I apologize for my lack of writing in the last couple of
weeks, this being due to the numerous tests and papers being completed for the
conclusion of term 1. We also have
not had much of anything exciting happen since visiting Plettenberg Bay besides
some awesome hangouts with friends (visited the beach where we saw a large pod
of Common Dolphins, contributed to a couple of ‘family’ dinners at Annie’s, and
went to Bayworld). I will go into
some minor detail about the tests we took for our classes a couple of weeks
ago. We have often heard other
students say that they had “writing” coming up, which actually means exams; the
exams we sat down for all entailed writing versus the normal multiple choice we
do at home (it sucked – definitely like the lazy American style more)! Each test also has so many marks
instead of points (pretty much the same thing). That’s pretty much it for our test taking, we will have more
writing to suffer through in the coming months especially during June which is
dedicated entirely to finals.
Easter Break followed immediately after the conclusion of
the first term (though it technically ends April 11th) and it meant
a weeklong trip to Cape Town for Shane and I. This vacation included a bungee jump, interacting with wild
and tame Gray Wolves, visiting beaches & national parks, shark diving,
crocodile diving, interacting with big cats, mountain climbing, crawling
through caves, getting lost, and driving for 20 hours! It will be easier for everyone to
follow along if I break the trip up by days because we did a lot over each!
Saturday, March 31st
Shane and I were up before the sun on Saturday (5:30 a.m.)
in order to make the couple hour drive to Bloukrans Bridge for our bungee jump
at 10. The company, aptly named
Face Adrenalin, requires you to appear an hour before your scheduled jump so we
needed to arrive by nine o’ clock.
We ended up being earlier than we thought possible and checked-in. After signing a waiver for your death
(essentially) we were weighed (for once Shane weighs more than me) and then
proceeded to get harnessed. This
all took about ten minutes which left us a half-hour of walking around and
brooding about what was to come.
We met a couple of others who were to be in our group and attempted to
figure out who would be jumping first (it ended up being Shane). After what felt like an eternity our
guides got us and we began the walk to the bridge. It was almost scarier walking to the bridge than the jump
itself! Face Adrenalin had built a
small tunnel (if you will) that is attached to the side of the bridge by a
couple of screws. On your right
was the solid concrete of Bloukrans Bridge, on your left netting and the open
expanse of the world, and beneath you were metal grates that left nothing below
you to the imagination. If you
walked fast enough and looked down you could not even see the grates beneath
your feet (this gave us a couple of excessive heart palpitations)!
After about five minutes of walking this makeshift tunnel we
arrived to the center of the bridge (directly under it, as cars are traveling
over head). They explained how the
order of the jumpers is decided by our weight and somehow had Shane going first
(though there were people both heavier and lighter than him) and myself going
third. Shane was immediately
escorted over to a chest where they have you sit down (after you have thrown
any loose valuables in it) and begin tying your feet into knots – explaining
what each does and how much force they can take (hardly reassuring). The instructor had to yell at you in
order to be heard as music is blaring the whole time and the entire crew is
dancing around to it. After Shane
was successfully tied up he is asked to stand and then hop to the edge. Shane was unable to convince his legs
to hop so he opted for a penguin waddle to the edge! The two instructors (one under each of your arms) inch you
until your toes are over the edge and then get behind you, asking that you keep
your arms out wide and on the count of 5 jump off or get pushed off. Even with the help of the crew to the
edge Shane still managed to wiggle back a couple of inches (apparently he
didn’t like having his toes over) – all of this you can see on his video. They began the countdown for him…5…4…3…2…1…BUNGEE…
and with a look of absolute horror and concentration he jumped off. None of us knew how he jumped until we
got a chance to review the tape and saw that he had jumped practically vertical instead of the horizontal form everyone else utilized (the fear
definitely ruled him there) and thus he suffered some whiplash later.
