The past weeks since Easter have been pretty standard, between school, working at the shelter and hanging out in Obs (see Where The Wild Things Are birthday party). This week was especially nice because we have public holidays, one was Friday and the next is tomorrow. On Friday, after sleeping in and taking the day to hang out, several of us headed downtown to watch Ajax Cape Town play the Orlando Pirates. We had seen Ajax play before (tickets are only 40 rand, which is about $5, and take place in the Greenpoint stadium where some of the World Cup games were played), but this game was especially packed. When we got to the stadium, there were lines about 50 people deep. In classic Africa fashion, one of the gates was broken in and fans ran in for at least 15 minutes before the guards were finally able to shut the doors. The game was very high energy, with lots of singing and dancing, and ended in a 1-1 tie (both goals came early on in the first half)

 

Namibia

Claire and I, permanent paddle partners

For Easter break the majority of the group plus a few additions from Arcadia and Northwestern headed to the Orange River in Namibia for a rafting trip. We spent three (intense!) days paddling down rapids as well as calm water and sleeping under the stars with no tents or covering. Everything we ate and used during the trip was tied down to our boats, and we built fires at every overnight site to cook dinner (the food was surprisingly delicious). On the final day, we were also able to climb out after one of the rapids and hike back up to swim down the rapids.

Canyoning

The Saturday after returning from spring break, a group of us left bright and early to go abseiling, which is essentially rappelling down waterfalls. Although it was cold, with the help wetsuits we were eager to climb down the waterfalls and go cliff jumping (although I opted out of the highest jump, too intense!) All in all we scaled down 11 waterfalls and jumped off two cliffs for a full 12 hours (including the drive) and a very full (and wet and cold) day!

Midsemester Break Trip

During our mid-semester break from school, 16 of the students in our program took off on a cross country trip for a week and a half. 4 other students chose to camp up to Victoria Falls, and another student went to Durban to visit friends. 

Our trip began by getting picked up at 4 am in what we affectionately nicknamed the aquarium due to its floor to ceiling windows. After a day of driving, we arrived late afternoon in Knysna, where we spent our first night in a backpackers where we had a braai and spent a quick night before driving on to our next stop. By 8 am the next morning, we had arrived at the world's highest bungee jump. Although I chose not to participate, I did go out on the bridge (which was terrifying enough for me) and helped the jumpers get pumped up to loud music. It was certainly an exciting way to start the morning. After bungee jumping, we continued on to East London, where we stopped at Cintsa to stay at Buccaneers Backpackers for Saint Patrick's day. The backpackers was very secluded but well populated with plenty of people at the bar and a drummer who seduced both Kevin and Erin into dancing. We also enjoyed an authentic Xhosa meal for dinner, which was incredibly delicious. The next morning we took off for Coffee Bay, by far my favorite place on the trip. After arriving late afternoon and hiking up a hill for the sunset, we headed back to the Coffee Shack backpackers for another delicious Xhosa meal and a fire. The next day we finally got to settle down and spend the whole day in one place. The majority of the group opted to take a hike to hole in the wall, a beautiful three hour hike along the beach and hills amongst the cows. Coffee Bay is very rural and picturesque and it was fascinating to see the small huts. After enjoying delicious open-fire grilled "toasties" and a quick swim, we took a open back truck back to our backpackers for our surf lesson. Devin, Claire S., Charlie, Anne and myself spent two hours hitting the waves with an instructor. To my delight, we were all able to stand up fairly easily and were exhausted by the end of the lesson. To round out a perfect day, Charlie, Devin, Claire S., Johan, one of our guides, and myself took a hike to White Clay for seafood dinner. The dinner was delicious but the true highlight was the post-meal star gazing on the restaurant balcony and later on the walk home in the pitch black night in what seemed like an area away from all civilization. The following morning, we left for Durban, to meet up with Claire P, where we enjoyed another delicious meal all together, an overnight at the Happy Hippo backpackers and a morning swim on the beautiful beaches of Durban, which felt very different from Cape Town; the Indian influence could be seen very clearly. After departing Durban, we headed to Johannesburg for two nights. After arriving late the first night and heading straight to bed, we spent the next morning on a tour with visits including Soccer City (a world cup stadium), the apartheid museum (one of the most moving visits of our trip, our two hours was not near long enough), a tour of Soweto (South Western Townships) and a visit to Nelson Mandela's house. After another delicious braai courtesy of the boys, we went to bed early to depart to Kruger, our last stop. Our stay in Kruger Park lasted two nights and featured a night wildlife drive, numerous day drives, swimming, sitings of the big 5 (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino) along with zebras, monkeys, countless impala-like creatures like spring boks and water boks and kuda, giraffe, hippos, snakes including the extremely poisonous black mamba, baboons, hyenas, warthogs (pumba!) wildebeest, and many other creatures. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

By the time we left Kruger back to Joburg for our flight back to Cape Town, we were all tired and ready to be home. It was a great surprise to see the four Vic falls girls in the Cape Town airport and to be picked up by Melikaya, our program director and Pearnel.

The bridge the bungee jump took place off of

The aquarium

Coffee Bay

Sunset in Coffee Bay

Hike to hole in the wall

Beach soccer

Hole in the wall

Soccer City with Claire S

Apartheid museum

Nelson Mandela quotes (not sure why this is sideways...)

Soweto tour

Nelson Mandela's house

Monkeys in Kruger

Wildebeest and Zebras are often found together

Giraffe!

Elephants up close and personal

District Six Museum

A week before spring break, our whole group went to the District Six museum. District Six was a vibrant, predominantly colored neighborhood, although it featured many unique populations that was later leveled during an apartheid push removing non-whites from urban areas. The museum was successful in recreating the vibrancy of the community and what typical life was like. Especially important was that we were accompanied by Pearnel, our driver who takes us to our service sites and school, who grew up in District Six.

Pearnel signs his surname, Wentzel, to the map

The museum