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Apr 14 2014

Surfing

The last week was a week of holiday for the MBC kids. Ant came up with the idea to fill their free time with a meaningful activity – surfing. There is an annual surfing competition for voluntary organizations like MBC. The last time the MBC kids participated they won a silver medal. It was a huge achievement and they have every reason to be really proud of this. This time they want to better themselves and win a gold medal. Winning is not only a big achievement but it is also a great way to attract the attention of sponsors who could potentially provide funding to purchase things like new wetsuits for the MBC kids.

Every morning of their holiday week the kids came to Learn 2 Surf in order to improve their surfing skills. Not all of the kids were supposed to join the extra surfing but only those who have a realistic chance to win a medal in the competition. In their weekly MBC lesson the kids used to surf with longboards. The challenge of this week was to surf with shortboards because this is the condition in joining the contest.

Yamkela, Asi, Kiyaam, Phila, Siya and Frankie getting ready to surf

The daily routine was as follows: 11am rings the doorbell of the Learn 2 Surf office – the kids arrive. They collect their surf gear and head down to the beach huts. Once there they change and do their warm-ups. They head out into the sea paddling through white wash, aiming to catch green waves. They spend most of their time in the sea improving their surfing skills. In breaks the kids rest, get food and rewarm in the sun. When they feel energized they return to surfing. 4pm the doorbell rings again – the kids finish their surf day.

Siya and Kiyaam catching waves

Lunchbreak…

Phila doing tricks on his surfboard

Every day Ant encouraged the kids by giving them talks explaining them how to surf, which waves to catch and which to ignore. He told them to only aim for green waves not white wash and therefore to paddle as far out as possible. This for some of the kids appeared as an issue because they are scared of deep water, which to them seems to be dangerous. This and other talks encouraged the kids to paddle out further.

In addition to surfing and to tone up, this Friday the kids and the volunteers went to the tidal pool in St. James.

Kiyaam, Frankie, Will, Asi and Siya at St.James

There the kids were supposed to practice their swimming skills while racing against each other and also test themselves in holding their breath underwater.

Swim training at St.James

Asi and Kiyaam carrying stones under water to improve their endurance

It was a week of fun and good practice with the kids and it was impressive to see how disciplined they all were and how mature they acted about surfing because they were motivated and willing.

After practising the kids have fun in the water

Anna, MBC volunteer from Germany
and Will MBC volunteer from England

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: Cape Town, Gapyear, Learn2Surf, MBC, Muizenberg, Muizenberg Beach Club, South Africa, Surf, Surfing

Apr 4 2014

Hiking trip in Table Mountain National Park

Hiking is a really popular activity for both kids and volunteers. The kids like it because the trips usually go to a place where you can swim. The volunteers like it because then they have time to talk to the kids and get to know them better.

So last Friday Ant, Zeus, Saskia, Will and me fetched the kids in the MBC bus and went to an area in the mountains close to Muizenberg. A waterfall with natural swimming pools in one hour walking distance was the destination of the trip.

Ant and the MBC kids discovering the way to the waterfall

The path leading there alternated with adventurous footpaths, stony stairs and wooden bridges. Along the way the kids played football or climbed on high rocks with Ant.

Summiteers Ant, Kiyaam, Themba and Siya

After a half hour walk we arrived at the “waterfall” which unfortunately was no waterfall at all. Due to the last weeks of too little rain it was only a runlet and the swimming pools were just 10 inches deep. But still there was enough water to slake the thirst. The kids as well as the volunteers enjoyed cooling their hot faces under the waterfall.

Themba, Kiyaam and Siminkiwe

Saskia, Will and me decided to follow a couple of kids (Kiyaam, Cameron and Siya) who had left the rest of the group to explore the closer area. After some time, that felt like five minutes, the three Europeans were totally lost in the South African jungle. We followed a small stream until the thicket became impassible. Right before turning around we heard Kiyaam, Cameron and Siya. They were somewhere up a hill and shouting our names. They even shaked some smaller trees to guide us the way towards them. We tried to find a way to them but they were unsure of their whereabouts as well so it was hopeless.

Into the wild…

We decided to wander back to the waterfall where the rest of the group was waiting and splashing in the water.

Lost boys Kiyaam, Cameron and Siya

Climbing up the waterfall

I had some chocolate cookies that I gave to the kids – they finished the sweets within seconds. When it was time to leave we packed our stuff and the kids were still motivated and carried Saskia’s and my backpack. Maybe they just wanted to get some extra stars for the MBC star chart but for us the way back passed off easily. We returned back to the bus in the warm afternoon sun all tired and hot but feeling a sense of achievement to have hiked far!

