15 November
Storms River lies just next to the Tsitsikamma Forest, and is a huge adventure spot. We were initially attracted to the "black water" tubing there, but after hearing that it really sucked from other backpackers, and having already gone white water rafting in high school, I had no desire to float in an inflated tire down a river. But suddenly I had an uncontrollably urge to seize the moment-- I just happened to be at the site of the world's highest bungy jump [216m]... so why not tackle it now? Think about it: I have always thought I would rather go sky diving than bungy jumping-- bungy jumping always seemed the scariest and I didn't think I would ever do it. But, if I was next to the world's highest... and it is relatively cheap [although professionally done, no worries]... why not do it? Seriously, if I can do this I can do ANYTHING, right? So, I did it.
Marita and I took a zipline to the center of the bridge which was scary in itself, but nothing considering the jump that was ahead of me. After some dancing to keep myself warm and to hopefully dance away the jitters, it was my turn. I was scared. I can't even dive into a pool of water, how was I going to dive off a bridge? But somehow I managed to do it... and the first few seconds are absolutely terrifying-- I was just waiting to finally feel some tension in the rope attached to my feet, hoping that they didn't forget to attach it on the other side. All was good, and the guys that were in charge of it were surprised at my [small] knowledge of Xhosa language and I think enjoyed helping me out.
Although we had paid for one night stay at Tsitsikamma Backpackers, the place was a little too clean and too resort-y for the backpacking feel we had acquired... and since we were a day behind anyway [from Coffee Bay] we instead took an overnight bus to our last stop: CAPE TOWN!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
URT: Port Elizabeth
13 November
So we never actually saw much of Port Elizabeth, much more than what you can see driving through it. From, what I saw and what I was told, it is just another boring beach town. An industrial beach town, which means it isn't even pretty. We stayed at a hostel called The Hippo, which was great-- and had free toast and tea!
But we didn't go to Port Elizabeth to see Port Elizabeth, we went there to spend the night so we could go to Addo Elephant Park and Schotia Game Reserve. That's right, we had a safari day! It was a very full day and I enjoyed every bit of it... and love the pictures that I took!
I saw many animals... to put it in a way that Disney lovers would understand, I saw Mufasa and Nala and Simba and Rafiki and Puumba! Awesome!
We started our morning at Addo Elephant Park, a place that was originally created to keep the elephants from eating the local farmers' oranges and to keep the local farmers from killing the elephants for eating their oranges. Since then the elephants have multiplied and I loved seeing them upclose! They are Addo elephants, so slighly smaller and redder than other elephants. When looking at the pictures, don't think that their skin was peeling off [as far as I know elephants don't molt], but they have dried mud all over them because they love to play in the mud and use it to cool off on hot days! We saw some baby elephants, including one that was only a few days old. Awesome. So cute.
It was during this trip that I realized the DSLR [the bigger camera] that I have is only as good as its zoom lens. Someone would say "look over there!" We'd all take pictures. Mine would come out as a small speck, but apparently it was a lion or something. I would look at Marita's, who has something like a 200mm zoom [mine is the 55mm basic that came with the camera] and you could actually see a lion. So now I know what I am saving my money for [in a few years, these things are expensive]! The guy driving us around the park kept making fun of me for it... even my smaller handheld camera has 3x the zoom than this one. I guess you give up something for better picture quality! [A few of the pictures on the blog today I stole from Marita. I don't want to take credit that is hers! She is a fantastic photographer.]
We then went to Schotia, a private game reserve that is about 10% the size of Addo but with a much more diverse population of animals. We ate a wonderful and delicious lunch there, we had tea time there, we even ate an amazing dinner [that included stewed Springbok] there! They treated us well, and showed us some animals in between. Over the course of the day we saw 4 of the South Africa's "Big Five": Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, and Elephant [there was no Leopard to be seen].
I took so many pictures, especially of the elephants... I couldn't help it! I have never been that close before.
