Spring Break

From March 28 to April 1^st I was on spring break from UCT. So, my mom, sister, grandmother and grandmothers boyfriend all came to Cape Town. The first day with everyone here we all went to Stellenbosch for wine tours. We checked out three different wineries (we also had lunch at a different winery, so I guess we went to four total) and learned the appropriate way to taste wine. We also got to eat some cheese and olives at some of the wineries. My friend Sam Buckley also came with us on the tour.

While we were in Cape Town my mom rented an apartment that was in Bo Kaap, the Muslim community. It was a really awesome apartment with an amazing view of Bo Kaap as well as Cape Town city center. The one issue I had with the apartment (35 on Rose) was that we would wake up at sunrise to the call of prayer! It was pretty cool to see/ experience that though.. 

Then we left for Mpumalanga, where Kruger National Park is located. We stayed at Kirkman’s Kamp, which is in a private game reserve called Sabi Sans. This game reserve borders Kruger but is not actually a part of the National Park. However, the animals can roam freely between the two. One major advantage of being in the private game reserve was that they are allowed to off road for big 5 animals. The big 5 includes: leapord, elephant, buffalo, lion and rhino. We were lucky enough to see all of the big 5 on more than one occasion! Some of the other animals that we saw were impala, kudu, black mamba snake, chameleon, hippos, waterbok, baboons, giraffes, zebras, and lots of birds. So when we first arrived at Kirkman’s we were able to go on the afternoon game drive which started at 4, I think. Our drivers name was Dalson and the rangers name was Robert, they were an amazing team. In the mornings Dalson would wake us up at 5:30 and the game drive would start at 6. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up that early. Anyway, in the middle of the game drives we would take a break in the middle of the African bush. Dalson and Robert would then sit up a little table and pull out all different kinds of drinks and snacks. In the mornings we had choco-Amarula coffees (Amarula is similar to Kaluha). This was overall a really amazing experience and it was so cool being able to see all of these animals in their natural habitat. One of my favorite parts was tracking and finding animals. The first time it happened was when we tracked three female lions by following their footprints. Then as we were watching them, I turned and looked behind me and the male lion was walking up to meet them! It was very exciting. Another awesome time was when we found leopard prints, and then all of this sudden found fresh leopard poop. Dalson and Robert got really excited when they found the poop, knowing we would soon find the leopard. What made it especially cool was the fact that they had not seen this leopard in awhile. The people working at the camp in general know the leopards and the lions that live in their game drive area. My other favorite time was when we saw the lions eating a kudu – crazy circle of life. Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Soon enough the trip ended and we came back to Cape Town. My mom left a few days after, but before she left she insisted on hiking Table Mountain. Well, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. A two-hour hike of literally straight uphill. It was pretty funny because she thought it was going to be really easy, even though I had told her it is a hard hike. She admitted it was the hardest hike she’s ever done. It is awesome though because it is so rewarding. It was fun doing that together, Elizabeth my mom and me. Then soon enough my mom left, and Elizabeth stayed with me for five more nights in Highstead. I took my sister to Old Biscuit Mill, which I also took my mom to the first day that she arrived. I have been meaning to blog about it but I just haven’t yet. It is a massive food fair, pretty much where you get to try a bunch of different food. The best is the ostrich burger, I made both my mom and sister get that when they went. Saturday evening Elizabeth and I went to Ocean View (where I did my homestay) with a few other kids in my house. We went back for my homestay sister's 21st birthday. It was really great to see everyone from Ocean View again! On Sunday I took Elizabeth to Mzoli’s which was so fun, I think she had a great time… I did J Elizabeth and I also repelled Table Mountain, which was a great time. I was sad my mom wasn’t there for that part of the trip. Then it was time for Elizabeth to leave and I was really sad. I had a hard time saying goodbye to her knowing I wont see her for another 6 or more months. But it was an amazing vacation and I just wanted to say one last time

