Today is Sunday and I am writing in my room right before I go to bed. Still no internet, but you don’t really need it around here all that much. The only reason I want the luxury is to stay in touch with everyone back home, but I guess that is really what the internet is for. Anyways let me rewind to Thursday night and start my story there. We (Chelsea, Becca, Kristen, Alyssa and Sara) all took a lovely, yet windy walk down along the ocean towards the boardwalk. The boardwalk is a very well decorated area of PE that houses a bunch of shops and restaurants including the ice cream parlor we decided to rest at. Almost all of us got a double scoop of chocolate fudge chocolate chip expecting something similar to a rocky road concoction, but instead we got a lighter kind of coffee tasting ice cream with chocolate shavings spread throughout. This is probably why the majority of South Africans, and for that matter the rest of the world, are thinner than Americans. It was delicious and very filling. After our sugar buzz we walked through a African craft area where some people got to play some beats of the drums. There was also an artist that painted these glorious pieces of art that represented all aspects of Africa. I fell in love with all of that immediately and will defiantly return before the end of this trip to purchase a few of his works. As we were waiting for the boys to get back from renting their car for the weekend, we had to plan how we were going to get our car. We took a walk across the street and had a seat at KFC and discussed our options. The boys then picked up Chelsea, Sara and Kristen so that they could go and rent the car for our weekend excursion. Once we got back to Annie’s I tried to charge my camera and upload my pictures that were taken throughout the afternoon onto my computer. My camera quickly died and I realized it wasn’t recharging itself. This is not what I had wanted to happen right before my first weekend trip in South Africa. I decided after much fiddling that my camera was now broke, and my AD from back at home wasn’t the one to do it and unfortunately wouldn’t be buying me a new one! After a few hours and some bitching about my camera I headed out to go dancing. I will do my best to explain what I had seen, but it might be one of those things you need to see to believe. Every dance or club I had ever been to always required that two people must “grind” with each other while being smashed in the middle of the dance floor. The dance club we had gone to was mostly comprised of international students and some South Africans so American’s were very sparse. With that meant there was no “grinding”, but instead with house music blaring there was enough space between most people that you could fit another person (or sometimes two) in between. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but soon fell into the correct dancing edicat. Basically we all just danced like crazy people for hours on end even though we knew we were getting up at the crack of dawn to head out the next morning. After we got back, just after 2am, I called my parents because it was only 7pm their time. I only got a few hours of sleep that night, but I was too excited to be drowsy the next day anyways. With out two rented cars 9 of us (Chelsea, Becca, Alyssa, Kristen, Sara, Patrick, Shawn and Scott) left for Jeffery’s Bay, or J-Bay. JBay is home to the surfing championships which are held in South Africa’s winter or July. That is the time were rogue waves are abundant and the surfing town comes alive. We got to our hostel around noon and grabbed a bite to eat in town while they were getting our rooms ready. Our rooms basically sat right on the beach and overlooked the ocean with breathe taking views. We spent most of the day being lazy on the beach. The water is freezing (even though I probably have no room to talk because I know if is 10 times colder at home) and the wind is strong. Laying on the beach with a breeze is nice, but not when the sand pelts you from all directions and basically buries you alive. While we were laying on the beach we got a chance to see Patty (from Ireland that we know) surf some waves. Him and Colin (also from Ireland) were also staying at the same hostel so all 11 of us went out to eat at a nice Greek restrauant in town. I got fish and chip (fries) although I’m not sure why because I swore to myself I would never eat fish again after the Amazon, but it was actually very good and I only had a problem with a few bones (and there wasn’t a fish head to gross me out either) Later on after dinner we just sort of chilled at the hostel and played some drinking games. Some of us went to bed kind of early because the following day was going to be filled with a handful of activities. We (Sara, Becca, Patrick and I) had an appointment with the Bloukran Bridge in the afternoon. We woke up and made out way towards Tsitsikamma to check into our second hostel of the weekend. This town is tucked away along the mountain and in the woods. We ate at an American inspired diner dedicated to Elvis and most of the singing legends of the 50s. I of course got a cheeseburger (go big or go home) and fries/chips. We were in a bit of a hurry and left so we weren’t late for our reservation. On the way we saw a monkey sitting on a sign on the side of the road, not something you see everyday?! We arrived at the Bloukran Bridge around 1pm to claim our reserved spots for bungee jumping off the worlds highest bungy bridge (216 meters). It was kind of on the expensive side, but worth EVERY penny, or should I say rand. Our jump time was at two so we made our way out onto the bridge around 145. I don’t even know if I can put into words what was going through my head. As we were walking, to my left was a brilliant view of the ocean and beach nestled between two steep slopes from the gorge I would be plummeting into. And on my right was a spectacular view of mountains and more of the gorge. Looking down through the grate that we were walking along was scary enough for me. The wind was strong and it was a