Sorry again for the delay. I am currently procrastinating writing my journal for service learning...but technically it is not due until Thursday morning at 9 am...so I have time right? Right. Anyways I left off the spring break adventure after we split from the AIFS group on Friday morning. We picked up our rental cars and hit the road. Our first stop was a small beach town called Kenton-on-Sea where we had lunch at a local pizza place overlooking the ocean. After lunch we drove to Port Alfred to catch Eli's (a fellow AIFS member) boat race. He is on the rowing team here at Stellenbosch for the semester and their big race was the same week as our Garden Route tour, so he missed that. However since the town the race was in was close to where we were, we stopped by and got to see his boat win that race! It was pretty cool especially since I have never seen a rowing competition before. After the race we talked with Eli for about 5 minutes and then got back on the road for the long drive up to Hogsback. We were following a road called R345 when all of a sudden, after a small town called Peddie, it turns into a dirt road going through a nature reserve. I'm not sure how we managed to stay on this road the whole time but we did, getting out occasionally to take obnoxious pictures and just look at the views all around us. We couldn't believe that we were just somewhere in the middle of the South Eastern part of South Africa. It was really amazing. With the help of our awesome navigator Brooke and our drivers, we got to our hostel in Hogsback called "Away with the Faries". Let me start by saying that Hogsback is a mountain range and we were nestled right up in the middle of it. Everything in the town of Hogsback has to do with magical things...for example the restaurant where we had dinner was called the enchanted cafe, and we were staying at away with the faries, and there was a magical treehouse on the property. Needless to say we had a great time at dinner and then spent some quality time with the fantastic people staying at this hostel. They placed all eight of us in the same dorm room and we proceeded to try and all sleep in one bunk. After we had gone to sleep the owner came in asking us if we wanted to come back and play more, but we all kind of just grumbled at him to go away. The next morning we went for a hike in the local mountains looking for a giant tree and a waterfall. As a sidenote: we have learned that every good hostel has a great dog. At this place, the dog, named Flo, joined us on our hike. She literally came with us for a good 4k hike to the waterfall and back and then joined us when a man who worked at Away with the Fairies saw us walking back and offered us a ride. Once back at the hostel we showered and packed up the cars to head to our next destination.
We drove to a place called Chintsa which is located on the Wild Coast (just a name for that part of the coast). Some friends recommended that we stay in a hostel called Buccaneers which was right on the Indian ocean and had beautiful views. Right when we got there we found a few guys who were our age and we went down to the beach to play soccer with them. One was South African but studied in London and he had brought three of his British friends to South Africa with him on holiday. We spent the afternoon playing soccer and playing in the warm Indian ocean. After we had a delicious dinner at the backpackers with some free wine and then we joined our friends at the hostel bar for the evening. We taught them how to play kings and they showed us some of their card games. The vibe at Buccaneers was very chill and so much fun. It was a very different atmosphere than Away with the Fairies, but that was the best part of the whole trip! Each night was very different from the previous night. We woke up the next morning and made the long drive to our destination of Bulungula. This place was SO COOL. We had heard about it through some friends and decided that we would have to spend a night there. Although I would not call it a hostel, it is still advertised as one. It is located on the coast, completely isolated from anything modern, in the middle of a Xhosa village. In order to get there we had to drive for hours along dirt roads through tons of smaller villages. We parked our cars in a special lot and then get picked up by a man from Bulungula in a 4x4 for another 45 minutes of crazy off-road driving down to the shore wherer the hostel was. We stayed in traditional Xhosa huts painted a bright