It's back to basics at Magwa Volunteers! Compared to the surrounding village, the project's facilities are 5-star, with running water, hot showers, electric lights at night and internet access. However, the accommodation is not what you're used to at home, and probably not the average volunteers idea of luxury. There is a sleeping platform in the main house, where vounteers sleep on "Xhosa beds" - ie matresses spread on the floor, as well as several traditional Xhosa huts with queen-sized beds. There is plenty of space for camping - the project has a safari tent and other tents to lend out if visitors would prefer more privacy.
Cooking is done either on a solar oven, open fire or gas stove. There are 2 hot-water showers - 1 solar-heated and the other a rocket shower which delivers piping hot water on demand. They are fed by a ram pump in one of the nearby waterfalls - a gadget that uses the force of the falling water to pump it up to the project.
Magwa Volunteers boasts the loo with the most spectacular view. It's near a cliff edge and looks out from a great height over the surrounding hills and valleys, with the Indian Ocean and the coastal mountains of Port St Johns in the far distance. It's Africa's most eye-opening sanitary experience, and on a clear day you can pee forever. It's eco-friendly too.
There's no television here, and only a crackly radio that plays music. However, it's a lot of fun in the evenings. Hollanders who've never actually made a fire get the chance to feel like boy scouts, and many a party has happened under an African sky, with stars as lights and the moon a mirrorball. Local kids often arrive to sing, and drumming and fire-dancing are regular events.
Meals are mostly vegetarian, with healthy vegetables coming fresh from the organic permaculture garden. Three meals per day are included in the cost.
There are of course no ATM's here, and it's advisable to draw cash in Lusikisiki or Port St Johns before arriving. There are two tiny stores in the village which stock only the bare necessities, so backpackers are welcome to bring extra luxuries such as sirloin steak, champagne and Italian cheeses, but bear in mind that there is no refrigeration here. A big part of Magwa Volunteers is about feeling what it's like to live in an African village, and this is all part of the experience. Get ready to cast off your Northern Hemisphere ways and return to a more basic reality!
RATES:
Volunteers: ZAR 250/day
Includes 3 meals per day!
Specials for South Africans to make up
for weak Rand!!
| SITE MAP |