Times of the Islands Summer 2016

Christmas passes and the New Year is spent with
fellow travellers. Mario gets messages from friends
encouraging him to consider speaking at future events
in South Africa. With a foreseen journey to Port Elizabeth
mapped out, he soon reached Kwanokuthula and met
Q, a guy from the backpacker hostel who showed Mario
around a township; the first foreigner to see a particular
time off the people grid while walking along rivers and
through forests.
Port Elizabeth proved to be a special city stop. He
met and talked at length with the Major, and met Glenda
(below left), a special lady who helps those in need in
townships. Both introductions brought home the racism
and segregation issues still alive in South Africa today,
subtle enough to seep through the law. Here Mario visited
his second major township; he’d seen many smaller. He
noted that his full-time job right now was connecting with
people, living their culture, and sharing it with the world
through his perspective by walking from place to place.
Good job this stop included a delivery of new shoes!
ghetto. Mario is touched by township girls with beautiful
hearts applying for school despite the challenges young
women face of teen-age pregnancy and HIV infection.
The journey continued to the world’s highest bungee
jump, as well as mountains of sand, river crossings and
Times of the Islands Summer 2016 17