teal color with thatched roofs and lit by candles. Bulungula was designed as an eco-tourism location where visitors not only experience what it is like to live in a Xhosa village but the entire place is completely sustainable and environment friendly (Josh you would have loved this place!). The toilets were compost toilets where you had to pour cups of dirt into them after using them (and there was one that had cool glow in the dark paint and was lit up by a blacklight at night...I really liked that one). Bulungula collects rainwater for drinking, washing, and bathing in these massive containers hidden behind the main house. The showers were the most interesting I have ever seen. They are called "rocket showers". What you do when you are ready to shower is take the small teapot from your shower and fill it up with paraffin from a giant container in the bathroom. You pour the paraffin into the small opening at the bottom of a giant metal pole that connects to the water spout. After adding the wax, you wrap some toilet paper around your hand and then stuff it in the hole with the wax, leaving a small amount sticking out. Next...you light the toilet paper on FIRE. You turn the hot water tap on all the way and as the fire shoots out of the small hole (hence, rocket) it heats your water, and you have a hot shower for about 7-8 minutes. I showered twice while I was there just so I could play with it. It was a really interesting experience! We had a traditional Xhosa meal at the hostel and went for a long walk along the isolated beach before the sunset. We then snuggled up in one of the rooms of the main house and played Cranuim with a local for a few hours before heading off to our huts to sleep. We woke up before 6 the next morning and I joined the Quinn and Jon to watch the sun rise over the ocean. We walked about ten minutes down the beach to where there was a HUGE sand dune, and we hiked up it and sat down just in time to see the sun starting to peek over the ocean. It was beautiful! The sun made its way up into the sky and as it did, we noticed that there were literally, hundreds, of dolphins in the water! They would wait for the waves and then jump through them as if they were surfing. We couldn't believe that there were so many dolphins; everything just seemed surreal at that point. We stayed for about an hour and then pushed each other down the dune and headed back to sleep for a few more hours. Once we woke up some of us went canoeing, some went to the local village for the day to follow the life of a Xhosa woman, and Amber and I were supposed to go fishing but it was too windy. So we spent the day reading and being lazy and enjoyign the gorgeous place we were in. Around 4pm we got back into the 4x4 and left Bulungula. We got into our cars for what would be our most epic drive through the back roads of South Africa EVER on our way to Coffee Bay. It was getting dark fast and we did not know the correct road to take because there was so much construction going on (all for the World Cup if you can believe it...even in the back roads!) so we relied on asking locals "Coffee Bay?" and then we would follow the road they pointed to. We came to a stop when we were supposed to cross a small dried up river bed with HUGE rocks in it...the bridge was no longer in existance apparently. We asked the people who were near it how to get to Coffee Bay and sure enough they pointed across the river and up this steep hill that curved to the right at the top. This was not an easy task in our tiny, manual, rental cars. So we got out, checked the rocks, and decided we had no choice but to press on so we got back in the cars, buckled up and went for us. Bridget (the blue car I was in) went first. She made it through the rocks with a few dents and scratches but then we gunned it up the hill, struggled a bit at the turn, but Jon is amazing and got us up to the top of the hill safely. Patrick (the green car) bottomed out on the rocks, but was able to make it through and came up behind us. We celebrated briefly that we made it through and continued on to Coffee Bay. Once we finally arrived at our hostel, called the Coffee Shack, we were ready for some dinner and drinks. We knew we would like this place because as we walked in the door they give you a free beer! Cool! Anwyays we split up into groups of 4 and settled into our accomodations. Since it was September 14th we decided to celebrate my birthday that night at midnight, so we all got a little dressed up and ready for some