Garden Route!

This past week has been absolutely incredible.  It was the program’s off week. 14 other students and I went on a 5 day road trip through the Garden Route of South Africa.  We were on the road a lot making stops at famous places around the country.  All the time spent in the van was cherished because every stretch of road is complete with a breathtaking landscape – literally.  It wouldn’t matter how late we stayed up the night before – I refused to sleep.  I got really close to the other students I traveled with and absolutely fell in love with our guide Christo and our bus driver Jason.  We were lucky to have such awesome guides.  I hope you enjoy my pics.  

Monday of Garden Route – May 25

• Salsa last night!  Incredible time! 
• Left this morning at 7:30 for Garden Route – beautiful scenery everywhere you look – no one wanted to read or sleep because they’d miss out!
• Sea Kayaking this morning – we had seals come dance and swim by our kayaks…
• Had to drive really far to get to our hostel – on the way we stopped at several gas stations to grab snacks.  Naturally all the BPs are complete with zoos that have goats, donkeys, turtles, ostriches…
• Our first hostel was amazing – right on the beach.  We walked down and enjoyed sunset together and then came up and had dinner around a camp-fire.  

View of where we were sea kayaking.

Andrew, Alex, Me and Eric after kayaking with seals.  

Our group while kayaking! Thanks Scott for the awesome picture...

Our group after kayaking...

Gas station - complete with zoo.

My favorite seat of the trip - in between Christo and Jason.  Note the beautiful scenery.

The beach in front of our first hostel.  

 Tuesday of Garden Route – May 26

• Woke up early this morning to canoe up a river – get out at a hiking trail where we hiked to a waterfall and then we canoed back to the entrance.  We had great weather although we were freeeeeezing. 
• After canoeing – we went to the elephant sanctuary… we rode elephants, fed them, it was really neat.  The sanctuary was established to save the elephants from being killed.  They were awesome – they like to eat peanuts and pumpkins - we got to meet 5 females and a male. 
• After that, we went to the tallest bungee in the world.  I was the camerawoman during that adventure.  No worries though, I’ve come got plenty of adventures lined up for later in the trip. 

My view in the canoe - Alex was in front.

Small photo - Alex and I rowing.

The group after we hiked to the waterfall.

At the elephant sanctuary - hearing about their training.

About to walk my elephant - Marula.  She was the leader of the pack - a 17 year old female.

Marula and I taking a stroll.

Wednesday of Garden Route – May 27

• Ziplining first thing this morning… we went through a series of 10 ziplines – over waterfalls, canyons, through rock passes… there were beautiful views and a small hike up a mountain inbetween the last two stops. 
• After zip-lining, we headed to a town with a lot of factory outlets… instead of going shopping we headed straight for a mexican restaurant!
• Tonight was my favorite night of the whole trip – the hostel where we stayed was in the middle of nowhere but really nice.  We were split into 3 different cabins and cooked a big dinner up at the boys cabin. 
• I stayed up at the fire and talked to a group with our guide Christo and saw pictures on his lap top and heard crazy stories about his time as a game ranger… it was awesome. There was lots of singing going on as well.  We burned all of the bus driver’s South African cds. 

 

I thought Mom would like all the safety business.

Zip-lining through waterfalls and canyons.

Thursday of Garden Route – May 28

• Early this morning we went to a game drive in Addo National Park – we saw two of the big five… we saw elephants, zebras, buffaloes, wart hogs, zudus and a lot more.  It definitely got us geared up for our safari in Kruger later in the trip!
• Joanna and I had our heads hanging out of the windows the entire time – I kept hoping I’d see a lion eat a kudu but no such luck. 
• After the game drive in Addo and lunch in the restaurant we boarded the bus and since I bought playing cards in the gift shop – we talked Christo how to play BS in the car ride to the next hostel. 
• I think it's important to include this for everyone's safety in the future.  Advice from Christo:
• 1.  If you encounter a charge from a lion - run straight at the lion screaming as loud as possible.  When they realize you are bigger than they are they should typically run away.  
• 2.  If you encounter a charge from an elephant - clap your hands as loud as possible running in its general direction.  Christo added that you can usually tell when an elephant is going to charge and you can talk to them to calm them down - they can detect if you're scared by the tone of your voice.  
• 3.  If you encounter a charge from a buffalo.  You're "buggered".  Run faster than the slowest person - don't climb a tree.  They will wait for you.  Up to 6 days.  Christo was stuck in a tree for 12 hours once.  
• Before the hostel, we went on a sunset lagoon cruise… it was beautiful.  I loved Knysna.  Our crew enjoyed a few sundowners during the cruise.  We had a great time. 
• After the cruise we headed to the last hostel we’d be staying in and it couldn’t have been more fun.  We had a great time – made a big dinner and stayed up dancing and talking the night away.  A lot of jenga occurred as well.

Kudu - this is a 3 year old male kudu (aka Lion's snack).  You can tell the age of the males by how many curves the horns have.  1 curve = 2 years.  

Baby elephant!

Zebra pack.

Buffaloes.  You can never tell the mood of a buffalo - they will turn on you in a second.  They are the only animal that doesn't give a mock - charge... "First time, full charge," as Christo says.

A view of the harbor of Knysna before our lagoon tour.

The group on the lagoon cruise.  Incredible times with fun folks...

Friday of Garden Route – May 29

• This morning we headed to the Cango Caves.  They are 30 million year old caves in the side of a mountain that are comprised of several chambers.  I’m not claustrophobic so I was excited – but a couple of the members of the group weren’t too thrilled…
• As we went through the caves the chambers got smaller and smaller until we weren’t even able to crawl on our hands and knees and had to lay flat only pulling ourselves through with our arms… we had to climb up a 10 foot chimney too.  I was pretty happy to see sunshine after the hour and a half in the caves. J It’s pretty incredible to stand next to structures that are millions upon millions of years old.
• After the caves we continued our drive through the mountains (absolutely beautiful… we saw monkeys on the sides of the road)… we were on our way to the Ostrich farm!
• Because it had been raining we weren’t able to ride the ostriches… but we did get a tour of the farm and got to feed them too.  They’re really mean. 

 

One of the tight spaces we had to climb through in the caves...

The whole group in the cave once our journey was finished... 

Rock formations that are millions of years old.

One of the biggest chambers in the caves.

Snow capped mountains that we passed on the way back to Cape Town - unusual for this time of year, but beautiful.

An Ostrich from the ostrich farm.  Like I said, they're very mean.  I was ready to leave that place, ha!