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 :)