fun. We had a delicious dinner and got to meet tons of new people (this backpackers was much more of a college-aged tourist destination than Bulungula was; the contrasts between our places of stay were so cool! it really made our trip more interesting). I was just beginning my dinner when I see Kate, Jon and Heather all come up with vile looking birthday shots for me to take. Thanks guys. But anyways we spent the night hanging out and spending some quality time in a really cool hammock (that was basically a giant tarp hanging from the trees...so cool!). Once midnight rolled around they brought me into the bar and the barista pulled me behind the counter and sang happy birthday to me in Xhosa, then in English, and then people from the crowd sang it in German and then French! It was probably the coolest birthday ever. And I got a free bottle of house champagne that I split with my friends. They really made the night great and I couldn't have asked for better :)
The next morning was a bit of a struggle for me, but we had a long drive ahead of us so I planned on sleeping in the car. In the morning Quinn and I explored the beach area which was really rocky in comparison to the places we had been. On the drive we stopped at a placed called Hole-in-the-Wall which is a giant rock formation with a huge hole in it that the ocean shoots through. After this we drove straight through to the Drakensberg mountains which are in the north western part of the country, in Kwa-Zulu Natal. We got to our hostel around dinner time and proceeded to make our own family dinner of pasta, salad, and garlic bread because we had a full kitchen to ourselves. We spent the night relaxing, drinking birthday champagne, and playing scrabble. It was a nice ending to my 20th birthday and I even got to talk to my Mom! We headed to bed pretty early and got ready for the next day's adventure. We woke up around 9 and had breakfast before setting out with our guide Phillip en route to Lesotho. We piled into a 4x4 and made our way up the Sani Pass in the Drakensbergs. We stopped at border control and then again at the Lesotho border and I had my passport stamped a few more times. The pass was terrifying to drive up, but it had the most amazing views I had ever seen. The Drakensberg mountain range is enormous and there was even some snow at the top. The turns are treacherous and the drive was long, but Phillip got us there with no problem. We drove to a lodge in Lesotho where we would be picking up our horses. That's right...we went on a pony trek to a village in Lesotho where we would be spending the night. Now, if you know me, I am not a fan of horses. So I sucked it up and got on that horse for our 2 and a half hour trek through the mountains. Once we got to the village I was quite relieved, although during the trip Kimmy made me feel better because it was her first time on a horse and I'm pretty sure she just laughed the entire two hours. The moment we got off our horses at the village we saw a sheep get castrated. That was interesting, and graphic. We immediately realized that we were in a very different place than Stellenbosch and that this is what life is like here. We had a delicious dinner of pap and chicken and cabbage and gravy made in a traditional way and we ate by candlelight. After dinner we went to the local store and got some beers and sat talking with Phillip for a few hours before heading off to bed. We woke up the next morning and explore more of the village and played with the children who were very interested in us. In Lesotho the people often wear these thick woolen blankets fastened over them to keep them warm. Seeing these dark figures in the distance with their blankets blowing behind them gave me an eerie almost surreal feeling. It was like something you see out of a movie; it was almost haunting but without the negative connotation. These are the villages you read about in story and history books, but it was right in front of my eyes. After breakfast and tea we spent some time playing with the lambs (who were the cutest things I have ever seen) and then climbed back on our horses (with sore bums) and headed back to the lodge where our 4x4 was. We drove back to the Sani Pass, but along the way we stopped at the highest pub in all of Africa for a taste of the only Lesotho beer. We spent some time looking around and enjoying the view before making our descent down the Pass. Once we got back to our cars we piled in once again and drove to our final destination: Durban.
