(Mis)Adventures Behind

Our Route

So the merry band of Intl Studs went on a little jaunt along the Garden Route this week for our Vac (short for vacation; it's essentially Spring Break here). The Garden Route is essentially the southern coast of South Africa. We rented cars in Grahamstown then drove to Cape Town, making three stops over four nights along the way. Then, we bussed overnight back to Grahamstown today, and I'm now writing this entry in the computer lab, killing time until I can access my Res room at 14h00 after arriving here at the heinous hour of 7h30 (curses, Admin).

We started at surf town Jeffery’s Bay, complete with Billabong factory outlet and Ripcurl store. We had beach-y good fun there, built a sandcastle (which we destroyed with relish), collected seashells, and frolicked about in the warm waves of the Indian Ocean. We stayed at the hostel Island Vibe Backpackers, which came with access to the beach and a middle-aged man with dreadlocks who made jewelry.

Fun Fact: there’s always a crazy-haired middle-aged man making jewelry who is kinda creepy but is essentially harmless. No hostel is complete without one. More on that later.

Despite Gemma having to go tell the employees to turn down their pumping music in the hostel bar next door at 2AM (I was sound asleep. Asian sleeping skills), it was a fairly good night with plenty of fresh air and a starlit walk on the beach. In the morning, we woke up to discover that Wout had left the lights on in one of the cars, and the battery had completely been shot. We pushed the car up a hill then let it roll down in an attempt to try to jumpstart it. Thank goodness it was the tiniest car ever (and therefore probably weighed less than we did) because we tried this THREE TIMES to no avail. Then, we sheepishly asked one of the hostel workers if he had a cable. There was none to be borrowed, but he had an ingenious method:

Fun Fact: Did you know that if you don’t have jumper cables, you can detach the other car’s battery, hold it against the battery of the dead car, and that will have the same effect? You might be concerned for the guy nonchalantly holding the battery, but it will work.

Success! We were off again, this time on to Mossel Bay, with a few stops en route. First, a stop at the world’s tallest bridge, Bloukrans, and subsequently world’s tallest bungee jump. Before everyone gets too excited/concerned, I didn’t jump. I was 85% sure that if I had I would’ve vomited the entire way down, then up, then down again… At least in skydiving you only go one way; I’d totally do that. Nonetheless, four brave members of the group literally took the plunge to no incident. We were all very proud, and those of us safely on land cheered raucously. Next stop was the Knysna (pronounced “nice”-nah) heads, which are these cliffs which mark the narrow entrance to a huge lagoon which the city is built next to/on top of. It was a little bit stormy, but that added to the tremendous beauty of the water which crashed against the rocks in the loudest, most beautiful fashion. We finally made it to Mossel Bay after dark.

Our hostel at Mossel Bay, Santos Express, in which we stayed two nights in, was a renovated retired train which was, of course, super-duper cool. The dorm section was closed for repairs, so we paired off in sleeping compartments. We were uneven in girls vs boys, so I ended up with Dutchman Wout, but apart from a small incident in which I woke up in the morning to the image of bare ass, it wasn’t really a problem. We met some lovely (slightly drunk) Swiss (German-speaking) who invited us for a glass of wine. A couple of them were on their last leg of a world-wide trip during their gap year before master’s studies in engineering. One of them spoke a little bit of Chinese and had visited China, specifically Shanghai, a couple of times; we had a good chat about Chinese cultures in relation to world view. After finding out about my intention to travel to Germany, a couple insisted that I make a day-trip to Zurich. I’m highly considering it.

Fun Fact: Bern, Switzerland’s capital, is generally considered to be more chilled-out and a better place to hang out whereas Zurich has a high-speed business-oriented vibe, but Zurich people often make fun of the slow pace of the Bern-ites speech.

Based in Mossel Bay, we took a day trip to Oudtshoorn further inland, and let me tell you, the drive was breathtaking. It was through flower meadows and stark mountain peaks which the Dutch and French claim looked nothing like the Alps while the German claims looked exactly like them. Jury is still out. It was little nerve-racking hearing our tiny engine struggle up the steeper slopes, but we made it to the Cango Caves where we shared a tour with some loud, outspoken, overweight tourists from some unknown foreign land who stole all the oxygen with their labored breathing, making the somewhat cramped quarters of the cave even stuffier. What was really cool was the tour guide’s ability to control the lights in order to strategically show us bits of stalactite formations, but I had to hold Gemma’s hand a couple times when he switched off the lights entirely to show how dark it was inside.  We then went to an ostrich farm, where we got to feed the birds and even ride them!  I was one of the few who volunteered for the latter activity and let me tell you, it was SO MUCH FUN. DO IT. Wout was definitely one of the happiest men on the planet the entire time. Hilarious.

Fun Facts: Ostriches’ brains weigh less than their eyes, which have three eyelids: one on top, one on bottom, and one whitish membrane which they have evolved to protect themselves from desert sands. They can run up to 60 km/hr for up to 3 km. They have two toes per foot, the front one containing a huge talon that they use to crack open their egg from within as chicks and also has the ability to split open a person’s chest when fully grown. Ostrich pairs mate for life. When the female dies, the male will not seek another mate, but if the male dies, the female will. Males are the ones with black and white feathers, whereas females are usually grey all over. Ostrich leather is one of the strongest in the world and makes up 70% of the profits from ostrich farming. If we pull off next to an ostrich farm’s flock on the side of the road and Wout tries to feed them flowers, they will bite Wout’s arm to the amusement of all.

