14 April (Day 29) (Cage Diving)

I survived!
We had to be at the diving place at 7:30 this morning to go cage diving with great white sharks. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with pictures of previous patrons. Such notable fellow divers include Brad Pitt, OneRepublic (aka that band that played “Apologize”), Prince Harry, Anderson Cooper, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Matt Damon. Matt Damon had just been there the month before, and was coming back at the end of the week! Poor timing on our part, I guess.

We ate breakfast at the center and then had a really quick briefing about the weather and the sighting conditions we should expect for the day. The water was 14 degrees Celsius! After that we headed to the boat. We drove out for about 20 minutes before anchoring. They started to chum the water while we waited. We were told that it could be minutes or it could be hours. It was minutes. We were still in the process of putting on our wetsuits when the first shark showed up, and whoever got their suits on the fastest were the first in the cage.

The cage holds five people at a time, and is attached to the side of the boat. The top is out of the water, and you hold yourself up there until the guy on the boat yells, “Down!” Then you duck under the water and stay down for as long as you can, so that you can see the shark.

I didn’t go until the third group of people. Alex and I were standing together, and she decided that she didn’t want to be the first in the cage (also the furthest from the exit of the cage). So she left me! Next thing I knew, there was a man strapping weights on me and directing me into the cage—alone! The worst part is that Alex bolted so quick that it wasn’t even my group members who came next. There was a couple that came after me, and then came Alex and someone else from our group (sorry, I don’t remember who).

I hyperventilated for the first minute and a half or so. It didn’t help that we’d barely been in the cage before they started yelling at us to go under. I tried to go under a few times, but couldn’t hold my breath long enough. So on the fourth time, when he yelled “down,” I didn’t go. I stayed up long enough to control my breathing, and after that I was fine. My hands and feet were in so much pain from the cold that it was a welcome distraction from my anxiety. I should point out now that my fear is of drowning, not sharks.

This is good, because shortly after I got my breathing under control, I came face-to-face with one. The man yelled, I went down, but I couldn’t see a shark. I stayed down to try and look around to see where it was coming from and the next thing I knew, there it was. I was on the end of the cage, and it had come up from behind and around my end! The guy next to me must not have seen it either, because we both jumped—underwater. It was really cool! I went under and saw the sharks several times before getting out of the cage. That was more than enough for me. While others waited for a second or third turn, I took off my wetsuit and headed for the top deck of the boat.

I’m glad that I went up, because I had a really great view of the sharks from there! Jeff had given me his camera and so I got some really cool pictures. I’ll make sure to get them from Jeff and put them up eventually. I also got to see a baby shark! Kind of. There was a kid fishing off the front of the boat. I guess a baby shark took the bait, but a bigger shark mistook him for bait. So when the boy reeled in his catch, it was half of a baby shark, still alive and wriggling. Gross, sad, and really cool.

All in all we saw eight great white sharks (and a half, I guess) and we were done by 11. The people at the diving company said it had been their best day since summer. We went back to the diving center where they gave us lunch (mmmm hot soup) and we watched our DVD. This one I decided not to purchase, though I think Carrie may have gotten it.

Since cage diving was shorter than anticipated, we made a pit stop in Hermanus on our way home. A lot of the group decided to go to a little market in town, but I opted to climb some rocks by the ocean instead. We were supposed to meet back at the car, but only five of us were right on time, so Pierre decided to have a little fun. We drove off. I guess there is a natural fountain in Hermanus that runs because of gravity or pressure or something too complex for me to understand. Sadly, there has been a drought here, lately, and the fountain was a non-fountain. It was just some rocks and still water. After showing us the non-fountain, we drove back to pick up the rest of the group, and headed back to Stellenbosch.

We were home by 3:30 and spent some time visiting with the girls, talking about our holiday and theirs. Phoebe gave us Lindt chocolate bunnies as a belated Easter gift; she’s so sweet. Then we had dinner with the family and turned in, since the next day was the beginning of school, again.

13 April (Day 28)

The actual Cape Agulhas was not where our hostel was. We had to drive there. Cape Agulhas is the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa, and also the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Obviously we took about a million pictures by the sign, before climbing around on the rocks for a bit. Also at Cape Agulhas is a lighthouse, complete with a small exhibit on lighthouses of the world. As we were climbing the lighthouse (which, by the way, has ladder-style steps at different levels, rather than the spiral stairs to which I am accustomed) we saw a poster with several lighthouses, including a particularly familiar one. The lighthouse in Grand Haven, MI is featured at Cape Agulhas! Small world.

After that we went back to the beach. Anna, Alex, and Jeff finally got to go kayaking, which they’d been dying to do all holiday. Those of us not quite up to that type of strenuous activity opted to go boating. There were small boats, so six of us fit on each. I had never been boating on the ocean like this before. Being that I’m not exactly a big boater to begin with, it wasn’t really my favorite day. I will admit that it was fun, though, and I had a really good time.

Until I ruined my camera. Salt water? Nope. Typical Caitlin clumsiness? You bet. I was trying to climb out of the boat with my camera in my hand when it slipped. I had the rope around my wrist, but the screen smashed against the boat and cracked. Luckily, it was just the screen. So I can still take pictures with my camera, I just can’t review them, or use cool settings, or know when my battery is dying without waiting for it to stop turning on. But I did make sure to get a camera with a viewfinder on it, and it’s kind of like having a normal camera. And the pictures still turn out fine. Plus, at this point it was almost the end of holiday and I’d done the bulk of our major exciting activity.

