I could easily write a ten page adventure log relating to everything that happened on this trip. For your sake, I will do my best to cover the most important things through photos and brief anecdotes. For starters, this trip covered the same amount of time that most public schools have for spring break. We left on a Thursday, and returned to PE Sunday, a week later. Our trip was a group excursion paid for with our tuition money from Thursday until Tuesday where we were set free into the wilds of Cape Town. We spent our first night in Outsdhoorn (oo-ts-hoorn), the next eight nights in Cape Town, and the final night in Knysna. Here goes nothing!
We stopped on the first day to see the Knysna heads, a famous entrance to Knysna Bay where countless ships have wrecked over the years. My friend Bobby and I simply enjoyed climbing around.
Mags and I had this adorable photo taken at the top of Otenequa pass between PE and Outsdhoorn. The whole group stopped and took photos, Mags was just lucky enough to be in this one with me! The scenery is gorgeous everywhere in SA, there are literally mountains everywhere I have been. In fact, these mountains created huge canyons on their way to the sea, called the crags, which have become home to quite a few miraculous bridges. One of those bridges, Bloukrans Bridge, happens to house the worlds highest bungy jump in the world! I jumped off that bridge, and I am alive to tell the tale. What a rush! Sorry, photos were too expensive to purchase, my parents have done well to teach me not to throw money at tourist destinations! Boom.
In Outsdhoorn the group went on a few exciting adventures. Pictured above are the Cango Caves, where we were invited to take the adventure route and squeeze through uncomfortably small crevasses and such... not as beautiful as other caves I have seen, but much more adventurous! In addition to caving in Outsdhoorn, we also visited an ostrich farm, where I was lucky enough to RIDE an ostrich! I obviously could not take any photos because I was on the bird, but please go on facebook and enjoy my friends photos on my wall.
The next day we woke up to sunshine, excited to finally climb Table Mountain. Everyone has seen photos of table mountain, but like always, photos don't do it justice. The three mountains (Lions Head, Table, and Devil's Peak) are simply spectacular and constantly loom over the city. While the photo above is a joke, the climb to the top was almost that hard. Think there is a back way up Table Mountain that isn't nearly vertical? Wrong. We climbed up the front face.
30 of us climbing up proved somewhat ridiculous. It took the fastest group an hour, and the slowest group an hour and a half. But the view kept getting better and everyone was able to make it!
The photo speaks for itself. The view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain is breathtaking.
Pat and I on Table Mountain (Looking South, opposite of Cape Town). If you look closely you can see the Cape of Good Hope 50 kilometers in the distance.
One of the best parts of the trip was a two night homestay in Tambo Village township. This program is relatively new, but basically we all paired off and were put into the hands of some of the Mama's around town. My Mama, Mama Mpumie and her granddaughter Owethu took me into their home as family. We cooked great food, told stories, played games, toured the township, and everything else that people do on a daily basis. This was my favorite part of the trip, I fell in love with 10 year old Owethu and I promised her letters, postcards, and birthday presents. Awesome.
We toured Robben Island on Sunday and saw where ANC leaders were imprisoned for much of the 60's 70's and 80's before apartheid ended in 1990. The Photo above was Nelson Mandela's cell for 18 years. Moving.
I just wanted to share this awesome photo. When clouds cover the top of Table Mountain like this, the locals call it the table cloth. It's beautiful, and I thought it was hilarious.
As soon as our group aspect of the trip ended, we took a lovely wine tasting tour of the world famous Cape Town winelands. Everyone had a wonderful time, the area is beautiful (more photos on fb) and yes Mom and Dad, you will get a bottle of my favorite wine when I get home :)
More winelands. This is where my camera ran out of battery and I stopped taking photos. In addition to what i have mentioned already, we went to the international jazz festival and saw a local minneapolis favorite Atmosphere perform. We also toured a neighborhood called the Bo-Kaap where a huge number of Malay immigrants and other Muslims from around the world make their homes. We toured the waterfront, went to camps beach, drove and hiked the Cape of Good Hope, went to the Cape Town Aquarium, shopped at an amazing market called green street market, went to a service at a Mosque with my friend Shaz, enjoyed the Cape Town night life, and went on a half day canoeing adventure in Knysna before returning to PE yesterday. I have way more stories I would love to share. But I'm afraid this is so long no one will read it anyways. Leave a comment, Facebook, or Email me if you want to know more! What a week! Miss you all.
Love,
Andrew
Stop being so cool. You are making the rest of us look bad.
ReplyDeleteDo write the stories! Maybe rather than taking time from your adventures, set aside a day or two to write them when you get back. We'd love to read them, and you'll love it, too, in a few years!
ReplyDelete