THANK YOU MOM! You hooked it up

At the top of Table Mountain

Robben Island

A little over two weeks ago (sorry I haven’t blogged in forever) my house went to Robben Island. Robben Island, for those of you who don’t know, is where Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid political leaders were jailed during Apartheid. Nelson Mandela himself spent 18 years in jail on Robben Island. So the people who signed up in my house and I went down to the waterfront where we got on a boat. The ride to Robben Island felt about 20 minutes long. A bunch of us sat downstairs and watched an informative video on the history Robben Island. Once we first arrived we all got on to large coach-like busses that took us on a tour. Every tour guide that works there spent some time in jail on Robben Island during Apartheid, which made it really interesting to hear the personal stories. After the bus tour we got off and walked around and inside the building where Nelson Mandela’s jail cell was located. Because I went to Robben Island a little while ago I forget all of the details. But one interesting thing that I learned was that there has pretty much never been a successful escape from Robben Island, so the jailed people were definitely trapped. Anyway, I’m going to put pictures on and just describe what they are showing because of my awful memory…

The ferry

Jail cells

The cave behind the mound on the left side of the picture was used as a bathroom for the inmates. They were able to utilize the privacy of the small cave to discuss ANC matters.

A beached whale?? We saw this on our boat tour, it smelled pretty badly.

Pictures of Robben Island.. Explained lower

An example of what a larger jail cell was like. The room was actually a lot bigger and was filled with more bunkbeds.

These pictures were used by the media and the pro-Apartheid South Africans to ensure outsiders that the prisoners at Robben Island were not experiencing an unbearably harsh life/ punishment.

This corner is where Nelson Mandela hid parts of his autobiography, A Long Walk To Freedom

Nelson Mandela's jail cell

Robben Island

Homestay = Homesick

Last weekend all of the CIEE kids spent in Ocean View, a colored community. I’ve said this before but just a reminder – there’s a difference between colored people and black people. Sometimes it can get confusing to distinguish between the two, but typically colored people are lighter skinned. Also, South Africans can usually tell through their accents. We took a 45 minute bus ride from Rondebosch (UCT Campus) to get there. I think that some people would classify Ocean View as a township in that it is a living area with low-income housing. However, there are some people in South Africa that say colored people only live in communities whereas black people live in townships. I’m not really sure how to distinguish – but this is just the information that I have heard around.

We arrived at Ocean View high school, where we all went inside for a dinner and collected name cards. A table number was written on our name cards, so when I went to my table my family was able to pick me out. There I met Julie, the mother, and Adrienne her 16 year old daughter. Things were a bit awkward at first, but then we started to talk about our lives, UCT and the states. I also learned that Julie has another daughter who is 20 named Jade. Julie also talked about partying which I thought was kind of interesting/ exciting, but she definitely seemed interested in going to some bars with me. A little bit later, another girl Ashleigh who also lives in my house came to our table and we figured out we would be staying in the house together. It was relieving and comforting for me to know that the other person I would be staying with was someone I already knew.  We sat in the assembly room in the high school for a while listening to people from Ocean View talk and put on some performances (like singing and dancing). I also learned that my homestay mom’s aunt was housing two boys, Phil and Eric, who also live in my house. Soon enough the evening at the high school was over and we headed back to my family’s home.

Their home was overall pretty nice. I don’t think I had any expectations of it; I was just interested to see what it would be like. It is a pink house that has a kitchen, living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. The bedroom that I would be staying in had bunk beds and another twin bed; also, it was filled with a bunch of stuffed animals. The house had three tvs – one in the living room and one in each bedroom. I also noticed in the corner of the girl’s room there was an old computer; it was in the corner though so I am not sure if they used it anymore. I am pretty sure I also saw that they had a laptop. So it seemed to me that this family was pretty well off compared to some others living in the community.

Anyway, that night we (Ashleigh, Eric, Phil and I) arrived back at their home. All of us sat around in the living room drinking beer and whiskey and water. I honestly did not even know whiskey and water was a drink. I honestly struggled to drink that. That night we all ended up hanging out and sang karaoke. Julie really loved karaoke, and we all actually got pretty into singing – I had a better time doing it than expected. It was also pretty funny considering I have the worst voice ever. Also hearing Phil trying to sing Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis was just hilarious. I have a video of it…Too funny.

