Hello
everyone! Sorry for the delay, I was ridiculously exhausted when I got home
Sunday night so I figured everyone would prefer a late post rather than “I went
on a safari full of cool animals and fun adventures…goodnight”. That being said
– guess how I spent my last full weekend? On a SAFARI J Our guide was born and raised in South Africa so he knew pretty much
every detail about anything we passed and there were 7 of us on the tour;
myself, 2 of my close friends in GVI, 2 guys from England who had just finished
3 weeks of teaching outside of Cape Town, and 2 girls (1 from Australia, 1 from
England) who are volunteering at a school in Cape Town. The 3 days were spent
traveling throughout the Garden Route; for those who don’t know – when I
registered with GVI my program included a 4-day safari at the end of my stay
(essentially the one I just returned from with zip lining and rafting in
addition). However, what I came to realize was it actually wasn’t through GVI
so I would have had to leave my friends, and the orphanage, early. No thanks –
this ended up being perfect!!
Our
first stop on Friday was a reserve where we did a 2-hour open top game drive!
For the first 20 minutes we didn’t see anything (there’s no enclosures so it’s
difficult for the guides to know exactly where animals are at any given moment)
but as soon as we got over the first hill the remainder of the trip was full of
sights! We came within feet of rhinos, zebras, buffalo, gemsbok, ostrich (those
suckers are everywhere), giraffes, antelope, and elephants. Supposedly there
were lions and leopards as well but they must have been taking naps in the
brush because they were nowhere to be found. Stop 2 of the day was a lion
sanctuary where we got to walk with them for an hour! I thought I would be nervous,
but they were so tame that all I wanted to do was hug them – don’t worry, I
didn’t. I did pet them and they were so soft! We walked down a dirt path into
an open field where the lions sat on rocks, climbed a tree, and laid out;
therefore giving us plenty of photo opportunities J Definitely an experience I will never forget!
Both
nights of the safari were spent at a hostel on the beach; not the
accommodations one imagines when the term “safari” is being used, but I never
complain about a comfortable bed and a warm shower! I finally got my African
beach sunset too, gorgeous! Saturday morning we set out early to visit a
farmers market in town (it was pouring rain so we ran to the first group of
booths and ended up buying apple tarts – very nutritious I know, then eating in
the van). While the previous day had been thrilling, everyone was very excited
when we were told the first stop was at an elephant sanctuary. Although it was
too windy to ride them (apparently they get spooked in poor weather and you
ride bare back, aka if they run you go flying off) we got to walk with them and
feed them! I can now say that one of the strangest, but coolest, things I’ve
ever done is lead a 5-ton animal through a forest with its tusk in my hand. For
the record, they breathe really heavily so it’s like a mini sauna for your
hand...and the tips of their tails are not soft; the black “string” feels like
stiff plastic. When leaving the elephants our guide said we were eating lunch
at monkey land; my heart instantly stopped – I love monkeys! However, he said
we didn’t have time for the tour so we were just eating at the restaurant but
could take pictures while food was being prepared. Long story short, the staff
forgot to put a “do not enter” sign up so we ended up running around the forest
with them! The worker who found us was NOT a happy dude, oops! It turns out
monkeys are actually quite feisty little creatures, but still adorable.
Saturday’s last stop was to the world’s highest bungee jump. My friend had been
trying to convince me all week to do it, and I was considering it (let’s be
real, there was about a 5% chance I’d actually do it – but she was persistent)
until we got to the bridge and I saw the bungee dangling in mid-air…I decided
the pub across the road looked more appealing. It had a big screen TV in it
that played live video of everyone jumping, which ended up being enough of an
adrenaline rush! The rest of the night was spent at dinner then socializing
with other people staying at the hostel – have I mentioned I love meeting
people from different countries? Because I do. I left my mark on the wall in
the beer pong area; you can write on the walls so of course I had to represent
California/USA.
Sunday
morning was a rough wake up call after being so “go go go” all weekend, but we
were told the only thing left on the agenda was a walk through the Cango Caves
– sound relaxing? Well, it was until the humidity index hit 98% and we reached
the half way point where you have to climb Jacob’s Ladder (aka a really steep,
slippery ladder in the dark) then maneuver your way through 2 unbelievably
small passageways. The first was called Devil’s Chimney – where you squeeze
your body into a 2-foot hole in the wall, then pull yourself up the rest of the
way because it’s not wide enough to move your legs. Around the next corner was
a huge slab of rock with a slit in it just tall enough for you to army crawl
through, and then slide down a space equally as low into a cavern. The
remainder of the 10 minutes was spent “walking” – in reality it was a really
intense leg workout because you were in a squat position the whole way. When we
reached the end we all understood why our safari guide (a guy over 6 feet tall
with a rather large beer belly) voted to wait for us in the café. It was definitely
an adventure! Hey, now I know I’m not claustrophobic haha
Overall
I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my last full weekend in South Africa!
It was 3 days filled with great friends, spectacular views, and once in a lifetime
experiences. I've been trying to add pictures for almost an hour now and they aren't working so I will try to get them on Facebook and then I'll add them when I have better service (hopefully Saturday when I'm waiting for my flight)
For
those of you who haven’t heard my plans for after South Africa – I will be in
England from September 8th – 14th, then Ireland September
15th – 19th, then back to America! Hopefully just until I
have enough money to travel again J I forgot how addicting the
travel bug was, and I feel like I have one more adventure in me before I really
join the big kid world. So, I will post once more from England with events/memories
of this week. It’s only Tuesday afternoon and I’m already in MAJOR denial about
leaving Saturday...ahhh no no no…
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