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
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