Farewell (South) Africa

The Cape Town area can be described in a simple phrase - it is The Jewel of Africa! The city itself is immaculate and modern with lots of things to do. With Matthew as my partner in crime, we spent 9 days in Cape Town having a blast. Winter has reared its head here so it's been chilly and raining a bit too often. Our activities have been extremely varied - we toured the city in one of those jump on/jump off double-decker London buses; wined and dined at Victoria &Alfred Harbor; ate and drank our way through Stelenbosch Winelands with a private tour guide focusing not only on wine but cheese, chocolate and olives - yum! We also abseiled (repelled) Table Mountain; strolled through gardens (Kirstenboch is rated among the world's top 5 most beautiful gardens); visited Cape Point National Park (Cape of Good Hope) where we hung out with hundreds of penguins on the beach. We also did a lot of driving along the coast line marvelling at the gorgeous bays - Kaulk Bay, Sea Point Bay and Camps Bay where  the rich and famous come to play.

From Cape Town we moved east further down the coast to Gansbaii - great white shark capitol of the world, and Hermanus - the whale capital of the world. Unfortunately we didn't even get to see one whale; instead, we only saw the gigantic shape/shadow of one under the surface. We were supposed to go shark diving in Gansbaii however 25 foot swells and driving rain kept us land-locked. Instead, we took a drive through another wine region and enjoyed some of the best vistas and landscapes I've ever seen. And perhaps we did some wine tasting too.  :)    After a few days in the Walker Bay area we moved further east along the coast to Mossell Bay - a very popular summer beach destination. The sea had finally calmed enough to enable us to go shark diving - and yes, this was as crazy and exciting as it sounds! The crew would bait the water (out in the open ocean) with fish chum and when the sharks approached the boat they lowered the cage (with us in it) into the water. They continue to bait the sharks by tying dead tuna to a pole and dangling it in front of the cage - definitely a must-do activity for thrill seekers!  Another day trip was spent driving north to Outshorn to the Cango Caves, known to be some of the largest caves in the world. Massive stalagmites and stalactites create incredible shapes and made the walking difficult. We had to crawl through numerous caverns and barely squeezed through some of the openings. Our afternoon was completed with ostrich riding! A male ostrich was blind-folded, I climbed on his back, latched onto his wings and hooked my feet around his chest and he took off just like a horse out of the gate!  

After a few historical museums in Mossell Bay, we continued our venture further east along the coast to Knysna, Plettenburg Bay, and Tsitsikama National Park where we hiked, perhaps the most beautiful hike I've ever done - mountain terrain, green rolling hills and jagged cliffs that lead down to soft sand beaches.   This was followed by another unbelievable experience - bungee jumping off the highest bungee jump in the world (710 feet). Imagine a swan dive off an active bridge (I'm sure you've seen the picture of the South Africa/New Zealand arching bridge over the canyon?) - it doesn't get much more exhilarating than that!!

18 days later I can say that this has been an unbelievable vacation, however my days here are numbered and I'm starting to mentally prepare for my return to the Grand ole' US of A.

In my final days here, it's hard not to reflect upon where I've been and where I'm going. I don't think I have accomplished everything that I came to do but I do think that I have made an impact and a lasting impression on many of the people/children that I met; I know that they, and their minimal existence, will affect me for many years to come. During much of my journey here I have longed for home - the people, our way of life, the technology, and the wealth that surrounds us. However, now in my final days, I would like to stay to remain in a world that is so simple - where very few things are planned beyond today, where little is expected of everyone and the attitude is always 'hakuna matata' - now this has a certain lure that I could barely comprehend 5 months ago when I arrived.

Many thanks to everyone who supported this adventure - to those who shipped medical supplies, children's supplies and toys, and money to buy more of the above locally. ...
THANK YOU!