Second day- Finding our groove.

After last week’s introduction to Alaska, and with all the formalities out of the way, we were off to a quick start. A cool, quiet morning, it was considerably easier to get into the groove of working. With some comfortable shoes and great zeal we ventured off to map our area. The struggles of last week were still very much present, but with time we found ourselves getting a little better at this navigation game. We managed to capture about 3 quarters of our points by the end of the day which was really satisfying.

Hungry, exhausted and in desperate need of a rest, energy levels were at a low by around 12pm. It was as if the community felt us dying out so they embraced us with some local tunes. Let's just say this got us going again.

At 12:30pm we had a delicious lunch of samp and beans-A traditional South African dish provided to us by our hosts, The Viva Foundation. Break over, somewhat refreshed and re-energized, we got back to work. It seemed to have gotten hotter as we progressed through the day and the terrain became harder to navigate as we got higher up the mountain.

A key lesson learnt as we journeyed higher up the mountain was to not only watch where our feet were stepping, but to also watch what was above us. Alaska is an informal settlement which gets very limited amounts of formal electricity supply. The community thus exhibits a bit of a "boer mak 'n plan" vibe and illegally connect their home wires to the main electricity poles. These wires hang very low over the footpaths while also often a time being sprawled within the roads and footpaths. Scary stuff and yet, a norm to the Alaskan community... yikes.

By 4pm we came to the end of our day in Alaska. We all clambeled onto the bus and journeyed back to campus, awaiting our return to Alaska later this week.

Signing out,

The Alaskan Assimilators