Following the boat ride, we drove to Gansebaai, kind of. I think we technically were staying in a smaller town near Gansebaai, but I didn’t exactly check my atlas. Which is to say, I don’t have an atlas. This was to be the last night of holiday, so we went to the nearest store to try and buy some beer. Unfortunately, Easter Monday is a real holiday here, and nothing was open. After that we all went back to the hostel. Once again, our group was too big. All twelve of the GVSU students took up our guesthouse, and Sandy, Pierre, and Antoinette were down the road. That was actually really cool, because we all hung around listening to the radio (a real radio station!) and playing pool before dinner.

After dinner we ordered Dom Pedro’s again, but this time I didn’t get Amarula. I chose to try Stroh’s rum. This rum is 86% alcohol, so mixing it with ice cream was about the only way I was ever going to try it. Jake, Jeff, Pierre, Antoinette, and I all ordered them. Someone described it as tasting like rum raisin, which I think is a valid comparison. However, it was the only Dom Pedro I’ve had that you could really taste the alcohol in, even with all the ice cream. Glad that I tried it, but Amarula still has my heart.

After dinner we went back to our guesthouse and played an epic game of sardines. I don’t even like sardines, and I had to be the hider like three times, but it was fun nonetheless. Anna had been dying to play sardines for weeks. I can see why, she’s really good at it. We still made it to bed fairly early, because we had to be out of the guesthouse by 7:15am the next morning.

12 April (Day 27)

I think I mentioned in my last entry that the bed and breakfast in Montagu was REALLY NICE. The couple who owned it made homemade bread and rolls and hot breakfast every morning. Easter morning was no exception. The husband had woken up before dawn, and on a whim decided that he would make this incredible marrow (baby zucchini) and mushroom quiche. I don’t even like mushrooms, and I was in love. At breakfast we also found little chocolate eggs and bunnies at our table. The Easter Bunny will find you in Africa, apparently!

Most of the people in the group found churches to go to this morning. Some went to a Christian ceremony (in English) in a local garden. Others went for a Dutch Reform ceremony in Afrikaans. Jake ventured alone to an Anglican service. Jeff did his own form of worship: he hiked the nearby mountain. Kate and I were the two non-church goers, which was good because we needed to load the trailer. As soon as church ended we drove from Montagu to Cape Agulhas.

It was a pleasant surprise when we arrived at Cape Agulhas to find that our hostel happened to be across the street from the beach! Since it was Easter Sunday, we didn’t have any real planned activities. Sandy, Carrie, Sara, and I decided to walk the boardwalk along the beach. This ended up being another cool day for wildlife for us. While we were trying to catch sand crabs (okay, Sara and Sandy were trying, Carrie and I were watching in disgust) there were several people fishing on the beach. One of the fisherman somehow managed to catch a baby octopus! Sandy, being the educator that she is, walked right up to him and asked if we could touch it. He let us! It was so cool, it’s little sucker suction themselves on your skin and pull along—very cool sensation. Then, as we were heading back to the hostel for dinner, we saw huge sting rays in the bay! We’re talking bigger than I can motion with my arms, and they were just swimming along right at the water’s edge.

Before dinner I hopped online to check my email, because this hostel had a computer. It was like Easter serendipity: just as I was online, both of my sisters and my parents were online, too! So I got to talk to my whole family on Easter. It was awesome.

For dinner, we had bobotie prepared in the hostel. Bobotie is a traditional South African dish consisting of ground meat and eggs, served on rice. It was really good! After dinner we hung out in the hostel, which had a bar. I guess they weren’t anticipating our American love of beer, because we literally bought the bar out of Black Label. We played card games and hung out in the hammocks and just generally had a really fun time. We played a game of “how many people can we fit in one twin bed?” The answer was 5 before we ran out of people willing (and awake) to play. I think we could have done more.

11 April (Day 26)

So the main event for today was a tractor ride. If you have the same mindset I do, that sounds so stupid. I had pictures of the stuff we do in Michigan with bales of hay and driving through fields. I was so wrong.

The tractor ride took us up the side of a mountain, through some forests, up to a sweet little cabin, along some ponds, and it was beautiful. No bales of hay involved. The tractor ride dropped us off in the woods where a group of women had prepared amazing fried bread and potijies. Potijies are pretty much just stews; in this case they had a chicken, a lamb, and a vegetable. I asked for a bit of each on rice, and ended up with a TON of everything. I was uncomfortably full, and then they had chocolate pudding-cake-type thing with vanilla ice cream. Of course I ate that. It was soooo gooooood.

It was incredibly hot at this point, and the man who ran the tractor rides offered to let us go swimming in one of the ponds! So we walked over to a pond that looked like it could have been out of a movie. The water reflected the trees perfectly, and there were picnic tables all around. There were also docks to dive off of, including one about six feet off the ground, suspended between trees. The water was cold, but that was nice since the day was so hot. We stayed there awhile, swimming and laying out.

The next stop for the day was the hot springs. In my mind, I was picturing something very calm and natural. Not the case. It looks like a resort pool, complete with a waterslide. The only thing that makes it stand out is the fact that it was naturally heated water from the hot springs. But after all of the exhausting stuff we’ve been doing these past several days, to hang out in a heated pool was pretty great.

