Saturday, December 31, 2011

First Week in Qholaqhoe!

I am now settled into my new home for the next two years. I live in a roundaval with a thatched roof and have only an Ntate for a host family. Ntate Tankiso is a shepherd and spends his days tending to his fields and livestock: two cows, three chickens, two donkeys, and a small flock of sheep. Ntate Tankiso speaks very little English and my Sesotho is not that great so our conversations are basic but we get by. However, he is very helpful and kind and wishes me a goodnight every evening.

Moving to a new site has been lonely as I don’t know anyone here and am now the only American. But I have started to make connections with people and get out in the community. Replacing a volunteer right after they COS creates a different dynamic. In one respect it is great to have the way already paved for you and already have a good sense of what has happened in the community. On the other hand the excitement of having a new volunteer is less and precedent has already been set by the previous volunteer.

A man in the village named Liteboho is attempting to start a tourism operation at the waterfall a short walk outside of my village. Liteboho and Bokong both just graduated from high school and are working to secure funding and work with the tourism agencies to develop this site. They took me to see the waterfall and cave area and tell me about their ideas. The place is beautiful and calm. Their ideas are grand and they envision info centers, displays, and pony trekking but they truly do have a sincere love for the place.

The waterfall is located at the very end of a ravine that is surrounded by large rock faces. The bottom is cool and forested. It has been dry for this time of year and the waterfall only has limited flow but has a huge drop.

The stream flows through the bottom of the ravine and there are many rock outcroppings for a rest.

Hiking up the side of the rock wall you come to a huge overhang cave. The place is a spectacular place to sit and look out over the valley as there are birds galore that fly through and the elevated outlook provides the perfect viewing point. Bokong and Liteboho envision bringing visitors to the cave and teaching them of the lifestyle of the Bushmen.

There is not a whole lot that I can do to help these two guys to make their dream of a tourism venture happen. The idea is far fetched probably because of the remoteness and lack of infrastructure. But they are making contacts and have tourism officials from South Africa coming to visit the site and want me to go back with them when they visit.

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