So we never actually saw much of Port Elizabeth, much more than what you can see driving through it. From, what I saw and what I was told, it is just another boring beach town. An industrial beach town, which means it isn't even pretty. We stayed at a hostel called The Hippo, which was great-- and had free toast and tea!
I saw many animals... to put it in a way that Disney lovers would understand, I saw Mufasa and Nala and Simba and Rafiki and Puumba! Awesome!
We started our morning at Addo Elephant Park, a place that was originally created to keep the elephants from eating the local farmers' oranges and to keep the local farmers from killing the elephants for eating their oranges. Since then the elephants have multiplied and I loved seeing them upclose! They are Addo elephants, so slighly smaller and redder than other elephants. When looking at the pictures, don't think that their skin was peeling off [as far as I know elephants don't molt], but they have dried mud all over them because they love to play in the mud and use it to cool off on hot days! We saw some baby elephants, including one that was only a few days old. Awesome. So cute.
It was during this trip that I realized the DSLR [the bigger camera] that I have is only as good as its zoom lens. Someone would say "look over there!" We'd all take pictures. Mine would come out as a small speck, but apparently it was a lion or something. I would look at Marita's, who has something like a 200mm zoom [mine is the 55mm basic that came with the camera] and you could actually see a lion. So now I know what I am saving my money for [in a few years, these things are expensive]! The guy driving us around the park kept making fun of me for it... even my smaller handheld camera has 3x the zoom than this one. I guess you give up something for better picture quality! [A few of the pictures on the blog today I stole from Marita. I don't want to take credit that is hers! She is a fantastic photographer.]
I took so many pictures, especially of the elephants... I couldn't help it! I have never been that close before.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
URT: Coffee Bay
9-12 November
I forgot to mention a funny moment: when we were in Durban a guy holding the door looked at me and as I walked away he said, "Excuse me. You are so beautiful." He then looked at Marita and said, "Well, you are beautiful too. But her? She's just... [[shakes his head]]... she's beautiful." I smiled, thanked him for the compliment, laughed, and decided that was a great way to start a road trip... haha.
We woke up early in the morning and hopped on the Baz Bus in Durban and 8 hours later we were dropped off at a petrol station in Mthatha. At that station we met up with the shuttle to Coffee Shack, our hostel in Coffee Bay. It was over an hour and a half from that point that we made it to Coffee Bay, spending 70% of the driving on the wrong side of the street and swerving back and forth to avoid massive [I mean MASSIVE potholes]. We drove through a village and through some rolling hills, right into the middle of nowhere, sitting on the mouth of the Bomvu river.
I go all the way to the middle of nowhere South Africa, and what do I find? A Yalie. Really? Can I not escape from them?! We immediately argued over who was going to win The Game in a few weeks and as you can see from one of my previous posts, I was obviously right. Harvard > Yale.
Anyway, this place is absolutely beautiful. We walked through a Xhosa village of the Bomvu people, Bomvu meaning something about red because they have these red "good luck" beans that grow from the trees in the area. The village pretty much looks just like the ones in KwaZulu Natal: same rondevals, same thatched roofs, same scattering of farm animals. The difference this time is that they people are from the Xhosa tribe and not the Zulu tribe. They build their houses round because 1. there are no corners for bad spirits to hide in, and 2. the rondavel can handle all sorts of weather. The houses are made with mud bricks, the roofs thatched with straw, and the floors with packed cow poop [the house we were in had its floor freshly redone... smelled great]. We had a huge traditional Xhosa meal at one of the houses, and I was one of the few to finish my plate and the only female. I sure can pack in my food... am I supposed to be proud of that? I guess that is a victory I don't need to be sharing. We went to the sacred waters of that village, where they believe they can go and talk to their ancestors. From there we visited a sangoma, a cute little old man who smiled at me often and told me I looked familiar.
