Durban

As I write this, I'm sitting on campus after my last final exam. The semester is officially over! That being said, this will most likely be my last blog post for this trip since I leave on Sunday. The only events that could change this is some crazy adventure on my last day in Port Elizabeth or I sit next to a celebrity on the plane (please not Justin Bieber).

Last week I was lucky enough to get to travel to Durban, one of the larger cities in South Africa located on the east coast of the country. Most of my friends had already made the expedition so I tagged along with three of my lady friends who were headed there. I affectionately refer to them as "The Three Little Chihuahuas" because they all get a little yippy when excited or if they have too much coffee in their system (around 4 cups a day minimum).

The best way to get to Durban is by bus. The roads are tricky and it's easier to let someone drive you instead of trying to navigate them by yourself. I boarded at 7 pm Thursday night and sat next to Knocks, a South African who had many interesting life values which he shared with me. Apparently, "once you go black, you never go back" is for both men and women and the proper way to handle impregnating a woman is to wait until the baby is born, then walk away from the situation. Needless to say, I was more focused on the movie. Although the distance between PE and Durban is only 900 km (560 miles), the trip took us over 14 hours! After the two films played, I took a sleeping pill and passed out for most of the trip so it didn't feel too long.

When we finally arrived Friday morning, I could barely feel my legs and standing was an ordeal in itself. We took a cab to the backpackers and then walked to the beachfront for some food. Being farther north, Durban was a lot warmer than what I was used to and it felt like summer again. After eating brunch, we walked along the beach promenade for a while before heading back to the hostel. I was in dire need of a book so we headed into central to find a book store. Navigating Durban is tricky because all of the street have had a recent name change but local only refer to the old names. What was Vine Street is now Monty Naiker Road and Smith Street is now referred to as Doctor Pixley Kaseme Street. After walking around for close to two hours without seeing as much as a newspaper stand, I settled for a GQ in a supermarket. Friday night we went to a club called Tiger Tiger. It was a good time but I was tired from the day and we didn't stay very long.

One of the public building downtown

Saturday was spent on the beach. We lounged there most of the day and walked along the promenade again. It was beautiful and warm and it was very relaxing. That night we went to the most famous club in Durban, Origin. It's three levels of electronic music and it was quite the experience. I felt like I needed to be on drugs to fully enjoy it but I had a good time watching over the chihuahuas. We met a few nice Durban residents in the club and talked for a while about the city and what we should see while we were there.


We were planning on going to the stadium on Sunday but there was an event taking place there. It turns out that Top Gear, the BBC car program, has a three-year contract with Durban and they do a a live there once a year. They had tricks and commentary in the stadium and shut down some of the roads to create a street circuit to test some of the cars on display. All of the hosts were there as well as The Stig. The tickets were wildly expensive and my friends were not as interested as me so we decided to go to the aquarium instead. Ushaka  Marine World included an aquarium, water park, and display tanks where sharks, penguins, seals, and dolphins could be seen up close.

After touring through the aquarium and seeing sting rays, jellyfish, and penguin feeding, we went to the water park. Having the Dells so close to me back home, I wasn't very impressed with this park but it was included in the cost so I went (begrudgingly) to change into my suit. We grabbed a few tubes to float down the lazy river and stuck a toe in only to find that the water wasn't heated and sat a a balmy 60 degrees or so. I figured we might as well float for a bit so I herded the women into the water and sat in my tube. I could feel the circulation slow in my extremities as my body prepared for hypothermic shock. They had waterfalls and cannons to get you wet and increase the agony. The end of the river couldn't come soon enough! I was cold but I thought my friends would shiver to death. Their little bodies didn't come with a layer of blubber so they weren't quite as insulated as me. We dried off and I went directly to the dolphin show to save seats. We saw five different dolphins jump over poles, balance balls, splash the crowd, and eat tons of fish. It was a great show and they kept the audience involved with "kiss cams" and dance competitions. It was a great end to the day and we went to the movies that night after dinner.




















