Our first real experience of South Africa was a visit to the township of eSikhawini with a woman who lives in one of the original houses built by government in the Apartheid era. Nomusa Biyela has lived here most of her adult life and was a wonderful guide to give us a real taste of township life.

This is her 4 roomed house where she lives with her teenage daughter and 2 grown up sons. She has 3 other children, one of whom is an IT specialist living in Manchester with his Spanish wife. The house is simple and basic but has water, power and drainage; she has a good sized garden and can grown vegetables. Many of her neighbours have been able to improve their houses and some have extended them so much that the original core of the house is no longer visible.

For bachelor workers the Apartheid governments built accommodation blocks such as these but most have now been converted into family apartments and are considerably improved. During the time of the Apartheid regime the workers were not allowed to live in Richard's Bay; there are many of these blocks and the conversions are still going on. One of the biggest problems that remains for the residents of townships such as this is the cost and the long distance (about 12 km) to get to work at the factories, offices, shops, restaurants and other workplaces close to the city centre.

The most enjoyable part of the day was a visit to a local primary school (5-14 years) where we were invited into classrooms with up to 60 smartly dressed pupils working hard. They were delighted to have foreign visitors despite it being regional examinations week for the older children.

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The junior classes were especially welcoming and these girls were part of a group that gave us a traditional Zulu dance.

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Our next visit was to a workshop where handicapped locals were employed in various crafts producing a range of attractive items including traditional Zulu bead-work, embroidery and basketwork. The centre had been set up by Nomusa's sister-in-law who was an enterprising woman running a smart guest-house too.

This elderly woman took us into a special hut where she introduced herself, one of her daughters (the trainee shaman) and some of her grandchildren. She has the ability to consult her ancestors when people come with their ailments or problems. Part of the process involves breathing in some pungent smoke from smouldering herbs. Unfortunately none of our ailments were of the sort that could respond to her techniques!

Her grandchildren were very photogenic although the youngest found us a bit daunting.

Neither of these boys will become shaman, in this family it seems to be a female role.

A happy day spent with the great Zulu people.