My turn came up only too fast. I was pure excitement versus the fear that Shane
demonstrated (though I was terrified as well) and gladly went through the same
motions that he did. I needed no
help bouncing to the edge and about crapped myself upon looking over at the
695-foot drop I would be experiencing in a couple of seconds time. They started my count down and I
miraculously threw myself off the bridge without any added help. All thought leaves your mind as you
consciously betray your instincts and plunge off from a surface ridiculously
far from the ground. We were told
it takes only 5 seconds for the jump to be complete and for us to experience
our first bounce and it definitely felt like an eternity. My head was pounding from the blood
rush, my hair was in my face, and my eyes were watering excessively as I spun
in small circles waiting for one of the staff to come down and get me. These guys have to wait for you to stop
bouncing and are then slowly lowered until they are level with you, they use a
lasso to latch onto you and then unclip one cord in place of another that pulls
you into an “L-shape.” We were not
allowed to grab onto the guy (which people must often do in a blind panic), as
he cannot do anything with someone latched hysterically to him! He introduced himself as he was pulling
us (myself and him) up and I commented on how awesome his job must be with
which he responded by gesturing to the surrounding environment, “welcome to my
office.”
After the few minutes it took for them to pull me back up I
was dropped onto a grate with my back still exposed to the open world and
waited while they unclipped everything from me (the entire time I was smiling
like an idiot). Finally free from
my bungee bonds I took a quick photo with my “jump master” and ran back to
exchange experiences with Shane and the others. After everyone took their turn we walked back through the
cruel tunnel that leaves nothing to be desired and watched our videos inside
Face Adrenalin’s shop. Once
satisfied with that, we each purchased our videos and photos and hopped back
into the car for the short ride to Noah’s Wolf Sanctuary. By the time that we arrived both Shane
and I were exhausted both from getting up incredibly early (and not being able to
fall asleep the night before) and were suffering as the adrenaline left our
systems. 
At Noah’s we bought our entrance tickets and walked through
the park which houses Wolf Dogs, African Wild Dogs, two separate packs of Gray
Wolves, Black-Backed Jackals, and a petting zoo (most of the wolves were
rescued from unfavorable situations).
We ate at Noah’s and then learned that we could actually go into the
enclosures with the wolves, but the tour that allowed this did not commence for
another two hours; it did not take any convincing for Shane and I to want to do
this and passed the time by enjoying a lovely nap in our car (Chevy Cruze). The interaction was awesome as the
wolves are not tame, but come up for their snack of horsemeat - allowing for
some awesome photographs. We then
watched them disappear into the trees and got to tour the rest of their
enclosure (it was incredible knowing that these wolves were a couple of feet
from you at all times but were impossible to see or hear as they moved through
the brush)! After those guys we
did get to pet one Gray Wolf who was hand-raised and watch her interact with
the wolves on the other side of the fence. Shane and I knew we had a couple of hours of driving to make
it to our hotel in Riversdale and headed out from the Wolf sanctuary.
This was our first time experiencing night driving and was
interesting to say the least.
There were parts of the drive where the road was not separated by ANY
lines, so it was just an open block of black cement with no shoulders and no
divisions! We survived the lack of
labels and drove into the small town of Riversdale. The Riversdale Travel Lodge was not what we expected as it
was attached to a “Ladies Bar” that was jam-packed with Rugby fans all
screaming and shouting. I slept
fantastically that night, but Shane (who cannot sleep through anything)
struggled. By the time that we
arrived we were starving and were thrilled to find that a restaurant was built
into the hotel. This small
establishment consisted of about 10 tables (a majority of which were booths
with odd namings – none that I can recall). We were the only ones when we walked in and were greeted by
an older gentleman who asked us to pick a seat. About five seconds after we sat down on our cushions that
were lacking stuffing, some music began playing. A woman walked out and took our drink orders (we were
thrilled when the Coke came back in glass bottles) and then we ordered our
food. The meal was preceded with a
complimentary shot of Sherry and buttered bread. When the food arrived it was nothing short of delicious
though this opinion could have been formed from my empty stomach! We both enjoyed chicken thighs coated
in honey and a touch of mayonnaise, pumpkin (which was incredible), a vegetable
medley, corn inside of a shelled-out Avocado, and chips (fries). After stuffing ourselves with a
delicious meal we made our way up to our room and enjoyed an hour or so of
television and then sleep!
