Is this real life?

Sunday, March 14, 2014

                            

            I always said, “I’ll never bungee jump”. Something about diving off a bridge that is hundreds of feet high connected solely by a cord attached to your ankles just didn’t sit right with me. Now I understand that age-old saying about if your friend jumps off a bridge, would you? Apparently I would! Well, that’s what I did this weekend anyways. Two friends and myself packed up and drove six hours to a town called Knaysna in the Western Cape. We stayed in a little flat just off the Western Coastline next to a relaxed lagoon. It’s a hotspot for tourist attractions, and we visited many! The animal sanctuaries and cave dwellings were unforgettable but some of my favorite memories are the most simple. I enjoyed waking up early in a fluffy white king-sized bed and watching the sunrise along with coffee and two great friends. I soaked up the rebellious action of walking barefoot into a grocery store (we couldn’t get over this one). Bare feet? No problem! This wouldn’t fly in America. I want to hide the feeling of the crisp breeze off the ocean that washes through the flat when we leave the windows open, and save it in my memory bank.

            These feelings were always heightened after a solid day of adventure. We started with the Cango Caves. We took the “adventure tour” which included the trickiest routes through the caves. We crawled, slid, climbed, and shimmied through various tunnels in the caves. We saw stalagmites and stalactites that are thousands to millions of years old! After our ancient crawl through history, we visited our first animal sanctuaries. I could fill a whole page on all the animals we saw. In specific, we visited an ostrich farm! I actually rode an ostrich. By far the most awkward thing I’ve ever witnessed or attempted myself. Their brains are smaller than the size of their own eyes. They are not the smartest things. Ostriches forever believe that “if they can’t see you, you can’t see them”, hence the infamous picture of an ostrich with its head buried in the sand. You can’t seeeeee me! To capture the ostrich, they put a bag over its head and then we are instructed on how to saddle up. Your legs wrap around their front, with their wings draped over your thighs, and then you hold on for dear life.

 
            At night, we ate dinner at the Ocean Basket. This place is like finding gold for a girl that loves seafood as much as I do. Everything is so fresh! I had a difficult time making a decision, which seems to be a common theme in my life, but I finally chose sushi. Let me tell you, that was a winning decision. The next day, we visited a monkey sanctuary where hundreds of monkeys and lemurs roamed freely. I felt like we were in the jungle book. Later, we had a rendezvous with the elephants. These gentle beasts were such a beautiful sight. Elephants are so lovey dovey! The last event of our ‘weekend away’ was the most extreme of them all. We bungee jumped off the Worlds Highest Bungee jump. It was by far the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done, and I would do it again. They harnessed us up, lead us out to the middle of the Bloukrans Bridge and sent us diving 216m off the cement edge to the tune of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” dubset remix. We drove home afterwards, with our hearts thumping faster than normal and our minds still in shock (I’ll be posting video and pics regarding that experience pretty soon). From my previous blog post ending, I had a couple people inquiring about my safety when I returned and had Internet once again. I skyped with my parents and caught up with lovelies back home. To top off the weekend with a sweet red cherry, I watched the MNSU rock climbing competition LiveSteam in company with a good friend studying in Finland. Tomorrow, I am going to CATCH early in the morning!

Goodnight everyone!

xoxo