Another fun-filled day was planned for us – a trip to the beach. But before any further proceedings, Bush Blossom was looking for a new home and she found it on the head of Eric (Shu Yang) Xiao of Mainland China. His “award” was the result of a very non-environmentally friendly action – disposing of TWO mice that found their way into his hut!

On the way, we stopped at a traditional Zulu homestead, where we learnt much about how people have been living there for more than 400 years. “It was interesting to see how the Ngubani family live and make their food… I enjoyed myself the whole day,” said Maudelene Mokoena of South Africa. Also from South Africa, Cesaire Tobias had this to say: “ I have learnt a great deal about seemingly different worlds… and even as a South African I am learning things both from my country and abroad.”

After a while and several attempts to crush corn with the skill of the Zulu women, we left and headed for a Palm Wine- making area. Kaito (Kyeto) Kikuchi of Japan called it “the local winery” where we went “and took a sip of the wine made by the sap of date palm trees. It was sour and salty.”

From there, it was on to the beach! “The beach itself was spotless, a natural masterpiece placed on earth for the enjoyment of all,” is how Rally Schachat of South Africa described it. For Renee (Yuyue) Song of Mainland China, the beach was her favourite activity because she says,” not only do we seldom see oceans in the city, but also I have never been allowed to swim in an open sea no regard to the pollution of the sea water.” Even South Africans still appreciate the ocean. Jula Mabena of South Africa said that there is “nothing better than an African beach…I may have seen the beach many times before but every time you see it, it just looks prettier than the last time.” Emily (Manshin) Chang of Taiwan was so excited that she forgot all reason and hurled herself head-long into the waves. It was for this that she received the Bush Blossom hat the following morning.

But once the initial awe and wonder had passed, we set about really enjoying the sun, surf and sand. Ha Viet Nguyen of Vietnam explains, “We decided to do other funny things. We did bury 4 people – Mai, David, Jung Huan and Sharon – under the sand.” Jessica Standish-White of South Africa said how they had enjoyed “taking ‘Baywatch’ photos with Tshepo as our photographer, tanning and reading."

Snorkeling proved to be a little difficult because of the neap tide, but we enjoyed every minute of the day. Soon we would have to go and Steven (Ka Chun) Lee of Hong Kong put it, “I know its difficult to capture the moment by camera, but I will try my best…I feel harmonious, comfortable and simply just don’t want to leave.”