among those spots that had a deep rural charm because of a lack of almost little Western influence (of course evident in pinches) on the people and their cultures. Mozambique differed in that it was a whole country like this. Of course it has strong colonial roots from the Portuguese and currently trinkets from socialist revolution (our hostel was on the corner of Chairman Mao Avenue and Comrade Vladimir Lenin Road), but the country had an immediate feel of being less groomed and genuinely ‘African’. In Maputo and on the drive to Tofo a lot of jaws dropped at the landscape and villages. I felt I witnessed something new, and I was quite excited to experience interacting here, even for such a short holiday time.

Jaws dropped even further when we arrived at the backpackers. Snuggled along a ridge line with the ocean on one and sugarcane fields on the other sat our thatched roofed huts for the week. The sun rose over the sea and would settle beyond the sugarcane amongst tall coconut trees. The beach was long and curving with squeaky clean sand and never more than a dozen people stretched out. Food was all local, fresh and simple: it really either came from someone’s back garden or the sea that morning. The bar was on tab with a beer under a Pound. Pure bliss.

The days sped by on the beach, particularly after the first night boogying on the dance floor. Hugh and Georgie spent most of their time diving in the clear aqua water seeing manta ray and whale sharks. Unfortunately the surf wasn’t amazing; but that didn’t stop everyone giving it their best. The trip was largely relaxing: our biggest effort was to fetch another cocktail. Other than a few of us feeling the effects of the heat day and night, Tofo was the perfect way to relax after more than a month on the road.

Well fed and all a golden brown we headed back to Maputo for our eighth and final night in Mozam. Despite us being exhausted from all that beach time, we were all smiles: I think they were from an appreciation of vacationing in such a beautiful place and different setting, great group banter (all the boys fussing over how to change our first and only flat tire sticks out), and the realisation that such an amazing three months was really coming to an end. Mozambie was the perfect icing on an already incredible cake.

Cheers,

Josh.

The next episode for the Pepper Crew

Sunday 4 April 2010

We were pretty stoked to arrive in Jo'burg on Friday after two incredible weeks in the bush. Despite the city being fairly quiet on Easter weekend, we managed to celebrate with an extraodinarily large meal followed by a much appreciated dance-floor session. After a little hunt for some happy dance tunes we found our way to little gem of a dance-floor which played embarrasingly cheesy music. So cheesy in fact that we even had Hubert dancing the night away!

Hugh soaking up some bromance!

After being the very last people leave the club on Friday night, we took a fairly relaxed Saturday morning with a extremely moving trip to the Apartheid Museum. This answered a lot of questions for the team about SA history and think it was an eye opener all round, even for myself.

After a last minute shopping and admin session at Sandton City we relaxed to a last meal at Nelson Mandela Square. With the inevitable feelings of sadness starting to brew. Although we even had a late night visit from a sneaky Easter bunny, all woke up this morning in a pretty sombre mood!

With a final Pepper Crew breakfast, some funny presents and many farewell hugs it was time for Liv. Annie and Bridge to depart.

One very special blonde!!!

What a nutter!!!

Our very own Bridget Jones!!!

All three of you have been an incredibly amazing part of the team! You are all barely in the air on the way home and are being missed already! Thanks for some incredible times. You all had a fair share of entertaining moments to add to the last three months!

The rest of us; Hugh, Georgie, Harry, Freddie, Georgia, Josh, Ed and myself are just chilling back at the backpackers awaiting the incredible next and last leg of this Pepper Experience - MOZAMBIQUE!!!!!

We are leaving first thing in morning and so it will be farewell SA for a while....

Look forward to sharing some great stories involving beach days, surfing, diving soem Portugese cooking, fresh seafood off beach and most of all Tipotinto!

Till then,

Pip

xx

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