The Last 48

I can't believe I'm writing a post about my last 48 hours in South Africa. I've known since last Sunday that this was my last week here, but it never felt real. Six days later I have my suitcases (mostly) packed, a pile of clothes to donate, and a bunch of miscellaneous items lying around because I have no clue what to do with them. Not to mention the huge pile of dishes that need my attention before I book it out of here.

It's completely surreal that I'm starting to do things for the last time. Today I watched my last movie in the Pulp Cinema: Elysium, ironically a movie with a terribly-done South African accent in it. I ate at Mochachos for the last time. Tonight I'll have my last cosmopolitan at Julian's (they truly do have the best in Stellenbosch), and listen to a band at Boho for the last time. It took me hours to laundry at Concordia for the last time this morning. To be completely honest with myself, today was my last full day in Stellenbosch.

Tomorrow we'll leave in the early afternoon to figure out the metro to the airport so we can pick up our one-day rental car, then head to GrandWest for the DMB concert. After that, I have one last night in my bed and before I know it I'll be on my way back to the airport for the last time. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to this place.

Part Six: The Western Cape

Day 16, continued

We made it to Knysna a couple hours later and checked into Island Vibe Backpackers. It was still pretty dreary outside so we decided to rent a couple movies. We went to a little store called Vee's Videos and got two movies. The woman at the counter was so nice! A man, who I'm guessing is her husband, came out from the back to talk to us as well, and we stood there for about ten minutes chatting.

That night we decided to add up how much everyone owed each other, which turned into mainly how much everyone owes Nick. We couldn't believe how expensive our trip had turned out to be! Granted, it was way less expensive than most trips we had seen advertised, but more expensive than we originally planned. Personally, I blame the Boma.

Day 17
The next day the weather was a little better but we decided to keep moving towards home. There was one last thing I had to do though. We drove back towards the eastern cape and stopped at the border, where there happens to be a big bridge they call Bloukrans. Since I first came to South Africa I knew I wanted to bungy off this bridge, and our friends in AIFS did it over September recess, which fueled me even more. But I was so nervous when we pulled in! Nick had already jumped with AIFS and Emmi is TERRIFIED of heights so I had to convince Damon to go with me. Unfortunately, though, he wasn't even scared! He went first and just stepped off the bridge like it was nothing. We were in a group with 4 other people: one woman who was from Chicago and had a bad ankle so she had to use a body cord instead of an ankle one (which sounds better, but you flip over when you get to the end), and a man named Corey who lives in Hawaii but I'm not sure where he's from. I went last. I was so terrified that I thought I might not jump, but I told myself I had to just go whenever they counted down. I hopped up to the edge without looking over it and then closed my eyes. I opened them briefly while they were counting, then closed them before I bent my knees and jumped. I opened them again to see where I was falling to, and then I tried to scream but the air caught in my throat and I couldn't. I closed my eyes again as I hit the bottom because I was spinning a lot. I opened them every now and then to see the view and kept breathing in through my nose and out of my mouth. It was scary, but even more it was uncomfortable, especially when the cord would pull you back up a little and let you down again. My hands went completely numb and I just waited to feel the tug on my cord. I'd like to say I was relieved when I heard the guy coming to retrieve me, but I didn't really take a breath until I got onto the platform. I clung to the grate until they had me completely unstrapped and I could stand again. I really thought I would like the experience once it was over, but I don't have any desire to ever bungy jump again. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad I did it because I can say I jumped off the highest bridge in the entire world, and also because now I never have to do it again. Watching our videos in the shop, I couldn't believe my neck didn't hurt worse from the whiplash. I had really hoped to do a pretty swan dive off the ledge, but once you're up there you have no control of your body because of the fear.

(Having trouble with the video upload, but it is on Facebook!)

With that checked off my list (and Damon hating me just a little), we made our way back to the western cape. This time we stopped at a sunny spot in Wilderness for lunch and to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our time. We decided that it wasn't worth it to stop anywhere to stay overnight, especially since we were only about 5 hours from Stellenbosch, so we decided to go to Cape Agulhas and then head back to Stellenbosch one night early.

Day 18
I woke up in my bed at Concordia the next morning, completely exhausted, but we had one more stop. We ate breakfast at Julian's then drove towards Cape Town to hike Table Mountain. One word of advice: Don't attempt to take a standard up the hill to Table Mountain. Caroline didn't exactly cooperate and now I'm traumatized. But! We did make it up alive and well.

The hike was a bit harder than we expected, but the views were beautiful! We passed several waterfalls and some really pretty flowers before hiking up the rocky Platteklip Gorge (with quite a few stops on the way). The clouds were rolling in and it got pretty cold at the top. We finally made it up but couldn't see much of anything until after lunch when the clouds dispersed a little. It was hard, but it's awesome to say that we hiked to the top of one of the natural wonders of the world! The ride back down, however, was not so wonderful. We took the gondola, which is a big round car with windows all around and a floor that spins. There were so many tourists packed in with their souvenirs and cameras. We had a couple tourists shove a camera over our shoulder and knock us out of the way to get pictures, which was ridiculous. Needless to say, we were glad once we were back on the ground (Emmi especially).