Monday was my favorite day in Durban. I woke up early and instead of staying in the hostel like I had the other mornings, I put on my running shoes and went down to the ocean. It's a tradition in South Africa to have the day after a holiday off as well. Because Sunday was Father's Day, Monday was a day off and there were families all over the beach which was fun to see. I ran down the promenade to the casino where we saw the movie. In the distance I could see the stadium so I ran there and then a little further. I worked my way back to the hostel but stopped in at a restaurant to get some Bunny Chow. Unfortunately, they didn't have have ready at 10 in the morning so I settled for chicken curry and vowed to come back later that day. After breakfast and a shower, I woke the ladies up and we walked down the promenade to a coffee shop I had passed so that they could get endless coffee. Their six cups woke them up a bit but also meant we had to have bathroom breaks every 20 minutes. It reminded me of home. After coffee we made our way to the stadium and I signed up for a tour of the facilities. I expected the normal tour where they show you the field but the group stays far away from anything important. To my surprise, I was the only one on the tour so my guide, Ice, strolled with me through a side gate and we walked directly next to the field. Some of the grass had been torn up to make an oval track for Top Gear but it was still beautiful. We then went into one of the changing rooms and I saw jerseys from all the teams who played in the stadium for the 2010 World Cup (the reason the stadium was built in the first place). The arch in the middle symbolizes the unification of the separated races with the end of the apartheid. The "Y" on the flag also shows this. There is a skyrail on the arch or you can walk up on the other side. It also has a bungee swing attached to it where you jump off one end and swing across the field to the other end. 




On the tour I found out the South Africa is putting their name in for an Olympic bid in 2020 and Durban would be the host city for the games. This sounds like a great opportunity to come back to this beautiful country and see it in such a different way. On our walk back, we stopped at the same restaurant and I finally got some Durban Bunny Chow!! It's pretty much curry in a bread bowl but it's spiced perfectly and utterly delicious. I had this back in PE but it originated in Durban, with its many Indian influences, and nothing can beat the original.

 Tuesday was our last day in the city and we went shopping, of course. We went to the Indian market where we bargained for goods and got some cool souvenirs for back home. Afterwards we went to the House of Curry and I had my last Durban meal. It was delicious and I was just full enough for the upcoming bus ride. I had a better seat this time and again, slept for most of the trip but it was great to get back to my own bed. It makes going home to the states that much better!

This has been an amazing trip. I've been out of my comfort zone more times than I can remember but never doubted myself of my friends that I've made here. I know I'm going home a changed man and I'll bring new habits formed from living on my own this semester. I'm so excited to see my family and friends but I know I'll miss the connections I've made here. It's a bittersweet goodbye but this vacation couldn't last forever and it's time to enter back into reality. Rekindling old friendships and keeping new ones alive is what life's all about and I can't wait to visit the friends I've made here in their home countries. Whether it be South Africa, Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Switzerland, or different areas of the US. I've really enjoyed blogging and I hope to keep it up when I'm back home but especially for any trips that I take in the future.

Adventure is out there and I'm going to find it!

Goodbye Nim

Today was one of the hardest days I’ve had so far. My roommate Tim left to go back to the US and South Africa will never be the same. He told me many times that he can’t stand this sort of “emotional, sappy crap” so I’ll keep it short (just like Nim).

I can easily say that Tim was my best friend here in SA and he will remain one when we’re both home. His generosity throughout our stay was amazing and even though he tried his best not to, he taught me to be a better person. I will of course miss our crazy party nights in Pier 16, forgotten nights out on the town, and wild weekend trips along the Garden Route. More importantly, I’ll miss our conversations over dinner and talking each other up when we were feeling down. I honestly could not have hoped for a better roommate for this semester and can only hope my future housemates can live up to the bar you have set.

I knew this day would come but it doesn’t make it any better. I know I will visit Lawrence, Kansas multiple times in the coming year so Tim, you better be ready.  Have a safe trip home and enjoy seeing your family and your doggy!

Tonight I leave for Durban so expect a post and some pictures when I come back!

Plettenberg Bay

This weekend one of my friends organized a trip to Plettenberg Bay where we took a river ferry tour.

Friday night was a goodbye party for all of the international students. Since finals start next week, it was the last opportunity for everyone to get together and not worry about studying for tests and exams. The party was a lot of fun but right before my roommate and I were leaving the cops showed up. This was my first close encounter with the police in South Africa and I hope it doesn't happen again because I was not a fan. My roommate and I left without a problem but the police confiscated a laptop, speakers, two cameras, and a few phones from my friends. They held on to them for an hour or so and had to be persuaded to give them back before leaving. The whole event took several hours and brought the fun-filled night to a halt.

