Mama Kass visits

When parents come to visit, it usually means days of museums, tours, and fancy lunches, it usually means hotels and mature, censured conversations and saying goodbye to friends for a little family time. When Sarah Kass comes to visit, it means normal life plus one. Whether or not she enjoyed every moment of the usual, she saw and experienced it all, and I’m so grateful she did.

Rafe and I picked my mom up early on a Thursday morning. Much to my surprise, she was ready to go right away (I’ve got energetic genes, you know). We took a walk into town, picked up our rental car, went to a flow yoga class, at YoYoga and went to dinner on Long St at a restaurant called Fork. Mom soon found that driving here is not quite like it is in the states, simple because of the fact that most rules don’t apply. Oh, and the whole driving on the left side of the road but on the right side of the car made a slight difference. It didn’t make things any better that I am completely comfortable with driving without knowing exactly where I’m going, seeing as this is inevitable. So, needless to say, we saw much more of Cape Town than we had intended in that week.

On Friday, we took a tour of Robben Island—what a testament to human strength, that museum is. As usual, I parked in the furthest parking lot from the dock and there we were, running to the boat (I wish I could tell you this is unusual). Just as standard, I fell asleep on the beautiful boat ride there. Then, to continue the amazing normalness of the situation, we were so busy talking that we couldn’t get a seat on the bus after the walking tour and instead sat on the steps in front of the bus doors that were broken and stuck wide open. After our tour, we got Marcels!!! That evening, we went out to dinner with Georgie, Blades, and grandpa Don Williamson at Andiamo in Greenpoint. We arrived late after parking 4 blocks too far down the road (it’s just getting more and more standard isn’t it?). Carb-loading never tasted better

Saturday, I woke up around 4 am to eat breakfast. Sierra and I drove to the start of the Two Oceans Half Marathon, where we nearly stepped in line behind the 56k runners. That would have been a shocker. The race started promptly at 6 am but we didn’t move from our places for a good 5 minutes. Most of the race was in the darkness of the early “winter” morning. It was such a great vibe, running through Constantia and Kirstenbosch, and then finishing at the UCT Rugby Fields, where I met up with my mom and some friends. From there, we went to the Old Biscuit Mill for breakfast and then drove to Stellenbosch for Church on Main Family Camp. We arrived in time for lunch and then walked into town with a group of Church on Mainers for ice cream and coffees. That evening, we had dinner with everyone and attended the evening church service and then spent time chatting and playing games and such. It was lovely that my mom was able to meet and spend time with everyone.

Sunday, we woke up for the morning Easter service at Family Camp and stayed for tea and hot cross buns. Then we were off to go wine tasting for the day. In the rainy dreariness of the day, the wineries were all the more cozy. We got back in time to attend the evening church service in Claremont where mom met everyone else!

Monday, we hiked table mountain in perhaps the worst hiking-table-mountain weather imaginable. Mom kept saying “But, this is so much more memorable!” I grudgingly assured her that table mountain on a nice day is plenty memorable. It was definitely an adventure. After around four hours of hiking in the cold, ferociously windy, rainy weather that had enveloped the mountain, we got hot chocolate at the base of the mountain and returned home for hot showers and then walked into Rondebosch. That evening we made dinner for the Strubens Digs and went over early to prepare. The night was long and full of laughter. We ate and played games and worked hard to understand the mixture of South African, Zimbabwean, and American references.

Tuesday, we went to afternoon yoga and then to Food Lover’s Market for smoothies. Then I took mom on a tour of UCT. I forgot just how beautiful the campus is; I take it for granted after having trekked there 5 days a week for lectures. But, it is truly picturesque. That evening, we went to dinner with Mariah and her parents and Sam to Aubergine, a restaurant in the Gardens. We ate rabbit and butternut soup and melon sorbet…delicious!

Wednesday, we went to morning tea at the Mount Nelson with Hellen and Brittany. To put it plainly, it’s hours of chatting, drinking fine teas, and eating pastries, in a covered terrace, on beautiful couches, with a view of the Mount Nelson gardens (perfectly groomed) behind you…not too shabby. It was refreshing to spend time just sitting and talking especially with such great company. Then my mom and I went paragliding. You can ask her about that, it’s probably not the most comfortable, calm thing she has ever done, but she was a trooper. When we got to the landing spot, right by the shore, we promptly hiked back up to Lion’s Head and then hiked the mountain (again, not the most mentally calming activity, especially in the rain). By the time we descended the mountain, it was around 6, and I took my mom to Rafiki’s for some banana and avo pizza. That night, Rafe and I stayed up working on assignments that were due the next day, and I totaled around 3 hours of sleep before waking up early to turn in my paper.