10 April (Day 25)

The main plan for today was to drive from Mossel Bay to Montagu. In Mossel Bay we were staying right near the beach, but Montagu is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Since it was Good Friday, we figured there wouldn’t be much to do in Montagu, so we decided to spend the bulk of our “day of leisure” in Mossel Bay.

Heather and I started off by ourselves to check out the lighthouse. We got sidetracked, though, and in typical South Africa fashion we accidentally ended up cliff side, overlooking the ocean. Not a bad detour. After realizing that we were not headed for the lighthouse, we worked our way back down the cliff and walked toward some tide pools. There we ran into Sandy, Emily, Jessica, and Jeff. Jeff and the other three girls quickly busied themselves with jumping into the pools, while I tried to take pictures of them. They actually turned out really cool, but once again my pictures cannot really do justice to how beautiful the ocean was.

Following their brief dip, Emily, Jessica, Heather, Sandy, and I all went over to a nearby restaurant for a quick lunch. We split seafood pizza and nachos, and each of us ordered a different girly drink. The food and drinks were really good, and we got to sort of debrief about the whole bungee-jumping excitement of the previous days.

After lunch everyone met up back at the hostel and we loaded the bus to leave for Montagu. After a couple of hours we pulled up at this beautiful bed and breakfast. The place only fit our group of people, so we had the entire thing to ourselves. Kristina and I shared a room, and we were lucky enough to get the pool house! There was another separate guesthouse in the back where Jeff, Jake, Anna, and Jessica were staying, and everyone else was in the main house. The rooms were awesome, with clawfoot tubs right in them. Kristina and I had a shower, but a very nice one.

We didn’t have too much downtime, but the backyard crew (minus Kristina, who was unpacking I think) decided that we would try to get a feel for the town before dinner. We stopped by the hostel next door because they had a sign that they were a microbrewery. Upon further inspection, we found that they were having problems with their licensing and couldn’t actually sell us beer. They pointed us across the street, where the pub sold a microbrew called Napier from a nearby town. We thought it would be a good place to come by after dinner, so we asked how late they would be open. The bartender told us they would stay open as late as they needed to be.

It was a good thing we told them we were planning on coming back, because our dinner took three and a half hours! But after dinner almost everyone at least stopped by the bar for a little while. We tried Napier, I am a fan. Jeff also bought us all shots, and then the bartender took it a step further by giving the boys a shot for free. Jessica and I were intrigued, so he poured us one half shot, which we then split into two quarter shots. It was a good thing we did, because whatever we drank was basically paint-thinner. It was disgusting. On that note, Jessica and I turned in for the night.

9 April (Day 24)

Today we didn’t have to do anything until 2pm. Most people went to the beach, but I spent the morning catching up on my writing. I’m not sure if you can tell, but the days have been pretty full, so I was getting really behind.

At 2 o’clock Pierre came to fetch us for another game drive, but this one was very different. We went to Botlierskop, which is a private reserve. They have luxury overnight accommodations and we started the ride at this nice restaurant-type building. We went out in one of their vehicles, a giant safari-style Jeep-type thing. First we were driven to a fenced-in area where they keep their three elephants. Then we drove to a separate fenced-in area where they keep their four lions. All of the lions were rescued from captivity situations, which makes them very different from the lions that we saw at Addo. They don’t really do anything but walk around. They’re not even capable of hunting. When they have to feed them, they tie dead animals to the backs of vehicles and drive them around.

After those two enclosures, we went to the more open portion of the reserve. We drove around and saw wildebeests, water buck, and impalas. I think of all the antelope-creatures, impalas are my favorite. They had black impalas, which are very rare. In the wild they’re an easy target, because predators see in black and white, so they stand out more from their surroundings. But since these are in captivity they’re safe, and they’re really beautiful.

After seeing what was on the flat land, we drove up the mountain. That was definitely the coolest part of the whole thing: driving in that vehicle up the sides of the mountain. At the top we saw one zebra and one giraffe, plus one more water buck. Back at the bottom of the mountain we saw rhinos, which were exciting in that they were the first of our trip, but they weren’t really doing anything. All-in-all, it was kind of a rip-off, but they did give us sherry and some mixed nuts afterward, I guess.

After Botlierskop we were invited to Pierre and Antoinette’s for dinner. Antoinette had made homemade stews and pumpkin for us. They live on a really nice farm and I got to see their dogs. Their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter were there, too. Their granddaughter is so cute! It was cool to hang out with a family again after being away from our host families. Antoinette had pie and custard for dessert, and we watched a cricket game on TV. It was really chill, and a relaxing night after how busy we’ve been.

8 April (Day 23)

We went to an ostrich farm and got to see a “feather palace.” Back in the day ostrich feathers were really valuable, so ostrich farmers built big, beautiful houses. We didn’t get to go in, though, because someone lives there currently. As obnoxious as this will sound, I have seen much bigger houses in GP, so the fact that was called a “palace” seemed a bit extreme, but it was a nice house.

We got to see two ostriches named Jack and Susie who were 28 years old. I let Susie bite me to see how it felt. We stood on ostrich eggs, because they’re really strong. The only really cool thing I did at the ostrich farm was ride an ostrich. Yep, I rode one. We all got to sit on the ostriches, but only four people could ride them. It’s a good thing we got weighed for bungee jumping, because there was a weight limit for riding and I wouldn’t have known mine if I hadn’t just been weighed. Heather, Anna, Jess, and I were the four who got to ride. Don’t worry guys, I have a video.

