Day 78

Day 78

So today was Safari day, something Jeff and I had put top of our list to do when in South Africa. We went to a safari which was about an hour and a half from Cape Town, the safari company was called Bufflelsfontein. We were picked up by Joe at Berghof at 10:00 to make our way down to Buffelsfontein. We took Joe's Backi (Truck) as we didn't manage to get any transport from Communicare. It was massively kind of Joe to offer to take us there and back. We were accompanied by Vinolia, Jodie and Jayden for the trip which was a pleasant surprise too! 

The safari was scheduled to take place at 2:00, however we wanted to get there for 12:00 to have some lunch and chill out. After lunch was finished we decided to check out the complex and roam about a bit. Bit of a mistake. We walked around and saw some tortoises (or turtles) walking around and even saw some ostriches. However we took a bit of a wrong turn and ended up being in an area which wasn't very safe at all. VERY close to Buffalo's infact. We saw a truck come towards us at immense screaming "GET IN!". The guy who collected us was very strong toned in telling us what could of happened and asking were we crazy! He wasn't angry but just really scared that something could of happened. Thinking back, I just think Jeff and I were very drawn in by surroundings that are very different to England. The main thing to remember is that nothing happened and that Buffelsfontein have a very successful look out crew hahaaa. My nickname of Dangerous Brian can be used by my family in this case, I must admit. Oops! 

The safari itself was amazing and we saw some awesome animals. We saw animals such as Buffalo's, Rhino's, Giraffes, Wildebeest, Cheetah's, Zebra's, Antelopes, Springbok's and even some snakes.The ostriches were very funny to watch, but of course the main highlight was seeing the Lion's! Even with a cage in front of them they still have that killer instinct and were constantly roaring and clawing at the cages to show their dominance. They were fed chickens by the rangers and they literally demolished the chickens, bones and all! No leftovers. Another great experience to remember my trip in Cape Town by and it was something else to tick off our to do list. 

We took a nice chilled drive home with a few stoppages for drinks and loo breaks back to Ruyterwacht. It was a great shout by Joe to chill at the Africa household for a while after a long afternoon. I'm glad everything went so swimmingly! I knew Joe's backi wouldn't let us down, his mechanic had worked wonders. 

Just arrived back at Berghof now, it's 10:00 now and instead of treating ourselves with a last trip to long street, we have decided to stay in. So tired!

Big shout out to Joe and the Africa family for helping us out today, greatly appreciated!!

All the best

Luke.

Day 77

Day 77

  Today we were told to be at the learning centre for 10:00, so that we could make our way to Ajax Cape Town's training facilities for a tour held by Rihad aka Rio. Ajax Cape town are the only Cape Town based team in the PSL (South Africa's highest level of football) however in the past there has been teams such as Vasco de Gama in the mix also. Vasco De Gama are literally a stone throws away from Ajax Cape Town and I can't stress the word 'literally' enough. Rihad even said that they were thinking of contacting guinness world book of records about seeing if they were the closest neighbouring teams in the world. Rihad showed us the whole facilities including the pitches, changing rooms, gym, offices and the club shop. I bought an Ajax Cape Town jersey which looks pretty smart. I'm going to get CAWDERY 44 on the back. The number 44 comes from the number of the place we are staying at.. Berghof! Thought it was quite a cool idea by me. Jeff bought an Ajax Cape town jumper which looks very decent! The tour lasted from 11-12:45 and it was time to move on to our next appointment.

We were called by Aaron this morning to arrange a session with his Africa Passions group. Which you can be read about at http://www.africanpassions.net/aboutus.php. Aaron actually works for a company called Fives Futbol here but he was actually born in London, before moving out to Cape Town two years ago. The session was pretty short notice but it was nice to visit somewhere different once again and coach another set of boys. Aaron treated us to lunch and even picked us up from the station. The session started at 2:30 and finished at 4:00. Both Jeff and I told Aaron we were gutted that we didn't get put in contact earlier because the session went really well! We had to make do with two balls and two cones which made the session even more of a challenge but that's what it's all about! We managed to come with a great session with a game which is similar to numbers and then we finished off with a 1v1 attacking vs defending drill. To end the session we did a little round robin tournament. Both Jeff and I are so grateful we were given the opportunity by Aaron and he's a really top guy.

The evening's events that we had planned was a spot night at Joe's. Braai time! Jeff and I bought some chicken wings, pork chops and some steak! It was the nicest meat i've ever had in my life, no joke. It tasted soooooo nice! A really nice evening in the end.

Safari tomorrow!!

All the best

Luke

Shark Cage diving videos.