Thursday, we drove part of the peninsula tour, but didn’t make it far before we wanted to walk around. We walked along the beach on Camp’s Bay and then at Clifton before heading farther down the coast. We passed through Sandy Bay and Hout Bay and drove along Chapman’s Peak Drive to Noordhoek (the “whitest beach”), where we jumped out for my “brief” nap on the beach, which turned into an hour, while my mom walked around and read. Then we went for coffee and browsing in the town. That evening Izzy and family, Sam, Mariah, Geo, Taylor, Eliza, my mom, and I went to the Eastern Food Bazaar for dinner. Note of caution: the portions=HUGE! We ate a lot. Enough said.

Friday, we woke early to hike up to Rhodes Memorial to watch the sunrise. Then we went to yoyoga. My mom ventured back to Kirstenbosch while I went running with Mariah, and we met back up again later to go to coffee at Cocoa Wah Wah with Dylan. Then, Mike and I drove Mama Kass to the airport to say goodbye for a while…I hate goodbyes. In honor of mom’s leaving Cape Town, my friend Jaryd and I made banana pizza at the Strubens Digs that evening. THANKS MOM, FOR A GREAT VISIT!

This is Home now

It’s been a while, hey? Hi all. The days are flying by, I tell you.

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time. ~Napoleon I, Maxims, 1815

The past month has been a whirlwind of glamour mixed with indelicacy, topped off with a surprisingly wonderful feeling of normality. Who knew that Cape Town could not only be a place of vacation and luxury but also home? I surely did not, but it has been a welcomed truth, and, unfortunately, it means that, the more that time passes, the closer I come to leaving what is now home.

To keep from writing another novel, I will glance over my life in the past month here. Hopefully my love for this city will become apparent as you read. In 30 days I have…

Spent one hilariously random night at Clifton and Sea Point with a jolly crowd. Before we left, Jo, Simon, Matt, Rafe and I shared in some laughs at Stones, waiting for Mike to get off of work at Pancho’s. Then we all laid on the beach until the wee hours of the morning, when a local left the warmth of his bedroom to tell us how loud we were being. We left for sea-point where I learned how to properly use a see-saw. The night ended around 4 in the morning.

Travelled to Clifton to soak in the last summer days of brilliant, scalding sunshine.

Eaten my body weight of samples at Old Biscuit Mill. One wonderful morning, Sierra, Mariah, and I ran a long 9-mile run on the coast and then went to OBM for brunch. It was a sweet reminder of Sunday Brunch at Tufts.

Hiked table mountain at least once a week, often with Taylor but also with some folk who had never hiked it before. Nursery Ravine, Skeleton’s Gorge, India Venster, and Platteklip Gorge. Taylor figured out that hiking on the exposed edge means we can wave to the cable car, so we now have to allot at least 30 minutes to that activity every time we hike. Another day, Taylor and I encountered a kingdom of dossies about 20 minutes from the summit. We stopped dead in our tracks for about 15 minutes, trying to decide how to continue and contemplating turning around for fear of our lives. If you don’t know what a dossie is, don’t look it up, for our sakes. Their eyes could cut glass, I tell you. In total, I’ve probably hiked Table about 15 or so times.

Spent time with Elizabeth Schulze (Katherine Perry’s freshman and sophomore year roommate) and Northwestern friends who are here for the quarter, completing their journalism internships.

Shipped out on a sunset “booze cruise” on the waterfront to Camps Bay and back. The pilot of the ship had to remind a small group of us that the catamaran was, in fact, NOT a trampoline. He also was not pleased when a friend and I thought climbing onto the roof seemed like a grand idea. By 11 pm, I was exhausted and managed to watch about 15 minutes of Despicable Me with Mike and Rafe (who came to fetch) me, before falling asleep.

Watched the rugby finals (UCT vs TUKS), sitting above the field, feet hanging off the edge, with Mike, Rafe, Izzy, Lans, Taylor, and Eliza. The finals were away, but broadcast live on a huge screen on the field, as if we were all watching a drive-in movie. The difference is, there isn’t a cash bar at old-school drive in movies.