After ostriches we drove to Cango Caves. We were supposed to all go adventure caving. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Caves scare me really badly, and I didn’t psych myself up enough for caving to actually do it. There were signs in the front that showed exactly how small the spaces are that you have to go through and I totally chickened out. I decided to go on the standard tour, and so did Kristina, Emily, Sara, and Carrie.

It sucked. We only got to see five chambers, and the group was like 50 people. 50 people in a cave? Not even remotely enjoyable. We couldn’t hear the guide because people wouldn’t shut up and there were little kids on the tour that were being obnoxious and a crying baby. It wasn’t fun. Poor Carrie almost passed out in the second chamber and had to be taken back out. I wish I would have done the adventure caving, but when I saw the posters I almost started to cry right then and there, so I think it’s best that I didn’t. Besides, there are caves in the States that I can go to if I so choose, I don’t feel like I missed out specifically on Cango Caves.

I had worn jeans, a tee shirt, and sneakers to the cave because I planned on adventure caving. After caving we were going to the KKNK Festival, so I brought a dress to change into so I that I wouldn’t bake. The forecast called for 34 degrees Celsius, ick! Well, I packed my dress but not SHOES! So I had a little strappy dress and then sneakers and socks. When we got to Oudtshoorn I left my shoes and socks on the bus, set out barefoot and bought shoes first thing. That’s one thing I couldn’t have done in the states: I walked into the store barefoot and got to walk out with shoes. I do enjoy being barefoot, though.

After I got my new shoes, Kristina and I met up with Alex, Anna, Emily, Jess, Heather, and Carrie. We stopped into a restaurant to eat and then parted ways again. Kristina thought that she left her wallet on the bus, so Anna and I walked back with her to meet Sandy and get her wallet. Then Sandy walked us into the festival. KKNK is an Afrikaans festival with music, art, and food. Kristina and I headed for the craft tents while Anna went for music.

At the tents I picked up a gift for Mom and Hayley, as well as a small drum with the flag of South Africa. I think it will be a cool thing to have in my classroom in the future, and I think I might actually buy a few more little instruments like that back in Stellenbosch. I spent the bulk of my money on myself, though. I spoke to a husband and wife who make beautiful jewelry. I couldn’t afford most of their stuff, but I was really enjoying a ring that had an emerald cut green stone with three small pearls. It was more than I thought I wanted to spend, so I walked away from it. Right before closing, though, I changed my mind. We walked back to their tent and I ended up getting it. It was less expensive than some of their other pieces because it hadn’t been bought yet. I absolutely love it, but I haven’t been wearing it for fear of losing it before I even get home.

The craft tents closed at 6, so Kristina and I went to check out food options. One of the big festival foods here was “chip spirals.” It’s a spiral-cut potato, skewered and deep-fried, then sprinkled with seasoning. Kristina wanted to try one, so we started chatting with the woman running the booth while the chip spiral cooked. We found out that her son is a student and he’s living in Chicago right now to go to school. After handing over the cooked potato, the woman refused to take our money for it! She said that we should tell all of our American friends if we liked it. So we got a free chutney-flavored chip spiral. It was really good!

We walked around while we ate the chip spiral, Kristina got a henna tattoo, and we started to look around for our group. We didn’t have a cell phone, so it was pure luck that we ran into Carrie, and Anna. They got a phone call to meet up with Sandy, and so all of us headed to a music tent. We met up with most of the group there, and spent the next couple of hours listening to a really fun Afrikaans band and dancing. We didn’t like the performer for the next set as much, so everyone headed out for one last run around the festival before we had to meet up at the bus at ten. Anna, Alex, Heather, and I headed for a random bar/club. We only had enough time to stay for one song, so we ran past the tables right up to the front of the stage, where no one else was. We were just in time to catch some random Aaron Carter wannabe named Luhann. We danced our little hearts out for his first song and then sprinted out of the bar and back to the bus.

Perhaps if we had more time I would have stopped at a toilet on our way, but we didn’t. This meant that after a couple of beers I was unable to make it the whole ride home without stopping. Sadly, the ride from Oudtshoorn to Mossel Bay was entirely rural, with no hope of a gas station. So Pierre pulled over for me, and Jake and Anna both decided that they needed to get out as well. I really had to go, so I scoped out the best spot and did my business, and Jake is a boy so he needs less privacy than Anna or I. Poor Anna was not as lucky as I, though. I had taken the best spot, and the moon was almost full; even though we were nowhere near city lights, it was quite bright. So Jake broke out the mini-drum that I had purchased earlier in the evening. He played and we danced so that people driving by would see us, instead of Anna. Tragically I am pathetically uncoordinated, and ended up stumbling and cutting my foot on a piece of glass. It was probably the best road-side bathroom break of my life, though.

Upon our return to Mossel Bay, some of us were still ready to go. So Jake, Jeff, Anna, Heather, and I headed down the street to find a bar. We were sorely disappointed, though. Being the middle of the week in a small town, the only open bar was pretty dead. We stayed for one drink and talked with another woman who was staying at our hostel, and then we all headed back for the night.

Bungee Pictures

Check it out in the sweet slideshow above, or go to Flickr and see the bigger versions (I would recommend doing the latter).