Anna, MBC volunteer from Germany and Will, MBC volunteer from England

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, adventure, Cape Town, explore, hiking, MBC, MBC kids, Muizenberg, nature, South Africa, Table Mountain National Park, volunteering, waterfall

Apr 2 2014

Hermanus

My last weekend I spent with Saskia and Will in Hermanus. Hermanus is a small fishing village close to Walker Bay and much affected by tourists. We rented a car in Cape Town for the trip. We were all really excited because neither Saskia nor I had ever been driving on the left side of the street. Luckily Saskia is a good driver and she managed driving at the wrong side of the street pretty fast, only the use of the blinker was difficult, instead of the blinker you would see windshield wiper turn on.

We went over the highway until we arrived Somerset West and from there we drove along the Whale Coast Route. Driving through Somerset West you need to lock your doors and close your windows, because there are all kinds of people trying to sell you stuff when you have to stop at a traffic light. But you also see funny things. One guy had a sign saying “Wife and kids kidnapped by ninja fighters. Need money for teakwondo lessons.” At least he was creative…

Our next stop was at a parking lot at the Whale Coast, somewhere close to Gordons Bay. We had lunch there and saw something in the water that might have been a really big dolphin or a really small whale. Actually I think we saw both.

Whale Coast Route

In Betty´s Bay I saw for the first time penguins in the wild. They were so cute waddling at the beach or falling into the water. Unfortunately you cannot see them from close because you are walking on a footbridge over the penguin area. Next to Betty´s Bay there were baboons crossing to road. When I texted my boyfriend, that I saw baboons, penguins and an animal similar to a whale he asked me if I went to the zoo. Nope, that´s South Africa, honey!

Betty´s Bay

Baboons crossing the road

In Hermanus we went straight to the beach and tanned in the sun. When it became darker we went into the town and there to a tapas restaurant. On Saturdays there is a flea market in Hermanus where you can get animals made from plastic pearls, recycled paper necklaces or solar-powered lamps in jam jars. The night we spent in Hermanus Backpackers but sleeping was quite difficult, thanks to two loud and drunk roomies.

Exploring Hermanus

Very early on Sunday morning Saskia and me went to Kleinbaai Harbour in Gransbaai where we wanted to do shark cage diving. Due to my map reading skills we arrived 20 minutes too late but it was no problem because the waves were too high and the wind was too strong, so the shark cage diving tour was canceled. Still we had a really good and gratis breakfast and watched a movie about sharks. When we came back to Hermanus it was still very early in the morning, so we decided to have a coffee, climb up the local mountain of Hermanus and just stray around in the town. After sightseeing we enjoyed the finer things in life: shopping!

Local mountain of Hermanus

Lunch we had together with Will in Bientang´s Cave, which is an incredible seafood restaurant built in the cliffs of Hermanus. You can sit there and watch the waves crash into the rocks. The water sometimes sprayed so high that you could feel drops of water on your skin but never so much that your food got wet.

Incredibly good salmon at Bientang´s Cave

After another time at the beach we finally started our drive back. It was a great weekend in beautiful Hermanus and on our way to Muizenberg we could watch the sunset at Whale Coast Route.

Sunset at Whale Coast Route

Anna, MBC volunteer from Germany

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, Beach, Betty's Bay, explore, Hermanus, Penguins, South Africa, volunteering, Week-end, Whale

Mar 31 2014

Markets in and around Muizenberg

There are lots of different places in Muizenberg and the closer surroundings where you can go to shop or just to enjoy all kinds of food. Every Sunday there is the Muizenberg flea market where you can buy cheap dresses, backpacks or handmade leather bags. But there are also strange things to find, for example used bathroom fittings or toilet seats. The handmade leather bracelets are cheap and look really nice.

Old Biscuit Mill Market in Woodstock

Last Saturday Saskia, Sara, Freddie and me went to the Old Biscuit Mill Market in Woodstock, close to Cape Town. It consists of a big flea market with high quality and therefore really expensive clothes, bags, furniture and other odds and ends. We just saunted and marveled at the beautiful necklaces that were way too expensive to buy. The other part of Old Biscuit Mill Market is a really nice food market, where you can find everything that the heart could wish for. I had a really good traditional “Flammkuchen” that reminded me of good old Germany while the girls had Pizza. It was so much fun sitting there in the sun with good food, chatting and enjoying the good atmosphere of the Old Biscuit Mill Market.

All kinds of food at the lovely market…

Pizza and sun at Old Biscuit Mill Market

One of the most impressive and beautiful markets is the weekly outdoor food market at Cape Point Vineyards in Noordhoek. It is every Thursday and is from 4.30pm to 8.30pm. We went there in Ants old opened jeep to watch sunset in the amazing view of cape point vineyards and the ocean. The drive there was windy but the view of the setting sun compensated everything.

Ride in Ant´s car

The food at Cape Point Market is delicious and spectrum ranges from fudge and banana crêpe to fancy cakes and from paella to oysters. You can sit on a large lawn in front of the modern natural stone house and drink wine, count stars in the incredibly clear sky and try to see the star signs.