Spent many a night at the Strubens Rd digs, watching youtube videos about sharks with Byron, listening to music with Mike, riding towards campus early morning with Mark, doing homework with Rafe (aka half working, half goofing off), attending Dan’s homegroup, reading FMLs with Matt, laughing hysterically-about anything really- with Nandi, and watching Jenna bake marvelous sweet treats.

Cebrated: Cinco De Mayo with a Pancho’s dinner and many margaritas, Mariah’s birthday with a dinner at Café Paradiso, Brittany’s birthday with a day cruising kloof street, lunch at Rick’s, and a nap on the beach, James’ birthday with an American-themed BBQ (think jorts), Byron’s birthday with an eventful night at tin roof and then an evening of singing and dancing at Polana, a restaurant on the waterfront with live music on Fridays (this eventually led to a conga line and a huge dance circle with some 50 somethings), Lisa’s birthday with a beautiful 21^st, vintage-themed, and then late night at Rafiki’s afterwards. Twenty-first birthdays here are celebrated much differently than they are in the states. Lisa’s parents even surprised her at her party, driving to Cape Town from Jo-Burg, where Lisa is from. It was wonderful!

Made dinner (chicken wraps) and talked about life with Tom and Nandi.

Attempted to: hike Devil’s Peak without a guide (people got nervous when they started to doubt my directional skills…sounds about right), summit Lions Head twice –once Niqui, Mike, Storm, and I stopped for health reasons, and the next Eliza and I had to hike down due to poor weather—, win the program vs program soccer tournament (we were clearly the underdogs), boycott the farewell dinner (I don’t want to say farewell), become best friends with a musician in Goldfish- a band I’m obsessed with, here- when I saw him at Mercury where my friends in the band Rosemary Towns End were performing live, and beat the crowd down lion’s head when Julia, Isaac, Taylor, Scott, Ilana, James and I hiked up for sunset.

Went to a wine and cheese festival in Stellenbosch for the day. Geo, Sam, Mariah and I ate a life’s worth of cheese bits, and I particularly enjoyed the Rosè…from every possible taste venue, before meeting up with the other 9 people we had travelled with. We danced, nibbled, drank, and attempted to find the best and worst mullet at the festival. We made “friends” with locals and tried our best to seem Afrikaans instead of American “naughty girls” (a brand of wine, don’t worry).

Finally got to be on tea and coffee duty at church only to stupidly leave my phone at the top of my bag on my chair. Someone capitalized on the opportunity and snagged it, but all is not lost. I’m down a bit of mula, but I’ve got a new mobile. AND, I completed the foundations course at Church on Main!

Went to the airport with Mike to pick up Rafe after he’d been away. I’m a much bigger fan of hellos than goodbyes. It was so nice to go to the airport to greet instead of wish farewell. Of course, we spent the evening NOT doing work, eating pizza (you know better than to order jalapeno, now), and drinking tea/eating rusks with friends. I even tried to learn guitar, but stuck to familiar tunes (wink wink). Think, "We're the 3 best friends that anyone could have..."

SPENT THE WEEK WITH MAMA KASS (that I will devote it’s own entry to).

Semester Vac: Botswana, Zambia, and Zim (Second Half)

After we left the Delta, we continued traveling to Planet Boabab, a game lodge in Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana. Of course, we were forced to slow down on the way due to giraffe and elephant crossings. Hello Africa. Then, to make things even more TIA, we suddenly realized our tire was completely stripped when we lost the entire rubber cylinder on the road behind us. While we waited on the side of the road, village people appeared out of the bush asking for our shoes. It was straight out of a movie. Planet Boabab ended up having an amazing pool and, between the hours of sitting on a truck and the fact that we were finally in close proximity to proper toilets, we went mental. We had belly flopping competitions, chicken fights, and many interesting picture moments. After a shower and dinner of vegetable stew and mielie pap, a stiff corn meal mix and staple food of a South African diet, we all went to the bar and then fell deep asleep.

The next day we crossed the border into Zambia, a rather painless process that simply involved a lot of sitting in the shade talking about life. We arrived at camp with time to get lunch and take a short swim. Then we were off to a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa and at one point touches the banks of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We waved to Namibia from our Zambian bank. Our cruise was filled with sightings of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, wildebeests, exotic birds, monkeys, and impalas and plenty of good laughs from the back of the boat. The sunset itself was breathtaking.

