Dear Mr. Nico McNamara.
I am writing you this letter to thank you for arranging such a wonderful and unforgettable trip. Everything went very well and we had a great and funny time in South Africa. I am very grateful to you as a tour guide and organizer, for all your arranging and hospitality. I felt very well cared, especially by you and our bus driver Kenny, but also in general by everyone we met around the trip! I had by everyone that hosted me in their houses a very warm and generous stay and make me feel like staying at my own house!
The YAPs that took part in the trip, everyone was really kind to each other and I found it really interesting staying with people that I didn’t know before and develop a really friendly and familiar climate in the time of two weeks. I’m sure that I made some really good friends that our relationship will continue for a lifetime! It was a great time that everyone was excited to take time out to get together and find out more about each person.
My experience of the trip were too many so I will briefly describe my mains.
One of the finest and most satisfying adventures of my life so far was the time I experienced the canopy tour at the Cathkin Park, at which we explore the wooded and mountainous landscape using zip-lines and aerial bridges between platforms built in trees. I was always afraid of heights before, but there I overcame my fears of heights by hanging on a rope 60 meters above the ground!
Unforgettable was also the Caves tour, the Brewery tour, the different safari tours, the Ushaka Marine World and after swimming in the Indian ocean and many many more unforgettable experiences and also the different foods, tastes and drinks that I had the opportunity to try.
Another very emotional experience, was when we visited in Middelburg the school with children and in general along the tour the different pour areas and saw images that I normally saw from the television in Europe and I had the opportunity to see everything in real life. It made me understand, how lucky we are to be born in a safe and stable place. Some others because they are unlucky because they are born in unstable areas where searching for a piece of bread and support is their daily goal.
South Africa made me clear in my mind that race, religion, skin color doesn’t matter because we are all people and this world could be better by helping each other. I am looking forward and hope that I can participate in other YAP tours and have the opportunity to learn more about different cultures and make memories that would last forever. „Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.“- Seneca
I hope that I contributed to the tour and that you made also good memories with me and everyone else. You are always welcome to Cyprus, to experience more of our culture as you only got a small taste, my tasting some of our Cypriot sweets and drink (Zivania).
Sincerely and best wishes,
Alexis Kyriakou