Sunday, April 1st
The two of us got up later than we expected and hurried to
get out of the hotel as we were running late (check-out was supposed to be 10
a.m. and we did not leave until 10:30).
We filled up the tank ($72 for 12 gallons) and were on our way. I should quickly comment on some of the
road etiquette that Shane and I picked up on during our many hours of
driving. The biggest thing to
notice while traveling the Garden Route is that often the road has one lane on
one side and two on the other (sometimes you get a brief stretch of about 500m
to pass in). The shoulder on the
side of the road is about the width of a car and is used frequently. Whenever Shane would come up on another
car it would hug the shoulder and leave the lane open for Shane to pass, once
in front of the car we had just passed I would flash the hazards for a couple
of seconds to say thanks. Everyone
did this, whether we were doing the passing or being passed. I have to say we rather enjoyed this
because we rarely got stuck behind turtles like we would in the States! It is also incredible to note just how
many hitchhikers there are on the side of the road; we easily passed hundreds
of them (when in Iowa I might see one person every couple of months)!
It took us about 5 hours to go from Riversdale to Simons
Town (should have been about 4, but traffic was horrible once in Simons Town –
it took us forty-five minutes just to drive 2km)! We found our accommodation for the next two nights easily
enough (Cheriton Guest House) and were thrilled with it. This guesthouse was owned by a very
friendly couple named Dirk and Denise. We were given a quick tour of the house
and its offerings (hot tub, pool, porch that overlooks the ocean, full access
to an honesty bar [you write down what you consume], over 600 movies to choose
from, et cetera. They explained how
breakfast works even though we would not be able to participate in it the next morning,
as we would be shark diving. Dirk
recommended a nice restaurant on the ocean called Seaforths for dinner where
Shane enjoyed Hake & chips (fries) and I had Calamari & chips along
with a pair of strawberry milkshakes.
With the remaining sunlight we drove a short ways towards Cape Point,
took a couple of photographs, and headed back. We were excited to try out the hot tub, but found the water
to be about as warm as a bath and didn’t linger long (I managed to rescue a
snail before he decided to fall into the hot tub and die from the
chlorine). We then got ready for
bed and enjoyed Coyote Ugly (I chose of course) and passed out!
Monday, April 2nd
Another morning found us crawling out of bed with the sun
(5:40) and having small bowls of cereal.
We each donned our swimsuits, grabbed the cameras & towels, and
headed to the pier. Once there, we
were greeted by one of the crew, a blonde woman originally from California who
told us where to locate the boat.
The wait was brief and before we knew it we were on the boat and heading
out to the famous Seal Island (in False Bay). This is one of the only islands where White Sharks breach
often (launch themselves out of the water) and live in large numbers as they
are sustained by the 30,000 seals living on the rock. The drive out to the rock was cold and windy, though it was
made better by the pod of Dolphins we witnessed in the distance. After 20 minutes we arrived to our destination
and a decoy was thrown out behind the boat to be dragged along at a very slow
speed. This decoy is meant to
mimic when a seal is left behind by a group coming back from a hunt, which is
typically what White Sharks target.
Sadly we did not get any hits (sharks sometimes breach and grab the
decoy). We anchored down and began
the anxious wait for some sharks to show themselves. To attract the sharks the crew threw two different bait
lines in, one of which they constantly throw out and reel back in and another
is left a couple of meters under the boat (sharks hunt from below). A decoy was also thrown out in front of
the cage and is similarly thrown in and out of the water to mimic motion. Once the boat was settled Shane threw
up (I was outside waiting for a shark to surface and had no clue). He did this two other times while on
the boat and spent almost the entire time laying on a bench inside the boat
curled into a ball.
