We have arrived in Sundumbili, South Africa!

Well, it has been a very long journey for us and the three kids. We began on Monday morning and finally arrived at the Durban airport on Wednesday morning. Our flight course went; Vancouver to Seattle, Seattle to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Durban. The hardest part for me was getting comfortable in those small and rigid airline seats! The flight from Seattle to Amsterdam was the best for the kids. There were individual TV monitors and headphones for each passenger mounted on the back of each seat. Needless to say the fighting and complaining was minimal!

Once arriving in Durban we had a one hour drive down the N2 to Sundumbili which is a small suburb of Mandeni. We have a small park home that has three bedrooms, kitchen and most importantly, an air conditioner! It is very hot and humid here. This is a big adjustment for us coming from the very dry and parch Okanagan Valley. We live right across from the Clinic where Frank will be working. Our home is in a gated and locked area. We have a guard posted outside 24 hours a day. In our back yard is an avocado tree and a banana bush.

2008-12-27

This is Khumbalani and Samual two of our security guards here in the compound. They are very friendly and helpful in teaching us some of the Zulu words. They like to walk by the house often and look in to see what us "white" people do! I am sure we are very amusing to them!

2008-12-24

Some houses on the hill just outside Sundumbili.

2008-12-25

This is our park home for the four months we are here. It has three bedrooms, living room, kitchen and most importantly, an airconditioner!

I have included some pictures of our neighbourhood and surrounding area. The local grocery store is called the Spar and it is within walking distance from our home. Sundumbili is very small so we have ventured into Mandeni and Stanger to find some things. Our internet connects using the cell phone towers. It is suppose to be even faster than our dial up at home but it seems about the same!

I will post more as we get more settled into our lives here and have explored a bit more.

2008-12-24

Sundumbili is a suburb or township of Mandeni.

From 2008-12-24

The local spar store in Sundumbili. This is within walking distance from where we live and has a huge taxi stand area.

2008-12-25

Zinkwazi beach about 25 minutes from Sundumbili. Most beaches that are designated as "swimming" beaches have a shark net. This beach is at the mouth of the Zinkwazi river (creek) and most people were swimming in the river part. During high tide huge currents of warm water would sweep through and up the river creating wonderful, swirling currents to drift upstream on.

2008-12-25

Kids playing in the Zinkwazi river during high tide.

2008-12-25

This little Zulu girl was very interested in what Nicole was doing in the sand.

2008-12-31

people fishing during high tide at the mouth of the Tugela river. This river flows right beside Mandeni and you can see it well from some of the higher parts of Sundumbili.

2008-12-31

We are at the mouth of the Tugela river about a 10 minute drive from Sundumbili. This is not really a swimming beach. You can see crocs, sea turtles and sharks swimming at the mouth of the river. During high tide there are usually lots of people fishing here.

2008-12-31

These local cows were enjoying the cool breeze at the Tugela mouth beach while their owner also enjoyed some play time!