Phil, Scott, a family friend (I forget her name) and Eric outside of our house

Eric, Phil (doing Karaoke), Bradley (their brother) and their host mom

Ashleigh and I singing.. haha

The next morning Ashleigh and I woke up and ate some cereal for breakfast. We then sat around with Jade and Adrienne and watched some South African soap operas. They reminded me of Spanish soaps, so it was ultimately pretty entertaining. Ashleigh and I talked with Jade for a while about her life. She graduated high school and attended a business college of some sort. She now works at a business in downtown Cape Town, but is looking elsewhere for work. We also talked about race and religion with her. It was interesting to here that Jade says she would probably not date someone of another race, as that is her preference (so she would only date a colored boy). Additionally, she also said that she could not date someone who practices a religion other than Anglican, because that is her mother’s rule.  Soon enough Julie came home from work and we left to go the Imhoff Farm across the street. There were a bunch of shops selling foods (like cheese and jams), clothing and crafts. There were also some cool animals hanging out, like camels! I ended up buying some horseradish dip that had feta and bacon in it, it was very tasty. After we were done with the farm we went back to the house for a bit, then went to go visit Jades grandparents on her dads side. We learned that her father passed away I think around seven years ago. I didn’t ask why though. Anyway, we walked about five minutes to visit her other side of the family. It made me so jealous that she lives so close to all of her aunts, uncles and cousins… Being around so much family really made me miss my family. This was probably the first time I have felt sort of homesick since I have been here. After hanging out there for a bit, we went back to our house.

The view from our house at sunset..

When we arrived back at home, all of the women (and Phil) were in the kitchen preparing for dinner. Phil, Ashleigh and I helped cut up vegetables and get things ready for the evening. My family was hosting a party and braai for us that evening. Soon enough it was time to start cooking, the meat was first thrown into a three-legged pot and it cooked on the coals for a while. Next vegetables were added in, and it seemed as if the pot was completely full. But after the vegetables would cook for about a half hour, more room was made to fit more and more inside. One of the family friend’s was cooking the meal, his name was Abraham and he loved to cook. We talked a lot about cooking because I am interested in getting a pot for my house. He also talked to me about his family and how when he was very young, I think he said four years old, his family was forced to leave Simonstown and move into Ocean View as a part of Apartheid. One interesting difference from Ocean View and Langa (the black township I visited with Leap) was that people within Ocean View move from house to house, whereas people in Langa typically stay in one house or move out. The food ended up being AMAZING! We had rice with vegetables and beef. I honestly cannot describe how much food the family gave us this entire weekend, but I was so full after. Also, a few hours after dinner Abraham cooked some Snoek for us, which is a kind of fish that is very popular among the people in Ocean View. It was also very delicious. This whole evening was really great. I enjoyed hanging out and talking with all of my family’s friends. I also really liked helping cook and talking with Abraham, it definitely made me think about my dad and it made me miss him a lot. I also learned that people there never say thank you when someone gives them an alcoholic drink. From what I understood, they don’t say thank you because drinking is a sin, so it really makes no sense to thank someone who is helping you do something bad… Very interesting. Anyway, we weren’t able to go to any bars because there was no car that could take us, but I was very happy just staying at home and talking with people. I also had a very nice chat with Julie, I told her I was planning on staying in Cape Town until later in June, and she actually offered to let me stay in her house. After knowing this woman for only 24 hours, I was surprised how open and welcoming she had been. It was so kind of her. The one reason I don’t think I will stay there is because it is honestly so far away from everything else, I just feel like I would be kind of stuck there unless I had a car. By 1am I was very tired from the drinking and all of the food that I ended up going to sleep, although some people were still hanging out.

Prepping the veggies

Abraham cooking..

The first addition of the vegetables - carrots and cabbage

 Still more vegetables added in... 

The final product!!

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, then walked to the main road. That day there was a bike race (supposedly the largest in the world) which began and ended in Cape Town, but they also road right through Ocean View. There were a lot of people camping out on the side of the road grilling food and cheering on the bikers as they passed. I also heard that Matt Damon did this last year? Pretty jealous. Anyway we ended up just hanging out around there for some time and watching bikers pass. It was pretty funny because some bikers were wearing costumes like the Borat unitard thing and cow outfits. Also there were some people on tandem bikes and some on unicycles. After watching the race for a while we ended up going back to the house where Julie had been preparing lunch for the five of us (my host mom, two sisters, Ashleigh and I). She made beef, chicken, bean salad, coleslaw and potato salad – SO much food and it was so amazing! Julie also gave us tubberwear so we could take some of the leftovers home :) We then ended up going back to watch the race for a little bit and just hung out. Soon enough the day was over and my family walked us back to the high school, where the busses were waiting to take us back to Rondebosch. Ashleigh, Phil, Eric and I have all been invited to go back to Ocean View for Jade’s 21^st birthday party on April 9^th. I think we are all definitely planning on going. It was so kind of this family to take us in and treat us as their own. It was overall an amazing experience and so interesting to see first hand what life outside of the Rondebosch bubble that I live in is really like. I cannot wait to go back and visit my family again.

