mossel bay (june 15-17)

After five days in Cape Town, I embarked on the third of the three legs of my extended South African vacation: the Garden Route. The first stop was Mossel Bay, a town on the coast that, despite its name, sadly does not have ANY mussels. This was hugely disappointing, but we were able to find a fish market to whet the seafood craving with some local, freshly caught fish. I didn’t do much in Mossel Bay besides go on a short walk/hike around the St. Blaize Cave, which opens up right on the coast. Once again, the contrasts of huge mountain peaks and caves right on the coast was breathtaking.

St. Blaize Cave, on the coast in Mossel Bay

These little critters were all around the parking lot and rocks near the cave... People were feeding them, so they swarmed. I think they are dassies.




One more stand-out feature of Mossel Bay was my accommodation… Santos Express B & B. It is a train car turned bed & breakfast, and the rooms are actually in the train cars! Apparently it was ranked #2 on a top 10 list of most eccentric places to stay in the world.

The Santos Express Train B&B

italy v. paraguay

On June 14, I was lucky enough to attend the second Cape Town game of the World Cup, Italy v. Paraguay. It was incredible! Green Point Stadium was packed full of people from all over the world, dressed to support their team of choice, or even dressed for a team that wasn't playing that night (I wore my Bafana Bafana jersey). Budweiser bought out the rights to be the only beer sold within all the World Cup stadiums... I think they paid $2 billion for that privilege. I think the stadiums should have provided South African beverages: Castle, Savannah, Black Label. It would have been a more authentic experience for tourists, more locally produced, and a great industry for the South African beverages. Oh well. I went to the game with my friend Kat, and we managed to mostly avoid the rain that was pelting down on the field. Italy was the defending World Cup champion team, so I was expecting a more uneven game, but the game ended in yet ANOTHER tie game, 1-1. It was amazing to be a part of such a huge international event, and we were able to get to and from the stadium with relative ease riding free shuttles, walking, and then taking a cab home in the rain. All around incredible experience, and something I will probably never get to do again.

Approaching Green Point Stadium

Opening ceremony of the game, as the Paraguay and Italy flags were marched out on the field

Me and Kat at the Italy v. Paraguay World Cup game! Thanks to Kat acquiring the tickets, I was able to attend this game.

Photo of the whole field at the beginning of the game

Action shot during the game - you can also see the rain pouring down on the field. Luckily, our seats were well covered.

the world cup in cape town

After traveling to Elands Bay and Cederberg, I got back to Cape Town on June 10, the day before the World Cup games began. The city was alive and bustling with the excitement! I was awoken at 7:00 in the morning on Friday, June 11 to the sound of blaring vuvuzelas, which lasted for at least half an hour straight. After I got over my grumpiness at the abrupt awakening, I instantly began getting caught up in the excitement of the World Cup!

Sign of support in Greenmarket Square

South Africa’s team Bafana Bafana (“the guys”) played the opening match against Mexico in Johannesburg, and I went to Long Street to join in the World Cup fever! The streets were PACKED with people covered in Bafana Bafana gear, and the vuvuzelas didn’t stop all day. Crowds gathered anywhere they could find a TV to watch the game. I could never really get close enough to a TV to watch the game, but I was able to monitor the score… and watching the Long Street crowd was plenty of entertainment. Bafana Bafana tied Mexico, which was a huge achievement! When Bafana Bafana scored, people went crazy! An elderly woman nearby got showered as beers were poured off a balcony in celebration. Vuvuzelas, dancing, shouting, and high fives all around.

Walking through Long Street on June 11, 2010

Celebration in the street

I watched the France v. Uruguay game on a big screen on Long Street, and the 0-0 tie made me glad that I ended up with a ticket to the Italy v. Paraguay game on the 14th instead.

We walked by the fan park in Grand Parade, hoping to be able to experience the chaos there, but it was already full, with 35,000 people inside. The park was supposed to hold only 25,000, but they allowed in an extra 10,000 fans! I bought a South Africa shirt, and a Bafana Bafana jersey, and carried a vuvuzela around all day. Saturday also brought the England v. USA game, during which I found myself more patriotic than ever. Another tie game.

One of the entrances to the Grand Parade fan park - Event Full

We ran into Ronel, her sister, and Jade, all in Bafana Bafana gear!

cederberg conservancy (june 7-10)

After two days in Elands Bay, I headed inland to Cederberg Conservancy on Monday, June 7. Cederberg is a huge, mountainous national park with loads of hiking, caves, and outdoors activities… but no paved roads. Over sixty kilometers on dirt roads took some steam out of the Atos on the way to the campsite, but it was well worth the trek.

The Atos on the Cederberg road, stopping for a scenic photo-shoot

The lodge/campsite was owned and operated by a very friendly and helpful couple, Gerrit and Chantal, who also cooked meals for residents, and made hiking recommendations (as well as detailed maps of the hiking paths). Although rain and a long search for petrol took up the whole first day, I managed to fit in two astounding hikes on the other days. On Wednesday the 9th, we hiked the Wolfberg Cracks, which ended up being about a 4.5 hour round trip hike, most of which was steep, and some of which was more like rock climbing than hiking. We missed the directions from Gerrit’s map that would have led us on top of one of the highest rocks to see a 360 degree view of the area, but the misdirection let us do our own exploring. I couldn’t believe how large some of the rocks on top of the mountain were, and how vast the peak was. I walked on the top of the mountain for about an hour without reaching the other side. The trail was not clearly marked, so we followed the deliberate piles of rocks left to lead the way. The somewhat unmarked aspect of the trail made it feel like I was exploring a new place and finding my own, instead of following a well-traveled route.