After about an hour of waiting we had one hit and a shark
attacked the decoy. It is insane
to look into black waters where you cannot see any deeper than 2 meters and
suddenly a fish that is 4 meters long appears and violently attacks the
bait. The water that day was
practically pitch black with the way the sun was shining on it; we could see
down to the bottom of the cage as it sat in the water beside the boat, but no
further. To get a better vantage
point (for my camera), I moved to the top deck at which point Shane chose to
vomit again (this time over the side of the boat –he was scolded the first time
for using the toilet). I again had
no clue that he had thrown up! We
waited a long time for another shark to appear, about thirty minutes… this one
took the bait hanging beneath the boat (a crew member had the rope resting in
his hands to alert him) and thrashed against the side of the boat as the bait
was pulled from its jaws. A
different shark (number 3 – all different in size) was an eerie shadow beneath
the surface until the sun lit up its white belly and black fins, this one I managed
to take a couple of photos of (though it took a lot of playing with effects
afterwards to be able to actually see it under the water). This White Shark was targeting the
decoy, but gave us ample time to pull it out of the water. After this third shark appearance the
first guy went down into the cage.
 |
| This is what I am talking about with the odd color quality, you cannot see the shark otherwise! |
Minutes after this last shark appeared, the pod of Common
Dolphins we saw earlier made its way by our boat, following a large shoal of Sardines
that pass through there annually.
The dolphins heralded another stint of no shark activity. We probably waited another half hour
before another one made an appearance and took the bottom bait once again. This White Shark came around the
opposite side of the boat and actually rolled itself once in an attempt to take
the bait (it was successful). A
man and his son were popped into the cage for their turn. We saw many more sharks on and off
(Shane only ended up seeing one since he spent the entire time being
seasick). My turn finally came
around and I struggled into my wetsuit, boots, head covering, and goggles. Shane was supposed to get in with me,
but was feeling far too miserable to do so. The water was absolutely freezing! I spent the entire time shivering violently both in and out
of the cage. I was handed my
breathing apparatus and took a couple of practice breaths (it was different). After a couple of seconds I convinced
myself to go underwater and attempt to breathe with the apparatus. Panic from lack of air was my initial
reaction, but subsided shortly as I realized that I was in water with White
Sharks. Just knowing that I could
be surrounded by these giant fish and have no clue until they were practically
upon me was daunting! Another man
was put into the cage with me, which was comforting because I did not want to
be in that water alone! I spent
the entire twenty minutes looking every which way for a shark to appear (though
I sadly never got to see even one).
Shane threw up a third time while I was under. The girl working on the crew tugged on my oxygen-line to get
me and the other guy to surface to pull us out of the water. They had seen no shark activity on top
either.
Five minutes after being out of the water another shark made
an appearance (curse my luck) and they asked if I wanted to get back into the
cage. By this point I was
convulsing with the shivers that were racking my body and declined. I watched as two others took my place
and a White Shark swam inches from the cage! I was a little infuriated, but that is the nature of wild
animals, eh? I still enjoyed
myself thoroughly to see these apex predators at work. Upon pulling up anchor we actually got
to witness a White Shark successfully catch a seal in the distance. It looked like a thrashing upon the
water; the shark made its initial attack, determined it to be food, and came
back a second time to finish the job.
I felt bad for the seal, but it was fantastic to see the real deal! Shane was nothing short of thrilled
when we finally headed back to the Bay.
We met up for a third time with the pod of Dolphins and actually stopped
the boat as we crossed paths with them (they were literally inches from my
fingers as I filmed them)! The
boat was maneuvered into the docks and we all hopped off.
 |
| Penguins & Boulders Beach |
We drove back to Cheriton and took turns showering and getting
cleaned up. After this we got back
into the car and drove to Boulders Beach (a couple of minutes away), which
hosts a colony of wild African Penguins (a.k.a. Jackass Penguins because of the
braying sound that they make).
