The Final Chapter:
I seemed to have left you all hanging......Did we finish the presentation in time?  Did I make it to London in time for my next flight?  Well it's about time I answered these questions......

We did finish the presentation in time and the final run went off without a hitch.  We got to meet back up with the rest of the team on Friday and each sub-group debriefed the local IBM team and handed off any outstanding items.  We presented Sydney, Toto and Jurie with a final thank you including a team pic for all they did for us.

We all headed to Nelson Mandela Square for supper and then it was off to the airport hotel for our final night in South Africa.

The next day some headed out on early flights home, some to spend a few weeks holiday touring more of what South Africa had to offer, which left a handful of us with a final day to see the sights.  We ended up heading to the Cradle of Mankind.  It was a really cool place to visit.  In case you haven't heard of it, it where Lucy was discovered further solidifying Darwin's theory of evolution.  We had a guided tour of the center, which was a cross between a museum/science center/park. 

It was a great way to end our trip.  But of course for me, this trip would not be complete without a final flight delay out of Joburg, resulting in me almost missing my connecting flight to Scotland!  But never fear,  I did find Jason at the gate and made it just in time!

We had a wonderful week in the UK, but that story my friends is for another time.......

Thank you for sharing in this experience with me and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!  If you have the opportunity to go to South Africa, TAKE IT!  You will be amazed!

Day 28-30:  It's the final countdown.......

Wednesday.......it's presentation day eve and the pressure is on.  It's a holiday here in South Africa so David, Rajib and I have been sitting in the hotel lobby since early morning working on pulling together the final presentation.  It's been a long road but I finally see the end off in the distance. 

Speaking of roads, we got a ride back from to the hotel from the IBM office on Monday thanks to Nicholas.  It was my first and most likely the only time I will have rode in the back of a 1974 Rolls Royce!  We were in awe.....

We took time to have a nice dinner on Monday at an Italian restaurant close to here.  The food was AWESOME.

Tuesday we took some photo's at the IBM office.  They had all the comforts of home including a cigarette vending machine.....I can't recall the last time I saw one of those in Canada.....

I am looking forward to meeting back up with the group on Friday for one last ho-raw before we all head our separate ways.  

Day 26-27:  "Everybody's working for ON the weekend???".........

Well it's getting down to the crunch for preparing our final deliverable and everyone was feeling it.  Saturday morning was overcast and rainy so it made for a good working conditions (didn't feel like you missed too much).  The sun finally peeked through late afternoon so we took the opportunity to head down to the Pancake House for lunch on the water.  We got to watch the dolphins which were really in close to the shore which was really cool.  David and I would have jumped in to swim with them had we had our swim trunks!

We got confirmation late Friday that David, Rajib and I would be heading back to Joburg early to complete some additional interviews.  So we reached out to Stephen and Duane who have been hosting us from UFH and decided to get together for dinner on Saturday.  It was great to connect with them and get to know them a bit more.  They have been fantastic hosts and we are grateful for everything they have done for us.  Hopefully our paths will cross again!

We headed out early Sunday for the airport and stopped along the way at UFH to take some final photo's.  The flight was smooth and the hotel in a great location (within walking distance to the IBM office).  I went to the craft market at the mall attached to the hotel and picked up some gifts for home.  Then it was room service and down to business.

It's been a great experience, but I am looking forward to getting our final presentation done and over with and reuniting with the rest of the team on Friday.

Day 24-25:  The unpredictability of a developing nation.

Well it's been an interesting couple of days for the University of Fort Hare.  Thursday the protests continued so we worked out of the B&B and traveled into town for a couple of interviews. 

On Friday we headed into the University and prepared for our 10am lecture for the IS students.  We had a couple of tense moments when a student approached us and stated we had 5 minutes to vacate the building.  Our host stepped in and took them down to security. 

From there we headed to the lecture room where a handful of students were waiting for the lecture.  We chatted with them as we waited for some additional students to arrive.  Unfortunately we never had the chance to start.  All lectures were to be canceled to avoid any further conflict.  We decided it would be best to again head back to the B&B for the afternoon, so here I am. 