After going through the village Marita and I ran over to get "the world's cheapest surf lessons" (R40) from a professional surfer [I think his name was Reyno]. Now, there are some sports that I just know I am not good at-- namely most anything involving skill and coordination. Unfortunately, that happens to be quite a few sports out there, including surfing. Fortunately for me, surfing doesn't involve balls coming towards my face-- that is a positive. I thought if I could get a 2-hour surf lesson for $5 in the middle of paradise, why not go for it? I thought this despite my prediction that I would be under the water being tossed by the waves for most of the time. Well whaddya know?! I stood up on my second try! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am not incredibly horrible at surfing. I couldn't stand up on the board too long until my very, very last attempt, where I rode the wave all the way onto the shore, doing fists pumps of victory into the air. I was happy for the rest of the night. I wish I could have taken a picture of me surfing with majestic cliffs and the bluest of blue waters in the background... a beautiful place!
We were supposed to leave the next morning, but the Baz Bus was full and we had to extend our stay another day. Aw shucks [sarcasm]. Instead, we took a 3-hour hike up and down steep hills and deep valleys to a place called Hole in the Wall. Although I have always loved being outside, when I was younger I didn't understand the point of hiking; why would you walk hours and hours just to return to the same place that you started?! But I have grown to love hiking-- not only is it a great form of exercise, but I truly believe that if you only experience the man-made urban world you are really failing to experience the other 80% of God's creation and you are missing out on some tranquil and wonderful moments. Anyway, the walk was awesome! We walked all the way with the coast on our left, looking like it was from a resort brochure from Hawaii or somewhere in the Carribean. To our right there were luscious rolling green hills spotted with cows and sheep... how I imagine Ireland or Sweden. In fact, I was even prompted to attempt a yodeling session as I walked up a hill through a group of goats. We ate a snack of oranges right in the middle of a cow herd. It was cool. We got to Hole in the Wall and realized that it was one of those things where the journey is more exciting than the destination... but the journey was totally worth it. And although I put on sunscreen, I am still constantly reminded of the journey to Hole in the Wall as I peel sunburned skin off my shoulders every day [I got burned pretty badly].
The nights we were there involved going to the tippy top of a hill and watching the sunset color the sky and leave nothing to be seen but silhouettes of the thatched roofs peaking over the hills, nothing to be heard but the murmur of the crashing waves below. [Aww, I smell a romance novel in the making]
All in all, it was a beautiful stay and lots of fun!
I forgot to mention a funny moment: when we were in Durban a guy holding the door looked at me and as I walked away he said, "Excuse me. You are so beautiful." He then looked at Marita and said, "Well, you are beautiful too. But her? She's just... [[shakes his head]]... she's beautiful." I smiled, thanked him for the compliment, laughed, and decided that was a great way to start a road trip... haha.
I go all the way to the middle of nowhere South Africa, and what do I find? A Yalie. Really? Can I not escape from them?! We immediately argued over who was going to win The Game in a few weeks and as you can see from one of my previous posts, I was obviously right. Harvard > Yale.
After going through the village Marita and I ran over to get "the world's cheapest surf lessons" (R40) from a professional surfer [I think his name was Reyno]. Now, there are some sports that I just know I am not good at-- namely most anything involving skill and coordination. Unfortunately, that happens to be quite a few sports out there, including surfing. Fortunately for me, surfing doesn't involve balls coming towards my face-- that is a positive. I thought if I could get a 2-hour surf lesson for $5 in the middle of paradise, why not go for it? I thought this despite my prediction that I would be under the water being tossed by the waves for most of the time. Well whaddya know?! I stood up on my second try! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am not incredibly horrible at surfing. I couldn't stand up on the board too long until my very, very last attempt, where I rode the wave all the way onto the shore, doing fists pumps of victory into the air. I was happy for the rest of the night. I wish I could have taken a picture of me surfing with majestic cliffs and the bluest of blue waters in the background... a beautiful place!