This beach was incredible as it literally has giant boulders spread
around it requiring you to climb, squeeze, and maneuver to reach certain parts
of the beach. These boulders also
work to shelter the water from the tide and waves, making it pleasantly calm. The penguins on the beach are
practically indifferent to people walking past so we were able to get very
close to these animals. Prior to
this trip I had acquired underwater housing for my camera which allowed me to
film a couple of them swimming like rockets under the water! After Boulders Beach we went back to
the Cheriton and got directions (from Denise) to McDonalds. Believe it or not this was our first
time eating McDonalds since being in South Africa! Nothing tasted the same, though it was not bad. We drove back with our food and enjoyed
it on the patio (enclosed in glass) overlooking False Bay.
Shane and I then spent some time flipping through the many
books available to us and eventually made it back into our room for the
night. We ended up watching
Timeline (Shane’s choice) and a National Geographic Documentary about the White
Sharks in False Bay/Seal Island (was cool to see our skipper on television
after we had met him that day). As
soon as we finished watching the movies we were ready to crash but were stuck
listening to a German family with their kids being obnoxious in the bar below
us (it was later explained that Dirk had forgotten to lock the bar at 8 like he
usually does). We attempted to
reach Dirk or Denise on the intercom, but were never able to and just had to
wait it out.
Tuesday, April 3rd
 |
| Dassie on the cliff's edge |
Shane and I were up at a good time the next morning to enjoy
our complimentary breakfast (I ordered a cheese omelet and Shane had eggs
over-easy with bacon [not the same as home] and some toast). We packed up our things and then spent
15 minutes looking for our cell phone, which we had already done the previous
night. With no luck finding the
phone we drove out to Table Mountain National Park where we would see Cape
Point and the Cape of Good Hope.
This excursion involved mixed parts of walking and driving around the
park, but was well worth it. We
opted to see Cape Point first, which is the most Southwesterly point of South
Africa. The sights were awesome as
they afforded us views of the open ocean and mountains with clouds rolling down
them. I was also very excited to
see some “Dassies” (actually called Rock Hyraxes) living on the cliff. These guys are described as rock
rabbits, though their ears are incredibly tiny versus large. They live right next to sheer cliff
faces, which is terrifying! After
hiking the way to Cape Point we headed back to the car and drove out to the
Cape of Good Hope (which is actually where everyone went in the movie, 2012). It was odd out here as there were
Ostriches on the beach. I snapped
a couple of photos and then crawled back into the car. We drove some more around the park and
enjoyed a large beach with the softest sand I have ever walked on! After all of this exploring we finally
made our way to Cape Town and the hotel we would be staying in.
The directions were simple to get to Cape Town and did not
confuse us too much, but once we were on the street that our hotel was supposed
to be on we could not find it! The
sign was so minimal for the hotel that we missed it entirely the first time
passing through. We parked in the
garage and rode the elevator up to acquire keys and internet passes. Our room was very spacious and we were
thrilled to finally have a king-sized bed! It was an odd set-up though as the shower stall and a sink
were built into the room while the toilet had its own room by the entry. It ended up being favorable to shower
in the room because you could look out our window and see Lions Head (mountain)
and listen to music (there was an iPod dock built into the wall that played out
of speakers in the ceiling). Shane
and I made a couple of trips back and forth to get things from our car and then
drove out to Table Mountain.
Shane and I opted for the Cable car that takes you up to the
top of the mountain as we knew we did not have a couple of hours to climb up
its length (as it was almost 5 p.m. when we arrived). This was a fun ride as the floor inside of the cable car
rotates allowing everyone to enjoy the same views as you slowly climb up. We reached the summit and spent an hour
and a half snapping photos and climbing over this and that. I was able to get up close to a Dassie
at one point, which was unexpected!
The views up there were nothing short of spectacular. Table Mountain is known for its “Table
Cloth” which is a cluster of clouds that constantly cover lower parts of the
mountain and slowly flow down its side.
Our vantage point put us above the clouds. We sadly were not able to spend all day exploring the vast
length of the mountain as the last cable ride back down was at 6:30, so we
hurried back and rode down.
We drove back to the hotel to park the car and then walked
out onto the street to find somewhere for dinner. We settled upon a place called Primi Piatti and enjoyed some
spicy pasta (Shane had a chicken wrap that he did not like) and the best
milkshakes ever! Once the food had
been consumed we found ourselves back in our room and spent an hour or so on
Skype with my parents (Shane watched the soccer game between Barcelona and AC
Milan).
