KEP

I know I haven’t written in awhile, but that is because I’ve been pretty busy and without much internet! I’ll go back to finals. They were very stressful, but thank god I made it through them. I’m still not sure if I have passed, I don’t even know when we get our marks. I won’t go much into final exams, mainly because it’s not fun or interesting. I studied nonstop basically for about 2 weeks. Then we celebrated the end of finals and everyone going away on the 15th. It was a lot of fun! I don’t know how I managed to get up on the 16th and leave for the elephant park at 6am. We (Breana and I) made it to the bus stop just in time, as the bus was pulling out. Our cab driver actually got out of the cab and stopped the bus for us. We hopped on and made our way for 2 and a half hours to Plett, which is where I had done the sky diving. We were both going to Knysna Elephant Park to volunteer for 10 days with the African Elephant Research Unit (AERU). We arrived on an odd day. The wild vet came in and was taking xrays of the elephant named Tosha. The verdict of her limping was that she had a fractured knee and the bone that was chipped off is just rubbing the wrong way. It was hard to watch because they had to restrain her and give her drugs to sedate her. It was all for her own good though because I guess she has been hurting for awhile now. We got a tour of the park after everything had settled down a little and went out on the tractor and fed the elephants fruit. When a tractor comes all the ellies know to run behind the barrier because they are getting treated with fruit. It’s amazing how smart these animals are. Each ellie has a different personality as well. Sally is the leader of the bunch, while Nandi and Thandi (mother and daughter), Keisha hangs out with the babies, Thato, Mashudu and Shungu. The boys, Shaka and Clyde give rides to the guests and spar all day long, though Clyde doesn’t like to play as much as Shaka. And in the orchard camp, Harry, Namib and Tosha. Tosha is there with the bulls because she is hurt and Namib and Harry are the biggest elephants so they have to be monitored all the time.




I wrote in a journal and broke each day down into what we did, but I can’t rewrite that all because it would take days! I’ll just give you an insight into a normal day. Wake up was around 6 and Breana and I would have some breakfast and we had to be at the boma by 7am. Once the ellies were out on their training ride, the volunteers could go in and do one of two things, start cleaning or take dung samples. We were assigned to do one of the other. The dung samples had to be taken from certain ellies after they had been followed (activity budget) and it had to be from a warm pile and in the middle. It wasn’t as gross as I thought, because elephants only eat grass and branches, so that is basically what there dung looks like, except in a cylinder shape. After cleaning we would be split up into shifts, so like two people would follow an elephant from 7-830 and then the next group would continue with that same elephant from 830-1030 then alternating every two hours until the went back into the boma around 1700. During the times we weren’t doing the activity budgets, we would be entering data into the computer or doing some other task that the park needed done, like melting coconut oil for the elephant’s skin. When doing an activity budget basically you just keep an eye on your elephant at all times and write down what you see. So that includes every time the elephant eats you mark it down and then once it changes its behavior, then you mark that down as well. Also, recording interactions were very important because all of the elephants have relationships with each other and also with the guides. All of this data is entered into the computer and will be analyzed to see how the elephants behavior has changed over time. I wish I could have been there longer to actually see for myself how their behavior has changed.



The whole week was such a great experience and I’m glad I got the opportunity to be so close and work with these amazing animals. I also got to meet some spectacular people in the process from all over the world. I really enjoyed working with these large animals and I hope to do something similar to this for a profession.



We stuck to the same schedule, just with different elephants all week. It was very cold and I was still chilled even with five layers on. On the last night, Breana and I were given keys to the luxury suites in the lodge for a night. The rooms were amazing and even had jacuzzi tubs, so I obviously took a bubble bath. The rooms are located in the same building as the boma so you get the experience of sleeping with the elephants. This seems like a great idea, but I unfortunately I didn’t get any sleep that night because all I could hear were the elephants snoring and farting and moving.



We had to be up early on the day we were leaving because we were promised an elephant back ride. I was so excited! I had requested to ride Sally, mainly because she is born in October of the very same year I was born! I climbed up on her and when she stood up it was so slow and since she is so big, I thought I was going to fall off one side and then the other. She towers over all the other lady elephants and I was looking down on everyone. We rode out towards the valley and the sun was rising so it was beautiful! What a great way to end an amazing experience and even a better way to end my stay in South Africa.



I am currently sitting at JFK in New York waiting for my flight to Cleveland to depart later on tonight. My total time spent at JFK will amount to about 14 hours by the time I leave. I think that sometime next week I will write one huge reflection on South Africa and my experience abroad after I have had sometime to adjust to life back in the states. It’s weird already, hearing the American accents and having to convert the money to rand and then back to dollars. I’m now going to enjoy some American food for lunch! Cheers!

