World Cup 2010

The World Cup in South Africa was something I had been looking forward to ever since I started working at CCF in 2008. Being able to share in the enjoyment of the world’s greatest sporting event with Africans in Africa was going to be great!

As I said in my previous blog I found myself in Windhoek at Joe’s Beer House having dinner with three Americans on the night of England’s opening game against the USA. Unfortunately our table was not in view of a TV screen so I spent my time darting back and forth checking on the score - when I found that Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard had put England ahead I was of course extremely happy and expected more to come. However, when I returned to see the score at 1-1 I was perplexed, only to be told by some American fans that our goal keeper had basically thrown the ball in the back of the net.......unbelievable! So of course my American colleagues had great fun giving me stick, after all, as one US paper proclaimed: ‘USA win 1-1!!’

But no worries the next game was against Alegeria, a team we were bound to thrash out of sight and really kick start our World Cup. So back at CCF on the night of the game I was joined by not only CCF staff and volunteers but also members of the International Conservation course that was being held at CCF, it was a packed house and I made sure everyone was routing for the mighty England by handing out England flags and party horns. The national anthem played and the game got under way amidst a fantastic atmosphere in the CCF common room!


But what followed was one the worst football games I have EVER seen, a totally abysmal 0-0 draw. Needless to say it was a HUGE anti-climax and I had to humbly apologize to everyone on my country’s behalf.

When I was not watching my countrymen play like a bunch of girls my attention was switched to the African teams and there were big turnouts in the common room to watch the Hosts South Africa’s games and there was a lot of excitement when they almost pulled of a miracle and qualify for the next round. One thing that became a curse of this world cup was the emergence of the vuvuzela, quite possibly the most affective torture device ever created, especially when people don't now how to blow it properly like one of our staff members Joe who sounded more like a moose suffering a very slow and painful death. Sadly for Joe his beloved vuvuzela mysteriously disappeared - I have absolutely no idea what happened to it...........

Some Americans commandeered the common room to watch the next USA game so I ended up watching England’s glorious annihilation of Serbia 1-0 at Englehardt’s house (the very Englehardt I battled to get a half drum from), the price for watching the game at his house? why some of my Hunters Gold cider of course!

So the next round saw England up against Germany, and in footballing terms for us english it really doesn’t get any bigger than that. In the week leading up to the game I showed my support by kitting out our feeding car with England flags and playing english footie songs loud and proud. The day of the game came and it was time to don the Queen’s attire once more, this time however it was complete with face paint, I looked pretty damned good :)


But as you now know, it would be the last time I would sing the national anthem. A mixture of our players again playing like a bunch of girls, a dodgy Uruguayan referee and a linesman who seemed to have forgotten that when the ball crosses two feet over the line that actually means you award a goal saw us going home..............it was not a good day!!!

So all of us at CCF (bar the one German) joined the rest of Africa and put their support behind Ghana but it was more heartache as the dirty, cheating Uruguayans hand balled their way into the semis. Thankfully justice was done and both Uruguay and Germany failed to make the final, which in the end also turned into a bit of an anti-climax and was probably the most boring final ever, but at least I got to see Fernado Torres holding the world cup whilst draped in the scarf of Liverpool!

Most of us were sad to see the tournament come to an end and the four year wait till the next one begins. It makes me wonder where in the world I’ll be watching. Where ever I’l be a few things will be certain - I’l be fully supporting the Three Lions, football WILL come home one day! I’ll still know the dance routine to Shakira’s Waka Waka and if anyone brings out a vuvuzela I will shove it down their throats!!

Tyger

Very sadly time ran out this week (old age and cancer) for our elderly retired livestock guarding dog Tyger, who I have helped look after for the two years I've been here. Tyger's condition went down hill very quickly last week and when she was unable to stand up on her own all of us at Boskop knew we had to say goodbye.

Tyger was one of the sweetest dogs you could ever meet and just loved attention. She would always follow Kate around the house when she had a day off, so much so that Kate would have to let her lie in the bathroom when she took a shower. Myself and Kate were particularly guilty of spoiling the old girl and would often let her sleep on the sofa, but when Tyger started to loose bladder control we had to put chairs up to stop her from jumping up. However, Tyger was often very determined and we would regularly find out that she had outsmarted us :)


She was a CCF dog but we loved her like our own pet and we will miss her greatly. Whenever I will look back at my time at CCF living at Boskop I will always think of her.