 The bike race

 The cows in the race.. how random yet hilarous!?

This is everyone plus their good friend on the left, I forget his name... I am so awful with names it's embarrassing. Then left to right: Adrienne, Ashleigh, Jade, me and Julie!

Volunteering

During CIEE orientation, we were all shown a few options as places where we could volunteer throughout the semester. I ended up choosing a high school called LEAP, which focuses on math and science. I chose this place to volunteer because the school seemed to be very flexible with what we wanted to do. I was also interested in working with high school aged kids, and this was the only volunteering location with this age group. There are four Leap schools, and I volunteer at Leap one, which actually also shares the same building with Leap two. However, they are two different schools and for the most part are separated (they are separated based on where the kids live). There are also two other Leap schools located in Johannesburg. I began going to Leap two weeks ago, but things were not really sorted out until now.

The first week I went on Wednesday and Thursday. All of the volunteers went so we just got the hang of the school and what was going on.  On Thursday afternoons, Leap lets kids do a variety of different cultural activities such as choir, dancing, art, drumming, and so on. It was then that I figured out that I was interested in mentoring a group of girls for the semester. So, I changed my schedule so that I would go on Tuesday instead of Thursdays.

The next week the president of the school, Bones, took us to Langa. All of the kids that go to Leap one live in Langa, which is the oldest township in Cape Town. Bones actually lives in Langa with his family so he first took us to his house, then we walked around for a bit. The tour was really interesting because there was such a wide variety of houses there – it went from complete shack with no running water to two story large homes. One interesting part of Langa were these certain houses, which were a government project that failed because the rent ended up being too expensive so people could not afford to live there. Everyone in Langa was really friendly and all of the little kids ran up to us and just wanted to be hugged… They were so cute, I wanted to stay and play with them longer. Bones talked to us a lot about Apartheid and how the forced removals from District 6 led to the massive overcrowding in Langa. Also, he told showed us how a lot of the houses now have gates around them. This is interesting because those gates didn’t exist during Apartheid. Gates are popular now, Bones said, because after Apartheid the use of drugs (he referenced crystal meth) became way more popular so they have become more necessary to protect from brake-ins. He also said that gates also show peoples statuses, such that those people with more money pay to have gates put around their houses. After walking around for a bit we got back in his car and he drove us around more before we left. We passed a lot of people grilling meat, one popular delicacy is lambs head! I honestly could not believe that, a whole head was just plopped on the grill! Supposedly the cheek is good, I think I’m going to have to try that before I leave..

This week at Leap I went to their community meeting and we also began mentor groups. Students put on the community meeting on Tuesdays. This gives them the opportunity to bring up any important issues within the school or in general. The meeting began with everyone singing a song. Then, the students put on a skit about having respect for your parents and for your elders in general. After this, there was time for an open discussion about the topic. There was definitely some awkward silence, but after awhile people started speaking up and saying what they thought. It was interesting to hear everyone’s differing opinions on the topic. After this it was time for announcements and the most interesting thing happened. This one boy, who I guess can speak English very well, stood up and made an announcement in Xhosa. (Xhosa if their native language, and it’s the one that has clicks, there are actually 16 different ones – it’s SO cool!!!) Anyway, an American teacher asked the boy if he could please say his announcement in English because not everyone speaks Xhosa. However, the kid kept talking in Xhosa. So the teacher then told the boy that he could not make his announcement if he didn’t speak in English, so the boy sat down. Then, not even a few minutes later, the boy stood up again and started speaking in Xhosa again – such a blatant display of disrespect. I just found it really ironic that there was just a skit and open discussion on how important it is to respect people, when just a few minutes later one of the boys disrespected a teacher like that. Anyway the rest of the afternoon and then the next day, today, I mentored a group of girls. They are either grade 10 or 11, and are all really nice. I will continue meeting with them throughout the semester and hopefully we will get to become pretty good friends. I’m sure I will have more to say about them as the semester goes on but we are just in the initial stages. If anyone has any good ice breaking games, feel free to leave a comment!

Overall, Leap is going really well and I really like it there. I am excited to see what will happen as time goes on..

