Fear is temporary, regret is forever.

My head is still spinning from the 9 day trip we returned from late Sunday night. It was our mid-semester break, and 18 of us and one South African guide piled into a huge safari truck and took off on the adventure of a lifetime. The company we toured with is called Intrepid Bundu, and they do a number of overland trips in Africa and other continents. Our guide Jimmy was great--very knowledgable and experienced, a quiet guy but I think he enjoyed our energy. We packed so much into such a short trip, and it was honestly one of the best weeks of my life--definitely the most eventful week of my 22nd year of life. Here is a detailed but shortened version of the trip:

Friday 3/18: We leave Cape Town at 6am and drive all day to Knysna, a small, quaint bay town on the coast. We arrive early evening at Island Vibe backpackers, just in time to drive up to a lookout point to watch the sun set. After settling in, a few of us swim in the slightly dirty pool, have dinner at an authentic Moroccan restaurant (my prawns looked like they could have walked off the plate), chat with the bartender for a while who lets us sign the wall of the bar. I wrote "you can sleep when you're dead" on behalf of our group...we then go swimming again and chat for a while around a small bonfire.


The whole group with our awesome truck! I'm front row, second from the left

Saturday 3/19: We wake up early and walk to the waterfront at Knysna to find that everything is closed--still beautiful though! I felt the water there and noticed how much warmer it was compared to Cape Town...we could definitely sense that we were getting closer to the Indian Ocean! We then drove about an hour to the Bloukrans Bridge, home of the world's highest bungy jump (it's in the guinness book of world records!). I had known that this was an optional part of the itinerary and had been trying to mentally prepare myself for it for weeks, but when we got out of the car and saw the bridge I froze. I don't know if words can accurately describe how terrified I was. Just looking at people who I didn't even know jump off made me cringe. After 20 minutes of debating, I decided to just do the bridge walk, so I could at least be out on the bridge when all my friends jumped. I was still tense watching them all jump, but I slowly started to realize how much I really wanted to do it--I knew I would regret it if I didn't, the only problem was that I didn't think it was physically possible for me to jump off that platform. After a lot of support from my friends and all the bungy workers though, I finally conceeded, and after I signed the liability agreement there was no turning back. Before I knew it, my toes were dangling over a 216 meter drop (718 ft), and two men were holding my arms out Titanic style.  The last thing I remember was thinking, "I CAN'T DO THIS!!" and then hearing them shout "Five four three two one BUNGY!" and then I was falling...for five seconds...into nothing. It was a five second free fall, and then three smaller bounces after you spring back. It is so hard to describe the feeling of falling for that long towards the ground--I think mostly because you don't really feel anything. There were no thoughts running through my head at that moment. I felt completely weightless, and free in the most empowering way. It was one of the most terrifying, exciting, and rewarding experiences of my life. I really didn't think I could do it, but I like to think that I conquered one of my biggest fears that day (if only temporarily) and I am truly proud of myself for doing it. I know my mom always told me not to jump off a bridge just because everyone else is doing it, but I guess this was one exception :) We left the bungy place and had another long drive to Cintsa, a tiny little town about 30km outside of East London. We stayed at Buccaneers Backpackers, which looked like a tree-house, tucked away into the trees and overlooking the water. So beautiful, but we got in late and went to bed pretty soon after arriving.

still terrified at this point...

Sunday 3/20 & Monday 3/21: Woke up early and went on a barefoot run on the beach and a quick swim before breakfast. It was a little overcast but still beautiful--I could definitley get used to that morning routine. I saw THE BIGGEST spider I have ever seen in my life in our bathroom...needless to say I do not have a picture to show you but my friend Katie does--not sure I have the guts to post it though. Had a delicious (and free!) breakfast and then hit the road again for another long drive to Coffee Bay. I know that I am going to sound like the boy who cried wolf here because I am always saying how the last place I went was the most beautiful place I've ever been, but this time I really mean it. Coffee Bay, located at the mouth of the Bomvu River in the Transkeii, is the most unique and wonderful place I've ever been. We stayed at the coolest little hippy backpackers called Coffee Shack. It was full of adventurous, laid back people. Coffee Bay was originally a place where the local hippies would go to smoke certain substances, surf and relax, and it has remarkably remained untouched except for a few hostels and one tiny little cafe and shop. I feel like I could write an entire book on our two days there--we woke up both mornings at 6am, walked 10 minutes to the gorgeous, white sanded beaches and fell back asleep for a few hours. Then we swam, had breakfast, went hiking along the coast, swam some more, read, and soaked up every second of sun the day had to offer. After two nights and one and a half days of that, we still weren't ready to leave but we had to say our sad goodbye to our precious Coffee Bay...hopefully I'll make it back there one day. Also, in my extreme state of relaxation I forgot to take any good pictures of the beach, so some from our 10k hike will have to suffice.