We took a game drive in Chobe National Park at sunrise the next morning and hopped back in the truck to head to Victoria Falls, the largest falls in the world (with a width of 5,604 feet and a height of 354 feet, and considered by some to be among the seven natural wonders of the world. David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer said to be the first European to view the falls, named them after his Queen Victoria. We visited the falls from the Zambia side that first late afternoon, and, upon sighting the water itself (you can hear it from miles away) we were surrounded by an unbelievably thick mist. At first, I was determined that it had suddenly started heavily raining, until I realized that the mist would clear in certain areas of the path farther from the falls. From Zambia, one can actually see very little of the falls themselves, but the experience of being there allows you to better comprehend the mass and power of the water that is falling and subsequently rising in the depths below. It was the most naturally powerful thing I’ve ever seen.

The next day, we all split off to tackle our own agendas, and, naturally, a good group of us decided to purchase an all-day adventure package. The first activity was a 54-meter abseil down fifth gorge. The second activity is the high-wire zip line over a 100-meter gorge. The third activity is the rap jump, a face down abseil down the 54-meter rock face. The fourth event is the gorge swing (the world’s first). It can be seen in the Amazing Race. The free fall is over 50 meters before the rope swings you at 120km per hour across the gorge. Unlike a bungee jump, which, to me, feels a bit like flying, the gorge swing literally feels as though you have simply stepped off a cliff to your death far down below. Luckily the free fall is over in a matter of a few seconds. In the case of a tandem swing, you must lean off backwards to avoid being off timing with each other. With a full day package, you can do each activity as many times as you’d like, but the catch lies in the ascent to the top after the abseils and gorge swings; It is definitely a hike. Thus, the day turned into free falling and running up hiking trails and continuing until they called it quits. I managed to complete the abseil, zip line, rap jump, and 4 gorge swings which all left me with a fine adrenaline rush and an excess of endorphins for the day. We slept well.

The next day we left early to get across the border into Zimbabwe. Because we were on foot, we were unable to really explore the area, but, luckily, the view of Victoria Falls is very close to the border. From there you can actually see the falls from afar in all of their glory. The sight is truly phenomenal and very worth the trip. Plus, it was fun to say we simply strolled across the Zimbabwean border. The guard at the gate didn’t even check that we had all received passport stamps because he said, “There are too many of you. Just go.” We visited a good’s market after the falls which was eye-opening and overwhelming. The vendors gladly accepted anything American, including hair ties, soap, bobby pins, clothing (even shirts off of our backs), shoes…anything. It was a different world and I felt somewhat like Justin Bieber in a crowd of over-crazed teenage girls. We spent the rest of the scorching day by the pool, while I tried to finish my book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- so good!), but fell prey to sleep.

At 4:15 the entirety of our truck and the second truck we had been adventuring in parallel with boarded a sunset cruise on the river. Just to give you an idea, most have coined it the “booze cruise”. It was a jol; everything laughing and recounting the incredible week, together, at sunset, on a boat, in Zambia. When the boat docked at 7 pm, we all immediately ran to the auditorium to begin a dance party with music that was all-too familiar (think YMCA on repeat). It was certainly a site to be had. Most were in bed that night around 9 pm. The next morning we woke up, packed our things, and headed home. It was then that I realized what a home Cape Town really is. The trip left us with great memories, even better photos, and a good lot of new friends who we get to share the next two months with in Cape Town. I was grateful to shower and sleep in my own bed that night.

Semester Vac: Botswana, Zambia, and Zim (First Half)

The trip began with an early flight to Joburg. Of course, I wisely decided not to sleep the night before, seeing as we were meeting at 5 am. I sat next to my now-friend Felicia on the way and promptly turned to her to say, “Hi. I’m Bryn! I’m so sorry because normally I would talk, but right now, I’m just going to fall asleep immediately.” She laughed. Then two full travel days commenced on our nomad truck, through what seemed like the middle of nowhere, into Botswana. The hours passed relatively quickly reading, chatting, and some long games of hearts. Mostly it was a great chance to get to know the 20 other people from different programs traveling with the 7 of us girls on the bus.

Every night on the trip, we got into camp in the early evening, in time to set up our tents (yes, we were actually camping) before the sun went down. Britt, Taylor, and I were tent roomies each night. We shared a long-running private joke that Brittany would find something to do every time Taylor and I started to prepare the tent. Don’t worry, Britt, you pulled through in the clutch time. Norman, our top chef, prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us every day. It was beyond delicious: chicken curry, steak, spaghetti….we ate very well. The post dinner plans every night usually included bar or bed and a very chilled evening. It was a nice balance to be camping and yet be in a place with sinks, toilets, lounges, and even pools. After a most-likely short night’s rest, we awoke every morning between 430-630 am to take down camp, eat breakfast, and carry on our way.

