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.