Travel memories by Stella
Stella is Sophie’s daughter and 4th generation of the Lööf family.
Sweden – South Africa 2015
Sunday, February 8 The flight to Dubai took us six hours and twentyfive minutes, all went well and there was little turbulence. Tomorrow we are continuing our journey to South Africa.
Monday, February 9 The flight to Durban took eight hours and I managed to sleep a little. We took a cab to buy some water at the grocery store and then we went to the hotel, I went to bed early.
Tuesday, February 10 This morning we are going to Folweni High School. We were driven there through an amazing landscape and we saw how the poor people lived. The houses were either made of stone or sheets of metal. All people had one house to live in and a round house where they could contact spirits or ancestors. At the school we met the principal and talked about the three years to come and what the plans are. In each class there are 40 to 50 students, the ones we met were all 16 years old although the students in the school range from 12 to 21 years of age. They all looked very happy, despite their situation. The students were stunned to see how pale we were. We handed out pencil cases and took a lot of pictures together. The children go to school between 7:45 and 15:15, approximately the same as in Sweden. It has been a
great day with lots of loving emotions. Sadly I felt ill at the end of this day.
Wednesday, February 11 Still not feeling too good, so I stayed at the hotel room until 15:00 in the afternoon. Today we are going on a safari tour for three hours, which will finish with a bush dinner out in the wild. I got to see three of the ”big five” (elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, lion and cheetah). We got to see a lot of exciting animals thanks to our brave guide, among other things a group of elephants fighting each other. In the evening I felt very tired, the Zulus were singing and dancing and Måns Zelmerlöw played ”Don’t you worry child” on his guitar.
Thursday, February 12 Mum is also beginning to feel sick. We decided to visit a doctor, who gave us a drastic cure. We rested in the cool of our room for the rest of the day, looking forward to the Boma dinner. We had dinner in a beautiful enclosure. Someone had lit a fire and the stars shone from the sky as we ate together with the energetic Star for Life crew. Lööf Foundation is now officially a part of the Star for Life project, we received a special book and they played us a fanfare. Mum was very moved. The Star Choir sang us Zulu songs. Måns, Mo and Kasper sang ”I’m yours” together, which was much appreciated. Jessica Folcker sang some beautiful songs together with the Star Choir and we all had a lovely evening to remember.
Friday, February 13 I was feeling at my worst today so sadly no activities for me. Mum visited a primary school which turned out to be very rewarding. She got to see how Star for Life works with the youngest children and was pleased with what she witnessed. Mum told me that music played a big part in the learning process and she thought that was such a great idea since music has a way of touching the heart.
Monday, February 16 Time to leave Hluhluwe for Cape Town. We both feel better today, except for some stomach
problems due to our medication. The bus ride took three hours through the bush, but I slept the whole time. A small aircraft took us to Cape Town, it was a two hour flight. We got a guide tour from our dedicated escort. She showed us Table Mountain and a lot of other interesting sites. We had a nice dinner in our tiny hotel room. This journey has been, to say the least, revolutionary, educational and exciting. Although we have been ill, we still got to experience so much! I will have to give South Africa a second chance some time in the future!
Stella