Only 3 Weeks Left!?

In 3 weeks from today, I will be getting on a plane and heading back to the United States. I can’t believe how time has flown. These past 4 months seem like a blur. I keep thinking to myself about what I will miss about living in Africa, and what I can’t wait to do when I get home. I’m torn between wanting to go home and wanting to stay for awhile longer. To stay means that I would have more time with all the wonderful friends I’ve made here. It is going to be weird not seeing them once I get home. I’ve been with them basically every single day for the past 4 months and we all do everything together. I’ll also have to go back to the easy way of life. When I say this I mean that I can hop in my car and drive anywhere I want to and at what ever time of the day I please. Here, I do not have a car and it is very dangerous to walk after the sun sets. I’ll also go back to my smartphone as opposed to my 90 rand, no T-9, shit phone (which I happen to like!) I’ll have unlimited electricity, unlimited internet and unlimited calls and texts. I’m leaving the close proximity to the ocean and the thrill of living in another country. I won’t be able to walk into a store without my shoes on and most importantly I’ll be the only one in a 60 mile radius to be on Africa time (Becca I’m not really sure how far away you live, but you will be the closest one on African time with me!) Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely excited to go home because that means things like seeing my family, friends and puppies. Also, I can eat my favorite dishes like perogies, chipotle, and home made pizza! I can’t tell you how I feel because right now I want to go home just thinking about it, but at the same time I’ll be leaving a lot behind here in Africa, which is difficult to come back to seeing as I’m thousands of miles away. In a few weeks I’ll be back to reality which means work, volleyball, a schedule and responsibilities. I’ve enjoyed the exhilarating lifestyle here in Africa. Weekend trips which included sky diving, bungy jumping, swimming with seals, a canopy tour, a wine tour, and many other crazy activities that I would never even think about doing at home. I only have 3 more weeks to live it up here in Africa and that is plenty of time to make even more memories to last a life time.

Plett

This past weekend went fast, but it was one of the most exhilarating few days by far. We kicked of the weekend on Friday night with a birthday party for Giovanni, one of our friends from Angola. Everyone met at their apartment and we drank, ate and sang “Happy Birthday”, which was sung in at least 6 different languages in order to accommodate all the nationalities present. We then headed to the opening of a new nightclub in central called Dash. It was a lot of fun, and I am glad I went seeing as it may have been one of the last times that we could all go out in South Africa. Everyone has final exams coming up and I know at least for me, I will be in my room studying almost everyday until the 15th of June (which is my last exam). We got home sort of late Friday, but we had to be up early the next morning to make our way to Plettenbergbaai, aka Plett. We traveled along the beautiful garden route which is just the N2, a major highway that stretches all along the coast of South Africa. We made it there in about 2 and a half hours and went straight to Robberg Peninsula, for our 4 hour hike. The day was beautiful without a cloud in the sky, or that we could see. We walked along the cliffs of the peninsula and could see the entire bay of Plett. The water was relatively clear and even from about 5 stories up we saw the outline of a shark!




Also, further along we could again glanced down and catch a glimpse of the thousands of seals that surrounded the peninsula. As we hiked, we stopped to take pictures of various things because the park was so beautiful! We made it to the point of the peninsula and saw up close a bunch of seals playing in the water. It was very windy and there are even signs that warn of rouge/freak waves that sometimes crash into the coastline.



Apparently there was a shack “Point Shack” that once use to sit at the tip of the peninsula, but was taken out by a freak wave at one time. I don’t mess around with waves, so I didn’t get as close as Becca and Donna did by going out on to a rock that was 5 minutes later covered in water. We decided we needed to get a move on because it was going to take us quite sometime to trek back on the other side of the peninsula to the entrance of the park, and it gets dark here around 530/600 and it was already about 3. Once we turned the corner, there was a black storm cloud in the distance. Once I saw that I knew we needed to hurry because it was already looked to be raining by the entrance to the park. We didn’t stop and take as many pictures on the way back, but even though the day had made a serious turn around, the area was still beautiful. The wind picked up so sand was being blown in our eyes, then it started to rain and we were basically being blown around everywhere. the rocks became slippery and it got very cold. We made it back a lot quicker than it took us to get there, but that is because we had our heads down and just trucked it back.