Looking up the mountain I was about to hike to get to the Wolfberg Cracks. You can see the cracks from the bottom.

I had to climb these rocks to get through the crack.

Walking inside one of the Wolfberg Cracks. I felt like I had suddenly landed in Narnia.

On top of the mountain

Peeking out of the huge rocks

On the morning of the 10th, we went to the Stadsaal Caves and to see the rock art. There is a rock art drawing by the Khoi people (often know as the Bushmen). Apparently this painting, made from rocks, has been there for about 1,000 years. The Stadsaal Caves wasn’t a hiking trail so much as a series of caves connected by paths. They were incredible. After exploring the caves for a couple hours, we hit the road again, made it out of the dirt roads of Cederberg (with a detour because of flooding), drove through Citrusdal, where we passed orange trees for miles, and made it back to Cape Town.

The rock art of the Khoi people

Approaching the Stadsaal Caves

At the entrance to one of the caves

Peeking out of a cave opening

Another beautiful scene at Cederberg, from the Stadsaal Caves

elands bay and the wild west coast (june 5-7)

I left Cape Town on June 5, and drove a couple hours to just outside Elands Bay. The lodge was right on the edge of a bird reserve, on the water, and was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, Western Cape. It was cold, but beautiful.





Right next to my nice, but affordable lodge was a sort of higher-class retreat area called Vensterklip with a lodge, delicious restaurant, access to many activities, and a little bar. I went kayaking (they call kayaks canoes here, so I was expecting it to be a canoe…), which was a little rough because I wasn’t expecting there to be holes in the bottom of the boat. Despite sitting in a pool of freezing water, the sights were beautiful and it felt great to move along the water in such an incredible setting. After a short, wet kayaking trip, I was glad to get back to the fireplace in the lodge. We tried to go to a renowned all-you-can eat seafood restaurant in Lamberts Bay called Muisbosskerm, but sadly it was closed for the night. Instead, we went to another seafood restaurant called Isabella’s, on recommendation of the woman who owned the lodge. It was some of the best seafood I’ve had – linefish, snoek, calamari, and mussels.







Elands Bay was really my first experience being in real Afrikaans country – street and business signs were in Afrikaans, not English as in Cape Town, and the people around us largely spoke Afrikaans to one another. We also drove by a few townships, where I assume many of the population are farmers or fishermen. A regular at Vesterklip informed us that we were now in the “wild west coast,” where lawlessness runs wild.

closing the circle

The last week of my program was a whirlwind of putting together the final copy of the English Literacy Handbook that Mark and I created for Young in Prison, writing my final capstone paper about the handbook, saying goodbyes, packing, cleaning, closing activities, and celebrating an incredible semester, wonderful friendships, and personal growth.

Professors, program directors and coordinators, etc. (Minus Gerald, our academic coordinator, who was out of town for a conference)

We had a final “closing of the circle” reflection session on the Thursday night (June 3). Unlike the reflection sessions we had all semester, people really opened up to one another during this time. We expressed what really touched each of us personally over the course of the semester, with our service, the environment, and each other. I think it finally hit us all pretty hard that night how special the semester was, and how close we had all become with one another. Or, at least that is how I felt. The end came quickly, and it took us all by surprise. I will miss every friend in the program, and I can honestly say that all 15 of them are wonderful, kind, fun, lively, and unique individuals, and I genuinely like and will miss each and every one of them.

Last trip in the "party bus" with Mark driver, on our way to Moyo. Mark driver (we called him that to distinguish him from the Mark in our group, and unfortunately I didn't get him in a picture) drove us to all of our service sites, group activities, or excursions throughout the semester in this, or a similar, vehicle.

On Friday, June 4, we had our final dinner at Moyo, an amazing restaurant with a huge, delicious buffet, dancing, music, African face painting, and a great atmosphere. Angela presented us all with a goodbye gift of a vuvuzela with a South African flag design. Jonah did a rhyming toast to say goodbye to the group, and we all presented each others’ “superlatives,” that Jess and Betsy had organized. My winning superlative was: “Most likely to get hurt and smile anyways.” Tina led the table I was sitting at in going around in a circle, taking turns telling each person something you are thankful for about him or her, and then going around again, with everyone saying something they are proud of themselves for this semester. It sounds cheesy, but all around the night provided some closure to our semester together, and possibly for the last time we would all be together.





The following day, everyone did the final packing, cleaning, and hugging. Most boarded planes to head back to the US, but a few stayed on in Cape Town, either to relax for a few days before the journey home, to do some traveling, or to stick around for the World Cup. I hit the road in a rented canary yellow Atos, and traveled to Elands Bay on the "wild" west coast for two days, and then to Cederberg conservancy for three days, before coming back to Cape Town for the kick off of the World Cup! Reports of my travels coming soon.

On the road (on the left side!), outside the limits of Cape Town. The drive provided me more sightseeing of rural Western Cape regions than my experiences all semester.

goodbyes

Saying goodbyes to all my friends, and hitting the road for the next few weeks.

Agenda: Elands Bay, Cederberg, back to Cape Town for the opening of the World Cup, then Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay, Hermanus, then back to Cape Town for the final week.

I will post updates when I have internet access, but it's impossible to put into words how special this semester has been, and how hard it is to say goodbye.