Amazing memories coming to an end...

Well here is my last blog post of the trip. Time flies! I wish I could have written more and shared more pictures along the way but internet is a commodity here – something I’ve realized that I take advantage of in the states. I am sorry to be leaving South Africa in a few very short days but I’m ready to see my family and boyfriend again. This whole trip I kept thinking about how I wish they were all here to see and experience this absolutely beautiful country and it’s people. The hardships that a lot of these natives have experienced are definitely something I will remember.

I am mostly very sorry to be leaving my students behind. The last day at our schools last week was probably one of the most challenging days I’ve had. It was touching to see how much they cared about us and how they did not want us to leave. I did not want to leave because every student was an absolutely fascinating person. I walked through some of these houses and have seen what they live in and can’t fathom how every single one of them comes to school with a smile on their face and hungry to learn. That was probably the biggest different I noticed between American students and these students – these students have intrinsic motivation and desire to learn. I had days where I offered to play games with my students and some of them would protest because they wanted to learn. It made being a teacher that much more exciting. Below is a picture of me and my roommate Keri with one of the classes I got to work with regularly.

Speaking of roommates, mine are still wonderful. We get along no problem and I foresee both Keri and Katie being lifelong friends of mine. I think a lot of the people on this trip will stay in touch and be friends for time to come. We’ve already discussed how weird it will be not to spend every waking moment with 19 other people.

One such moment was our time in Pringle Bay beach house. The weather the weekend that we went was a little chilly and windy but we had a blast anyways. Almost all the people on this trip are big Echure fans so we played a lot of that and a game called banana grahams. There was one day where we were able to go out to the beach for a little while until it got too cold for us to stand. I took a walk with Katie and Jen and found some cool seashells. Here is a sweet picture of the sunset from our deck. 

On our second holiday, we visited Montagu, Cape Agulhus, Gansbaai, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, and Boulder national park. Montagu was a very cute, quaint little town with one traffic light. It was Easter while were in there so we all found little churches around town for service. We also visited the hot springs, tried to pet sting rays, as well as took a tractor ride up the side of the mountain. It is as scary as it sounds. The wagon wheel was about 2 inches from the edge of a cliff very often. The scenery and views, however, were breathtaking.  The camera does not do it justice but you can get the idea. 

Cape Agulhus is where the southern most tip of Africa is as well as where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Here’s a picture of Keri and I were the oceans meet. 

When we went to Gansbaii, we were supposed to go shark cage diving but they were experiencing a big storm causing too large of swells to safely send to the boats out on the water. We’re going to try to go back on Saturday and try again. Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope were just beautiful. Here is a view of the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Point. 

We also saw some mischievous baboons at Cape of Good Hope. 

Boulder National Park serves as a nature preserve for penguins. They were absolutely adorable.

Like I said, I wish I could share more! When I get home, I will be posting hundreds of pictures on my facebook for enjoyment. I may also write one more reflective blog to wrap up this unbelievable experience. I cannot believe it’s time to go already…

Cheers

First holiday!

Our first holiday was excellent! We had so much fun and saw so many beautiful things. We started off at Addo National Park, which is a game reserve. From there we went to Tsitsikamma National Park and finally to Mossel Bay. On the way to Addo we stopped at a couple of wineries. The first picture is a view from the deck of the first winery we went to and the second picture is of the gardens we walked through to get to the tasting tables.

After the wineries we stopped in a backpackers house in Knysna. Africa is a country that struggles with having enough water so many of the places we stayed at were participating in efforts to conserve water. The Knysna backpacking place limited your shower to 2 minutes and turned off the hot water…

When we got to Addo, we went on several drives through the park looking for animals. I saw all sorts of African animals – elephants, zebras, antelope, monkeys, warthogs, etc. Several of us went on a horseback ride through the park and got up close to a lot of the animals. It was super sweet. Later that night, we went on a night safari and drove up next to a carcass that hyenas were feeding off of. It smelled and looked gross but it was interesting to see these animals function in their natural habitat. Hyenas actually look cute unlike how they look in the Lion King :)

Next was Tsitsikamma, which was absolutely beautiful. Here is a picture from the rocks right in front of our cabin.

We hiked up the mountain that our cabins were at the bottom of at 6am to see the sunrise beyond the mountains. It was so serene and peaceful.

We also had a rain spider encounter in our cabin. They are huge and gross so capturing it was quite the ordeal.

Next day we went hiking to a waterfall next to the ocean. Here is part of the 1.6 km “trail” that we hiked to get there and following is the waterfall.

Next stop was bungee jumping on the way to Mossel Bay. I did not jump but it was awesome being out on the highest bungee jumping point in the world cheering on my friends as they jumped off. We finally made it to Mossel bay and just relaxed for the night. The next day we visited Cango Caves, the Feather Palace and Oudtshorn festival. Below is a picture of the caves and some of the ostriches.

The following day, 13 of us went SKYDIVING. Yes, I went skydiving!! It was so liberating and such a beautiful view. I loved every second of it.

Something that really made me stop and think was a man who asked me if I’ve learned that Blacks have no brain. Although apartheid was abolished over 10 years ago, there are still very distinct separations here. There are three main classifications: Whites, Coloureds, and Blacks. Blacks are traditionally the pure African natives and tribes. Coloureds are any people that are not White and not Black. I guess it took me by surprise that there is still blatant racism in this country. I kindly told the man that I have not learned that and actually wanted to let him know that in fact I’ve learned quite the opposite. Many of my students who come from the Black townships are brilliant and much more cultured and matured beyond their years.

That’s as much as I have for now. Still having a great time and looking forward to more adventures. I almost want to move here and grown some avo trees and aloe plants in my backyard. J