Adventureland

Adventureland.

I should start with spring break. It seems like so long ago, I obviously need to get better about updating this blog more frequently. The entire trip was so incredible though; I loved every minute of it. The first day we got a little bit of a late start (thanks to Hermann’s laundry taking forever haha) and as we drove away from Cape Town I realized just how blessed I have been to have this experience. It has to be so rare to find a place so incredibly gorgeous with a people that match it in beauty. While we were stuck in traffic, the little children walking alone along the edges of the highway amazed me; I have never seen something like this before. Cars were flying past them and I could hardly keep my eyes open as I watched how close they were to us. I could have easily stuck my hand out of the window and touched them. Even though I have seen the continuous stretch of townships outside of Cape Town numerous times now, it amazes me every time. The clash of poverty, scenic mountains, and the African sunset on the Atlantic was what I viewed for hours on our drive to our first destination: Mossel Bay.
I have never stayed in a motel before nevertheless a hostel. So, it was pretty cool that my first hostel experience was in a stationary train. I was so excited to sleep on the top bunk, it reminded me so much of being back at Albion with Meg sleeping below me. When I woke up I heard the waves crashing into the beach outside and it was such a great feeling; the ultimate vacation feeling. I was able to take a shower and there was a little window in the shower looking right out at the ocean, such an incredible way to wake up. Every day we stopped somewhere new; Jeffery’s Bay was one of the first stops and it was a total surfer/hipster hostel. The doors to our rooms didn’t even lock…everyone seemed to have dreadlocks, weed, and was just loving life. The eleven of us were all in the bar eating pizza when some of us noticed a drink of the menu called “the fish bowl” it was 100 Rand aka $18 and of course I was dared to order it. The bartender looked at me with this huge smile and while I watched him pour every kind of alcohol imaginable into it my jaw dropped to the floor. I was laughing so hard when I carried it back to the table, I could hardly hold it. We all drank it and of course between the eleven of us it wasn’t much, but the whole act of getting it was so hilarious.
Moving on to the next bay…Coffee Bay :] This place was incredible! We got there and the reception area/restaurant were in one area and then our huts (yes, actual huts) were across a river! Now, when we got there the river was not because it only comes at high tide. So we all got ready and went over the restaurant for dinner and at about midnight I went to head back…only to find the river running freely! Luckily, I had Sebastian to walk me back the long way home to the huts. The next day I ended up finding out that the river was only about a foot deep and totally accessible by walking through. We spent two days here so the second we were able to take part in a hike to “the hole in the wall” it was a 10k hike along the coast to a cliff in the ocean that had a hole in it. Normally the leaders of the hike guide the participants to the top of the hole and allow cliff jumping. This day however, the waves were crashing through this hole with an unbelievable amount of power, so jumping was not an option. We saw so many farm animals though that belonged to all of the natives. Their huts reminded me of the Native Americans homes that I learned about in elementary school…these homes were supposed to exist in a former century, not current time. The entire hike was mind-blowing; every direction I turned was a sight I have never seen before.
The next memorable stop on our trip was Durban. This city has the highest population of Indians anywhere in the world outside of India. We stayed two nights here as well at a really cute bread and breakfast. We had the whole place to our self so it was really nice, the English breakfast in the mornings was sooo good! The second day we went to the beach and the water was finally warm enough to enjoy swimming in. I’ve been told that Durban is the true telling-point of where the Indian Ocean begins and the Atlantic ends because of the change in temperature. So after a day at the beach we went out for Indian food and although I am typically not a huge fan, it was really good.
From Durban we drove all the way to Kimberly (making many pit stops along the way). I think we probably stopped at about 10 steers over the course of this trip, which is a South African fast food chain. I am pretty sure that I only ate at this place once, it was sooo gross! I preferred Spurs…I would compare them to Applebees and they at least had decent calamari. Kimberly was definitely the most ghetto place we stayed on the trip, our hostel was a former prison! Kind of cool, the star-gazing was really nice. Before we left Kimberly we went to their “Big Hole” haha which is apparently the largest diamond mining hole in the world. Now it is filled with water, but it was pretty cool and the museum was under ground and kind of interesting to go through.
The last night our trip was definitely on of my favorites. We stayed at a bed and breakfast that is also an airport! The owners were very Afrikaans and had a baby goat in a pen next to their house. At night we were able to go up to the top of the B&B, which was kind of like a Florida room with outside balconies. There was a pigeon stuck inside and if anyone had seen us trying to get it out I am confident they would have died from laughter. The starts were amazing again though and we all really enjoyed spending our last night of vacation together. Our entire group meshed so well through out the trip, I felt so bonded to everyone by the end. There was no drama at all and I had so much fun every day in the car. Alice and I had sing-a-longs with Sebastian and Renae, Sam and I were talking to silly voices to each other, and just everyone was so much fun to be with. It was kind of difficult coming back to Cape Town and getting back into ‘school mode,’ but I am happy to be back now :] Even if I do wish I could do that same trip every year for spring break.
I wish I could give all of the details from this trip, but my entry would be never-ending. It was incredible though, and seeing so much of South Africa gave me such a better understanding of where I am. I am liking it here more and more every day. Even when I do miss home, I know that this experience has been perfect for me and has given me more than I could have hoped for.

<3 carly