We were supposed to leave the next morning, but the Baz Bus was full and we had to extend our stay another day. Aw shucks [sarcasm]. Instead, we took a 3-hour hike up and down steep hills and deep valleys to a place called Hole in the Wall. Although I have always loved being outside, when I was younger I didn't understand the point of hiking; why would you walk hours and hours just to return to the same place that you started?! But I have grown to love hiking-- not only is it a great form of exercise, but I truly believe that if you only experience the man-made urban world you are really failing to experience the other 80% of God's creation and you are missing out on some tranquil and wonderful moments. Anyway, the walk was awesome! We walked all the way with the coast on our left, looking like it was from a resort brochure from Hawaii or somewhere in the Carribean. To our right there were luscious rolling green hills spotted with cows and sheep... how I imagine Ireland or Sweden. In fact, I was even prompted to attempt a yodeling session as I walked up a hill through a group of goats. We ate a snack of oranges right in the middle of a cow herd. It was cool. We got to Hole in the Wall and realized that it was one of those things where the journey is more exciting than the destination... but the journey was totally worth it. And although I put on sunscreen, I am still constantly reminded of the journey to Hole in the Wall as I peel sunburned skin off my shoulders every day [I got burned pretty badly].
All in all, it was a beautiful stay and lots of fun!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
URT: Durban
8 November
We needed to catch our bus to Coffee Bay at 6:45am the next day in Durban. There was no way to get to Durban that early in the morning, so we just came the night before and booked some beds at a hostel called "Tekweni." Tekweni, a fun a lively place, seemed more like a night club/bar than a place to sleep. With beach bum surfers and sunburned girls walking around in nothing but bikinis and beer bottles in hand, it was only the braai [barbeque] that really kept us going. Call us party poopers or call us tired, but we went to bed that night with the music still roaring in the background and the smell of pot seeping into our windows. Yep, not quite my style.
So when they say "Tekweni goes off!" it basically translates into "Tekweni is a huge party scene where no one sleeps, everyone smokes and drinks, and the music never dies. Party on!" I am sure that appeals to a lot of people, but we were just looking for a place to sleep.
Our method of transportation for the week was the Baz Bus, a bus that travels down the coast and goes door-to-door at backpackers hostels. Pretty convenient and incredibly toursity... but a decision that in the end was less expensive and less of a hassle than trying to rent a car for two weeks.
The next week was spent with hours and full days on a bus, but I was excited nonetheless about my roadtrip!
Our method of transportation for the week was the Baz Bus, a bus that travels down the coast and goes door-to-door at backpackers hostels. Pretty convenient and incredibly toursity... but a decision that in the end was less expensive and less of a hassle than trying to rent a car for two weeks.
The next week was spent with hours and full days on a bus, but I was excited nonetheless about my roadtrip!
The ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP!
Finally, I will be able to share with you bits and pieces of my road trip down to Cape Town. It was fun! I am so glad I did it.
Instead of writing one incredibly long and boring post, I am going to try to break it up into different legs of the trip... also, that way you will be able to still get some URT [Ultimate Road Trip] goodness even if I am not able to finish today... which seems to be very possible considering that my camera cord has decided it doesn't enjoy importing pictures anymore.Womp womp.
Instead of writing one incredibly long and boring post, I am going to try to break it up into different legs of the trip... also, that way you will be able to still get some URT [Ultimate Road Trip] goodness even if I am not able to finish today... which seems to be very possible considering that my camera cord has decided it doesn't enjoy importing pictures anymore.Womp womp.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday Fun!
I love Sundays. They just generally tend to be awesome days. This Sunday was no exception.
This morning I walked to church, and I really enjoyed it. Sunday standard.
After that, I got to do my laundry at the YDC which was awesome because I wasn't in the mood to handwash all my clothes. And it was a hot day so they would dry on the line before nightfall! Perfect!
And while I was at the YDC doing my laundry, I brought bananas over and baked banana bread. Wonderful! I forgot that I love baking, and it brought me back to my college days when Anna baked banana bread all the time. Mine wasn't as good as hers, but it was still good.