Hole-in-the-wall where we hiked



a view overlooking one of the beaches on the hike


Tuesday 3/22: Drove all day to Durban, where we stayed at a backpackers called The Happy Hippo right near the waterfront. I thought that the waterfront was very strange--it had recently been rebuilt and was very tourist friendly, almost disney-land like. We didn't have much time to explore Wednesday night, but we celebrated our friend's birthday in the bar at the hostel and had a blast just bonding with our group.

Wednesday 3/23: Most of our group woke up and went to the Aquarium, located in the disneyland area at the waterfront. I wasn't too excited about this idea, so instead me and my friend Katie woke up early, went running on the boardwalk by the ocean, and then spent around two hours just body surfing the Indian Ocean waves. I don't know how I'll ever go back to the ice cold Pacific Ocean after swimming those waves--it was definitely more fun (and free) than walking through an aquarium. Before hitting the road, our driver Jimmy thought we'd like to see the Indian market, so we spent an hour browsing through the hundreds of spices and goods they were selling. The sights and sounds of this market were incredible, and I had some of the best Indian curry I've ever tasted...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! After the market we headed for Johannesburg, another long drive. We got in really late to Jo-Burg Backpackers and went straight to bed.



one of the spice vendors at the Indian market

 Thursday 3/24: We split up into two smaller vans this morning for a driving tour of Soweto, an urban area outside of Jo-Burg known for being at the heart of the political struggle during Apartheid and rich in history and culture. The word "Soweto" is an acronym for South Western Townships, and was created mainly to house black mine and industrial workers away from the city centre. We saw the home of Winnie Mandela, one of Desmond Tutu's houses where his son now lives, and the place where Hector Pieterson was killed. Hector was the first casuality of the Soweto uprising--he was only 13 years old when he was shot and killed when the police opened fire on a group of protesting students. There is a musueum dedicated to Hector and the events of that day which we were able to visit, and it was a very powerful and moving experience. The day Hector died, June 16, is now a national holiday called National Youth Day. We also visited Regina Mundi church, another historically political site in Soweto. On our tour of the church the guide pointed out many bullet holes and damages that occured during the many protests and police raids that took place during the uprisings. Regina Mundi is considered the church of the people, and was another historical landmark that I was honored to visit. Other notable visits that day were the Apartheid museum and one of the world cup stadiums. When we got back to the hostel, Katie and I went for a run through a beautiful botanical garden but got locked in at sunset when the gates closed (oops!). We managed to climb a wall to get out, but it was quite the adventure, and one I probably could have done without having reached my fear quota for the week after the bungy.

outside of one of the world cup stadiums in Jo-Burg

Friday 3/25, Saturday 3/26 & Sunday 3/27: Friday we left before sunrise for Kruger park, which was a good 9-10 hour drive in the truck. At Kruger, we stayed at a different campsite Friday and Saturday night, but both were in two person thatched roof bungalos. Surprisingly, our accomodations at the park were nicer than all of the backpackers we stayed in along the way! Over the course of our five safari day drives and one night drive, we saw the following animals: Vervet, Kudu, Impala, Baboon, Lilac Breasted Roller, Waterbuck, African Buffalo, Button-eared Eagle, Warthog, Blacksmith Clover, Egyptian Goose, Rhino, Elephant, Clip Springer, Grass Snake, Skink, Tortise, Yellow Billed Hornbill (Zazu from the Lion King), Hippo (my personal favorite), King Fisher, Fish Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Vultures, Zebra, Giraffe, Cybit, Helmeted Guinea Fowl, Wildebeast, Southern Ground Hornbill, Chameleon, and Hyena. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any cats--our driver Jimmy said it was because it had been raining a lot so the animals (mainly Lions and Leapords) didn't have to move around as much to find water. I, however, was completely satisfied with that long list of sightings, not to mention the beautiful scenery we got to take in while driving around the park. Kruger is one of the largest game reserves in Africa--it covers 7,332 sqaure miles and less than 5% is covered by roads. The animals are truly in their natural habitats, so seeing one right by your car is especially exciting. After a morning game drive on Sunday, we headed back to Jo-Burg to catch our evening flight. On the drive back it was raining--the perfect way to say goodbye to an amazing trip.

  

best picture i took on the safari--the elephants were so close!

 



the awesome pool in kruger



This trip was definitely one of facing fears. Not just the obvious ones (fear of heights, fear of huge ocean waves and cliffs, etc.), but the small ones too, like the fear of being judged, fear of the unknown, and oddly the fear of not being able to communicate with people back home. I left my phone in Cape Town and most of the trip had no idea what time it was (sometimes even what day it was) or if anyone was trying to get ahold of me. It was a really freeing feeling, and while I'm sure I'll re-adopt my texting habit when I get back to the states, it was a good lesson to learn: sometimes technology is a burden that we need to take a break from every once in a while.

Though I wish I could do the trip all over again, it's back to reality (if you can even call it that) for a little while. I'm officially over half way through the trip, which is a scary thought in a lot of ways. I just registered for classes as a SENIOR, and I'm kind of dreading returning to school and all the responsibilities that come with it. Luckily I have over two more months of fun and adventure before I have to think about it! For now, I can't get enough of all that Cape Town has to offer.