I don’t think any entry can do the last few weeks justice. I had planned on updating before our Garden Route trip but I have been so incredibly busy and have barely been on my computer.
Since I last wrote there have been a ton of things going on. First was class registration. Thinking about how I have complained about how “slow” registering for classes online at Northeastern makes me laugh after the experience of a few weeks ago. Class registration is done in person which means VERY long lines in 100 degree weather. You basically have to wait on a line to get permission from each department of classes you want to take and then wait on another line to get it approved by an advisor then wait on another line to get your ID. The process was pretty tiring and took all day but I know I’ll never complain about Northeastern again.
Last Saturday we went to Mzoli’s, a butchery turned restaurant in the Gugulethu township, for lunch. We got there around 11:30 and were not prepared for the long wait ahead of us. Luckily we were kept occupied by the cheap 6 packs of beer being sold. I doubt that if I hadn’t been so hungry I would not have dug my hands into the huge pot full of meat that was put on our table around 3:00. When we asked for utensils the cook responded with “this is Africa, we eat with our hands!” So we all proceeded to eat questionable (but delicious) meat with our hands. There was a lot more to the Mzoli’s experience than just the food and cheap beer. The “restaurant” was really just a couple of tables covered by a tent and it felt like the entire township community was there.
On Sunday we took a tour of the African Peninsula. We went to beautiful beaches along the coast, saw little penguins on Boulder Island, ate lunch and saw a children’s music/dance group perform in the Ocean View township, then hiked up the Cape of Good Hope which is the most south-western point of the African continent.
The next morning we left for the Garden Route trip. The Garden Route is basically a highway that starts from Cape Town and runs along the southern coast of Africa. So bright and early on Monday 13 of us packed into a little bus and drove 8 hours to Wilderness National Park. Our first hostel was in an absolutely beautiful location. It was up on a hill overlooking the beach. We all shared one room and slept in bunkbeds. We spent the first day on the beach and then went out to dinner at night. Our hostel had a bar in it so we spent the rest of the night hanging out there with the other people staying there. In the morning we went into the National Park and went canoeing down a river. When we got to the other side we hiked for about an hour up to a waterfall. When we were finished we packed up our things and got back on the bus for the 2 hour drive to Plettenburg Bay. The first night we went out to an amazing seafood restaurant. I don’t think I’ve had mussels as good as what I’ve had in South Africa.
The next morning we woke up early to go bungee jumping off of Bloukrans Bridge. The jump is the highest in the world, and the fact that I sit here calmly writing about this is a pretty great achievment. I don’t think I have ever felt fear the way I did before bungee jumping. I had knots in my stomach for days thinking about what I was about to do. I kept thinking that anyone willing to jump off a bridge over 70 stories has to be at least slightly crazy. When we got there we paid and got all set up. In order to get to the jump sight you have to walk across a very thin and unstable bridge. Looking back on it, walking across that bridge was scarier than the actual jump. I refused to look down and was relived when we made it to the middle of the bridge where we would be jumping off. There were about 20 people waiting to jump and 15 guys working at the jump sight. Music was blasting and the workers all seemed to be in sync with the beat. They managed to pump everyone up and actually made me forget about what I was doing while I was up there. Even though I was definitely the most scared in my group, I was randomly called to be the first to jump out of the 10 of us. I sat down and held my breath while I got set up to jump. It went so quickly that I didn’t even have time to get scared about what I was about to do. All of a sudden I was getting picked up and carried over to the place where I had to jump. You can’t walk because your feet are tied together so running away wasn’t an option. The two men let go of me and put my arms up and counted down for me to jump. With a little push I jumped off and went flying down the 710 foot high canyon. The rush was one of the best feelings I have ever had and I am SO happy I actually went through with it. After about a minute of hanging upside down I was connected to another worker and brought back up to the platform. I spent the rest of the trip with that feeling of jumping. I bought the DVD of my jump and it is so funny to watch it again. Anyone who wants to see it can feel free once I get home.
After the jump we went off the elephant sanctuary. We got to walk with, touch and feed the elephants. It is really unbelievable how an animal so huge and powerful could be so calm. Next we were off to Monkey Land. I expected it to be more like a zoo where the monkeys would be in cages or behind nets. Instead we were in a huge forest where about thousand monkeys were running around and swinging over our heads. They would come right up to us and were all over the place. It was so cool to see them this way and get that close. We went back to the hostel and had a big barbeque and spent the rest of the night drinking and celebrating the fact that we were all still alive after the bungee jump. We left in the morning for a very long trip back to Cape Town and made it just in time for the first day of classes on Friday.
Since I’m still figuring out my classes I’ll talk about that in my next post. I’m also still deciding what kind of clubs and volunteering I want to do. I can’t believe I’ve been here for 3 weeks and still haven’t even gotten into my normal schedule. I’m ready for classes to start though and am excited to start meeting more UCT students.
This past weekend we went to a huge UCT party, went to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was in prison for 18 years), and went out for Japanese food and Long Street for one of my housemate’s birthdays. Today I am happy to just have nothing to do and relax for a while. The superbowl comes on here around 2 AM so I think I will be skipping it this year.
P.S. internet sucks so look at facebook for more pictures!
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