Well this past week we spent on the road touring the Garden
Route of South Africa. Sunday evening our group of around 50 Bafanas were split
into two groups. My good friend, Lauren and I of course were the first two
names called out that were separated. But needless to say it was okay because I
had the opportunity to branch out and meet new girls. I have gained a whole lot
of patients from the trip and have honestly realized that I really am an “old
soul” (as my mom refers to it.) But overall it was a learning experience! The
next five week days went as followed:
Monday: We loaded the army-like buses and spent 8 hours
driving to the first hostile we stayed in. The hostile was named “Tube ‘n Axe”
and had a rustic camping vibe to it. The hot showers were outside. The
FREEZIING cold ones were in the rooms. The rooms varied from a 2 person couple
room to a room of 10 bunk beds. I stayed in the massive room with about 15
other girls. Freddy, the very strange bartender, played a very intense game of “ice”.
For those who don’t know what it is, it is when you turn around and a Smirnoff
Ice is somehow placed in front of you, you have to then get on one knee and
chug it as fast as possible. Needless to say my goal was to avoid getting iced
and my mission was accomplished! We didn’t do anything else on Monday except stop
in a very pintresty town called Wilderness to eat lunch. The rest of the evening
we spent around a campfire sharing our highs and lows, favorite moments, and
what we want to intentionally work on.
Tuesday: We loaded the buses bright and early at 6:45am and
headed out to the safari. We saw giraffas, lions, buffalo, hippoes, antelopes, crocodiles,
and so much more. I enjoyed the safari but honestly my mind was on the days
second activity: bungee jumping. We loaded back up the buses and headed our way
to Bloukrans Bridge. This is the highest commercial bungy jump in the world. It
is a whopping 216 meters high, which translates into about 71 stories high. It
was insane. The way the bungee worked was everyone was pre-assigned a “jump
number” when this number was randomly called, it would mean it was your turn to
jump. I was about the 5th or 6th person to be called.
They had to call my number out 4 times before I finally admitted it was my
number. As soon as I stepped forward, I started balling. I was trying SO hard
to hold back the tears but of course it was impossible. As they are strapping
me off to face the biggest fear of my life, I have all my new best friends
cheering me on in the back ground, along with a DJ blaring dubstep type music.
Once you’re all buckled in, you walk to a ledge and they workers shout “5, 4,
3, 2, 1, BUNGEE” and that is when you are suppose to jump off. Well, my jump
didn’t exactly go as planned. When I finally found the courage to simply stand
up the workers helped me hobble to the ledge. My eyes were closed and tears
were streaming out. Finally they put my arms up and begin the count down. “5,
4, 3,..” and all of a sudden I wrap my arms around them and scream “NOO, NO,
NO!” and they whip my arms off of them as fast as possible and throw me over
the ledge! My initial thought was “holy crap”. I never got that unwanted tummy
dropping feeling. The fall was honestly very quiet and almost peaceful. But I
really think I actually blacked out. When I finally realize I have hit the
first spring I open my eyes and of course I say a few fowl words and immediately
close my eyes again. Finally I have landed and I am dangling over this
terrifying valley waiting patiently to be rescued. Oh course I am still crying
but my tears were a mixed between “holy shit that was scary, but oh my
goodness, I made it, I am alive, I am never doing that again.” The time moved
in slow motion as I waited for my savior to come rescue me and pull me up. I
was still of course in shock so I clinged onto him for dear life and made him
hold my hand!! It wasn’t until I was actually laying on the dock attached to
the bridge did I finally begin to celebrate. Instantly everyone was there to greet
me and express how excited they were for me and how proud they were to see me
accomplish something so challenging. I could barely speak as the workers were congratulating
me. The first clear sentence I made out was “I am never doing that again, but
am so glad I did it.” After my jump, I stayed and cheered on the rest of my
friends then went straight to the video shop and purchased the video! So anyone
who actually wants to see me look like a complete idiot and get a good laugh at
me, I have the video!! After bungee jumping we stopped in this town and played
soccer with the school kids. Having played my whole life, I really enjoyed
this. However, being so out of shape and not being able to play like I once did
was very frustrating at times! We ended up tying with the little kids 4 to 4. After
that we headed back to the same hostile and enjoyed another bonfire together
along with intimate talks.
Wednesday: Having accomplished the bungee jump, I now had an
open, worried free mind and was ready for anything. We woke up again early and
loaded onto our buses and headed to the National park. It was FREEZING. But the
view was breathtaking. We walked across suspension bridges, which of course
would have scared me, but after the bungee jump, I felt invincible! So I strutted
across that bridge and even daringly swayed it! After the national park we
traveled to the Cat Sanctuary and saw a variety of 5 different African cats.