7 April (Day 22)

I jumped off of a bridge today! The tallest possible, actually.
We left Tsitsikamma around 9am and Pierre told us we had an hour until we got to Bloukrans Bridge. He lied. 20 minutes later we were staring at the fourth tallest bridge in the world, home of the world’s tallest commercial bungee jump. I didn’t even go look at the jump, I just went straight to pay and to sign away my life. The bridge is 216m high, and the bungee is 160-180m (depending on your weight). We got weighed, numbered, and harnessed before heading to the bridge.

Eleven GVSU people decided to jump, and Sandy paid to walk out onto the bridge with us but not jump. There were five other people in our group, too: two German tourists, a guy who was jumping twice, and a couple on their honeymoon (cute!).
First we all walked out next to the bridge and had someone explain exactly what would happen, and showed us how to hold out our arms and bend and the knees then jump out. And after that quick, three-minute crash course in bungee jumping we walked out to the bridge!

To get to the center we had to do the “bridge walk,” which is another portion that you could pay to do instead of jumping. It’s kind of like a cage that’s bolted to the bottom/side of the bridge, so you can see through the grates under your feet as you walk. Some people said that was scarier than the jump itself. I’m not so sure about that. I felt incredibly safe the whole time, never did I think I would get hurt or die. So most of my anxiety had more to do with the curiosity of what the actual fall would feel like.

When we got out to the middle of the bridge there were about ten guys out there who run the bungee. They run two cords at the same time, but only one person jumps at a time. Different cords hold different weights, so that was what chose our order.
While we were up on the bridge, they turned on loud dance music and it was the awesome party atmosphere. They definitely make you feel comfortable. I was dancing around, having a great time. They had TVs that projected the live footage of the people jumping, since you obviously can’t see them under you. Carrie went first, and beyond that I couldn’t tell you how many people went before or after me. I do know that my vibe totally changed when they called my name, though. They call you up two jumpers in advance to start strapping you in. Even though you’re wearing a harness, that’s not what holds you when you jump. They wrap pads around your ankles and then tie rope around that. I was barefoot, too, since I wore flats. I’m glad, since I prefer to be barefoot over wearing shoes.

Jeff came over while I was getting tied in to point out that I had suddenly gotten very quiet: very out-of-character for me. After they tie you up, you obviously can’t move your feet, so two of the men came to help me hop up to the edge of the bridge. While I was hopping along, another guy came up with a walkie-talking, seemingly questioning my order! He started asking my jumper number, weight, name, saying them all into the walkie-talkie. Not the sort of thing you want to happen as you’re jumping off of a bridge. Then he said I was good to go. I said, “So I won’t die then?” and was assured that I would not. That was all it took for me.

I hopped right to the edge and put my toes over. One of the men holding onto me told me that he liked my toenails (they’re red) and the next thing I knew they were counting down. There is not anticipation, they count down from five but they do it fast. I jumped over the edge and had four seconds of freefall. I expected it to feel longer than it did, the freefall felt like it went very quickly and then I was swinging. There is no harsh snap, like I had worried. It’s a very gentle pull and sway. This is funny; because I’m told it looked like I snapped pretty hard. My favorite part was the silence. At the top of the bridge there’s all the loud music, and everyone is cheering and screaming for each other. When you go over the edge it all stops. It reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” except obviously I wasn’t being hung.

After you stop bouncing, you hang for about a minute while someone comes down to get you. This was definitely the longest. I could feel the ropes digging into my legs and it hurt, but it was the best kind of hurt, because it meant I wasn’t going to fall. I was staring out at the ocean when the guy came down to get me. I started to pull myself up when he told me I had to do nothing, the ropes would pull me into a sitting position. I told him that nothing was one of my favorite things to do. Then this guy also complimented my toes! I wonder if it’s weird to wear toenail polish here.

When I got to the top of the bridge my friends were screaming my name and cheering, which only contributed to my non-stop grin. They unhooked me and asked me if I had anything to say for my DVD (another place that sells you DVDs of your experience). I said that I had no words, and I really didn’t. This whole trip has robbed me of my adjectives. I wish I could describe my experiences, and I think you can tell that I’m really trying, but I just can’t do it justice.

Almost all of us had jumped when they made us leave the bridge. For safety reasons they can’t really have 15 people just hanging out on the bridge, so we literally ran back up to the lookout point to see Jake and Jeff jump. It was cool to watch from there, because they had a TV screen showing the same video that we had watched on the bridge, but we could also see the bridge itself with them jumping off of it.
Afterward we bought our pictures and DVDs, took pictures around the area, and got certificates showing that we jumped. Then we made sandwiches with stuff we had on the bus and had a quick picnic lunch before hitting the road again.

Next up was Birds of Eden. It’s outdoors, but with a gigantic net around it, I guess? I don’t really know how to describe it. It was really pretty because there were boardwalks through the forest and obviously there were a ton of birds there, but I don’t know much about birds so the only ones I could identify were flamingos, parrots, and a toucan. We also saw a marmot/squirrel monkey/I don’t know what it was but that’s what people said. It ran right next to me on the railing of the boardwalk! It was so cute. My favorite thing that I saw at Birds of Eden was a mammal.

A couple more hours of driving found us in Mossel Bay. After going out to dinner we checked into the hostel. I’m in the Whale Room with Anna, Alex, Jeff, Jake, Kate and three other people. One of the guys in our room is from Baltimore, and there’s a female teacher from Toronto. This place definitely has a more hostel-y vibe, with a bar and a pool table and people hanging out. A couple people went out, but I wasn’t feeling well after dinner so I stayed in.