We left Mossel Bay and headed to Hermanus (her-MON-us) for a whale watching trip. We got to see some Southern Right whales breaching, log-tailing, “playing” (mating), etc, and it was quite majestic apart from having to fight sea-sickness as the boat made tight turns to follow the whales. I was really proud of myself for not chundering my guts out, but poor Simon wasn’t so lucky. That night, we had a braai at our lovely homey hostel, Zoete Inval Traveler’s Lodge, and we met a very nice contractor who showed me the proper way to braai which involves an ingenious but simple flip-able grilling rack, heating up soft charcoal to just the right temp, and knowing when to flip the rack to get even coverage. He was quite impressed by my grilling skills, and I feel like I really earned his respect when I nonchalantly poured a little of my Black Label beer over the meat. Thanks, Dad, for the grilling lessons. We hopped in the Jacuzzi for a little while then, against our better judgment, accompanied the guy, who had gotten slightly creepier with a couple more beers, and a couple of his workers to a local bar which turned out to be a pathetic excuse at an semi-attempt at a gay bar, complete with one gorgeous drag queen (but only one), drunk, overweight, creepy, middle-aged men, and two overweight men judging a “Hermanus Idols” karaoke contest that was mostly odd characters singing hardcore 80s Afrikaans songs and one guy in pink Uggs crying while singing Whitney Houston. It was an odd night. We slept in the most comfortable beds we’ve had in South Africa back at the hostel, though, and in the morning, we had the most delicious (included in the price!) breakfast with homemade organic apricot and fig jam and lovely French-press coffee. The proprietors were really sweet and focused on sustainable gardening and recycling. The free towels, out-of-the-blue complimentary car wash, and local cat provided just the homey air that we needed after a couple days on the road.

The next day, we headed to Stony Point for a nature reserve for African penguins. We got hopelessly lost a couple of times, but with some local help finally made it there, where we delighted in the antics of the little waddling birds and tried to ignore the smell. Penguins are ridiculously adorable, and anyone who disagrees is dumb. Period.   

Fun Fact: African Penguins are also called "Jackass" Penguins because of the braying noise they make.

We drove our way north along the gorgeous Atlantic coast to Cape Town and continued to get lost, unfortunately preventing us from going to see the Cape of Good Hope. We got to our hostel, Penthouse on Long [St], in the middle of the city a little road-weary. Kudos to our drivers, Wout and Simon, for getting us there. The atmosphere at the hostel was very chill, and there were mostly young people there for various reasons, apart from the middle-aged “large, fairy man” (in the front desk guy’s words) who made jewelry (told you, always one of them) which I had the fortune of sharing a bunk with. Goodie. There was little bit of tension as a couple of the workers weren’t very friendly and there were intra-worker conflicts, but the space is definitely cool, esp. the rooftop bar/hangout area. That night, we scoped out Long Street, the hub of the city night life, which seems to start only after midnight.

The next day, we took a whole day wine tour to Stellenbosch with a driver who started us off with “Let’s go get you drunk! The hangover starts now.” I proceeded to get ridiculously tipsy and forget my bag at the restaurant at one of the wineries, Beyers Kloof. When we called back, they claimed they never found it even though we had left at closing time and no one else was there, so that meant that one of the employees found and took it. They refused to do anything about it, and that made me super despondent and pissed, so PLEASE DON’T EVER GO THERE. I AM ANGRY WITH THEM, AND THEY ARE JERKS. BAHUMBUG. I got to experience what a South African police station is like since I had to go there to file a report in order to possibly paid back with insurance. I am now camera and wallet-less, so no pictures from the trip, guys, sorry :(. I’m stealing a couple photos from my friends, and that will have to do.  After a day of sulking around the hostel waiting for possible news about my bag that never came, I recovered enough to go out with the gang plus one cute Australian guy who we met earlier at the hostel. I felt significantly better after some bar hopping and drink sipping. I stayed out til 4:30 AM because it was our last night, and then woke up at 7:30 to pack and get ready for our Robben Island tour. Despite having to fight to stay awake, it was really great to see the place where Mandela spent 18 years of his life in prison, sleeping on a concrete floor, only to emerge to become the president of SA. I was still worried about my missing wallet and low on cash, so while the others scoped out the market, I went back to the hostel, paranoid, to check out my bank account and try to troubleshoot. I still have no way to access money, but my friends are great and generous and lending me money until my replacement card gets here. I’m not letting it get me down. Although Cape Town now has some negative memories for me, I still had some great times, experienced a few new things, and benefitted from getting outside my comfort zone. I’m excited for Cape Town attempt #2 with my sister after exams :D.

A couple of general notes:

-The entire drive was gorgeous. Lush forests, pristine ocean, and soaring mountains that were impressive even in the distance. We saw wild elephants, ostrich, “deer-like thingies” (Bec), etc. along with all sorts of vibrant, colorful flowers and plants. Although the cars were a bit of a hassle at times, it was great to get to see all of it.

-The further West you go, the more Afrikaans is spoken/seen. By the time we got to Cape Town, most of the signs were in Afrikaans, and it got really handy have two Nederlanders with us.

-It’s really difficult to plan around ten people. It was great having all of us there, but we had difficulty getting a consensus, and we didn’t meet as many new people as I had hoped to. As the cute Australian put it, by himself, he got to meet 12 cool new people at once whereas we, collectively, only met one. Traveling in a big group is chill, but I think I’ll prefer on my own or only with a few other people. I guess that’ll be tested when I attempt to traverse Europe all by my lonesome self. Eep.