2018 has arrived and it is time to take a look at the year that has been and remember the adventures I've had. During 2017 I had three trips abroad, where I, among other things, did volunteer work with animals and visited two new countries. It is these three adventures I will show you.
South Korea
In 2016 Mai decided to go study in South Korea and she stayed until summer this year. I figured she'd like some company for a week or two, so in May I went to visit her. We mostly stayed in Seoul, but since we had been here once before (Easter 2012) we didn't have to do much sightseeing. However, Mai and her class had planned a trip to Gyeongbokgung Palace and of course I tagged along=) The cool part was that they rented costumes in order to get free entrance and they looked great! I had visited the palace grounds before, but this time, since it was closer to summer, the colors were vibrant and gorgeous, just take a look at the pictures.
Besides hanging out in various parks, walking along the river, celebrating a birthday and drinking iced coffee all day, we decided to spend my last weekend at the coast, in Busan. Here we spent time at the beach, took a look at the artworks created for the Sandfestival and went out with the people we met at the hostel. Basically, we enjoyed ourselves immensely!
Spain and Gibraltar
During summer I always try to have at least one trip to a warmer country, since the norwegian summer has been quite disappointing several years in a row. This year I ended up outside Malaga in Spain with my dad, my sister and their other halves, plus a family friend. We rented a house up in the hills above Torrox, a small village close to the sea.
Much time was spent at the beach or the pool at the house (yes, we had our own pool!!). My dad however, is one of those people who can't sit still for long, so he had many outings planned for us...sigh...no, just joking, we had a lot of fun exploring the nearby area.
One day we decided to take a road trip to Gibraltar since it was only a few hours away by car. We went on a guided tour by since this is the only way you get to see most of the city, after they closed the mountain roads for all cars except those who live there and the white guide cars. First we went to the viewpoint
where it is possible to look across to Africa on a clear day! Then we visited one of the monkey families. They are so used to people, they climb on the cars and steal stuff if they can grab it. After the tour we just walked around eating ice cream and did a little shopping. Oh, I forgot to mention: in order to enter Gibraltar, you have to walk across the airport runway! That is cool!
We also had a more active excursion; El Caminito del Rey. For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is a nature trail in a canyon in the Malaga mountains where much of the path consists of boardwalks fastened to the vertical mountain walls and a footbridge across a large gorge! An easy walk really, but my pulse sped up a bit when we were 100 meters above the canyon and the only thing holding the boardwalk up was some bolts and a few pieces of metal...=P
South Africa
In October I had my last long trip in 2017. I booked a spot on the volunteer project "Wildcat Project" via STA Travels, in Kimberley, South Africa! This was my first time doing anything like this and I was extremely excited to get started.
The two first days we were in Johannesburg. Here I got to meet the rest of the volunteers who was going to the same project as me. We also had a walking tour of downtown Johannesburg and went on an excursion to Soweto where we got to visit an afternoon school and spend some time with the kids there.
Next stop was The Felidae Center, the place I was volunteering at. This is a wildlife reserve conserving African wild cats and predators in their natural habitat. They have lions, cheetahs, jackals and a bunch of other cute animals! Our job was basically to feed and water the animals every day, do whatever maintenance required in the enclosures, keep the enclosures and surrounding areas clean and everything else that need to be done! We also helped build houses and renew the volunteers' apartment. The work hours during the day was more than fine, barely 8 hours a day and we had many break.
Needless to say, the animals were wonderful! Many of them were wild, so we had to keep our distance, but some were safe to visit inside the enclosure and cuddle with, at least as safe as previously wild animals can be=) Zena, the cheetah, is their main attraction. She is very social and generally likes people. I had a wonderful time being with her and was amazed how "tame" she was. The bond the people who run the place have with these animals is incredible! I am in awe of them.
We could also socialize with the jackals, monkeys, meercats, bat-eared foxes, Becky the springbok and Pumba the warthog. I especially fell for Gordon, one of the vervet monkeys, and Jack the jackal. Benji, the baby monkey, or teenager more likely, was probably the one I liked least, but that may have something to do with the fact that he bit me badly twice!
The other great thing about this place was the people I met. The Burger family who runs Felidae is just amazing, each and every one of them. Every day all year they have volunteers on their ranch, non stop. They are kind, patient and care deeply for their animals. I also met many new friends among the volunteers, great people that I hope I will be able to keep in touch with! It takes a certain mindset in order to do stuff like this, one has to be open and willing to get to know many new people as well as cooperative and flexible. When people have this attitude it is hard not to like them and become friends.
In other words; going on a volunteer project was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time and I have no doubt that I will do it again! Take a look at some of my pictures below=)