6 April (day 21)

Our plans for today were to go zip lining in the morning and then have a day of leisure in the afternoon where we could do whatever we wanted at Tsitsikamma. We started out according to plan.

We went to this zip lining place where you zip line through indigenous forests. It was sort of rainy when we were leaving, so I took off my glasses and left them with Antoinette so they wouldn’t be all rain covered. Probably not my best choice, since that meant my depth perception was screwy. I didn’t have much of an idea about how far up I was, but I still had SO much fun! The guides talked to us about the trees we were in and what we were seeing. They’re also an environmentally-friendly company, so none of the trees were drilled into, everything was held up by tension. A little scary but really cool.

Everyone was so into it, we all wanted to do it again. While we ate lunch we watched the DVD they made (the company records the whole thing) and we even ended up buying a copy. We had such a good time that Pierre actually found another zip lining company we could go to! We called them up and made an appointment to go there later in the afternoon.

While we waited we went to a little hotel for Don Pedros. Don Pedros have been the drink of the trip, Sandy loves them. They’re similar to Hummers in that they’re pretty much alcoholic milkshakes, but I always get mine with Amarula. The hotel had a little collection of classic cars that they showed us, too. They were all American cars. My favorite was the purple El Dorado. They also had those old school car-couches and car-desks and a bunch of Americana type posters.

The second zip lining place was very different from the first, but just as fun. This time we were in a valley, rather than a forest. The lines were a lot longer and faster, which was really fun. My favorite was one that went right between the rocks and just above the water. I took videos of everyone in our group this time, but I wish I had videos from the first place.

After dinner most people seemed pretty tired, but Jeff, Jake, Anna, and I stuck around and hung out with Sandy. We sat out on the ocean, which was really rough, and watched the waves break and just talked and hung out. It was really nice, I can see why people make such a big deal about living on the ocean.

5 April (Day 20)

The most famous trail at Tsitsikamma is called the Otter Trail. The full trail is 5 days long and you need a permit to hike it, but there is a 6.4km portion that is open to everyone. The trail winds along a cliff and leads to a waterfall on the ocean. Today we decided to try it as a group. Within the first ten minutes on the trail we looked out to the water and saw a ton of dolphins, probably twenty or so. They were swimming around right near shore. It was another thing that Sandy said was unique to our group; groups in the past have only seen a couple of dolphins, never as many as we did.

The trail had some boardwalk portions, and it went over big rocks and through some sandy paths and past a cave. It was really beautiful. It finished at this waterfall, which was really more of a trickle. Sandy said that it’s usually a lot bigger, but I guess it’s down this year. The water falls into this pool that everyone else went swimming in. The whole thing was surrounded by huge rocks and it made me pretty uncomfortable, so I just sat on an edge with my feet in the water. Jeff, Jake, Anna, and Jess and climbed up to a big rock and jumped in. It looked really cool.

After we all finished swimming we headed back, broken into a few small groups. Sandy, Kate, Carrie, Sara, Emily, and I were all together following the trail back. We saw log stairs and headed for them, assuming that was where we needed to be. We ran into some guys carrying packs and stuff who told us that we were headed for a very steep trip up. At that point, Sandy and Kate turned back. I guess I’m an idiot, because I assumed that the steep trail would eventually join back up with the first path. It didn’t. We had gone a long way uphill on sets of stairs and steep dirt inclines before we decided that we didn’t like our choice. We were walking away from the ocean and we were unsure as to exactly where the stairs were taking us. We counted the stairs on our way back: 390. Ugh. My legs were killing me, and on our way down we head super loud thunder claps! Having walked over giant rocks to get where we were, we were a bit wary of rain. We tried to rush back to the trail and got sidetracked again! We followed the path through some forest-y areas, rather than the rocks. Bad choice. It dead ended and we had to turn back AGAIN. At this point my legs were shaking from muscle fatigue and I was awkwardly climbing over rocks. The worst part is that I still kind of loved it, even though I looked like a moron. I had a really good time. We even caught up to Sandy and Kate, who had met someone who let them snorkel with him for awhile.

Afterward I wanted nothing more than to swim, so I went to hop in the pool but I just felt so disgustingly sweaty that I ended up going for a shower instead. After showering, most people headed back to Sandy’s to eat. Not me. Jeff continued hiking, taking the key to his and Jake’s hut with him. Which meant that poor Jake was stranded at the huts without access to soap or clean clothes. So, being the wonderful friends that we are, Alex and I let him hang out in our hut with us and Anna. We worked on teaching him how to bridge a deck of cards. There’s a really cute video of Anna trying to teach him. At the end he gets it and the look on his face, followed by the look at the camera to see if I got it, is like a five year old.
After waiting around for a long time, we ended up giving him soap and one of Alex’s shirts so that we could just go since we were all starving, so he took a shower. As we were leaving to go to Sandy’s, Jeff showed up. So after we took the time to find clothes that would fit him, he ended up changing into his own anyway.

Everyone met up at Sandy’s and Pierre braaied again. This time we had ostrich fillets, it was sooo good. For dessert, Alex, Anna, and I made dirt cups, kind of. I’m not so good at making instant pudding, it seems. It ended up really watery and not super desirable, but everyone was nice and said it was good anyway.

4 April (Day 19)

We had another 6:30am game drive today. We were only out for a couple of hours and we didn’t see much. Pierre, Antoinette, and Sandy said that this was a much more typical game drive. We saw kudu, warthogs, and elephants. I guess that our group had some really great luck, because Antoinette (who is a professional tour guide and has done this a billion times) said that this was the best trip to Addo that she’s ever had.