I woke up at 7:30 the next morning to find my roommate severely sick in his room. He made the right choice to stay home so the rest of us packed into our cars and headed out. Plettenberg is a beach town along the Garden Route that is really popular in the summer as a weekender's destination. Since it's getting closer to winter here, the town was pretty much dead. We went to the store and picked up braai (barbeque) materials as well as snacks. Then we went to the ferry dock and got on the boat. The weather was warm for this time of year and with the sun out, I got pretty hot. Luckily my friends and  I had a few alcoholic beverages to cool us down. There were 26 of us on the boat which made for good conversation. I am still amazed at the diversity of my friends here. I shared the boat with Americans, Germans, French, and South Africans and had a great time talking with all of them.

 After riding down the river for a while, we beached at a small island and set up for the braai. Everyone brought their own food and luckily our driver was nice enough to help us cook it all over the coals. Braaiing is an art form and the South Africans have mastered it.

Preparing the braai

 It was a lot of fun to spend some time off the boat and share this time with my friends.

After lunch we worked our way back down the river to our cars. We went to our backpackers and dropped off our bags before finding a sports bar to watch the UEFA Champions League Finals. It was between two German teams so my friends got really into it. It was a great game and we all had a good time. After the game, I went back to the hostel and talked with a few friends before passing out.

Today is my last day of classes. It seems strange that I'm almost done but still have a month left. I'll have some travel time in the next few weeks and hopefully I'll have a story or two along the way.

Port Alfred

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. The main reason for this was a row of tests and assignments due in a row. Tests here are different and require a lot more wrote memorization than my classes back home so I spent a large portion of time imprinting definition into my head. This heavy work load also limited my travel ability so I was stuck in Port Elizabeth for three weeks straight. This may not sound too terrible to people back home but when you have little to no access to a car and you don't want to call a cab every day, you end up spending a lot of time at home. Trust me, it got old fast.

Luckily, my last test was this past Friday so I finally had a weekend off! Unfortunately for you, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures as of now to include in this post. Hopefully my friends will upload some pictures soon and I can include those. Yesterday my friends and I took two cars to a near-by town called Port Albert. It was a beautiful day and I got to soak up some sun on the beach maybe for the last time this trip. It's getting cold here fast and the water is FREEZING so spending more than an hour on the beach is tough. Port Albert was a very nice town with a welcoming feel. In many places right by the ocean, large canals had been built for boats to travel through. This allowed for people to had water-front property without building directly on the beach. The beaches were very nice and the waves were spectacular. After lunch we went searching for a boat rental place but couldn't find it so we decided to go home early.

Here's where it gets interesting. On the way home our rental car overheated. It was an old car and the exhaust fan did not kick in properly to cool the engine. When we stopped and checked under the hood the coolant was steaming so we decided to wait until it was cool enough. When we tried to start it a few minutes later, the engine wouldn't turn over and we realized it had seized completely. After a few minutes, a car stopped and asked if we needed help. He assisted us in testing the engine and came to the same conclusion as us. Another car stopped a few minutes later and looked under the hood too. A third car stopped and told us if we needed anything, they owned a farm right up the road and we could use their phone to call a towing company. I was shocked at how many people went out of their way to assist complete strangers stranded on the side of the road, it was very impressive. We called the rental company and they said they would send a person to tow us back to PE. We waited for almost two hours and finally a guy came to help us. He showed up with a station wagon and attached a tow bar to the two cars. It was literally a five-foot metal bar with hooks on the end. I sat in the tower's car while my friends steered our broken car behind the wagon. This was not an easy task and they had to make sure to brake hard if we had to stop so the back car didn't slam into the front one. We finally got home and I took a little nap before celebrating a friend's birthday.

It was a fun trip and the car troubles only added to my African experience. I see that a lot of my friends who are studying abroad in other countries are headed home now or in the next week or so. It's strange to me that I still have five weeks and while this is a lot of time, I know it will fly by once I start traveling again. Look for more posts in the near future now that I have time to travel around.

Frontier Farms

This past weekend I partook in the last of three excursions provided by the university. I was told this trip was the best one offered so I was really excited to go. I was originally scheduled to go mid-May but unfortunately my Marketing class changed the test date to the Saturday of that weekend. Luckily there was room for me on this trip. Since all of my close friends going on this trip were already booked on the May trip, I looked at this as an opportunity to make more friends amongst the international students. The weather was less than ideal as it rained all weekend so bear that in mind while reading this post.