Holiday Part 2: Namibia

After having a thoroughly enjoyable time back home it was a great feeling to know that when I landed back in Namibia my holiday wasn’t over!

After picking up the rental car I ended up getting a bit lost in Windhoek due to me being extremely tired (and stupid) but I eventually made it to Arrebusch guest lodge where I met up with Kate. I was very pleased to see her and she appeared pleased to see me however she was rather more excited to see the 4kg of dark chocolate Toblerone I bought for her from the duty free shop, that’s right 4kg!!!!! I am a bloody good boyfriend am I not?? :)

I was far too tired to venture out anywhere so we just relaxed at Arrebusch and ate at their restaurant, which was excellent (the food there is probably the main reason me and Kate keep returning.) The next morning we headed of to the airport and picked up my sis and Jim. After a quick lunch we said goodbye to Kate and headed back to Arrebusch where this time it was Kate and Jim who were too tired to go anywhere. So the next morning is where our holiday really began!

Our first destination was Soussesvlei, but to get there we had a good 4-hour drive south ahead of us. Soussesvlei is an area consisting of stunning sand dunes and is one of Namibia’s most popular natural attractions. It has been a place I have been dying to see ever since I arrived in Namibia and it exceeded my expectations, being there was like being on another planet and all three of us loved climbing/sliding up and down the dunes.

Also, our accommodation near Soussesvlei was amazing as our room/tents were located in the dessert with stunning views of the Namib-Naukluft mountains. And my two years in Africa has helped turn me into a braai master and I thoroughly enjoyed cooking over a fire under a moonless sky with millions of stars above us – it was a fantastic start to our Namibia hols!



Our next stop took us right to the coast to Swakopmund. Swakop is Namibia’s prime holiday destination and is famous for all kinds of extreme sports and exciting activities. I have seen many of my CCF colleagues leave and return with amazing stories over the past two years and for one reason after another I have been unable or forbidden to go, so it was an amazing feeling to finally drive into Swakopmund and set eyes on the South Atlantic ocean for the first time.

We again lucked out with our accommodation, which was a very nice two-bedroom apartment with a sea view. When I booked this trip there were four things I just had to do in Swakop and I am pleased to say over our three-night stay we managed to do all four. The first was to go quad biking and sand boarding in the dunes and I can’t even describe just how much fun it was!


The second was to have dinner at the Tug restaurant, which is famous for its seafood; I had very nice calamari and kingklip and even braved the oysters that Kate had raved to me about although they did little to convert me. My sis and Jim had the………….chicken (although they also braved the oysters, again there were no converts!).

The third was to kayak in Walvis Bay with the sea lions, which was another amazing experience and something I will definitely try and do again before my time in Namibia is up.


The final thing I had to do was visit the craft market and test out my haggling skills. When we arrived we found that we were the only visitors in sight and were instantly pounced upon by the craft sellers and luckily for us all of them were offering a ‘special price’. Their special prices however were aimed at gullible first time tourists and so the haggling began. My greatest success was to get my favorite craft seller and fellow Liverpool supporter to come down from $2000 to $740 for two impressive woodcarvings. Again, never underestimate the power of the English charm!

Sadly after only three days it was time to head to CCF where we would stay the night before setting of early to Etosha. I took my sis and my cousin Ayesha there last year but unfortunately it was during the rainy season and animal sightings were not as plentiful as we would have hoped. This time our chances would be better and as it turned out I had my most successful Etosha trip yet! As well as plenty of Zebra, Springbok and Giraffe our sightings included 2 Leopards, 14 Rhino, Elephants, Hyeana, Honey Badger, Civet, Genet and a huge Male lion.




Kate and Jim’s last two days were spent at CCF and I got to show them our recently born livestock guarding dog puppies and take them feeding where they met the greatest cheetah in the world, my beautiful Xena!



The two weeks flew by and sadly one of the best holidays I’ve had was over :( Kate and myself took the day of and drove my sis and Jim to the airport and we said our goodbyes - How my sis managed to squeeze all the souvenirs she bought into her suitcases I will never know!