Two of which were the leopards and cheetahs. We got to go in the cages with most
of them. We even were as close to an arms distance between the cheetahs. After
the cat sanctuary we headed off to the Elephants. I had the opportunity to walk
an elephant and even ride it! It was a lot of fun! After the elephants we
headed to Money Land for lunch. It was a great restaurant. There were monkeys
EVERWHERE! One sneaky little squirrel monkey even ran inside and stole a fry
from the floor! It was adorable!! The monkeys were not afraid of humans! They
would get right in your face! It was such an experience! I plan on adopting a
monkey now. A squirrel monkey in fact, I hope Riley won’t have a problem with
that!! Haha We then made hand painted “huggables” that went to support a local
foundation in the “slow town.” The slow town was a very interesting concept. If
it is a beautiful day, the whole town would shut down at 1pm and head to the
beach, if it was raining or to cold outside, kids did not have to go to school
and it was completely acceptable! I could not live there at all! I like
structure and schedules! We spent the rest of the day traveling to our next hostile,
AfroVibe. This was a very nice hostile compared to the first, and the first
hostile, I thought was amazing. We spent another night around the camp fire and
learned the rules to African beer pong. The people here were very “skater-like”
with weird piercings, dreads, billabong type clothing, converses, bandanas and
a “stoner attitude”. Nevertheless they were entertaining! One guy was a fire
thrower and put on shows of swirling fire around and around. Each night a new
traveling guitarist stayed in the hostile as well and would play songs and
everyone would sing all night around the campfire.
Thursday: We didn’t have to wake up as early as the previous
mornings; we loaded the buses at 8am and headed to an ostrich farm. We got to learn
all about ostriches! Ostriches are dumb. They eat rocks! Literally! They would
eat anything from high heels, to lipstick, to rocks. Their eyes are bigger than
their brains. If you put a bag over an ostrich’s head it has no idea what to do
so it just goes to sleep. Haha I was chosen to step forward and receive a “hug”
from the ostrich. It wrapped itself around my neck and pecked at the food.
Ostriches can also do a 360 with their necks! It had rained the night before so
we were not allowed to ride or race the ostriches because if they had slipped
and broke their leg, the ostrich would have to be killed. After the ostrich
farm we headed to the caves. When you walked inside literally the only word
everyone said was “Wow”. It was crazy how massive the caves were. The tour
guide, who was a small, entertaining but very sassy man, explained how they use
to have classical concerts inside the cave. Thursday night we headed back to
the AfroVibe hotel and enjoyed another campfire, this time with s’mores! J We also worked on
starting a new bucket list! Here is my new official list:
Courtney’s Bucket List: (sorry it’s kind of long)
1.
Skydiving
2.
Paragliding
3.
Become a mentor for a child
4.
Back pack through Europe after graduation
5.
Visit all 7 continents
6.
Color run
7.
Run half a marathon
8.
Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
9.
Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef
10.
Sponsor an African family
11.
Take a painting class
12.
Hike more often
13.
Take a cooking class/Become a better cook!
14.
Adopt a dog from the shelter
15.
Get a job I am truly passionate about
16.
Ski in Aspen
17.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans before I graduate and
with the best friends in the world!
18.
Take surfing lessons
19.
Buy my own home (of course near a LifeTime
Fitness!)
20.
Settle down and begin my own family
That’s it for now, it is an ongoing
list though!! So I will add more later! J
Friday: We were suppose to go shark cage diving but a cold
front came in and we couldn’t go anymore so it was rescheduled for Wednesday.
Instead we had the option of quad biking or a ziplining/ropes course. I picked
the ropes course because I was obviously on a fascination of facing my heights
fear. It was extreamly windy and the trees would sway side to side while we
were in them. The guide said, as soon as we were finished, “I’m so glad we are
done, I was really nervous about the wind. We probably shouldn’t have gone.”
Awesome. After that we spent 6 hours
headed back into the wonderful city of cape town!
Saturday (today): I enjoyed another AMAZING day at the old
biscuit mill working on my Cape Town 15! J
And now I am watching my roommates sweat anxiously over finishing their papers
for the class! I am not receiving any credit for the class, so I’m a little more
relaxed about it than them! ;)
Well that was adventure week in a nut shell! Can’t believe
that this amazing experience is almost over! It has definitely been the experience
of a lifetime and I am so thankful I have such amazing parents to support me
and motivate me to try new things!! (Thanks mom and dad!) However, when Sunday
comes I will be very excited to head back to the beautiful United States and
see all my loved ones!! J
That’s it for now!
