Eat, sleep, swipe right on Tinder, rejection and repeat.

The story of my life – the same routine, the same disappointment day in day out. Things have just got to change – because I don’t want to climb the trees alone. I don’t want to be that genet. I’ve also got a bit of a dodgy tail since that incident in isle three of my local supermarket last March.

So, what did I do to change my life you ask? I joined PenPalWorld. Although my original endeavour was to acquire a companion of the female persuasion, I did actually end up meeting a friend, Doug, a dung beetle from South Africa. Cue happy Gappy.

He was big and bold. He was cheeky. But he showed me things from across the world I’d never seen before. After a number of letters, selfies, hashtags and snapchats Doug soon encouraged me to come and visit him in South Africa for Christmas. At first I said I wasn’t too sure, but he was firm and said he’d flung enough dung in his time to know that life is all about opportunities – and that I shouldn’t miss this one.

And so that was that. I decided I would visit Doug and South Africa this Christmas, and finally get the chance to learn more about my South African heritage. I had shared with Doug previously that I was also keen to try and find a pack of long lost Cape Genet brothers (family ties got a little strained after an overly merry Christmas dinner one year) and he was extremely supportive. He even said that he wanted to join me on my travels through South Africa, and ‘get among the dung’ it had to offer I think I remember him saying – and it was on that very note, our journey began….

…. And so did our Gap Africa competition!