Thank God I’m Not A Vegetarian

Mzoli’s is a giant braai (barbeque) and party in a township that occurs every Sunday. I was able to go two Sundays ago with another house, Roxy, and then again this Sunday with my house, Highstead. Both of my RA’s, Martina and Buhle, took all 30 of us from my house at 10:30 yesterday morning.  It was pretty empty when we first arrived, but I knew from my experience the last week that within a few hours, it would be packed. We all figured out tables and sat down while our RA’s got the meat situated. Once they came back, my RA Buhle took all of us into a small house, a block from the party site, to buy alcohol. The house that we went into was nicer than I had expected, as it had somewhat proper flooring and furniture. The family sold all of the alcohol out of their fridge and only sold 6 packs. A few of my friends and I shared a six-pack of Savannah dry, a cider which kind of tastes like sparkling apple juice. Then our RA’s got us big buckets and ice to put our beer and in so it would stay cold (a nice feature that we didn’t have the previous week). As time went on the braai became more busy and packed with all different kinds of people. There was a DJ playing lots of popular house music and people dancing. There were also a lot of people trying to sell things to us like sunglasses, fedoras, and earrings. We were told that our meat would be ready at 12:30 but it did not come until 1:30. A large white bucket came with sausage, chicken and steak. People LOVE meat here. Then we also got pep (or something, I’m not too sure what it’s called but it’s kind of like grits) and salsa to put on the meat. Everyone was eating the food like they had never eaten before. Also there is no silverware or plates, so you just eat everything with your hands... So cleanly. The sausage and steak were good, but it was honestly the best chicken I have ever had. Both this Sunday and the Sunday before, I over ate until I felt sick – but it was so hard to stop eating because it was so good.

 Eating..

Taylor looks so happy here haha... The long line in the background is people waiting to put in their meat orders.

The 30 of us couldn’t end up finishing everything that was in the bucket but we came pretty close. After we ate we continued to hang out there for a few hours. The time went by quickly as we danced and met knew people. This more recent time there were a lot more international people than the last time. However, both times I feel like I was able to have good conversations with the local people to learn about their lives.

My first time at Mzoli’s an old woman came up to me and started talking; however, I had a really hard time understanding what she was saying. All I could really understand was her saying something about bread for her family. So I reached into my bag and gave her 10 rand (a little more than a dollar) and she started to cry, then gave me a huge hug… I’m not sure if this is appropriate or not but I think this thought is okay because it is reality - I really hope she didn’t end up spending that on drugs.

Overall, Mzoli’s was a great time with great food and great people. Hopefully I can go a few more Sundays while I am here – but maybe next time I won’t eat until I’m in pain.

The Garden Route

We had about a week off before classes started, so a group of us decided to go on the Garden Route. My group that I was traveling with consisted of eight of us from my house and two boys that are in a homestay. These two girls, Masha and Chloe, literally planned everything for us. The only other girls on the trip were me and my friend Taylor, and I would say we are both laid back and not really good at arranging this kind of thing. Therefore, everyone was SO thankful for Masha and Chloe. Not only were they so organized in booking and planning everything, they even gave us a powerpoint presentation of our plans for the trip!!

We started on this thing called the Baz Bus, which advertises itself as a “hop on hop off” kind of thing. This way none of us would have to drive on the other side of the road and with stick shift cars. The first day we left Cape Town early in the morning and headed to Jeffrey’s Bay. Along the way, our driver Sydney played some really strange violent movies like Adventures of a Foot Solider (or something) and some Quentin Tarantino movie with George Clooney. Except none of the movies ended up finishing because they player would get to hot and the DVD would skip. Anyway, the bus had to stop really often because it would pick people up from hostels along the way. Sometimes we would even have to wait at hostels for the people to come – this kinda sucked. But we all started drinking on the bus and once we got to one of the hostels our bus driver bought us shots! Then we also took a bungee shot at one hostel, which is lit on fire. Before anyone started to drink their shots my friend Sam goes, “Phil lets show them how it’s done” and the two boys took their shots. They both ended up lighting themselves on fire, Phil ended up being fine but Sam ended up burning his lip pretty badly. (This story reminds me of my golf cart accident that I got in with Peter being fine after and me being injured in Harbour Island). Anyway we finally arrived in Jeffery’s Bay later that night where we would stay at Island Vibe hostel for two nights.