We were so cold that when we got back to our hostel, we all sat around the fire and drank huge cups of hot chocolate to warm us up. This backpackers, was one of my favorites because the people were so friendly, and we even got a 6 person private room to ourselves. They were located directly across the street from the Plett airport so we didn’t have far to go in the morning for our skydive adventure. Our jump was scheduled for 9am, so we made our way over and watched on as one person made her way back from her jump. She slowly glided down with a soft landing and made it look so easy. It was our turn next, and Chelsea and I were going up first. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this, but I was a lot less nervous than I thought I would be. We got strapped up and hopped into our tiny 5 person plane, which consisted of Chelsea and I and our two tandem jumpmasters, and the pilot. We got ready for take off and right before we were about to lift up off the ground, our two guides told us to look at the tail of the plane and all of a sudden we went straight up and my stomach dropped and I screamed as loud as I could. It took me by surprise and obviously Chelsea too since she screamed just as loud as me. We had about a 20 minute plane ride so that we could reach an altitude of 10,000 feet. As we went up, our guides told us interesting facts about the area and we got a scenic tour of the coastline, which was absolutely gorgeous! We could see the peninsula that we hiked the day before and it was obvious why this was considered one of the most scenic jumps in the world. I wouldn’t have wanted to jump out of a plane unless I was getting to look at something on the way down, and this was a perfect choice!

Once we got to 7,000 feet our guides started to hook us up. My guide Jeff, talked so fast that it was hard to understand him, but I actually wasn’t all that nervous just yet. It seemed like we were just going for a ride in an unusually small plane. Chelsea was first to go, and once they opened the door it was hard to hear anything. Once Chelsea fell out, that is when I got nervous because I guess I realized it was time for me to fall out too. We got set and put out feet out onto the bar and Jeff rocked us backward and then flung us forward and out the door. 35 seconds is a long time to free fall and it felt like forever. As we were falling I got a little frantic and waved my arms every which way and was obviously screaming, but it was the coolest feeling of just floating on air. Jeff had a camera in my face the whole time so I can just imagine what I look like. Once we reached about 4,000 feet, Jeff pulled the parachute and we shot back upwards and then began our 5 minute float down to the ground. It was a stunning view of Plett from above and what I saw on the ride down was worth every penny and every bit of anxiety I had. I took out my camera and snapped some photos on the way down.

I couldn’t find Chelsea on the way down until just before we landed to take a picture of her. The landing was smooth and I didn’t have to do anything but put my feet up and stand once we touched down. I went over and hugged Chelsea immediately and was thrilled that I could check this off my bucket list! I didn’t feel as much adrenaline as I did after the bungee, but I was still a bit shaky when we got back. The only problem I had was my left ear would not pop and I could barely hear out of it for the rest of the day. Sara and Donna went up next, and they had the same experience as us. We waited and I snapped some pictures of them coming down. What an amazing adventure and a great way to sort of end my time here in South Africa.





We decided to make the day even more exciting and go snorkeling with the seals we had seen the previous day in the Indian Ocean. We took a speed boat to the peninsula and saw up close the thousands of seals that call Robberg their home. And yes this is where we saw the shark from the previous day, but our guide had a shark repellant and also a gun just incase anything were to happen. We jumped into the water with out wetsuits, goggles, snorkel and flippers and swam around with the playful animals. I kept my life jacket on just incase, since I am not that great of a swimmer! Seals are equivalent, intelligence wise, to dogs we were told. They were also just as playful. They would swim up very close to you and pop out of the water, smile at you with their razor sharp teeth and then quickly turn away and flip back under water. They were curious enough to get that close, but too scared to actually get any closer. I was touched by a fin or something and they would also swim under you and blow bubbles. The pups would get even closer and I found myself face to face with a bunch of seals a couple of times. I stayed by the group though, because the waves were big to me and I didn’t want to get carried into the cliff that was only a few yards away. We swam and played with the seals for quite a while, but the water was between 15 and 20 degrees C so I got very very cold towards the end. We all climbed back into the boat and took a frigid ride back to shore. Beaching the boat was also an adventure because the skipper had to kick up the speed in order to pass over the sandbar and get out of the water. I swear we were air born for a few seconds. We were all freezing cold and got changed as fast as we could and jumped into the heated car. Swimming with the seals, I feel like was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad that I was able to do that this weekend, even though we hadn’t planned on it.




We dropped Sara and Donna off at the backpackers to stay with Maria and Terrance for an extra night, but Chelsea, Becca and I headed home so that we could go to class on Monday (which is our last day of classes!) We got back around 530/600 ish and went food shopping since we had the car. This was a great weekend and I enjoyed every second of it! We did so much in such a short amount of time and it was a great LAST weekend trip for me. Now it is time to study my ass of over the coming weeks so that I can ensure my time abroad wasn’t just me going on awesome excursions the entire time. Yes people, I am actually studying here! Enjoy the warm weather back at home and Happy Memorial Day! Cheers!