The trip began Friday morning at 9:30. I had a fun night with some friends the night before so let's just say I was a little "groggy". The 3-hour bus ride seemed the perfect place to catch up on some sleep and re-hydrate myself so I put in my ear buds and passed out. I was awoken an hour later for our first of many stops. I'm used to car rides of this length because it's the same distance from Madison to Menomonie but some of the passengers don't have an iron bladder so we made three stops to eat/use the restroom. After five hours on the bus we finally arrived at the first home. The last hour of the trip was spent on bumpy gravel roads that have suffered through many years of use, erosion, and neglect so to say it was slow driving is an understatement. I had a slight headache and was very hungry when we finally arrived but both of these problems were fixed when we walked inside to a lunch feast with tea and coffee. After stuffing my face with the delicious food the family provided, I was in no mood to move so, of course, we went on a hike. We took a tour of the grounds and saw their collection of animals. Cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, springbok, kudu, and eland wandered in fenced pastures and allowed us to get fairly close before bolting to the other end of the field. We then spent time playing with the dog and cats that lived in and around the house. I should mention that this farm house was big. It slept 10 of the members of our group plus the husband and wife comfortably. It had two dining rooms and a spacious living room as well as an outdoor patio and a braii pit. We had dinner at this home and even though I was still full from lunch, I ate a little bit more (by a little bit I mean that I had a full serving plus some dessert). We then met the second family that would host us for the weekend and then boarded the bus to their house. Driving on more bumpy dirt roads proved to be more difficult than expected so it took us a while to get to the second home. All of the men slept in the guest house so we went straight their and I passed out a few minutes after laying down.

In the morning, I walked across the lawn to the main house. I entered through the kitchen and was instructed to take a few turns until I found the hallway and then go into the living room. I got turned around right away and had to be escorted to the correct room. All of the ceilings in this house were a minimum of 12ft. and most were higher. It was one of the largest home I have ever been in and everything was beautifully decorated. Here are a few pictures I took of the house itself.

Patio in front of the guest house

Part of the garden with a small portion of the house behind it

The hallway leading to the living room

After pouring myself a cup of tea, I wandered into what I thought was a sun porch but turned out to be the husband's trophy room. The walls were lined with all of the animals he and his son had hunted in the past few years. Here are three of the four walls:

After breakfast, we jumped into the back of their trucks and rode out to where the farmers shear sheep. He has over 3,600 sheep and a few thousand goats on top of it. All the sheep were shorn by hand because he claimed mechanical shavers cut the wool too close to the body leaving the animal exposed to the cold and increasing their chance of dying due to hypothermia.

After this short demonstration we got back into the trucks and took a tour of their land. We drove over rough terrain through the rain and cold but it was beautiful scenery and landscape and we saw a few wild antelopes here and there.

We got off and walked the last two miles back to the house. It was very muddy and slippery and my tennis shoes were not the best shoe for this outing. At some points, it was like I was walking on ice uphill and would have to catch myself before face-planting in the sludge. A hot shower was a welcome present when I made it back to the farm. We went outside once more before dark and shot a .22 rifle at a target. I have come to the conclusion that I am no marksman and a career as a hitman/sniper is definitely out of the question. I hit the target but nowhere near the bullseye so unfortunately I did not win the prize of a nice South African Shiraz (sorry mom and dad). We spent the night playing cards and watching rugby and I passed out around 11 because I was exhausted.

After sleeping through the night without interruption, I woke up refreshed. We went back to the first farm house and had breakfast. Afterwards we went out to the sheep pen and assisted the farmer with castrating his sheep. Since he wants to avoid inbreeding, he castrates all of his sheep but leaves the rams to breed with other farmers in the surrounding area. I though we had to cut off the balls right then and there but luckily we had a more humane approach. We took industrial-strength rubber bands and stretched them using a hand-held device similar to pliers but designed for this specifically. When fully expanded, the band was put around the testicles and then slowly closed. This cuts off circulation to this part of the body and they eventually just fall off.

We left shortly after this and the drive home only took four hours which was a bonus. It was a great weekend with a lot of R&R time which was needed and I met some good people. Even though the weather wasn't perfect and we couldn't do all of the activities due to inclement weather, I still had fun and will take the knowledge I gained with me forever.