The trip was incredible and I couldn't have asked for better people to spend all that time with. It certainly had a couple of downs but those made for the best stories, which we can laugh about now and years to come. I'd say it was the best way to wrap up our time here in South Africa for sure! :)

Oh, and just in case you didn't catch my 'Goodbyes Begin' post.... 20 minutes before we had  to say goodbye to Nick, we did get that jumping picture right!

Part Five: The Eastern Cape

Day 11
We woke up that morning still on a high from our amazing adventure at Kruger the previous day. Refreshed and ready to start making our way across the South African coast, we packed up and started our drive towards Durban. The drive down around Swaziland towards the coast was beautiful. We had been driving for about an hour when the car started making a dragging noise. We pulled the car over and realized our skid plate was coming undone, but there was nothing we could do so we kept going. After about another hour, I had to pee really bad so we were looking for a restroom. We pulled over at a gas station and then decided we would ask for directions after the toll booth because we felt a little lost. Damon bought a road atlas, which helped a ton during the rest of the trip. As we were pulling out, I recalled looking at the directions earlier that day and realized we should only pass one toll booth. Considering we had passed one on our way out, I knew this meant we were either lost or... we had just driven in a circle. Unfortunately, the second thought was right. We passed by a couple farms that looked familiar, and then once we passed the traffic stop from earlier we knew I was right. Nick was driving and turned the car around then passed a slow truck going down the hill towards the traffic stop. He was pulled over and fined because he had passed in a no-pass zone. By that time we were pretty ready to get out of that town and on our way to Durban.

We finally got back on track and the drive to Durban ended up being really pretty. The roads were lined in huge pine trees, which made it look like Washington state. Farms along the road were burning small sections of the forest down, which made for a really cool view at sunset. We passed one fire that had burned down and was just simmering, but it looked so creepy since it was getting dark.

It was late by the time we started seeing signs for the city, so by the time we made it to the coast we had some trouble finding our hotel. We drove around and around before finally seeing Belaire on one of the awnings above the street. We checked in around midnight or later and went to our room on the 7th floor. I had slept all day in the car, so I didn't fall asleep until after 4, when the sun was already rising over the ocean in the east.

Day 12
When I woke up we went down to the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, which was so delicious! Then we explored the beach a little bit, went home and changed, and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Day 13
The next day we decided to spend mostly at the beach, playing in the warm Indian Ocean and fighting the huge waves. That night we went to a play at the Sun Coast casino and theater. It was a play on Romeo & Juliette, set in Durban. It was really funny but we didn't understand a lot of the references since we aren't from the area.

Day 14
When we checked out of our hotel the next morning we decided to try to find the Indian Quarter, where there is a market place with fabrics and spices, among other things. We ended up getting lost in the residential area of the city and driving around for about 3 hours. We finally made it to the mosque and it started raining. It was too much of a hassle to park because there was SO MUCH traffic. We waited in the car while the guys bought us KFC and then we decided to leave the city and make our way down the coast.

Our next overnight stop was East London. We stopped in the late afternoon to get lunch at a Spar off the main road. We figured since it was a small place and guards were watching the parking lot that we could leave the car parked there. We spent about 15 minutes shopping and taking restroom breaks before getting back in the car. This time Damon was driving and I was sitting in the front seat. I reached for my iPod in the center console to play music and I realized it wasn't there. At first I thought someone had hidden it in the glove box but it was nowhere to be found. I wasn't too upset because it was a hand-me-down so it didn't cost anything, and all the music that was on it is on my iTunes. Then I realized something.. Earlier that day I asked Damon to carry the iPod, my camera, and anything else I would need out in the car while I was driving, in his pocket until we got to the car. I then asked him where he put my camera and he said in the console. Turns out they stole that too. We have no idea how they got into the car without the alarm going off or why they only took my iPod and camera, when there were two other cameras out, a Kindle, and even my laptop below the seat. The camera can be replaced, so I wasn't worried much about it either until I realized that all of my pictures from the entire trip were gone. Since we didn't all take the exact same 4 pictures, we lost quite a few pictures of the trip.

We kept driving as it got dark, slowly through a bunch of construction I should add, until we got to Buccaneers Lodge Backpackers around 11pm. It was a Friday night so the main area was raging, and happened to be right outside my window. I had a hard time getting to sleep after a rough day, but finally passed out around 2 or 3 am.

Day 15
I woke up the next morning and within 20 minutes we were in the car and ready to go. We stopped in Port Elizabeth for lunch. It's a much bigger city than I would have expected, and the road leading to it is literally right next to the ocean; there are rocks blocking the waves from splashing up onto the road.