But the fun happened after that: Klaske had some water balloons that she bought in Holland and we filled them all up for a water balloon fight with the boys at Kayalethu, a shelter for young boys that are living on the street. Within seconds of hearing about the water fight, the boys from the shelter were already stripped down to shorts/underwear and ready. The boys were so excited-- they were having fun just filling up the balloons! Well the water balloon fight started and ended within about two seconds: the balloons were finished. But then a huge water fight commenced, with the boys running back and forth finding bottles and buckets and hoses and whatever there was around to get other people soaking wet. It was so, so, so wonderful to see these boys so happy, and it made it a wonderful Sunday indeed!
This morning I walked to church, and I really enjoyed it. Sunday standard.
After that, I got to do my laundry at the YDC which was awesome because I wasn't in the mood to handwash all my clothes. And it was a hot day so they would dry on the line before nightfall! Perfect!
And while I was at the YDC doing my laundry, I brought bananas over and baked banana bread. Wonderful! I forgot that I love baking, and it brought me back to my college days when Anna baked banana bread all the time. Mine wasn't as good as hers, but it was still good.
Harvard > Yale.
Fact.
Just had to announce that the Harvard football team once again conquered Yale at THE GAME, with a fourth-quarter comeback that ended it at 14-10. What is that now, 8 out of the last 9 games won? Indeed it is.
Sorry, just the obligatory shout out from a Harvard football fan. Even in South Africa, I am still loving THE GAME [has to be written in all-caps for the emphasis on the awesomeness].
Just had to announce that the Harvard football team once again conquered Yale at THE GAME, with a fourth-quarter comeback that ended it at 14-10. What is that now, 8 out of the last 9 games won? Indeed it is.
Sorry, just the obligatory shout out from a Harvard football fan. Even in South Africa, I am still loving THE GAME [has to be written in all-caps for the emphasis on the awesomeness].
Friday, November 20, 2009
Back in Pietermaritzburg
That was a fun road trip! I am back in rainy/thundering/freezing/storming Pietermaritzburg and grateful that I had nearly two weeks of amazing weather while traveling down the coast!
I have lots of pictures and loads of updates... and I will do those when I have the time to do them... maybe next Monday. But I wanted to let you all know I am safe and sound.
I was also incredibly happy to have an awesome package waiting for me [actually, being held hostage by angry postal workers who didn't want to give it to me] when I got back. THANK YOU MOMMMY. My mother can predict the future; here's why I say this:
I have taken a fancy to the "book exchange" shelf at hostels over the course of my travels. I always sit there and stare at all the books, looking to see if there is one worth giving up my current book for. Unfortunately, there usually isn't as 80% are usually in Dutch, and then 10% of the books are in some other language, and then that only leaves 10% of the books in English... and they are usually travel guides/lame books. But I have found this weird attraction to cookbooks... I guess I am just desperate to learn how to cook more than hotdogs, potatoes, and pasta. I found this book from 1981 called One Pot Cooking. "One pot cooking?!" I thought, "this is perfect... because all I have in my kitchen is a pot!" I flipped through the pages and I was in heaven-- tons of recipes that I could cook in a single pot. A bit later I look through the book again and realize that the illustrations of the pots have knobs and cords coming out the bottom. "Please tell me this is not a book about crockpots... I don't have one of those!" But alas-- it was. I don't have a slow cooker! So I didn't ditch the book at the next hostel but instead kept it just in case I could find a way to modify those recipes for actual pots on a stove.
Today I got a package from my mother packed full of Halloween decorations [we will use them as Fall decorations], packets of hot chocolate [which is great because it is really cold right now], my track spikes [!!!], some other goodies, and a miniature crock pot full of seasoning spices. Can my mom predict the future? I think she can. How did she know that I would pick up that book when she sent the box a month ago? I don't know. Perhaps she is just a genius.
I have lots of pictures and loads of updates... and I will do those when I have the time to do them... maybe next Monday. But I wanted to let you all know I am safe and sound.
