This weekend was one of my favorite
here in South Africa! A bunch of us planned a road trip through the Garden
Route. We left Friday morning SO EARLY at 2 am. I definitely am sleep deprived
but I was having so much fun all weekend it was definitely worth it! My eye
will be twitching all week but OH WELL.
On Friday we visited a game park, and
got to see baby cheetahs up close. They were so beautiful. Next we went to the
Cango caves, which were fascinating. We went from sweating in the sun to
exploring in the cool, dark caves. We learned the caves were discovered by a
farmer with only one small oil lamp. It was crazy how deep and vast some of the
chambers were.
After the caves, we went to an
ostrich farm. Some of us attempted riding the ostrich, which was hilarious. I
don't think I'll ever be able to get the image of Allie faceplanting off the
bucking ostrich out of my head.
We eventually made it to our hostel
for the night, which was right on the beach. We pulled up just as the sun was
setting. It was my favorite beach I've been to so far in South Africa, so
beautiful and isolated. The hostel itself was also so fun. We met people
staying there from all over the world: Switzerland, Germany, Holland, the UK,
all with interesting stories. Staying in the hostel has given me such a desire
to travel now. I think backpacking across Europe is next on my bucket
list.
Since it was almost the full moon,
the manager of the hostel played his guitar for us on the beach at night. It
was so relaxing and peaceful listening to him play and looking up at the big
bright moon.
Saturday was equally fun. We started
off at an elephant sanctuary, where we got to ride elephants! For such large
animals, the elephant felt surprisingly bony when I was riding it. Its skin
felt so dry and wrinkly! Later we got to feed them and pet them as well. I was
a little scared at first, but the elephants were such gentle giants.
Today, Sunday, we went river tubing.
It was a very slow tubing experience because the water level is pretty low at
this time of the season, and required a lot of paddling, but it was still
really fun. I survived despite the fact I was wearing a wetsuit that I'm pretty
sure was meant for a 12-year-old boy. My circulation has finally come back to
my wrists!
Overall, the weekend was a blast. We
did so many adventurous activities, but I also think a lot of the reason it was
so fun is that we were all having such a great time with each other. We were
without wifi for the majority of the trip, so we really were able to just hang
out and enjoy each others company. I'm so lucky to have made so many new best
friends from this trip. It makes me sad to think that we will go directly from
seeing each other everyday/doing almost everything together to probably not
seeing each other much this summer. I'm afraid of having a hard time adjusting
back home without my Cape Town friends. Hopefully we will get together sometime
this summer, and I'm excited for us all to be at school together in the
fall.
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