Cape Town

Well, I thought I would have internet in Cape Town so I could update my blog each night but it was slow where available and I didn't have a whole lot of writing time. Luckily for you, I'm writing it all in one long post. So strap in and be prepared to dedicate a bit of time to this one!

After cage diving with some great whites we drove back to PE for the weekend. It was lonely because most people had left on their trips and the weather only made it worse. It was cloudy and rainy the entire weekend so my roommate and I were secluded to our rooms and wherever we wanted to get a taxi to. This got old very fast and only made us more anxious to get going to Cape Town.

Monday we left at sunrise around 6:45. Luckily, no one on the bus wanted to partake in bungee jumping so we cut a good three hours off of our drive time. If I had driven myself the trip would have taken nine hours or so but with a van full of "Thimble Bladders", we made stops every hour and a half so the trip took almost twelve. I tried to sleep for most of it but the scenery I saw along the way was gorgeous. Mountains, ocean, and greenery were in no short supply along the Garden Route. We finally arrived in Cape Town just to find ourselves in a huge traffic jam. The road leading down the mountain usually takes 10-15 minutes. I took us an hour and twenty minutes to wind down the same road. We passed through CT and went to the township just outside of the city and spent our first night in one of these homes. Tim and I stayed with Mama Noks, the leader of all the township mothers who opened their homes to international students. We were the last group of students to stay in the township that overall, had 175 kids sleep and eat for the past week. After a short introduction to our guide all the other people in our group left for their homes. Our house consisted of a kitchen/living room combo, two small bedrooms, and a bathroom. Mama Noks, her husband, and their son shared one bedroom while Tim and I shared another with our student leader for the trip. Mama Noks had already made dinner so we took our plates and sat around the television waiting for utensils. The family began digging in and both Tim and I smiled when we realized we could eat with our hands the whole time! We had a maize starch as a base with cabbage, squash, and chicken to go with it. We were all stuffed and sat around watching quality South African soap operas, soccer highlight shows, and WWE wrestling before going to bed.

In the morning we had a light breakfast of sausage, eggs, and toast before getting back on the bus. We headed straight to Table Mountain. We were warned that this would be a tough climb but most of us decided to climb up instead of taking the cable car. We walked to the beginning of the trail and began the ascent at 900ft. Since it had rained the past few days, there were a few spots on the trail with water flowing over it. This made the climb go a little slower but we still sped up the hill. Our guide, Mike, said that we were one of the faster groups that he has climbed with. It took us under two hours to climb to an elevation of 3,558 ft and my quads were feeling the burn. The view on the way up was spectacular but at the top we got stuck in the clouds so we couldn't see too much.

After lunch we hiked down another edge of the mountain. I led the group down steep rock faces and slippery ladders before making it to the bottom of the hill. It took us over three and a half hours to get down the hill and my knees and feet were killing me by the end. When we got to our hostel, which was closer to a classy hotel than a normal hostel, Tim and I quickly showered and went for burgers and milkshakes at a restaurant very close to our accommodation. The food was amazing and the beer was the cherry on top. They had a home-brewed IPA that was to die for. We went out that night but there wasn't a ton going on so I went home early.

The next morning we went to Robben Island and saw where Nelson Mandela spent 20 of his 28 years of imprisonment. We were led through the prison by a former inmate who served seven years for conspiring against the government. He informed us of the differences in treatment between Coloured people (mixed, Indian, and any other non-whites) and Blacks. Black people were given less food, less clothes, and were not given advancements within the prison as readily. We then took a bus tour of the island and saw quarry where the prisoners were sent to chip limestone from the ground. It was a sobering tour to say the least. On the way back to the mainland, we had seats aboard a "turbo ferry" which cut the 45-minute trip to a speedy 20. This was great until we started launching off the large ocean waves and then slamming back into the water. We quickly realized why each seat was given a paper bag in case of an accident. 

After the tour we drove along a scenic highway to the Cape of Good Hope. We had to detour through town so it turned out to be a really long trip but Cape Point was well worth the drive. It was really beautiful and we had some fun taking pictures in the strong winds up at the lighthouse. Tim and I liked the burger place so much that we went there again and tried some new burgers before heading out to the bars.

The next day was our free day but Mike said he would lead a tour through the wine country around Cape Town. Tim and I went along with a few others and one of Mike's friends, Chase, who turned out to be a really cool guy and was a great addition especially since most of the group consisted of females (gross!). We went to three different wineries and one chocolate factory. The first wine tasting also had cheeses and breads so we bought some for lunch later. The second winery proved too much for Mike who took a nap next to the cutest dog in the world.

