Hello again, howzit?I need to start with an apology for gloating in the previous blog over the obvious weather differences between here and the UK - I have definitely been paying for it over the past few days!Over the last few days the weather has been truly awful; in fact it has got so cold that I've had to bring out all my warm layers that I haven't worn since Canada!

Anyway, first things first, I now have my Mozabique visa!Getting it was a surprisingly painless affair and after only 2 days in Jo'burg I could head down to Durban for a few days to organize my diving.While I was there I spent some time shopping for donations to take with me to Mozambique and also for some smart clothes to take to Senegal (surprisingly enough, scruffy travelling clothes don't quite cut it in the classroom….).I also found a local Soul Survivor event (for those of you who know what that is…) that Mike P was speaking at, which was very cool.Even more so was the fact that one of his interns (Jo) who was travelling with him knows a load of people from St Aldates!Small world….

After a few days in Durban I went 30km further down the coast to a small town called Umkomaas to do my advanced diving course.The conditions weren't amazing - there were some quite strong currents which were hard work and the visibility was sometimes a bit murky - but we saw some huge rays, a few turtles, some white tip sharks, an enormous eel, and lots of other cool fish.One of the dives was to a wreck called Nebo.She sank on her maiden voyage from Sunderland in 1884 with no loss of life.Bizarrely, she was the 3rd ship of the same name from the same shipyard to sink on her maiden voyage - some people never learn…As well as the wreck dive I did 4 others to make up the qualification - a boat dive, a navigation dive (which given my infamous sense of direction I didn't do too badly at!), a Nitrox dive (using a special mix of oxygen and nitrogen rather than just compressed air) and a deep dive (to 27m - at this depth all of the short light wavelengths are absorbed, so anything red appears purple!).The deep dive was rather eventful to say the least.I hadn't quite realized how much faster you use up your air at greater depths.You start most dives with 200bar, and at 50bar you are officially 'low on air' and are supposed to make your way up, do your 3min safety stop and then surface.All of a sudden I checked my air gauge and realized I had only 30bar left….oops.Everything was ok though - I signaled my instructor and we went up together to 5m for the safety stop.After a couple of minutes I had only 10bar left, he gave me his alternate and we shared air up to the surface.I've learnt my lesson though!

It's now my last day in South Africa before I go up to Mozambique, and I decided to spend my last few days in Soweto, Johannesburg.While travelling around SA I've been surprised to see how much segregation there still is between white and black, and I decided I wanted to get to know "black South Africa" a bit better.Before anyone has a heart attack about me staying in such an infamously dangerous area I'd like to point out a couple of things.Firstly, I've already done it, and I'm fine J.Secondly, Soweto is an enormous place, and the area that the backpackers' is situated is very safe.Thirdly, the township has changed enormously in the past few years - although shanty-town-style housing is still present in some areas, the majority or residents are middle class and Soweto now has the highest concentration of millionaires in the country!Unfortunately, the weather has been so wet and cold the past couple of days that I haven't been able to see as much as I'd wanted - but we hope to go out on one of the famous bicycle tours this afternoon to see a bit more.I've really enjoyed my stay though, everyone is so welcoming and friendly!One of the other girls staying at the hostel was first here 4years ago, and she says the difference is amazing.Before, she was afraid to walk around by herself as she felt very threatened - many locals would be suspicious of her motives for visiting the area and some would even challenge here: " do you know what your people did to us?".Now, if you go down to the shop you feel so much better when you get back, just because so many people have smiled at you, said hello, waved or even stopped for a chat!

Yesterday morning Maria, who works at the hostel, directed me to the local gospel church.The music was amazing (although I didn't understand most of it - most of the songs were in the local languages) and the atmosphere was unlike anything else.I was the only white person there, but they all welcomed my like family and were eager to talk about my experience of South Africa.One woman in particular was keen to explain how much has changed in the past few years.Although whites and blacks still live in rather distinct areas, she feels that this is now the only thing that separates them.Although she herself has had no issues at her workplace over the colour of her skin,after apartheid, many black people were uneducated and are therefore still confined to lower paid work .However most companies have training programmes and they are slowly working their way up.She has great hope for the next generation of black and white children who are educated together and see themselves firstly as South African, and secondly as Zulu/Xhosa/Afrikaans etc.

"Soweto is a symbol of the New South Africa, caught between old squatter misery and new prosperity, squalor and an upbeat lifestyle, it's a vibrant city which still openly bears the scars of the Apartheid past and yet shows what's possible in the New South Africa".

Tomorrow I fly out to Mozambique - I wish I'd had longer to explore this beautiful country - I've hardly scratched the surface, but I'm very excited about the next few weeks.For those of you who don't know, I'll be working at a children's centre in Pemba in the north of the country.Again, I'm unlikely to have internet access while I'm there - so no-one is to start worrying if you don't hear from me for 3wks!

Lots of love to everyone, and congratulations on making it to the bottom - I'm aware how long this entry has been!

xxx