Wednesday, April 4th
Wednesday morning we made our way down to a breakfast buffet
and I made the mistake of leaving my plate unaccompanied as I went back for a
drink. The seagulls took no time
at all in scarfing down my scrambled eggs and taking off with a hard-boiled
egg. After eating, Shane and I
drove out to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and found parking. Our first destination of the day was
Two Oceans Aquarium. We went
through this and enjoyed the various fish in all of their enclosures. The coolest part of this Aquarium being
one that went over our heads with Raggies (Ragged-Toothed Sharks) swimming by. We finished with the aquarium and
walked into a building that contained a large number of booths with people
selling things. A couple of gifts
were purchased for people back home and we ate a chicken mayo sandwich while
there.
It probably took us a good hour to view everything and
afterwards we made our way to the various malls in the Wharf. These malls were easily larger than
Jordan Creek back home and seemed never ending! It was my first time having a shopping center that included
places like Gucci and Versace. We
spent hours combing through the stores and purchasing gifts for friends and
family. Dinnertime came and went
and found us searching for some place to eat. I found a restaurant that sounded promising and we piled
into the car to find it; we quickly discovered that everywhere was at capacity
and the wait would be for a couple of hours. With this knowledge we made our way back to the Wharf and
ate at a restaurant called Mugg & Bean (more so a place for coffee, but
offers a full dinner menu). This
place was brimming with people, so service was glacial. The food was well worth it though. I enjoyed beef lasagne and Shane had two
orders of Chicken Burgers (buy one get one free). We treated ourselves to dessert and had a heavenly red
velvet waffle with ice cream, blueberries, raspberries, and chocolate syrup.
That night we watched another soccer game (Chelsea vs
Benfica) and utilized our unlimited internet access.
Thursday, April 5th
The morning came and went quickly. We again made our way down to breakfast and enjoyed the same
buffet as the morning before, though this time I knew to guard my food from
birds. We packed up all of our
belongings and then stopped at the gas station again to fill up (such a waste
of money)! A cell phone was a must
for the long drive back so we stopped at a PEP store in Cape Town and loaded up
on airtime and SMS bundles.
Thursday was a day designated entirely to driving and we made our way about
halfway back towards Port Elizabeth, stopping in Mossel Bay.
After about 5 hours we arrived at Jukani Predator Park. Here we toured past various enclosures
housing white & normal Bengal Tigers, Siberian Tigers, Servals, Caracals,
Jaguars, Leopards (and one Black Leopard), Cougars, white & normal Lions,
et cetera. We took photos where we
could (very difficult with gates obstructing the shots) and enjoyed watching
one of the Cougars stalk children as they strolled by. We waited for feeding time when the
cats would become more active.
This feeding tour provided bundles of facts and information and allowed
us to hear a Lion roar (very loud).
It was definitely satisfying to see a Black Leopard in person as they
are very rare (only 6% of the population get this gene – according to the guide)
and people commonly mistake them for Black Panthers (which do not exist). After being awestruck by the savagery
of Big Cats we drove the rest of the way into Mossel Bay and checked-in to our
backpackers called Huijs te Marquette.
We were both
absolutely starving when we arrived so we got directions to a set of
restaurants and chose one (Le Baron Steakhouse). We both opted for chicken burgers and strawberry milkshakes
(though these suffered from too much artificial syrup). While we were eating, a group of people
was leaving and a woman stopped to ask Shane first if we were English or
Afrikaans and then if we were siblings, he obviously replied in the negative,
she laughed and left. It bothered
him to no end (I think it was because we ordered the exact same things that
night combined with both of us being tall and skinny)? After dinner we spent the rest of the
night utilizing the best internet in South Africa, it was practically as fast
as American internet! With this we
were able to catch up on the last couple episodes of one of our shows.