Then began my favorite part. We spent three amazing days in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It is the world’s largest inland delta formed where the Okavango River empties onto a swamp in the Kalahari Desert. The delta is home to several ethnic groups, each with its own ethnic identity and language. One such group, with a village in the Northern region of the Delta acted as our guides and new-found friends during our short visit. After a 2.5 hour truck ride through swamp land deep into the bush, these polers picked us up and took us to camp in makoros. A makoro is a type of canoe propelled through the shallow waters by standing at the back and pushing with a pole. The vessels are made out of tree trunks and are anything but luxurious. Yet, their simplicity created a sense of easiness that made everyone instinctively feel comfortable on the wild Delta.

Taylor and I were taken across the Delta by a man called Waco. In his early 30s, Waco is already head of this lot of his village as they take tourists into Okavango even though many of them are older. He speaks English very well, and you should see him dance and sing! Waco is perhaps one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. After a makoro ride up at the front of the pack, Taylor and I adamantly asked Waco to be our safari guide. So, he led us, namely Geo, Tay, Izzy, Lans, Britt, Eliza, and me, that first evening into the bush to take a safari on foot. Having tracked animals for National Geographic, Waco is no newbie. He could pick up a piece of shit (excuse my French), sniff it once or twice, take a wise look around (all while chatting happily with us, mind you), and turn abruptly and say, “There was an elephant 300 meters in that direction 3 hours ago; there are his footprints over yonder…oh but do you see that elephant in the distance?” – at which point we would squint our eyes and spend minutes trying to merely spot the marvelous animal with our only human senses. We saw elephants, giraffes, wildabeasts, zebras (pronounced “zeb-ruz” here), and many a poisonous spider. Waco was a safari god. The seven of us went on 3 seperate walks with him (anywhere from 1.5-4 hours long), and, at every occasion, we learned so much about the Delta and its many inhabitants, about Waco’s life, and about the ways in which our lives are filled with too much business and not enough appreciation.

When we weren’t on pede-safari, we were swimming or lounging as proper campers do. There was a swimming hole down the Delta a bit and several times a day we would all caravan on makoros and act silly in the water. Let me just say that mud fights and chicken fights were not uncommon. The swimming hole was very leach friendly, and it was a popular game to sneak up on each other in the mirky waters (thank you, Taylor Orr). Early on, the polers gave us the freedom of trying to teach ourselves to drive the makoros. Everyone gave up after minutes, but I was very intrigued so continued over the 2 days to try to teach myself to pole. Luckily Waco took an interest in guiding me and, with his coaching, I became half decent at it. It was so nice to be able to take it out for 20 or 30 minutes at a time and just skim down the delta. It creates a sense of peace…the epitome to me of “going with the flow”. It also acted as an escape from a busy, people-filled 10 days. Unfortunately, my new-found poler skills got me into a bit of trouble. I took my friend Julia for a long ride down the Delta on our second day, chatting the whole way. Just as we had turned around to head back to camp, I dug the pole to deep into the sand and the weight of the side of the boat suddenly broke the pole into two pieces. We just looked at each other in shock as the second half began floating away in the unknown, potentially snake/hippo-filled water. On impulse I belly-flopped into the water grabbed the floating half and clambered back into the makoro. Luckily Waco had been on his way to check on us and helped us return with a broken pole. I think I apologized to the older man who had owned the pole about 20 times before I left, making sure to compensate him generously, although he seemed very uncomfortable taking my money. I suppose, that is the best way I can think of to have spent my Pula in Botswana. It will now go to a better cause than I could have put it to myself.

On the last night of our stay in the Delta, our new friends sang and danced for us around the fire. Their songs told us a story of their village, and they were so passionate and fun-filled. Even the women on the trip who seemed so quiet became marvelous dancers and shouted in praise to their past. It was beautiful and so very natural. We, of course, wanted to reciprocate and so, naturally, I led the group in our own Delta version of the Cha Cha Slide, a song often played at homecoming dances or bar mitzvahs when you simply want everyone to do the same thing. It was hilarious, to say the least. Then all of us in camp circled around the fire in the middle of nowhere and sang songs and danced until we were sweating in the night air. It was a magical ending and created a commonality between the lot of us that no language barrier could break. In the morning, our polers carted us back to the shore to be taken back to “real life”. We sang with Waco the whole way. It was a sad moment to say goodbye, and I dare say that there were tears.