With Kate and Jim safely on the plane Kate and I made our way to Joe’s Beer House where we met up with some past CCF volunteers to enjoy one last night of freedom before getting back to work. It was also the night of England’s opening game in the 2010 World Cup. But more on that to come……

Holiday Part 1: Home

Despite the best efforts of the Namibian authorities I finally made it home for my holiday. It was great to see my family and friends and I had a fantastic time. Here are some of the highlights:

One of my favorite places in England has to be the Cornish Cyder Farm, at this magical place you can learn how cyder is made and enjoy free samples! They also serve the best Cream Tea in the world - for those who don't know, a cream tea is a pot of tea served with scones with clotted cream and Jam .........delicious!! Knowing of my love of the place and my wish to pick up a Cornish Rattler glass my lovely sis and her boyfriend Jim decided to take me to Cornwall for a weekend. It was great being at the coast and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Cyder Farm, I enjoyed some free samples, picked up some Rattler Cyder and of course had a cream tea! Other highlights of the trip included having proper English Fish and Chips and playing some crazy golf.





It was nice to see my cats, Sam and Robbie again and I was pleased to find that they still remembered me and came up looking for attention. The two boys are starting to look their age now but are well looked after by mum and sis.


When I had to cancel my holiday in March due to visa issues I was thoroughly peed off and thought the world was against me. However, I then found out that my rescheduled holiday would mean I was in the UK at the same time Infected Mushroom were playing their only UK gig of the year, it was fate! I quickly booked up my tickets and on the 21st of May myself and my good friend Dan traveled to London and spent 6 glorious hours raving it up through the night to Psychedelic trance acts - the highlight being a two hour set by the Room! It was AWESOME!!!




I LOVE theme parks and haven't been to one in two years so again my wonderful sis stepped up and despite not being a fan of almost all theme park rides took me along to Thorpe Park where I had great fun trying out all the rides, the best was the 'Saw' which made even this hardcore roller coaster fan feel queasy at the end.


The night before I was due to fly back out to Namibia we had a family meal out at a local Pub and the grub served up was unbelievably good.


So there we have it, thanks to my mum and sis I really enjoyed my time back in the UK and was sad to leave so soon. But upon arrival in Namibia I would begin the second half of my hols with sis and Jim traveling around Namibia! Blog coming soon :)

Bush Cricket

You may remember me talking about the introduction of cricket to CCF in a previous blog. And here is proof that its really taken of and the fields of Boskop (and donkeys) now regularly bare witness to titanic sporting battles on Sunday afternoons.

The pictures you see before you are from the first of the Boskop Test matches where CCF staff and volunteers formed teams of two and took turns to bat. Now, I have to say that I am rather good at her majesty's game so to make it fair I chose the Morkel as my partner who seriously failed to impress during our dinosaur weekend knock-around. So the game got underway and me and the Morkel took to the field and waited for our turn to bat.


Wickets fell at a quick pace, which was to be expected as most of the participants had never played the game before and it took them a while to learn the rules, especially the Americans who had a tough time realizing that they weren't playing Baseball.

Finally it was team Cleverley's turn and what followed will go down in the Boskop halls of fame as we proceeded to annihilate the competition! The Morkel summoned the eye of the tiger from somewhere and smashed the ball all over the park and at one point I hit the ball so hard that it literally disappeared. By the time the Morkel was bowled out we had racked up a monstrous 70 runs, a score that would prove unsurpassable by the others and the game was won!


There was some whining from the losers that we had hustled everyone and I knew of the Mighty Morkel's skill with the bat, but I can honestly say I didn't and her transformation from a hopeless amateur to cricket genius was worthy of a blockbuster sports movie with a montage.

Despite everyone taking defeat badly everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the great game did a fantastic job unifying multiple nationalities (Namibian, South African, American, British and even French) in a common cause :)

Photos by Rob Thomson

Morkel No More

Its taken me a while to post this one but I couldn't not do a blog about the departure last month of a CCF legend....the mighty Cheri Morkel. Cheri is of to the big lights of Windhoek where she'll be working at a veterinary clinic there. However, at this very moment she is in the states meeting up with Leigh and has by now probably eaten half of the USA's chocolate supply and gained another Morkel in weight (yes you can use a Morkel as measurement of weight as well).

So Cheri requested a country hoe down for her farewell bash and wanted to have it in our barn, so we could have a proper barn dance! However, we were never going to be given the OK for that so I did my best and transformed our visitor centre into a barn complete with two tractors parked outside.


Many people thought I was mad but it was worth it as lil Cheri loved it and the scene was set for barn stopin' hootanany! A great night was had eating great food of the braii and dancing long into the night to country classics such as 'Achey Breaky Heart' and 'Cotten Eye Joe' :)


The Morkel will be greatly missed but her legend will continue especially with the installation of the Morkel meter, which is now the most common way of measuring things at CCF. We all wish her well for her new life in the city and hope its not too long until we can meet up again :)