Ok, so I’ll have to admit that the reason that updates aren’t coming in frequently is due to my laziness, not a lack of experiences. With that said, I would like to continue to recount my spring break adventures. (Which were almost a month ago, which really doesn’t seem possible. Time really does fly.)
So, after our bridge jumping adventure, we continued along the southern coast, The Garden Route, and up through the mountains to the quaint little town of Oudtshoorn. The Garden Route was perhaps one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in South Africa. We ended up at the most beautiful hostel I’ve yet to stay in and topped it off with a delicious Italian meal. One of the most perfect days in my life, to be sure.
The following day, the 26th, we had a nice breakfast at a B&B and proceeded to an ostrich farm on which ostrich riding was the highlight. First we had a tour of the farm, feather duster factory, the hatcheries, and saw the farm’s two prized pygmy ostriches. After that, it was over to the fields and the riding. First of all, let me start by saying that ostriches are terrifying close up. To put it in Madison’s words, “They have velociraptor eyes!” They really do. Not to mention their freaky three-toed-feet and giant talon-like fingernail on the middle finger. Anyway, once we all sat on William the Ostrich for pictures and just to get comfortable, “saddles” were added to others to ride (saddles = pieces of tarp). Jami and Brooke went first, squealing with delight and fear the whole time. Next it was my turn. I got on, legs wrapped around front, held this dinosaur-bird’s freaky talon/arm/wing and I was off. The guys running the place had to chase him around to get him to run, but it was fun anyway. I unconsciously remember hearing “Hold on! Don’t lose your balance!” “I’m doing great!” I thought to myself. But soon I had lost my balance and was toppling forward as my ostrich rounded a corner. Hitting the ground wasn’t painful at all, but being stepped on by the ostrich that was behind mine was. I remember seeing it come at me and thinking “That thing’s talon/fingernail is going to tear my fleshy leg apart.” Later, checking myself in the bathroom, I realized that it really only left my pants a little dirty, tore my underwear, and left my inner thigh in a lot of pain. Days later, I would realize the extent of that step in seeing a pink, purple, and black bruise grow to the size of both of my hands. Whatever. I still rode an ostrich.
On Monday we (and by we, I mean Madison) drove from Oudtshoorn to Cape Town, leaving at around 6 and arriving at noon. We checked into our hostel, went in search of lunch to no avail, and ended up at Table Mountain. We saw that a tram ride to the top and back cost around R180 or about $25 and decided to skip that and save our moneyz instead. The view from where we were was gorgeous anyway. After this, we headed back to the hostel where the girls took naps and I decided to walk around the city. It was nice to be on my own in this big, safe, new city for a bit. I made it downtown and back, and then down the other side of the street our hostel was on. After arriving back at the hostel, we went to the Waterfront, which is mainly a shopping district on the water. No beaches. We walked around the mall a bit, saw a movie, and then attempted to find a Mexican restaurant and ended up at a Spanish place instead.
Tuesday we headed to Cape of Good Hope. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive through several beach towns. On the way, we passed baboons on the side of the road. This wasn’t my first time seeing this in South Africa, but I don’t think monkeys on the side of the road will be something I would ever get used to. All along the drive there were signs that read “Warning! Baboons are wild animals that are not to be fed. Lock your doors and roll up your windows.” Once at the national park of Cape of Good Hope, we had a little of a drive till at the Point. It reminded me of Oklahoma in its rolling plains, but was so different in that it was rocky and had the Ocean in the background. This place is truly gorgeous and may be at the top of my list of places to see before you die. Truly beautiful. The wind was blowing hard and white-capped waves were crashing on the shore and the rocks and then transitioned into beautiful blue ocean. And somewhere way out there, thousands of miles away, was Antarctica. On the drive back was a sign for penguin viewing. We parked and the car guard told us if we just stayed on the boardwalk, we didn’t have to pay to get to the beach and see them. Free wild penguins? Cool. Thanks, man! Anyway, we walked the boardwalk and saw dozens of penguins just chillin’ in the shade on the sand. We got to the end and decided to keep going anyway, which was a good decision seeing as how we got to the beach and had some pictures taken. Once back in Cape Town, we had Mexican (the first time in two and a half months for all of us), which was delicious. After that, gelato (also for the first time in 2.5 months), and back to the hostel.
I’ll stop here, as the rest of spring break has both detailed days as well as plain ones.
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