One the drive to Durban it was extremely foggy so we took our time. Unfortunately some other driver didn't and they hit and killed a cow...which we saw on the side of the road. Anyways we made it to Durban and after some confusion finally found our hostel for the night. We all showered off the tons of Lesotho dirt from the dust storm we experienced on the pony ride back to the base lodge, and headed out to dinner. We ended up in a place that was similar to sea world and found a restaurant that was still open at 9 pm. We had a delicious dinner and hung out for a little while back at the hostel (called the Happy Hippo) before falling asleep. The next day we spent exploring the city and the Indian market. Durban has a huge Indian population (and really good Indian food!) so we thought it would be best to check out the markets and local food places. We realized after the fact that we were probably in the sketchiest parts of town, but it was quite an experience and everyone made it out alive and well. We got some bunny chow as a late lunch (a traditional Durban-Indian dish of curry in a bread bowl) and then made our way back to our last hostel which was right near Florida street, the popular going out spot in Durban. We settled in and got dressed for the night. One of my friends from Saint Mike's is studying in Durban for the semester so we had arranged plans to meet up on Florida street for a drink or two. Our whole group went out and I found Morgan (which was so strange but so awesome: to see someone you recognize from home in the middle of a foreign country is a very interesting experience!). I spent a few hours with Morgan and her friends while everyone else got dinner and had their own taxi fail experience (I still don't know what happened there guys). But anyways I met up with Heather, Kimmy, and Quinn later on and left Morgan. We spent the night exploring Florida street and dancing before finally coming home exhausted at about 4 am. We slept in a bit the next morning before packing up to leave. We went down to the beach and had breakfast at a restaruant that is literally in the sand. We played in the water and reminisced about our trip that was sadly coming to an end. It was a beautiful day and the last thing we wanted was to get on that plane to come back to Stellenbosch. After breakfast we got the rental cars washed (which did not help make them look any less beat up unfortunately...) and filled up the tanks before heading to the airport. We boarded our bright orange Mango plane and endured the two hour flight back to Cape Town. Being back in the Bosch was sad after such an amazing two weeks, but it was nice to be able to get back into a routine as well. That was the conclusion of our amazing vacation! I will update again soon with more adventures :)
Totsiens,
Megan
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Epic Two Week Spring Break Adventure
Sorry for the lack of posts, I just got back to Stellenbosch last night at around 7pm from our epic adventure! It is going to be so hard to remember all of the things we did, but I will do my best to share some fun stories. The first half of the trip...from September 4 until September 11, we traveled with the entire AIFS group of about 30 or so people along the Garden Route (which traverses the southern part of the country along the coast). From September 11 until September 19 we split off from the AIFS group who returned back to campus and we traveled up the eastern coast all the way to Durban (yes...we skipped an entire week of school! sorry Mom and Dad, but it was so worth it!). I'll attempt to give a day by day description of what we did!
Day 1:
We piled into the vans and drove for about six hours to Buffalo Bay backpackers. We spent the afternoon playing on the beach or just lounging in hammocks on the deck with a drink in hand. The water was definitely warmer than the Atlantic, but it was still a little too cold for me to want to swim. We went to dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant in Knysna where we got to try oysters and some wine. After dinner we were told that we were going to a "surprise" and MamaH drove us around aimlessly for about 20 minutes and then brought us back to the backpackers where there was a Rastafarian reggae band waiting for us! We spent the night drinking, dancing, and celebrating our spring break. I think this may have been one of the best nights of my entire abroad experience so far, simply because it was pure fun. We were in a beautiful hostel literally meters from the Indian ocean with our whole group together dancing barefoot and singing obnoxiously. We also taught MamaH how to play kings which she absolutely loved! She told us we had to play it every night while we were there. Eventually we all faded off to bed in the early morning hours.
Day 2:
We got up in the morning and went to Judah Square...a Rastafarian community in a local township. We got a tour of the neighborhood and learned about the Rasta culture and way of life, as well as took a walk down a nature path that lead through the woods surrounding the area. The Rasta's were the same ones that came to perform for us the night before so we got another chance to talk with them and play with the children in the streets. The neighborhood was super colorful and the people were all very friendly. We left Judah Square and went to Knysna Elephant park where we got to drive out to feed and play with some elephants. Since it is spring here there are tons of baby elephants as well...which are still quite large if you ask me. We got to feed them fruit and vegetables and they will literally take it right out of your hand. After the elephant park we went down to the waterfront for a late lunch then headed back to Buffalo Bay backpackers for a second evening of beach relaxation. We had dinner at the hostel - a traditional potjie. Following dinner everyone just hung out an enjoyed the evening.