Later than evening we made it to Jeffrey's Bay, a surf town close to the border of the western cape. We checked into Jeffrey's Bay Backpackers and went out to dinner. We spent a while on the beach that night before going back to the backpackers.

Day 16
The weather hadn't been cooperating like we would have liked so we decided to move onto Knysna after breakfast.

The Eastern Cape was awesome, but the Western Cape is the Best-ern Cape! Finish our journey home with Part 6!

Part Four: Kruger National Park

Day 9

We checked into Hotel @ Tzaneen on a dreary, rainy morning. We spent the whole day sleeping and watching movies as a vacation from our vacation.

Day 10
Early in the morning we hit the road again, with an hour and a half drive to Kruger National Park. We made it to the park before noon, filled out some papers, and started our adventure. The park was way different than I thought it would be. There are paved main roads reaching from one side of the park to another, along with smaller dirt roads that will take you to the watering holes and lookout areas. We entered at the gate in the middle of the park and drove south, towards our backpackers accommodation for the evening. We were all chatting, excited for our self-driven safari when all of a sudden, an elephant comes out of the brush and out into the road! Later we passed a water buffalo off to the side of the road.

After that it was kudu and dik-dik, both deer-like animals, for the rest of the morning. We stopped for an early lunch before hitting the road again, hoping for better luck with the big game. We met a turtle friend who was trying to cross the road. We stopped our, hoping to get him across safely, but instead he went under our car and we had to wait for him to come out the other side before we could move again. Shortly after that we saw a zebra in the road! We drove down some of the dirt roads to the watering holes, hoping to see some hippos but it was a cool day so the holes were deserted. 

Next came my favorite part of the day: our first giraffe sighting! One minute I'm getting sleepy, my eyes heavy from watching the sides of the roads for animals, then all of a sudden Emmi slams on the breaks and there's a giraffe neck popping out from the trees next to us. I did all I could not to scream, but I think a squeak still forced its way out. Then, as if Emmi and I could ask for anything better, we saw a giraffe next to some zebras! 

Our next stop was a big baobab tree. We got stuck behind a big pesky van of tourists (the khaki safari gear kind), along with another car. Once we finally were able to zoom around them, we found the tree and hopped out to take another of our infamous jumping pictures. As you can probably guess, this one didn't work either. Just about the time we were setting up the camera for a second try, that van of tourists pulled up and wanted to take pictures. We got back in the car and  took off, hoping to beat the rest of the cars back to the main road. Then we realized the road we were on made a loop around the tree. Damon was driving and slammed on the breaks not to hit any of the tourists, causing the car to stall out. At that point they were all staring. He started and stalled the car twice more as the tourists laughed before we were finally able to get out of there.

Next we stopped at another watering hole, one that finally had hippos in it! We were a little bummed that all we could see was their eyes though. Then the boys got their wish; we saw a rhino sitting alone back in the field, and a few minutes later we passed one hiding in the bush only a few feet from our car. Now, usually when there is a car stopped at Kruger it means there is something to see. As we drove along we came up on a man out of his car with a tripod set up so we knew it had to be good. It turns out a leopard had killed something and drug it up a tree where it was sitting and eating. This was so awesome considering it's very rare to see cats in the park. We kept driving to see a few more cars pulled over at a watering hole. There were a bunch of hippos in this one, and most were way more active than the ones we had seen earlier since the sun was beginning to set. We even saw a few out of the water, in the bushes next to our car.

We knew that we were starting to get crunched for time because the park closed at 6:30 and we had just begun to see signs for the crocodile bridge gate that we needed to get to. Since it was getting dark it was pretty easy to see the lights of the cars stopped up ahead. That's when we saw the best thing yet: two lions laying on the side of the road. The first one was hurt and got up to limp over to the next one. As he walked he let out a roar. Now, everyone's heard a lion's roar on the tv or somewhere, but nothing can prepare you for the way it sounds in real life. You hear the roar, just like you've heard before, sounding the way you'd expect it to. But then there's an inaudible rumble below the roar that you can only feel. The only way I can think of to describe it is that it's like listening to a marching band during a parade. As they pass you, you can hear the music of the drums, but the bass drum just makes a pulse that you can feel. It was such an incredible experience, and the best possible way to end our day at Kruger. 

We took a last glance before rushing off to the park gates. A guard met us and asked if the lions were our reason for being late (only by two minutes!), and of course we said yes. He said  that he should make us pay the R4000, about $400, late fee, and then asked us to open the trunk. He took a peak around and told us we could go but not to be late next time.

We slept like babies that night at Kruger View Lodge for backpackers, knowing that we had accomplished something amazing: seeing the entire Big 5 in ONE DAY! :)

Keep reading to hear about what the eastern cape had in store for us in Part Five! :)