The last winery was the most aesthetically pleasing and also had the best wine inn my opinion. They also had a delicious brandy that we tried which hit the spot and put me in the right mood to try some chocolate.

 The chocolate shop was good but the tour wasn't anything special. We ate some pieces of dark, milk, and white  chocolate before heading home. We went to a delicious Malai buffet restaurant that had a great view of downtown Cape Town. It was a great way to end our last night in the city.

On Friday, we left at 6:30 in the morning to drive back towards PE. We stopped at an ostrich farm and some people rode them before lunch. Being that close to the birds makes you realize just how dumb they are and I was ready to leave soon after arriving. After eating we went to the Cango Caves. I wasn't expecting too much from these but they turned out to be fun. The first two caverns were huge and had beautiful formations.

 Then began the adventure part of the tour. This was fine for someone under 5'6" but for me, it was a challenging journey. After a lot of squeezing, scraping, and sliding I made it through the four passages and back out. If I were to go again, I wouldn't do the adventure part because it was too hard on my body and I'm still a little sore from it.

That night we stayed at a farm house owned by a friend of Mike's. We had comfortable beds and beautiful views to admire. We went to a waterfall that night but couldn't really see so decided to come back the next morning.

Before breakfast we headed back to the falls and jumped in to the freezing water a few times before going back to the farm. We had a delicious breakfast and then said our goodbyes before boarding the bus back to PE. After five hours, we arrived at Annie's and I took a much needed nap after unpacking.

I can't wait for my next adventure! Thanks for reading :)

Shark Dive Hoo-Ha-Ha

Getting a small taste of adrenaline by bungee jumping, I realized it wasn't enough. I decided to this time I would go underwater instead of up in the and booked a shark cage diving experience. For our spring break, the university has arranged a trip to Cape Town but the bus doesn't leave until Monday. My roommate and I wanted to make the most of our time off so we went with two of our friends to Mossel Bay on Thursday night. Apparently, this town is a huge tourist attraction in South Africa and there were humongous hotels lining the beaches. We stayed in a hostel made out of a train. There were private rooms in a few of the cars but we were in the bunk bed car with ten other people. I didn't sleep super well that night but we had to get up early the next morning so I survived the seven hours on the top bunk.

When I say early, I mean early! Luckily the hostel was near White Shark Africa because we had to be there at 6:15am. When we arrived, there was a small breakfast buffet and we watched an informational video about the sharks in Mossel Bay and what our experience would entail. It turns out that the sharks swim less than a kilometer (just over half a mile) from the most popular beach on the bay. There is an island that seals occupy that the sharks swim around in search of food. Luckily, these sharks seem to ignore humans for the most part and hardly ever come towards the beach. After breakfast, we walked down to the boat to travel to the sharks. It was only a 20-minute ride to Seal Island and the water was pretty calm, even though it was cloudy and on the verge of rain.

Seal Island with some of the hotels on the beach behind it

Our guide told us that after chumming, we could wait as long as five hours to see a shark. Three minutes after saying this, the first shark appeared next to the boat. The crew lowered the cage into the water and six people put on wet suits. Our group of four made it into this group and we eagerly hoped into the cage. My roommate just purchased a GoPro camera with a water-proof case which films HD quality movies. When he puts up the videos, I'll attach one here because they are awesome! The crew lured the sharks in with a tuna head on a string and the sharks loved it. We spent about 20 minutes in the water watching sharks swim less than six inches from the cage, sometimes bumping into the bars themselves. When we hopped out, the other six passengers went in and I took pictures of the sharks. We got a second chance to go in the cage and this time, instead of one shark, there were two or three swimming around the boat. We didn't have scuba gear, just a wet suit and goggles so you had to wait until the sharks were close and then hold your breath and go under. This was fine and gave you a really interesting perspective. You could see the fin above the water and when you went under, there was a 15-foot shark swimming right at your face. One of the sharks actually bit the cage right next to where I was swimming. The power that these animals have is astounding. Even a light brush from their tail would jostle the entire cage. The scariest thing was the shark's eyes. I've heard them described before but until the shark was a few inches from my face, I didn't understand how dark they were. An abyss of blackness doesn't come close to describing the feeling of when the shark looks at you.