Somewhere in between Days 2 and 4:
For whatever reason, whether it was food poisoning or the 24-hour bug, starting our second night people in our group began to get really sick really fast. Literally we went to bed and four people felt sick and we woke up and 9 more felt awful. In total, 21 of the 30 people on the trip got sick for at least 24 hours. MamaH, who got sick herself, spent nearly 2000 rand on medicine for the group and she went above and beyond her director-of-program-role and entered into concerned-mother-role. I luckily escaped what became known as "the garden route plague of 2k9". People would feel fine in the morning and miserable by the afternoon, so some stayed at the hostel and slept instead of going on the daily excursions, but some would come anyways and we ended up dividing the vans into sick vans and healthy vans. It was pretty crazy! Thankfully everyone began to feel better in about 24 hours, so by the end of the trip everyone was back to normal health and strength. This garden route will defintely go down in the AIFS history books!
Day 3:
We left Buffalo Bay and headed north to Oudtshoorn to the Cango Caves. We were guided through a few kilometers of caves with plenty of places to squeeze through such as the "mail slot" which is only 27 centimeters high and a meter wide. It was surprisingly warm and damp in the caves so we were pretty happy to get back into the fresh air at the end. From there we traveled to an ostirich farm where we got to learn about ostriches, hold babies, watch chicks hatch, and play with adult ostriches as well. There was even an opportunity to ride them, but it was a little inhumane (although entertaining to watch people do). After the ostrichs we piled back into our vans and drove to the next lodge that we were staying at. The lodge was gorgeous and consisted of small houses that would sleep 2-4 people and a big house broken into smaller sections for 4-6 people. This lodge came at the right time for our group which needed some serious rest and quiet in order to feel better. We had dinner at the lodge around a fireplace, and I am pretty sure the entire group was fast alseep by 8:30 pm, in order to try and avoid/get rid of the plauge.
Day 4:
We woke up and had a delicious breakfast on the veranda in the middle of the lawn. That morning I was supposed to go sea kayaking but the weather wasn't cooperating, so I got to sleep in instead. After breakfast I headed out with a smaller group to go on a canopy zipline tour! Our group, aptly named "team extreme" geared up with all our carabiners and helments and set out to the trees. There were ten ziplines in total, the longest one over 90 meters. The tour lasted a few hours and we got to swing around and learn about the trees in the forest. After the canopy tour we met up with the rest of the group at Tenikwa, a reservation for wild and rehabilitated cats. We got to see and pet cheetahs as well as see leopards, caracols, and tons of other cats that I do not remember the name of. After Tenikwa we went to Monkeyland! There were literally hundreds of monkeys just wandering around us in this huge preservation area. We got to see gibbons and the blue-butt monkeys like in the Lion King, as well as the black and white striped lemurs from Madagascar. After Monkeyland we headed to a pizza place on the ocean for endless amounts of pizza. Although we are a comparably small AIFS group this year (there is usually around 50 or 60 people) we are becoming famous for our appetites. We ate copious amounts of pizza and then headed back to the lodge for a rather unsettling night of sleep due to the looming bungee jump in the morning...