Random acts of...well life.

I thought I would devote a bit to the seemingly random activities I end up involved in here in Cape Town…what would life be like without the usual (very usual, in my case) randomness, hey?

-Catching chilled vibes at Stones on Wednesday nights.

-Spending Saturday mornings at the Old Biscuit Mill.

-Sitting on Jammie Steps before, during, and after lectures at UCT.

-“Studying” at the Clifton beaches after class.

-Spending Tuesday nights at my Safrican friends’ digs, catching up on youtube videos with their uncapped internet (can you say Rebecca Black “Friday”?).

-Driving to signal hill for sunset overlooking the coast of Cape Town. Here, pictured with Home Group.

-Attending a stormer’s rugby match.

-Seeing Michael Eaton, a biblical guru, speak at church.

-Getting dinner with the entire program at Pancho’s (what I called Nacho Libre, where my friend Mike works) for Sam’s birthday.

-Stalking Denzel and Ryan at the world cup stadium (they are filming a movie here called Safehouse)—this was only for Sam’s birthday.

-FINALLY cleaning my room (it took me almost 2 months to unpack fully).

-Taking empty minibuses to Springboks for Thursday jug nights.

-Hi-HIKING, HIKING, and MORE HIKING! Lion's Head, Nursery Ravine, Skeleton's Gorge, Table View...

-Going on chow missions with Dylan to Rock Sushi Thai and Rafiki’s for banana and avo pizza!

-Attending African dance on Tuesdays and Thursdays and laughing hysterically with the other many Americans in the class. Our performance is scheduled for May 5^th.

-Making pancakes (Safrican style) at 1 am at the digs of some of my friends and then attempting to stick them to the ceiling.

-Playing balderdash at home group. Threpterophilia: the obsession with female nurses. No one voted for that one.

-Going to play soccer with kids in 5-7 grade from the township of Khayelitsha, every Tuesday from 2-5.

Die Tuinroete: The Garden Route

A few weeks ago, we, namely Georgie, Taylor, Ilana, Izzy, Molly, Jack, and I, took a tour of the garden route, commencing with a very bizarre early morning cab ride to the rental car company. The Garden Route is a popular scenic stretch of the south-eastern coast of SA. Starting in Cape Town, the excursion is a simple, but not-so-brief drive up the N2 coastal highway. For someone who can’t find her way out of a parking garage, I was thrilled to hear that our driving directions never deviated (yet, I did manage to drive the wrong direction on the N2 for about ten minutes...so sad).

The first day, we made our way up the coast to Tsitsikamma National Park, a coastal reserve well known for indigenous forests and dramatic coastline. We arrived in the early evening, in time for dinner at an Elvis Presley-themed diner next to our backpackers (what Safricans call hostels). It felt odd to be looking at old Ford convertibles and jukeboxes in the middle of a national park in Africa. Before we headed out the next morning, I took a brief run around the area, only to run into a big family of monkeys playing on the side roads. TIA. We left early and arrived at Bloukrans Bridge in Storms River around 8:30 am. The bridge stands at height of 216m above the Bloukrans River (which forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape), making it the highest single span arch bridge in the world. It is known as the World’s Highest Commercial Bungy Jump. It took them a total of 15 minutes to suit us up and lead us to the bridge. In that time, I must have peed about four times. In order to get to the jump spot, you must walk along a corridor overlooking the river, over 700 feet below.

Then the music starts. It’s quite nice to drown out the magnified bass of your heartbeat with a little house music, blaring from the speakers on the arch of a bridge over 700 feet from the ground. There is a camera filming the jump itself so you can see your friends fall as you wait for your moment on the bridge. I was so stoked once I saw people jumping; it’s exhilarating, as if new live were pumping through your veins. When it’s your turn, they set you up and hop you to the edge (your feet are bound) so that your toes hang over, peaking at the ground far far below. The moment you jump, the world goes silent. It is just you and air and a feeling of pure weightlessness; you are flying. It’s as if you are still and the atmosphere moves around you. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done. I was giddy; like a little kid in toys r us.