After the drive we had a quick breakfast and packed up our cabins to head to Tsitsikamma. Addo was drier and landlocked. Tsitsikamma is right on the ocean, situated along the side of cliffs. At this camp we stayed in forest huts. They looked just like the cabins from Addo, but they were made for two people and they didn’t have bathrooms. I was paired with Alex, who I hadn’t been with yet. We got there in late afternoon and had a bit of time to kill before dinner, so Alex, Anna, Heather, Kristina, and I headed off toward one of the hikes. There is a suspension bridge between two cliffs, and they had built boardwalks along to the bridge, so we decided to try that. On the way, we stopped into an office to look into kayaking, which is what Alex wanted to do more than anything. The kayaking tours were booked the entire time we were there.

We headed for the bridge walk, which was really pretty. When we reached the bridge, there was another sign for a Lookout Point, but most people were turning back. Not us. We decided that we wanted to try it out. The boardwalk didn’t exist here, so we thought it would be fun. We walked back into the forest a bit and found a place where there were some big rocks and some water, so of course we had to stop to take pictures of ourselves.

After that pause, we continued upwards. Boy, do I mean upwards. I was expecting a bit more of winding path up. That is not what this was. The boardwalk was gone, but this trail was mostly log stairs. It was terrible, and the sun was starting to set so we had to hurry. None of us had flashlights or anything, so we wanted to be back out by the time it got dark. We rushed up the side of this mountain and made it to the top. We took a few pictures and turned back around. I wish we would have had more time, because the trail kept going, but it didn’t seem like a good idea. We were right, by the time we came off the end of the bridge the sun was setting, and by the time we stepped off the boardwalk it was nearly dark. We walked from there to Sandy’s cabin. Sandy had a real room, with a kitchen and bathroom, right on the water.

There were a few others at Sandy’s, and we all decided it would be a good idea to check out the pool. It really was. Too bad we didn’t go to our cabins to get swimsuits first. Did that stop us? Well, kind of. It stopped Sara and I, but not everyone. Most of the group hopped into the pool in the underwear, playing them off as bathing suits. Aside from a few kids who claimed we were “skinny dipping,” no one said anything, at least.

Following our quick pre-dinner dip, we all headed back to Sandy’s to start cooking. We had met the neighbors earlier in the day when they offered to let us keep our beer in their fridge. When we got back to Sandy’s, we found a note on the door that Jake and Jeff were having dinner with the neighbors. This was especially exciting for them since the neighbors were guys. Poor Jake and Jeff spend all of their time with 10 women, so they had earned a break.

After dinner we invited all of the gentlemen back over for cards. The South Africans wanted to play euchre, which they kept pronouncing “yoker.” They got over that pretty fast after watching people play, and so the group of us not playing euchre played a giant game of Screw Your Neighbor instead. I just learned it this trip, but it’s super easy so everyone could pick it up without trouble. I know I had a lot of fun, and I hope they did too.

3 April 2009 (Day 18)

Today was PHENOMENAL. Sandy, Jessica, Emily, Sara and I decided to start the day with a horseback ride through Addo. We were in a section of the park that was away from the lions, so the horses would be safe. It was perfect, though. We did a beginner’s ride, so I had a really chill, sleepy horse named Girly. She was old, so she could be a bit stubborn when she wanted to eat, but other than that I was happy with her.

We went out from 8am to 10am, so it was before the sun was up in the sky and the weather was perfect. We saw red hardebeests, warthogs, zebras, and a ton of birds. We were so close to the zebras! It was awesome because they’re not afraid of the horses they way they are cars, so we could get a lot closer. There was one point when we were watching three adults and two babies and we got so close that the adults moved in to surround and protect the young zebras.

The horseback ride took about 2 hours, and when we got back to camp we met up with the rest of the group, who had decided to go on an early morning game drive with our guides, Pierre and Antoinette. They were super excited because while they were out they saw two male lions! They’re a rare sight at Addo, and they had actually gone out with the intention of seeing elephants. I was bummed that I didn’t get to see them, but I’m still glad I went horseback riding.

We struggled to eat lunch today. We were supposed to have sandwiches, but Pierre, Antoinette, and Sandy had gone down to the watering hole to look for animals. This was problematic in that all of the bread was locked in their cabin, as well as all of our dishes that we had brought over the night before. We ended up raiding the fridge (which was on the porch) and eating leftovers and lunchmeat with our hands and some random cutlery that happened to be left in other cottages. Cut down on the dishes we had to wash, though.

After lunch, most of the group went down to the pool. It was so, so hot today. 103 degrees Fahrenheit! The pool was nice and cool, and when I got out I tried to sit in the shade to avoid burning. The only problem was that everyone else in the group was laying out in the sun nowhere near me. I wanted to hang out with them, so I found two beach chairs and created a little towel fort to hide under.

As I was laying under my fort, Jake called my name. I looked up to see him pointing behind me. A giant tortoise had walked right up to me! He just kept walking toward me until he was close enough that I touched him. Way bigger than my old turtle, Earl, but just as cute.

Later in the afternoon, we went on another game drive. We saw more warthogs (I love them, so so cute), kudu, and elephants. The morning game drive group was really excited to see zebras because they hadn’t seen any yet. As we were driving we saw an area along the road where several cars had stopped, so we drove over to see what was there.