The students were clearly disappointed and so were we.  It's a shame that an administrative issue has caused the cancellation of 3 guest lectures over the last 3 days.  Skills transfer opportunity lost......


We did have the opportunity on Thursday night to go "canoeing" in sea kayaks thanks to Roger (a professor at UFH) who took us out and let us use his equipment.  We had a great time, although it was a bit windy and it took a few tries to get my balance enough to stay in the boat..... 

The "Balance" trophy goes to Rajib who managed to not flip the "canoe"!

Day 21-23 Touring the University of Fort Hare Campus's

We headed out Monday morning to the Bhisho campus for UFH to meet with one of the departments there.  The drive through the country side was nice and the campus buildings had a really cool design.  We got some great insight from the team there.

On Tuesday we hit the road again and headed to the Alice Campus for UFH.  We had a great chat with the QA team there.  Pam and I passionately chatted about the opportunities for Hospitality and Tourism here in the Eastern Cape.  Everywhere I look I see vast amounts of potential for the people here to really showcase this beautiful province!  To build on that, Duane took us up to Hogsback for lunch and to see the view from the mountain top.

On Wednesday it was back to the East London campus, which turned out to be quite eventful.  The students on grants did not receive their money.....as a result a protest ensued.  It started with about 50 students singing, marching and then interrupting classes.  It then grew to about 250-300 people and got a bit more intense including throwing rocks at the school, breaking some windows.  Not to worry, we were absolutely safe and our host even took us up to the staff lounge to have a better look at the group.  I will say this,  the group could definitely sing!

BTW, this is actually on the 2nd floor.....I didn't want to get too close to the door with the camera as we were told it usually aggravates the crowd. 

Days 19-20:  What an AMAZING weekend!

We headed out toward Addo National park early afternoon on Friday.  The drive was spectacular.  We drove through rolling hillsides and small towns, then into the mountains.  We finally arrived at our B&B Casa Mia Health Spa, just before dusk and got settled in.  Then it was off to dinner at Lenmore.

The next morning we got up early and headed to Addo Elephant Park for a 2 hour safari.  It was amazing and a little heart pounding when one of the big bulls in heat came to check us out.  We had to be really quiet and still to ensure we didn't set him off and you can see why below!

After the tour we picked up some souvenirs at the gift shop and had some lunch before heading out to Daniell's Cheetah Breeding Project.  It was AWESOME.  I got to pet a 5 year old Cheetah, hear her pur, and lick my hand.  It was a once in a lifetime experience for me.  We also got to play with two 10 week old lion cubs.  They were SUPER cute!

From here we headed onward to Graaff-Reint and our B&B Villa Reinet Guest House.  It was so beautiful. 

 We got settled and then walked through town to a recommended restaurant where we all ordered the Trio consisting of beef, ostrich and  spring bok.  With full bellies we headed back for an early night as we were headed out to Camdeboo National Park at dawn.

Camdeboo National Park was breathtaking.  We headed up the mountain to the outlook point before making our way to the Valley of Desolation.  The views were unreal and the wildlife was really active at 7am.  This includes a BIG baboon that we saw chase some spring bok.   On our hike up to the Valley, we could hear the baboon calling out and it was getting closer each time.  It was a bit unnerving to say the least.  Fortunately we did not cross paths.....

We headed back to the B&B for breakfast and then to one of the museums in town Reinet House.  Did you know that Graaff-Reinet is the 4th oldest settlement in South Africa?  I do now!


From there it was off to home base.  The scenery change was amazing, from dry dessert to lush rolling hills of green.  We drove a different route taking us down through the mountains and into Queenstown.  That was an experience!  We came across what we think was a wedding party driving around.  The chaos that in-sued was like nothing I've experienced before.  The one lane of traffic became 5 lanes and those cars coming the other way were forced way off onto the shoulder!  None of us could believe it.  We pulled off for gas and left the group to continue on.

All said we had an amazing time.  This is a beautiful country with so much potential and hidden gems.  I can't wait to see what else it has in store for us.