Day 5:
We all woke up pretty early and stomached whatever breakfast we could before packing the vans and driving to Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma national park. Driving over the bridge does not give you the full story of just how high that bridge actually was. We got out of the vans and went into the bungee cafe to get a full view of what we were about to jump off of. I took one look and turned around to sign up before I got too scared. We signed the forms, got weighed, and then strapped into a harness. I was with the first group of jumpers (about 22 of 30 in our group jumped that day and many who didn't have already jumped in the past). We walked out to the middle of the bridge on a smaller suspended bridge where you could see the ground the whole time. Once we got on the bridge (there was about 17 of us in our group) the workers blasted pump up music and we all decided to dance instead of wait and be scared. All of a sudden a worker just starts screaming out names...Paden was first! They literally call your name, strap you in, and away you go. It took maybe half hour for all of us to jump off that bridge it was so crazy! I was jumper number 12...right after my roommate Kimmy! When they called my name I stopped talking and just sat and waited as they attached these shin pad-like cushions to my legs and tied them together. They attached the bungee cable and stood you up to jump. This entire time they are talking to you and telling you about the cables but I sure wasn't listening to them, but I could hear my friends yelling and cheering me on, as we did for everyone who jumped. Finally they stand you up and you hop to the edge...you have to scootch up with your toes hanging over the edge. I looked down just long enough to see my toes, then looked back to the horizon as I heard "5...4...3...2...1...BUNGEE!". I closed my eyes just long enough to get off that bridge and then I opened them on the way down and it was AMAZING. All you hear is air rushing by you...I screamed at first but then decided to listen to the air as I literally flew down the 216 meters. I only felt my stomach drop for the first second or two, and then the rest of the time I felt like I was flying, but waiting for that bungee cord to pull was almost torture. Once the cord streches you swing under the bridge to the other side with full views of the ocean and mountains surrounding you. After you stop swinging you wait for about a minute upside down for the worker to come down and attach you to him to be pulled back up. Waiting there seems like much more than one minute, but it was the most peace I have ever felt. My head was completely clear and there was nothing but natural sounds. I looked back up at my feet and the bridge seemed light years away. For all of your viewing pleasure, I bought the video that the FaceAdrenaline company makes and the pictures they took of me jumping! The rest of the day everyone walked around exhausted from adrenaline but very happy. That afternoon we traveled to our final stop in Jeffrey's Bay at Island Vibe backpackers. This place was also right on the beach and since we are a small group we were all located in the Beach House with rooms that led right out to the beach. We had a delicious dinner and hung out for the night in the bar/lounge area with tons of other students and travelers who were staying with us at the backpackers.
Day 6:
Day six was filled with various activities depending on what everyone signed up for. That morning I spent downtown shopping with some friends at the Billabong and Roxy outlets...J-Bay is an avid surf area with some of the best waves in South Africa, so needless to say the beach and the people are awesome. In the afternoon I went on a township tour with a few people. We got to explore the streets and learn about the culture of the area. We went to a man's house for tea and delicious Xhosa bread and then our guide took us to the local shabeen or bar for a drink. We got to meet tons of people from the community which was different from the other township tours we have done in the past. After the tour we went back to the hostel and had a fantastic steak dinner before partying our last night away. At some point in the night a local traditional dance group of children came through and we got to watch them perform. We were up until about 3 that morning playing pool, hanging out, and being obnoxious as usual with the drivers.
Day 7: The Split
This morning we woke up and packed our stuff with the group. However, eight of us went to pick up our two rental cars at around 9. We left J-Bay at the same time as the AIFS group and there were plenty of hugs and well-wishes all around before we left. MamaH told us to be careful of course, and we all climbed into our cars and started our adventure.
Okay so I am running out of time to finish this post...so I promise there will be a part two in the very near future! Be well everyone!
Totsiens,
Megan
Day 1:
We piled into the vans and drove for about six hours to Buffalo Bay backpackers. We spent the afternoon playing on the beach or just lounging in hammocks on the deck with a drink in hand. The water was definitely warmer than the Atlantic, but it was still a little too cold for me to want to swim. We went to dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant in Knysna where we got to try oysters and some wine. After dinner we were told that we were going to a "surprise" and MamaH drove us around aimlessly for about 20 minutes and then brought us back to the backpackers where there was a Rastafarian reggae band waiting for us! We spent the night drinking, dancing, and celebrating our spring break. I think this may have been one of the best nights of my entire abroad experience so far, simply because it was pure fun. We were in a beautiful hostel literally meters from the Indian ocean with our whole group together dancing barefoot and singing obnoxiously. We also taught MamaH how to play kings which she absolutely loved! She told us we had to play it every night while we were there. Eventually we all faded off to bed in the early morning hours.