Sunset at Cape Point Market

Every Friday there is the Blue Bird Garage Food & Goods Market in Muizenberg. It is an indoor market, consisting of a foodmarket and a fleemarket. Compared to the Cape Point Vineyard Market it is not as fancy but therefore a lot more chilled and cosy. I went there with Saskia and after eating a really good Burger while sitting on a cosy ale-bench, we went to shop at the fleamarket. Here you can get everything from old books, home made jewelry to clothes. It was funny watching Zeus, acting like a guest of honor, straying around, getting stroked and trying to get as much leftover food as possible.

We enjoyed the sunset bevor we went to Muizenberg Market

Cosy atmosphere at Blue Bird Garage Food & Goods Market

Anna, MBC volunteer from Germany

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: Blue Bird Garage market, Cape Point Market, food, markets, Muizenberg, Noordhoek, Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock

Mar 24 2014

First impressions of Muizenberg

At my first week in Muizenberg I already experienced a lot! I arrived here on Monday and started with the project on Tuesday. My new roomies showed me the area and the Muizenberg “hotspots”. After my first surf lesson and an introduction to the project I finally met the kids and could watch them surf with Luca. It was really nice, seeing them having fun while surfing.

Luca surfing with the kids

Siminkewe and Themba

Kiyaam catching a wave

On Thursday we played soccer and it was Phila’s 18th birthday. Freddie and Saskia brought a chocolate cake which the kids ate in a blink. There were many stars for the MBC reward chart given to the winning team that actually won twice: Kiyaam, Mike, Godfrey, Siminkiwe, Asi and Themba.

Birthday boy Phila with Saskia and Freddie

Winning team

Friday was a national holiday, so there was no hiking on that day. Therefore Saskia, Freddie, Sara and me went to the We Are One Colour Festival in Cape Town. All of us got 5 powder bags in different colours – yellow, orange, pink, green and blue. Every hour there was a countdown from 10 to 0 and then everyone threw up the coloured powder in the air. It was amazing, seeing the colours spread out in the air, while seeing the view of Table Mountain in the background.

Throwing up coloured pouder

Colour Festival in Cape Town

Me, Freddie, Sarah and Saskia at We are One Festival

By (Anna) Schmitt, MBC volunteer from Germany

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, birthday, Cape Town, colour festival, MBC, MBC kids, Muizenberg, Soccer, Surf, surf lesson, Surfing, volunteering

Mar 19 2014

Shark Cage Diving

I went shark cage diving last weekend about 20 minutes away from where I’m staying in fish hoek. I got picked up at 6.00 along with three other friends and got taken to gansbaai. When we got there we took the boat out until we arrived at a seal island. Seal island is a good place to go for shark diving as it is there feeding ground in the morning. When we got there the men working on the boat dispatched a cage into the sea. They also started Cutting up chunks of meat an throwing blood into the water to attract the sharks.

Two people we were with and my friend volunteered to go first. They got suited into wetsuits and launched themselves into the cage. The wait for our first siting of a shark took at least a good 10 minutes. But once we saw it, it was most defiantly worth it. This huge 15ft shark appeared out of the cloudy water a few meters in front of the people in the cage and the sudden visible shark startled them. After that they because hooked and eager to see more.

After some time it was my turn to go in. Excited and nervous I lunged into the cage. Holding onto the bars I waited looking around the water. It wasn’t long till I spotted a shark. At first I was terrified but it’s sutitly and elegance made me feel relaxed and I enjoyed watching them. I got out the cage and suddenly sited an 18ft shark! It swam by the boat and I realised that it was maybe nearly as big as the boat was! After that we headed back. On the journey back we spotted a pack of dolphins which was also an awesome thing to see! Overall the experience was fantastic and brilliant fun. A mix of adrenaline and excitement!

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, adventure, Gansbaai, shark, Shark cage diving, South Africa, volunteering

Mar 3 2014

Movie time!

Last Tuesday we took the kids from Muizenberg Beach Club to watch a movie at the cinema in Claremont!

In the afternoon we picked the kids up as usual, but due to the bad waves we went to the St James tidal pool and had a swim instead of surfing as we normally do on Tuesdays. After having fun in the water for a couple of hours, it was time to head back with the kids. We picked them up again later on in the afternoon and drove to the mall in Claremont. The drive there was everything but calm and quiet… The guys were, as expected, very enthusiastic for our little trip and could not sit still for one second! They were practically jumping up and down in the back seats, filled with excitement for what was yet to come.

Just arrived at the mall, feeling excited!