Friday, April 6th
Sadly this was the last day of our Easter Break trip. We packed up early and enjoyed a
complimentary breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. After checking out we headed to a town
called Oudtshoorn where we were going to visit Cango Wildlife Ranch and the
Cango Caves. Upon entering town we
quickly discovered that Google’s directions were inaccurate and that a street
we were supposed to turn onto was blocked off due to a festival! After a little cursing we were able to
get to where we needed to be and parked.
The wildlife ranch was nicely done and we enjoyed a tour with our guide
who said “ladies & gentlemen” about 50 times. Once the tour was finished we signed up for a 3-way package
where we could interact with two different big cats and cage dive with Nile
Crocodiles. Shane opted for the
older white Bengal Tigers (7 months) which were easily bigger than Summer and
incredibly playful. Next the two
of us got in with a cluster of Cheetahs (these being 8 months) and marginally
smaller than the tiger cubs. After
petting and learning about these big cats I got to go in with three white
Bengal cubs that were 3 ½ months old.
They were adorable! There
is not much else in the world cooler than being able to pet and interact with
an endangered species (being a tiger cub definitely did not hurt). |
| Sue. |
With our big cat interactions done we made our way to the
Crocodile enclosure where we would be getting into the water with them. Cango Wildlife Ranch boasts that this
is the only place in the world where you can do this. We got into our swimsuits and then donned some goggles (it
took me about five minutes to do this as I could not get the size right)! The water proved to be freezing even
though it was 21 degrees Celsius.
It is probably one of the worst feelings in the world when you have no
control as to how fast you enter water, you are not given the luxury of just
hopping in to get it over with or taking it gradually. I adjusted to the temperature pretty
quickly while Shane shook violently virtually the entire time. The Nile Crocodile (Sue – made her seem
less scary somehow) kept her distance from us, though she did pass by very
closely at one point. We were not
given breathing apparatuses like we had during shark diving so there was a lot
of breath holding involved. Though
the Crocodile did not do too much, it was still an experience to see one from
an underwater perspective and to have nothing between you, but thin metal bars!
 |
| Shane doing some squeezing |
After being pulled out of the water we collected our
complimentary photos and headed out to the Cango Caves. These caves were amazing, the tour
included one part where all of the lights were switched off, THE most absolute
black I have ever witnessed ensued.
Shane and I paid for the Adventure Tour, which meant we would be doing
some tricky climbing and squeezing through rock formations. Claustrophobia was ever-present during
this trip as at one point we had to slide on our bellies to squeeze through a section
and climb on our sides at another (video taped a little of it just to
show). I cannot imagine being the
first person to explore those caves before there was modern lighting! I treated myself to a grape slushee
once we finished and Shane enjoyed a Coke (these details are important, I
know). Sadly, this was the last
part to our trip and we completed the last 5-hour stint of driving back to Port
Elizabeth. Once in town we
discovered that the Splash Festival was happening and struggled to make our way
to McDonalds for dinner (it was the only thing open at 11 p.m. and we had no
groceries back at the house). I
crashed once we finished eating.
Saturday didn’t see us out of bed until half past noon and
even then we were reluctant. We
made it to Pick n’ Pay for groceries and rented a couple of movies (Your
Highness – stupid - and Beastly).
The movies were watched back-to-back and by that time the rental car
needed to be returned. I stayed at
home and made dinner while Shane dealt with the car. After finishing dinner and spending time doing nothing we
were invited by a couple of friends to watch the fireworks that would be being
displayed by The Boardwalk (shopping center) to herald the conclusion of the
Splash Festival. We did not find
our friends, but enjoyed the show all the same.
Today (Sunday) I was absolutely useless and spent most of
the day falling in and out of sleep as it was miserable outside! We enjoyed dinner (Shane made Chicken
Mayo and fries) and then I spent about two hours or so writing this EXCESSIVELY
long blog entry! I do not
anticipate any other entries being anywhere near this length and apologize to
everyone who actually suffered through it. In the end this will all serve as a memory block for myself
in the future when I am reminiscing about everything we did while abroad!
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