Shark cage diving video's and other video's from my trip can be found at 

www.youtube.com/lukecawdery

www.youtube.com/lukecawdery

www.youtube.com/lukecawdery

www.youtube.com/lukecawdery

www.youtube.com/lukecawdery

Few pictures from the last few days. Mon-Thurs

Day 76

Day 76.

Today we started at 2:00. We were at a school in town for a change, about 15 minutes walk away from Berghof! Joe picked us up at darling and we made our way there. It was a late addition to the programme, so I'm unfamiliar with the name but I will try and find out! Jeff took the warm up of dynamic stretching while myself and Dourey set up for the main drill which was dribbling. We focused on four basic turns.. Inside cut, outside cut, drag back and cruyff. Essential turns that you need in a match! The boys did very well and there was some real good talent on show! Much like other schools we had visited. We made sure they practiced the technique by doing a relaxed non-racing format to start just so that the skill information started to form in their brain. After they tried each turn several times we made the exercise a race! First team back wins. We started with inside cut and outside cut which meant basically, go to the first cone do an inside cut, come back, go to the second do an outside cut and pass to the next person for them to do the same thing! The boys were in teams and were all very motivating! Afterwards, we added one more cone and a different turn (dragback).. Let them race and then saw what the outcome was! It was good to see a variety of winners rather than just one team dominating! To finish, we added one last cone and one more turn, the cruyff turn. We finished the session with a 3 team, "one goal off" match and a little talk to the boys. Both Jeff and I gave several autographs and posed for photos and I was even asked by a boy to repeat my previous coaching points so that he could record it on his phone and listen to it to improve his turns! Awesome dedication. The school was situated 'under' table mountain and it was soo picturesque! A very lekke (nice) place to coach. We headed back to the hall for some refreshments and more photo's and then headed off to Atlantic FC. What a great session!!

We were given the under 15's to coach today at Atlantic FC, our favourite group. A great bunch of boys with plenty of banter but a bunch that still understand the importance of respect! From day one they have always replied to any question with coach. So for example, "yes coach!" "What about this coach?" and so on and so on! It may not mean a lot to other people reading this but to be given a title every time they answer you, it means a lot to me personally. It's better than a blunt 'yep' or a nod of the head. To have a unanimous reply of 'yes coach!' is a lot nicer! The session went really well and we focused on control and heading! The boys thoroughly enjoyed the session and were so grateful at the end. After we said our farewells,  it was time to head home!

We arrived back at Berghof around 9!

Time to chill out now and be ready for a 10:00 arrival time at Ruyterwacht, visiting Ajax Cape Towns facilities. Looking forward to Joe's braai tomorrow!

All the best

Luke

Day 75

Day 75

11:00 start today. We chilled at the office and visited Pick and pay supermarket to get some ingredients for freshly made rolls for lunch! They tasted so nice, well played Jeff and Azille.

Our session today was scheduled for  Goodwood college who we had visited 2 or 3 times before! We repeated our session from yesterday to try and resurrect the problem of it being 'flat'. We made it different by introducing more competitive edges and reducing the amount of time spent doing non competitive variations. It worked, so I'm glad we repeated the session and evaluated where we went wrong! It was a long session that lasted over 2 hours, a great way to say goodbye to Gooodwood college.

After the session we went back to Joe's because Jeff wanted to trim his hair again! I think I will do mine tomorrow. It was great to be back in the Africa household, always a good laugh! Definitely going to miss them when I'm back in England! Jeff went to Gang night at the church which stands for gods anointed next generation. Where as I chilled out with Joe and Jayden for the evening! I was pretty tired and just felt like chilling on the sofa and bed. Don't judge me too harshly!

Relaxed day today! 2:00 start tomorrow.

All the best

Luke

Day 74

Day 74

Not much to blog about today! Only had one session at 2:00 at JG Meiring school. (Yonick's school).

I felt the session started off well with some stretches and arsenal v kaizer, the boys seemed buzzing. However, afterwards the session seemed to flatten out and the effort put in the boys wasn't as high as last week. Maybe because there was half the amount of the boys we had last week. We did a passing drill, a piggy in the middle based session with loads of different variations. But the boys seemed content on doing all sorts of tricks and flicks to pass the ball on rather than pass the ball on quickly and keep it away from the chaser. Both Jeff and I said stressed that often you don't have that much time in a match and the best teams in the world have very quick passing styles. When we added a competitive element things started to liven up which was good and energy levels definitely rose.

To finish off the session we did a match, 3 teams, 1 goal and off. My team were unbeaten and the highlight of the session of course was my perfect Carrick-esque long ball, over Jeff's head, ending in a goal by my player who took it down fantastically on the chest.

Both Jeff and I streamed the united and Arsenal game and I'm gonna end this blog post with 6 words. Arsenal need to sort it out.

All the best

Luke