Once we arrived, we bought the kids some much appreciated popcorn and drinks, and sat down to watch the movie. The film chosen was RoboCop, about a cop who’s in a terrible accident and ends up wearing a robot suit instead of arms and legs. The half human / half robot continues working as a cop, fighting bad guys and trying to keep the town safe whilst driving around on his motorcycle. It did not come as a surprise that the guys really enjoyed the movie, especially the action bits. Although it might have been a little bit late for some of them (Yamkela fell asleep halfway into the film), the evening was overall a big success. The guys were buzzing on the way home, talking about their favourite parts of the film.

Me, Sia, Frankie and Anton heading up to the cinema.

It was so much fun to do something different with the kids – hopefully we get to do something like this again soon!

/Freddie, volunteer from Sweden

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, Cinema, MBC, MBC kids, Movie, Robocop, South Africa, tidal pool, volunteering

Feb 24 2014

Football

On the weekend I went to watch the Ned bank cup game, Milano United vs blumfontan young tigers. We picked up the kids and headed to the ground which was in an army base 40 minutes from Muizenberg, near Cape Town. We arrived to a small but atmospheric crowd all huddled onto stands overlooking the pitch. We took our seats facing central of the pitch, the kids all looking very excited. As the game began the fans were quiet but as the game got more intense nearing to the end of the second half with the score at 0-0 the roars and shouts were obvious.

During half time with the score still 0-0 me and the kids went to get hot dogs and drinks. Most the time they were telling me how unlucky Milano United were because they had so many good attempts they just weren’t able to score. As we sat back down and the second half began they were at ease when number 6 managed to get the ball in the back of the net. 1-0 to Milano United. Shortly after though blumfontan were awarded a penalty and scored. The game progressed to extra time and then penalties. In the end Milano managed to get the win and the fans were all satisfied with the final results! It was definitely an enjoyable game to watch an a completely different environment to what I’m used to.

Soccer-Ant and the guys watching the game!

/ Will, volunteer from the UK

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, Cape Town, MBC, MBC kids, Soccer game, South Africa, volunteering

Feb 20 2014

Climbed Table Mountain!

Me, Matt, Matilda, Anton, Freddie (the volunteers from Muizenberg Beach Club) and others from the volunteer house went into Cape Town and of course when your in Cape Town you have to go up Table Mountain.

Unfortunately for us it was too windy to take the cable car so we had to hike. We got a taxi up to the start of the climb and were already amazed by the views. After making sure we followed the usual advice that we had enough water and appropriate footwear (or flip flops in Matt’s case), we began our ascent.

It was a tough climb but we had the excuse of stopping to admire the view and take piccies as a chance to rest.

It took us an hour and a half to get to the top and were not prepared for how cold it got but the views soon made us forget that!

The descent was quicker but still quite tough, and it made our legs ache, but definitely worthwhile (just so you can say you’ve done it). Afterwards we got in a taxi to the Waterfront to have a well earned meal and a drink then headed back to Fish Hoek, tired but buzzing about our great weekend.

/ Katie, volunteer from the UK

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, climbing, explore, hiking, MBC, nature, South Africa, table mountain, volunteering

Feb 19 2014

Basketball!

Ant asked us volunteers to plan an activity one Thursday with the kids from Muizenberg Beach Club. The first thing that popped into my head was basketball! I play basketball back home in Sweden for the team KFUM Ludvika. Freddie, another volunteer from Sweden, have also played basketball. That’s why I thought we could make a really fun afternoon playing with the kids and teaching them a bit about the game. At the beginning of the week we went into Fish Hoek to buy a basketball for MBC. We thought it was a great gift to buy for the kids!

Joe trying to score

Thursday came and with the ball under my arm and in a really good mood we went to pick up the kids and drive them to the basketball court. When the kids see the minibus they always run towards it with the biggest smiles on their faces. Today was no different – the kids jumped into the car after giving me the usual high five, excited for today’s activity. When we arrived and started to organise the game, some of the kids were a bit skeptical. Soccer is normally the kids’ favourite sport and a few didn’t really want to play basketball, but everyone agreed to give it a shot and after a short while all of them were playing with us, trying their best!

Siminkiwe ready for the rebound!

I think that everyone enjoyed it because it was something new instead of the usual soccer game on Thursdays. Before I got here I thought that every kid here would know how to play basketball and that it’d be really popular, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. Basketball doesn’t seem to be especially big here in South Africa. Soccer, rugby and cricket are the most common sports here. The kids always talk about soccer and the Kaizer Chiefs being the best team – a lot of them wear orange and black jerseys with the team logo on it.

Happy to be back on the court!

I’m so happy about the way the day turned out. It was such a fun day playing basketball with the kids. The thing I miss the most about Sweden is absolutely playing basketball back home with my team-mates. I hope we’ll play some more before I go back to Sweden!

/ Anton, volunteer from Sweden

By muizenbergbeachclub • Uncategorized • • Tags: #volunteers, Basketball, MBC, MBC kids, South Africa, volunteering

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