It was a lion! There was a male lion that was sleeping right next to the road. We pulled up next to him and watched him sleep for awhile before he got up and started to walk around. He walked RIGHT next to a car in front of us; they could have reached out of their window and touched them. When he got up we could see his face clearly. It was covered in scratches; he had obviously been in a fight earlier and was looking rough. I have some really good pictures of his cuts and stuff too. We watched him for a long time, but since he had been in a fight and it was very hot he wasn’t really doing much. Eventually we had to turn back in order to be out of the park by closing. On our way out we saw a bunch of elephants, including some adorable babies and a group of elephants walking in a line along the road. It was a very successful drive. I was so, so glad to see the lion. It made me feel a lot better about missing out on the two that they saw in the morning.

For dinner we ate at the restaurant in the park. Some of the girls were lucky enough to get into a night drive. The only way to go on a night drive is to go through the park, and they were sold out. Five of us had been interested in going, and at the last minute some people canceled and four spots opened up. Since I did horseback riding, I sat out the night drive. I was sort of bummed, but at least I got to ride in the morning.

The rest of us went back to our cabin to hang out afterwards. People were playing euchre. I do not play euchre. Instead, I hung out and talked with people who weren’t playing. I went to bed before the boys did this night, because the next day we were going to squeeze in one last game drive before leaving for Tsitsikamma National Park the next day.

1, 2 April (Day 16 and 17)

For our first day of holiday we were picked up at 7am by our tour guides, Pierre and Antoinette. They’ve been the guides on this trip for years, so they’re good friends with Sandy and are very comfortable with us. One of the students from a previous GVSU trip actually is now living with one of their sons here in South Africa!

We spent most of the day travelling, but broke it up with two wine tastings. The first wine tasting was at Springfield, and we were lucky enough to get to have a tour of their winemaking facilities. It wasn’t as in-depth as the one we had with Peter Roos, but it was definitely informative. I was glad that I’d had my wine class, because I actually knew what the guide was talking about when he used words like “lees” and “racking.” I ended up buying a bottle of chardonnay. I’m usually not a big fan of chardonnay, but this was my favorite out of all that I’ve had, so I wanted to make sure I got a bottle.

After a few hours in the van we went to Van Loveren. We didn’t see any facilities here, but it was definitely fun. Our tasting was in a beautiful garden, and we were brought a wine list that covered the front and back. We chose to taste all of them. At Van Loveren they also leave the bottles on the table with you once you’ve tasted. I wasn’t impressed with any of their wines, but that didn’t stop me from tasting a lot to try and find one I would.

It took us several more hours in the car before we reached Knysna. We start the trip at the farthest point and then work our way up the Garden Route, so the first two days are mostly travel. We got to Knysna in the evening and stopped into the hostel before leaving for dinner. We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean, so obviously I got calamari. I eat so much calamari here that people have started to comment on it. What can I say? I love the stuff. This was the best calamari I’ve had so far.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel. The hostel was an old house that had been converted into dorms, and we were the only ones there. It was obviously a hostel (we were in a room with 12 beds) but it didn’t feel like it because we were really only sharing it with the night watchman. It was nice not to have to worry about other people in the building, but we didn’t get the socialization that you get from other hostels. We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the porch talking with the night watchman whose name I forget. He was from SA originally then lived in Ireland for awhile and was back in SA since he couldn’t get a visa. We talked a bit of politics and he told us about living in Johannesburg. He had a lot of interesting stories.

We woke up early the next day and had breakfast in Knysna. After eating a lackluster breakfast, we had an hour or so to shop around town while Sandy stocked up on groceries for our time in Addo. I bought a really cute (and comfortable!) pair of hot pink flats and a green sundress for about $20US.

After several more hours of travel we found ourselves at Addo Elephant National Park. We drew numbers to pick who would be in cabins together. I got to share cabin C8 with Carrie, Jake, and Jeff. Poor Carrie is a light sleeper and ended up with three of the loudest, most obnoxious people to share a space with. Oops. While we were unloading, the girl in F7 looked out into the park. We could see elephants from their front porch! How cool is that?

After dropping our stuff off at the cabin, we headed back to the bus for a game drive. We saw a TON of kudu, which are antelope-type animals with big curved horns. We also saw a bunch of elephants, including two that were fighting in the middle of the road. I got some really cool videos of that. They were right in front of our car. The park just has roads through it and the animals all have free range, so they go wherever they want, regardless of what else is around. On our way out the park we saw something really cool. There was a baby kudu that was separated from his parents and he was being pursued by jackals. We watched them chase him for about 30 minutes before the park was closing and we had to leave. It was awesome to see, though. Obviously it was sad to think that the baby kudu would die, but to see it happening right in front of us was like living in a segment on Planet Earth.

When the park closed we headed back to the cabins for a braai. Pierre braaied chicken for us and Antoinette made salad and pasta. It’s a good thing we had the little braai area to sit in, because all 15 of us were eating together in a cabin created for 4 people. Cramped but fun. After dinner we headed back to one of our cabins to hang out a bit. We told embarrassing stories. We tried to keep quiet, but we’re Americans. The funniest was Jeff, who seems to be unable to whisper. When asked, he lowers his voice but not in the way that he get quieter, it just gets deeper. After that, most of us went to sleep because most of the group was waking up for a morning game drive that would start at 6:30am.