For the most part, the sharks were pretty calm when passing us but they jumped or wrestled with the bait a few times. After both groups had gone twice, we went back in and had a small lunch. Overall, I saw four or five sharks continuously circle our boat for two hours and I got to touch two fins and one stomach. They are incredibly smooth and entirely muscle. If I saw one and I wasn't in a cage, I would crap my pants...no doubt. They are incredible beasts never to be underestimated.

We came back Friday afternoon and I've spent the past two days doing my homework for break and watching movies. It has been rainy and cold all weekend but I heard Cape Town is better. Expect more posts soon!

Long Weekend

There was a public holiday this past Thursday and the university gave us Friday off so my friends and I decided to travel. On Thursday, I got my adrenaline going with a trip to the Bloukrans Bridge to go bungee jumping! This bridge is about two hours away from PE along the Garden Route. We had to be there at 2 so we left just before noon. When we got there, they had us sign some forms to ensure that we wouldn’t sue if we were injured, the normal liability forms. Then they weighed us and wrote our weight and jump number on our hand. We then got a harness, a simple net of nylon that went around my legs, arms, and chest. Then we walked to the bride. The bungee spot was at the top of the arch, just below the road and we had to walk on metal grates with netting around us to get there. 

This was honestly the most difficult part. Seeing the ravine below my feet was so freaky that I had a hard time stopping my legs from shaking as I walked out. I went third in our group of fifteen or so. When it was time, they attached extra nylon straps around my padded ankles and then a safety rope attached to my chest. I then used the workers shoulders to shuffle to the edge of the bridge and they grabbed the back of my harness to make sure I didn’t fall early. Then they counted down from five and I jumped! It’s impossible to describe the feeling of jumping from a bridge but I’ll do my best. The first thing I noticed was the lack of sound. I went from loud music to the nothingness of air rushing around me. Then my stomach tightened up as I wondered whether or not the bungee cord was going to hold me. I never felt like I was slowing down and could barely tell whether I was going up or down.  I jumped 150 meters at over 80 mph and bounced eight or nine times before being pulled up by a winch. After the jump, my muscles stayed tight for about 30 minutes and my heart was beating twice as fast as normal. I got to watch all of my friends jump as well and see their reactions when then were pulled up which was priceless. The workers were amazing and made the experience better with their great attitude and enthusiasm. For those people who haven’t bungee jumped before because they’re scared, my only advice is to go with friends and don’t think about it, just jump. Also, don’t look up when you’re hanging because your mind plays tricks on you and it might give you a headache. This was definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life!

On Friday, we left really early for Hogsback, a nature hot-spot that’s claim to fame is being Tolkien’s inspiration for the landscape in The Lord of the Rings. It was a three-hour drive there so I was definitely ready to get out of the car when we got there. We stayed at a remote hostel known for their eco-friendly habits. They had no electricity for guests, limited running water, very little hot water, and pit toilets. Needless to say, it was a change of pace. Our group of 10 all stayed in the same dorm where there were bunk beds and a loft that had a tree for a ladder. The hostel had a lot of dogs but luckily, I found some cats to play with. It was beautiful and we all were happy to be there. We met up with some other international students and set out for a hike. We found the trail and walked in a group to a really cool waterfall. These trails were a little less maintained than I’m used to. There were several points where the trail disappeared completely, a small river created an obstacle, or I had to get on my hands and knees to crawl under trees and bushes. It took about 3.5 hours to complete with a stop at the falls. We were all tired and hungry when we got back to the hostel but had to wait until 8:30 for dinner. I stayed up with a few friends to watch the stars and talk and one of the cats took a nap on my chest for two hours or so. It was fun at the time but I regretted the decision the next morning when I woke up at 6:45 with the sunrise.

After breakfast, we went on another hike, this time up a mountain. We found the trail after some searching and set off. I was in the lead which meant that all of the spider webs in our path ended up in my hair or mouth. The path was flat to begin with but slowly began to get steeper. The last 20 minutes of the hike was pretty much straight up and we definitely got our workout in. The view was pretty good but the clouds rolled in as soon as we got up to the top which limited our view. It was amazing to be on top of the mountain as the clouds blew past us and look down to see where we started. We worked our way down to our cars and headed to lunch before going back to PE. Overall, the weekend was amazing and I got to share it with some great people. This next week is our last before Easter Break and I can’t wait for our next adventure! More to come soon