From there, we sped off to Plettenberg Bay and went kayaking. I offered to kayak in a double with the instructor so my paddle workload was much easier—a good thing, considering I fell asleep in the kayak every time we would pause to check on the group. After a refreshing, relatively warm, ocean swim, we journeyed to Knysna and took a sunset oyster cruise around the large warm-water estuary that the town is built on. It is a truly beautiful place and very attractive for fans of water sports. My friend Dylan had generously offered that we stay in his house that night and even drove to Knysna to spend some time with us. We all went to dinner and then back to Dylan’s for our first night sleeping in a proper house in months. Of course, he had a perfectly good, single bed frame outside and, regardless of the extra beds available inside, I chose to sleep under the stars in my sleeping bag. It was a wonderful night’s rest under a full moon.

The next day, after a run and a short swim off of Dylan’s dock, we all hiked down to a river outside of Knysna. This location is remote and relatively unknown, so we were the only people there for the majority of the time. We spent the day swimming upstream through slender passageways and into open pools, cliff jumping, and basking in the sun on the rocks bordering the river. It was serene and adventurous all at the same time and a great break from the touristy aspect of traveling the garden route. When the day came to an end, we said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed to Wilderness.

Wilderness is a seaside town known for its long white sand beach and lagoons. We arrived to our backpackers in time to race to the beach for sundown. Taylor and I were so awed and excited by the beauty of the beach (and the warmth o the water) that we began running along the water’s edge down the coast in our bathing suits. After a while we stopped and ran back, laughing all the while. It was a sight to be seen; the beach stretches on for miles and has such a sense of raw beauty. Later, that night we went to dinner. Taylor, Geo, and I awoke at 6 am the next morning to catch sunrise over the ocean, and I took a morning dip in the warm water and a walk down the beach a ways. Then we were off to the Cango Caves and eventually, after a long, traffic-filled drive (yes, I did drive- for hours in fact), we ended up back home again.

The Whitest Beach (Private Joke)

Then, church on main youth camp came. It was a weekend away in Noordhoek, best known for its beautiful shoreline and long, white sandy beach which is about 8 kilometers long. We got to camp early evening on Friday and headed straight to Noordhoek Beach which lies just under Chapman’s Peak. We spent a while there, and I took a swim with some of the boys. I assure you, the water is not warm there, as clear and beautiful as it is. It’s temperature is piercing but feels wonderful in the warm air. Tash, Matt, and I adventured up into the rocks to watch the sun begin to lower. Saturday, after morning service, we took a quick trip to the bakery. Of course, are car was overloaded and thus, per usual, I found a nice cozy spot on the floor in between the passenger back rest and the seat behind it, while Brad sat in the boot of the car. Shoes on? Obviously not. This is South Africa.

After afternoon services, we went back to the beach where Mike taught me the ins and outs of touch rugby. It’s much better to actually experience playing because you learn to read the field…not that I was much good at it. I generally only learn to see what’s in front of me considering running is a straight-line sort of game. But, it was fun nonetheless, mostly because I could poke fun at my friend Simon. Then we headed to a local bar to watch the cricket game. Now that is an entertaining sport, but, interestingly enough, not entertaining for the level of athleticism it illustrates. I say it is interesting because something happens during every play. There is never a null point of lack of progression; the game is always moving along. What a great game it was! South Africa beat India in the very last moments of the game. Plus, Patrick split Marcel’s (froyo) with me!

Saturday night Mike, Dane, Simon, and I attempted to sleep outside under the stars. Problems came when we realized the ground was wet and consequently decided to sleep on a raised platform on the jungle gym. This would have been very successful had a 3-inch role to your right or left not ended in a perilous fall. Yet, during those few hours of attempting the sleepless night, I laughed harder than I can remember. We learned a lot about Dane’s grand sense of humor. At about 2 am, we called it quits and crawled back into our cabins for a good night’s slumber. In the morning we woke up for an early service and cheered on the bikers racing in the Augus Cycle Tour around Cape Town. Because of the race, we had to park our cars several kilometers away from camp, so leaving was quite a process and definitely a funny sight to see.

That week, Ilana, Taylor, and I hiked up Lion’s Head yet again, for Lans’ first summit. Taylor decided it would be a good idea to hike down to Camps Bay, which was great in theory until about half way when we all realized how hungry we were. But, of course, at that point, I couldn’t let us stop, and we somewhat silentely mumbled our way down to the waterfront. For homegroup that Tuesday, we went to signal hill to watch the sun set with a beautiful view of Cape Town. The city is so vast; it’s truly breathtaking.