Day 2:
We got up in the morning and went to Judah Square...a Rastafarian community in a local township. We got a tour of the neighborhood and learned about the Rasta culture and way of life, as well as took a walk down a nature path that lead through the woods surrounding the area. The Rasta's were the same ones that came to perform for us the night before so we got another chance to talk with them and play with the children in the streets. The neighborhood was super colorful and the people were all very friendly. We left Judah Square and went to Knysna Elephant park where we got to drive out to feed and play with some elephants. Since it is spring here there are tons of baby elephants as well...which are still quite large if you ask me. We got to feed them fruit and vegetables and they will literally take it right out of your hand. After the elephant park we went down to the waterfront for a late lunch then headed back to Buffalo Bay backpackers for a second evening of beach relaxation. We had dinner at the hostel - a traditional potjie. Following dinner everyone just hung out an enjoyed the evening.
Somewhere in between Days 2 and 4:
For whatever reason, whether it was food poisoning or the 24-hour bug, starting our second night people in our group began to get really sick really fast. Literally we went to bed and four people felt sick and we woke up and 9 more felt awful. In total, 21 of the 30 people on the trip got sick for at least 24 hours. MamaH, who got sick herself, spent nearly 2000 rand on medicine for the group and she went above and beyond her director-of-program-role and entered into concerned-mother-role. I luckily escaped what became known as "the garden route plague of 2k9". People would feel fine in the morning and miserable by the afternoon, so some stayed at the hostel and slept instead of going on the daily excursions, but some would come anyways and we ended up dividing the vans into sick vans and healthy vans. It was pretty crazy! Thankfully everyone began to feel better in about 24 hours, so by the end of the trip everyone was back to normal health and strength. This garden route will defintely go down in the AIFS history books!
Day 3:
We left Buffalo Bay and headed north to Oudtshoorn to the Cango Caves. We were guided through a few kilometers of caves with plenty of places to squeeze through such as the "mail slot" which is only 27 centimeters high and a meter wide. It was surprisingly warm and damp in the caves so we were pretty happy to get back into the fresh air at the end. From there we traveled to an ostirich farm where we got to learn about ostriches, hold babies, watch chicks hatch, and play with adult ostriches as well. There was even an opportunity to ride them, but it was a little inhumane (although entertaining to watch people do). After the ostrichs we piled back into our vans and drove to the next lodge that we were staying at. The lodge was gorgeous and consisted of small houses that would sleep 2-4 people and a big house broken into smaller sections for 4-6 people. This lodge came at the right time for our group which needed some serious rest and quiet in order to feel better. We had dinner at the lodge around a fireplace, and I am pretty sure the entire group was fast alseep by 8:30 pm, in order to try and avoid/get rid of the plauge.
Day 4:
We woke up and had a delicious breakfast on the veranda in the middle of the lawn. That morning I was supposed to go sea kayaking but the weather wasn't cooperating, so I got to sleep in instead. After breakfast I headed out with a smaller group to go on a canopy zipline tour! Our group, aptly named "team extreme" geared up with all our carabiners and helments and set out to the trees. There were ten ziplines in total, the longest one over 90 meters. The tour lasted a few hours and we got to swing around and learn about the trees in the forest. After the canopy tour we met up with the rest of the group at Tenikwa, a reservation for wild and rehabilitated cats. We got to see and pet cheetahs as well as see leopards, caracols, and tons of other cats that I do not remember the name of. After Tenikwa we went to Monkeyland! There were literally hundreds of monkeys just wandering around us in this huge preservation area. We got to see gibbons and the blue-butt monkeys like in the Lion King, as well as the black and white striped lemurs from Madagascar. After Monkeyland we headed to a pizza place on the ocean for endless amounts of pizza. Although we are a comparably small AIFS group this year (there is usually around 50 or 60 people) we are becoming famous for our appetites. We ate copious amounts of pizza and then headed back to the lodge for a rather unsettling night of sleep due to the looming bungee jump in the morning...