I was also incredibly happy to have an awesome package waiting for me [actually, being held hostage by angry postal workers who didn't want to give it to me] when I got back. THANK YOU MOMMMY. My mother can predict the future; here's why I say this:
I have taken a fancy to the "book exchange" shelf at hostels over the course of my travels. I always sit there and stare at all the books, looking to see if there is one worth giving up my current book for. Unfortunately, there usually isn't as 80% are usually in Dutch, and then 10% of the books are in some other language, and then that only leaves 10% of the books in English... and they are usually travel guides/lame books. But I have found this weird attraction to cookbooks... I guess I am just desperate to learn how to cook more than hotdogs, potatoes, and pasta. I found this book from 1981 called One Pot Cooking. "One pot cooking?!" I thought, "this is perfect... because all I have in my kitchen is a pot!" I flipped through the pages and I was in heaven-- tons of recipes that I could cook in a single pot. A bit later I look through the book again and realize that the illustrations of the pots have knobs and cords coming out the bottom. "Please tell me this is not a book about crockpots... I don't have one of those!" But alas-- it was. I don't have a slow cooker! So I didn't ditch the book at the next hostel but instead kept it just in case I could find a way to modify those recipes for actual pots on a stove.
Today I got a package from my mother packed full of Halloween decorations [we will use them as Fall decorations], packets of hot chocolate [which is great because it is really cold right now], my track spikes [!!!], some other goodies, and a miniature crock pot full of seasoning spices. Can my mom predict the future? I think she can. How did she know that I would pick up that book when she sent the box a month ago? I don't know. Perhaps she is just a genius.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
What was the outrageous adventure?
Take one look at this picture and I am sure you will figure it out:
On the way over to the platform Marita and I did a tandem zip line under the bridge, which would have been scary enough had I not known that I would be jumping off the bridge after.
I have so many pictures and everything to share, but I felt this was the most outrageous thing so I might as well share it with you as soon as possible [and I bought a picture CD so I could share, although I didn't but the DVD so you will never be able to experience the jump with me... sorry]. Hopefully I can make a little slideshow of all the pictures once I get home.
I am currently in Cape Town and having a rough time believing it isn't San Francisco. Except for the giant mountain surrounding the city, this place is basically San Francisco. A very westernized place with an eclectic and hip vibe, walking around you feel both disoriented [because in truth you don't know where you are] and completely comfortable [because it feels like any major American city] at the same time.
Tomorrow I am doing the 4+ hour hike up table mountain!
That is me, flying towards the ground while doing the world's highest bungy- Bloukran's Bridge at 216 meters. Wow. Now that I have done that, I am sure I can pretty much do anything.
So why did nobody know about this before? Multiple reasons, the foremost being that I didn't have any internet to really tell anyone. The other being because even if I did have internet, I would have to suffer through knowing I was giving my family a heart attack, listening to Andrew tell me how incredibly dangerous this was and having Shannon once again explain to me her father's theory of modern Darwinism-- stupid people who do stupid things are supposed to die so the fit can survive and prosper. Sooooo talking about it ahead of time was a no-no, but it was pretty cool to do it.
It is about a 5-second freefall before you feel any tension and that is terrifying... I knew I wasn't going to hit a tree or anything, yet I still felt like I was hyperventilating on my way down. Ahhh! It was crazy, I feel crazy, but now I have done it. It was weird, because I was literally shaking of fright beforehand [or maybe shivering because it was cold], on the way down I was freaked out, but as soon as I was reeled back in the first thing I said was, "I feel like I messed up and needed to jump out harder for a better pull. I need to do it again!" I didn't, though... no worries. And can you believe this is someone who is afraid to dive head-first into a pool?! Talk about facing your fears...
On the way over to the platform Marita and I did a tandem zip line under the bridge, which would have been scary enough had I not known that I would be jumping off the bridge after.
I have so many pictures and everything to share, but I felt this was the most outrageous thing so I might as well share it with you as soon as possible [and I bought a picture CD so I could share, although I didn't but the DVD so you will never be able to experience the jump with me... sorry]. Hopefully I can make a little slideshow of all the pictures once I get home.
Tomorrow I am doing the 4+ hour hike up table mountain!
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