To those loyal followers I apologize, I have been having so much fun I forgot about everyone back home... Just kidding! I have simply been busy and took one weekend away from blogging. Anywho, last weekend my friends and I were anxious to take our first opportunity to travel away from the big group. We were planning all week on going to a nice hostel in Jeffrey's bay to go surfing; until we found out on Wednesday that everyone else on the trip was going, and we were on the outside looking in. On the bright side, we have met lots of cool people here in PE who are from East London (3 hours in the other direction). One of them (Cuan) needed a lift back anyways, so we rented a car and drove him home in return from some good Eastern Cape hospitality and a few beds to crash on. The drive to East London was spectacular.
Not only was I with these three lovely people (roommates Ryan and Pat, and good friend Michelle) but the view was spectacular. The big rolling hills were very fun to drive, even with the added challenge of driving on the wrong side of the road (I was very safe I promise). We arrived in E.L. to Cuan's parents greeting us with bright smiles and big plans for a traditional South African Braai (bbq). We had lamb chops and rolls for supper, followed by a dip in the pool. Eventually Cuan's high school buds came over for a few drinks, and we were lucky enough to make new friends. In the morning we got up and drove home. Boring, but the car ride was fun again, and we had to return the car by 2:00 pm anyways.
This weekend I took a trip with my flat, and our neighbors flat 7. We once again rented cars and drove 2 hours to Plettenberg Bay. The drive took us right past where we had bush camp a month ago, and thus all the stunning mountains and pine forests previously mentioned.
It really does look like Minnesota in some places!
The bridge that is home to the world's highest bungee jump, that I will be doing in a few weeks!
We arrived early on Friday afternoon and settled into our beautiful hostel. We left for lunch shortly after and stumbled upon the best cafe I have ever been to in my life. The sandwich below is a wonderful improvement on the standard chicken and mayo sandwich that is so popular here. The cafe adds spinach, avacado, a slice of parmesan cheese, and their homemade ciabatta bread. I would give an arm and a leg to have this at St. John's for lunch.
Saturday the women all woke up and went snorkeling with a seal colony. I thought it sounded cool, but it was very expensive and I guess I didn't want to do it if I wasn't all in. I spent the day shopping until our sea kayaking adventure in the afternoon. We hired (they call renting hiring here) tandem sea kayaks and two guides to take us out in the bay. I loved being out on the water once again, however, it's not the same as paddling a seliga (canoe), that's for sure.
We paddled out a ways and were lucky enough to find a pod of dolphins fishing. Two dolphins swam in a tight circle holding the fish together, while the other dolphins jumped and flipped, catching fish midair right in front of us. Apparently this only happens once in every 100 or so trips (or so they say). I didn't catch any good photos, but you can see below that we had quite a view of the peninsula ahead of us.
This is the yard of the Hostel we stayed in, plenty of hammocks--just the way I like it!
The only bummer of the weekend was that we were planning on skydiving on Sunday morning the whole time. In fact I wasn't even planning on it until everyone persuaded me it was worthwhile. But when we woke up on Sunday morning, alas, the wind had picked up and the company called and cancelled on us. We left this morning happy and healthy, got back to Langerry in time to blog and work on some homework. We have lots of papers due in the near future! Pray for us all :)
Love from dreamland,
Andrew
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