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!