FACE//PAINTING

I've been home from Africa for over three weeks, but my mind still spends most of the day there. I had many adventures during my last few weeks in SA, so I'll just keep talking about them until I have something else to talk about! On my final day at Children of Hope we had a party and painted faces! I'm no amateur face painter (which is probably not something to be proud of), so I loved decorating these sweet little faces with whatever I wanted, rather than trying to clumsily fulfill shouted requests for "Spiderman, but in Auburn colors... and with a dragon tail and a Harry Potter scar" at a six-year old's birthday party in the States. I'm missing these baby angels today!

DAY//FOUR

Our final day in Cape Town took us to Robben Island, where political prisoners (most notably, Nelson Mandela) were kept in the days of apartheid. Visiting the island was incredibly special. South Africa has been largely freed from the ugly bonds of segregation and racism thanks to brave men like Mandela. We were guided around by an ex-inmate of the island and got to see the cell where Mandela was imprisoned for over eighteen years. Sadly, we later reluctantly boarded a late-night flight back to Jo'burg and returned to reality. 

photo credit: Hayley and Katy

DAY//THREE

We took to the high seas on Day Three for a little great white shark cage diving. Or, in the case of Hayley and me, a little great white shark sighting from a safe distance. Let's just say the experience was interesting and enlightening... who knew we all suffered from such debilitating seasickness?! Please refer to the "after" photos for our feelings about the day.  Despite pretty rotten weather and getting to see our breakfast in reverse, we did see some HUGE sharks, which was amazing!

photo credit: Hayley and Katy