lot cooler that far up. We had a chance to watch some people go before we made out way out onto the bridge, but watching from afar didn’t do it justice. We gathered around to listen to instructions and they assured us you basically couldn’t mess it up and that it was 100 percent safe. I believed them, but it still didn’t stop me from shaking. I knew I had always wanted to do something like this, but I couldn’t believe I was standing on the bridge about to hurl myself into nothing but air. They told us the order and Sara was up first followed by me then Becca fourth and Patrick somewhere in the middle. Sara stepped up and I’m pretty sure all she was thinking was “fuck”, well at least that was all I was thinking. Sara had no problem just bending her knees and falling forward. The music they had playing really helped get your mind off what was happening and defiantly pumped the adrenaline. I was up next. My ankles were all strapped in and I didn’t hear one word the “jump master” said to me while he was getting me ready to go. I really didn’t hear much of anything for a good 5 minutes. Once I Was ready they helped me up and hopped me over to the edge. I didn’t feel much of anything, my knees were just a bit shaky and when they said “5,4,3,2 ,1 bungy” I just let myself fall over and didn’t even think about it twice. They told us before hand there was 4 seconds of free fall before you felt the tension of the bungy, but that 4 seconds felt like a decade. It was the most amazing feeling just flying through the air with nothing stopping you for those four seconds. Then once I hit the bottom of the jump and bounced back up I felt almost weightless and spun my arms quick like I was trying to swim or something? I bounced a few more times and tried to take in as much scenery as possible while being upside town and spinning through the air. I hung there for probably about a minute, but to me it felt like an hour until someone repelled down to come and get me. He put my in a sitting position and hoisted me back to the top of the bridge. I was still shaking so bad because of all the adrenaline and the guy even commented on it. Then he began to try and sell me stuff from the gift shop afterwards while we were being pulled up. I reached the top and everyone that worked on the bridge shook my hand and congratulated me on what I had just down. Still shaking I walked over to Sara and we just both raved about how awesome jumping off the bridge was! Becca was fourth and well I don’t think I could explain it because her video says its all. It took her about 12 minutes, longer than anyone else, to pluck up the nerve to jump. She kept telling the jump masters she didn’t want to go and to hold her hand and not let go, but in the end they got her to let go of them and basically pushed her off the bridge. She loved it, but said she doesn’t think she would do it again. Patrick was up a little later and is basically a pro. He had bungy jumped in Australia so he knew what he was doing. He hopped to the edge like it was nothing and jumped up and out off the bridge and danced the whole way down. He also went a second time with a different harness that allowed him to run and jump off the bridge which was pretty cool to watch. Also, one girl in our group, her video didn’t take when she was jumping so she got to go a second time FOR FREE. What a lucky girl! We made our way to buy our dvd’s and pictures then booked it back to town so that we could meet the rest of the group to zip line. After jumping off a bridge, zip lining felt like nothing, but it was still really fun! We soared through one of South Africa’s national parks for about 3 hours and even got a meal to go at the end. Later that night we sat around in the bar at our hostel. (I even found a four leaf clover, and Kristen is apparently just like me and always finds them and she also found one too!) At one point the bar tender poured all the bungy jumpers a “bungy shot” which was a bunch of different kinds of alcohol that was lit on fire. It was great and FREE! We all went to bed early because it had been such a long day. The next morning we woke up pretty early and went to the National Park to hike a trail that led us to a beautiful waterfall. The trail was tough in spots because we had to maneuver over everything from large rocks to small loose rocks. It was nice to feel a good work out and I even got a chance to do some running on the trail when it was mainly dirt. The waterfall was well worth the 50 rand we paid to get into the park and some people even jumped off of it. I didn’t because I don’t think I am a strong enough swimmer so I just sat back with my feet in the water and watched. We took a bunch of pictures and then made out way back. On the way we saw what looked like a deer and it got pretty close to some people. The ride back was about one hour and forty five minutes. I felt bad because Patrick and Scott had to drive the whole way and basically everywhere because all the cars here are manual (stick) and I don’t know how. On top of that they drive on the other side of the car and the other side of the road. I don’t think South Africa would be the place I would want to learn how to drive stick. Once we got back I got a chance to Skype with my parents and talk to Lauren and Nikki on facebook! I uploaded my pictures that were taken before my camera died and checked my dwindling bank account. All in all I would say it was a great weekend and I can’t wait for some more like it! School starts tomorrow and I have a lot of other things to get done in my down time like laundry and some other odds and ends. Hopefully school isn’t too hard because I don’t want to spend all my time sitting inside and studying or being on my computer. There is so much to do here, but I don’t want to fall behind in classes and risk not passing because I don’t even want to know what would happen then. I’ll update as soon as I can, although I am guessing this week might be on the boring side compared to the weekend I just had. Cheers!
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