Hey Everyone,
It has been a while since my last post because of my trip to Cape Town. A lot happened to say the least. The best plan is to just run through it chronologically, so that is what I will do.
Thursday morning March 29th our group started out by waking up bright and early with the sun rise to get on the road by 6:30. Our first stop was the Bloukrans River. The mission, jump off the bridge over the river at Face Adrenalin which is the highest bungy in the world at 216 meters (709 feet), so it is kind of high. I cannot tell you how much of a rush that was. I was very excited to do this because people I knew from past groups have encouraged me, and I think it embodies the entire spirit of the trip, taking a leap of faith and just going for it. I stayed calm for the entire bus ride while some others were getting nervous. I decided to prepare like a football game, and put on the IPod to get in the zone. Starring out over the valley was both intimidating and exciting. The jumping station was under the road part itself, so to walk out to it we had to take a cat-walk. That was when things set in a little. Yeah, I looked down. Once at the jump station, we found the crew was playing loud house music which we could hear the entire walk. It helped for a lot of us and we were able to have some fun while waiting instead of spending every second questioning what we were thinking buying our ticket 30 minutes ago. Once they start strapping you up, everything happens pretty fast. After I was all strapped up, I was helped bounce to the edge where they gave me a countdown 5.4.3.2.1. They did not pause between any of the numbers and it goes too fast for you to think. The air flew through my face as I fell, and I did my best to enjoy the great scenery in front of me while my heart pounds faster than I fall. The music fell quiet as I was hundreds of feet below and bouncing above the river with the ocean in my background. I was eventually pulled up slowly, but I was calm by this point, almost in a state of shock. In total, about 25 of our 30 members jumped, some of whom made the decision on the way over from peer pressure. Only one girl in the group had a nervous breakdown, but did quite well none-the-less. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that cannot even be described in words.
Bloukrans Bridge (the jump spot is in the middle under the road)
After that rush, we hopped back into the busses and moved our way further across the land. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful town called Knysna which is consistently voted the best vacation spot in South Africa. The stop was not too long because we were taking a slight detour to Cape Town and stopping in a town called Oudtshoorn. Here we visited an ostrich farm and some of our group got to ride the large birds. I am too heavy to ride them, but I enjoyed watching the others struggle to balance on the weird birds. Ostriches have very large eggs, about 30 chicken eggs worth in one. Talk about a big Easter egg! After that, we checked into our hotel and went to a restaurant where I was able to eat the national animal of South Africa the springbok for a late dinner.
Friday morning the 30th we started our day out by heading over to the Cango Caves and do some spelunking. These were some cool caves, and we were able to go through a section that was the opposite of spacious at points. Some of the names of the various sections were Love Hugs because it is impossible to go through without being “hugged” by the walls and Devil’s Chimney which was a small chute we climbed and I have no idea how I and everyone else was able to fit through. Although I was not sure why anybody would first explore those vast dark caves in the dark, I enjoyed being like a kid again and climbing through the dirty tunnels.
Molly riding an ostrich.
Once we were able to find our way out of the caves, it was Cape Town or bust. We were able to make it to Cape Town around 6 pm. Just in time for some dinner and off to the International Jazz Festival. The festival was very cool. There were five different stages with a variety of artists and groups. I walked around with a small group checking out the different stages before settling at a stage that was playing some jazzy hip-hop and R&B. To cap off the night, I watched one of the few non-South African groups in the festival, and fellow Minnesotans Atmosphere play a set. The group is from South Minneapolis, and I have been a big fan of them since high school. A group of us stayed after and were able to meet the lead singer of the group.
Overall those first two days were full, but they were just the beginning. Cape Town is a very cool city which has a life of its own, and some of the most notable spots in South Africa. I am going to try and get multiple posts up this week because of all the action that went on. Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Bobby
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