Friday 6th March – Meeting with Consul-General Ms. Thembi Tambo

This morning we went on a really very special visit. Patrick Lam, the President of the RC of Hong Kong had arranged for us to meet the South African Consul-General in Hong Kong, Ms. Thembi Tambo.

So we dressed up in full uniform, all polished and scrubbed, and presented ourselves at the Consulate offices at 10am.

What an utterly delightful lady Thembi Tambo is. We couldn’t believe that she gave us two full hours of her valuable time. We chatted about everything under the sun, we laughed and joked, we chatted about her children all of whom are so far away and how she needs to speak to them every day. We spoke about opportunities for South Africans in Hong Kong. We discovered that Thembi is the eldest daughter of Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, that beautiful and iconic couple who were at the forefront of the liberation stuggle in our country.

Team with Ms. Thembi Tambo and Davy Chlu, a Consulate Senior manager

It was a wonderful visit and the people of South Africa are privileged to have such a wonderful person acting as Consul-General in Hong Kong. Thank you, Thembi.

The it was off to lunch at the Rotary Club of Kowloon North. President David Wright made us feel very welcome and allowed us to do what was going to be our last presentation in Hong Kong.

Nivs doing her stuff at our last presentationI met a guy who spent 3 months in South Africa as an engineering intern at Vaal Reefs Goldmine in Orkney in the late 70’s before exploring the country backpacking. He is Ian Peterson and he is coming to South Africa in June, to Durban nogal, to watch the British Lions test against the Springboks. We will definitely be meeting up and he has asked me to arrange a friendly game for his mates – a 2nd Division team (they’re all coming across), while they’re in Durban. I’ll rely on my good mate Juno to help with that one seeing he is the President of Southern KZN rugby.

Tonight we are having a farewell dinner at CCC, the same venue where we had our welcoming dinner. It will be great to see old faces again and be able to thank the Rotarians of Hong Kong for their fantastic support and hospitality. We have had a tremendous time.

Tomorrow evening we leave for home, so the day will be spent packing and doing last minute stuff. The next blog update will be once we’re safely home – Monday or so next week. Thanks for reading and following. We hope it’s been interesting and informative.