Jeffery’s Bay is known for its surfing, so there were a lot of people at the hostel that were there for that reason. It was really fun to see/ hang out with so many international kids. The hostel was really fun and pretty rowdy. The next day some kids surfed but most of us ended up just hanging out on the beach. The water was a lot warmer here, and it was the Indian Ocean, it was my first time swimming in it! This day was kind of stressful as we realized that the Baz Bus is not really “hop on hop off” because the bus only runs in each direction once a day. This conflicted with our plans for the next day because we wanted to bungee jump, but where we wanted to stay was in Knysna, which was farter away. So, we ended up having to also rent a car for the next day.

We woke up the next morning, got the cars and headed towards the largest bungee jump in the world. I honestly cannot believe I bungee jumped. It was something I never saw myself doing until I talked with my good friend Mike Scott, and he honestly did a great job at convincing me. I knew I had to do it but I was really nervous. I kept thinking that I was going to pee my pants once I jumped. When we got there we had to put on our gear then wait around for a while. All of the employees wore t-shirts that said “fear is temporary, regret is forever” – pretty funny. I was obviously already nervous, but I became more nervous because it was pouring rain. We sat in this waiting room that had a flat screen TV that showed a live camera of people that were jumping at that time. I watched a few, but then I couldn’t watch anymore. I turned on my iPod and listened to songs like The Wind, Wild Horses and Clare De Lune to try and calm myself down and relax. I never debated about not doing it, I knew I had to, I just had that weird feeling in my stomach. Once it was time a large group of us walked along the bridge in this sketchy small pathway where you could look down and see the huge trench. This is the pathway:

Taylor, Sam and I right before my time to Jump

The bridge. This picture was taken not on the day I went because it was foggy and rainy so it was a lot harder to see.

Then we all waited inline and watched people go before us. Everyone that came back up had huge smiles on their faces and seemed so happy. Before I knew it, it was my turn to go. I was told not to look down when I first stood up there so I didn’t because I knew I would freak out. It was also pretty foggy and rainy so it was kind of hard to see. I told the two guys who helped me over there that they might have to push me off because I was afraid I wouldn’t jump. Techno loud music was playing in the background and my friends were all cheering behind me, then all of this sudden I hear 5 4 3 2 1 BUNGEE! All of this sudden I left the loud jumping spot and flew through the air. The sensations were so amazing as it was so peaceful, feeling like it was just nature and me.

Honestly, it was the best thing I have ever done and I was so happy I did it and I would do it again in a second. After I stopped flying through the air I just hung there for a little bit until a man on a lever came down to get me. He then flipped me around and all I could keep saying was “oh my god that was so amazing oh my god” while at the same time he kept saying “Katharine you are so beautiful will you be my girlfriend.” So that was pretty funny. Here's a picture of us

But everyone in my group LOVED bungee jumping and I haven’t heard of one person who didn’t like it. So if you’ve ever even considered or thought about it – DO IT, I promise you won’t regret it. 

After bungee jumping we drove to the Knysna Elephant park where Masha and Chloe (who were the only two in the group that didn’t bungee jump) rode elephants. Everyone else walked around to pet, feed and play with them. Then from there we drove to another Island Vibe, ate dinner then went to bed after a very long and adventurous day.

The next day we woke up, returned the rental cars, and got on the bus to Hermanus. This area is known for its large whale population. Unfortunately for us, whale season isn’t until their winter so it starts in July. We spent that night in a hostel and then woke up the next morning ready for activities. So a group of us went kayaking and we were able to see penguins in the ocean as well as a lot of seals. The kayaking was really fun but it hurt a little because the carpel tunnel that I got from working at Ben and Jerry’s came back… It was pretty painful, and kind of sad. Apparently if you go kayaking during whale season it is like 100% likely that you will see one if not more. Also I ate kelp out of the ocean. I was also the only person to get out of my kayak and swim in the middle of our trip. It was pretty funny because the instructor wouldn’t let me take off my life coat and he told me to grab kelp and swim downwards to look at the ocean. Let me just say, swimming underwater with a lifejacket on is hard. I didn’t even get all the way underwater I’m pretty sure my legs were flailing in the air, hahaha! But it was really cool to see under the water, the guide said he thinks it looks like the Avatar world. After about 2.5 hours of kayaking we ended up going back to the hostel and hanging out until the bus came to pick us up and take us back to Cape Town.

Overall, the Garden Route was an amazing time. I am really glad we were able to explore more of South Africa! Also sorry I don’t have very many pictures, my camera broke literally two days before going.