Day 5:
We all woke up pretty early and stomached whatever breakfast we could before packing the vans and driving to Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma national park. Driving over the bridge does not give you the full story of just how high that bridge actually was. We got out of the vans and went into the bungee cafe to get a full view of what we were about to jump off of. I took one look and turned around to sign up before I got too scared. We signed the forms, got weighed, and then strapped into a harness. I was with the first group of jumpers (about 22 of 30 in our group jumped that day and many who didn't have already jumped in the past). We walked out to the middle of the bridge on a smaller suspended bridge where you could see the ground the whole time. Once we got on the bridge (there was about 17 of us in our group) the workers blasted pump up music and we all decided to dance instead of wait and be scared. All of a sudden a worker just starts screaming out names...Paden was first! They literally call your name, strap you in, and away you go. It took maybe half hour for all of us to jump off that bridge it was so crazy! I was jumper number 12...right after my roommate Kimmy! When they called my name I stopped talking and just sat and waited as they attached these shin pad-like cushions to my legs and tied them together. They attached the bungee cable and stood you up to jump. This entire time they are talking to you and telling you about the cables but I sure wasn't listening to them, but I could hear my friends yelling and cheering me on, as we did for everyone who jumped. Finally they stand you up and you hop to the edge...you have to scootch up with your toes hanging over the edge. I looked down just long enough to see my toes, then looked back to the horizon as I heard "5...4...3...2...1...BUNGEE!". I closed my eyes just long enough to get off that bridge and then I opened them on the way down and it was AMAZING. All you hear is air rushing by you...I screamed at first but then decided to listen to the air as I literally flew down the 216 meters. I only felt my stomach drop for the first second or two, and then the rest of the time I felt like I was flying, but waiting for that bungee cord to pull was almost torture. Once the cord streches you swing under the bridge to the other side with full views of the ocean and mountains surrounding you. After you stop swinging you wait for about a minute upside down for the worker to come down and attach you to him to be pulled back up. Waiting there seems like much more than one minute, but it was the most peace I have ever felt. My head was completely clear and there was nothing but natural sounds. I looked back up at my feet and the bridge seemed light years away. For all of your viewing pleasure, I bought the video that the FaceAdrenaline company makes and the pictures they took of me jumping! The rest of the day everyone walked around exhausted from adrenaline but very happy. That afternoon we traveled to our final stop in Jeffrey's Bay at Island Vibe backpackers. This place was also right on the beach and since we are a small group we were all located in the Beach House with rooms that led right out to the beach. We had a delicious dinner and hung out for the night in the bar/lounge area with tons of other students and travelers who were staying with us at the backpackers.
Day 6:
Day six was filled with various activities depending on what everyone signed up for. That morning I spent downtown shopping with some friends at the Billabong and Roxy outlets...J-Bay is an avid surf area with some of the best waves in South Africa, so needless to say the beach and the people are awesome. In the afternoon I went on a township tour with a few people. We got to explore the streets and learn about the culture of the area. We went to a man's house for tea and delicious Xhosa bread and then our guide took us to the local shabeen or bar for a drink. We got to meet tons of people from the community which was different from the other township tours we have done in the past. After the tour we went back to the hostel and had a fantastic steak dinner before partying our last night away. At some point in the night a local traditional dance group of children came through and we got to watch them perform. We were up until about 3 that morning playing pool, hanging out, and being obnoxious as usual with the drivers.
Day 7: The Split
This morning we woke up and packed our stuff with the group. However, eight of us went to pick up our two rental cars at around 9. We left J-Bay at the same time as the AIFS group and there were plenty of hugs and well-wishes all around before we left. MamaH told us to be careful of course, and we all climbed into our cars and started our adventure.
Okay so I am running out of time to finish this post...so I promise there will be a part two in the very near future! Be well everyone!
Totsiens,
Megan
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