Wow! This weekend was full of adventure for
Team America! On Friday we traveled to Plettenburg Bay which is about a two
hour drive from Port Elizabeth but stopped about an hour into the trip for
bungee jumping. I was too chicken to jump but two of my roommates did. Bloukrans
Bridge is where we stopped and it just so happens to be the is the highest
bride jump in the world. To get to the middle of the bridge where the girls
jumped we had to walk under the bridge on a steel crated “bridge”, it looked
and felt just like chicken wire though!You could see under your feet and it was extremely
terrifying. I am so scared of heights but I wanted to cheer on Liz and
Katharine so badly that I sucked it up and went across. At one point a semi drove over the concrete
bridge and the crate bridge started to rock, I was panicking and wanted to get
off so badly that I started crying! I wasn’t bawling but tears were definitely
in my eyes.But once we got onto the
middle part where there was concrete under my feet and I didn’t have to look
down it was fine! I was so impressed at Katharine and Liz for jumping! It was
awesome to watch, even though I was freaking out for them. It was a great way
to start the weekend!
Shannon(British friend) and myself walking across the bridge.
Team America + Mark on the Bloukrans Bridge!
After we left the bridge we
drove to the hostel we were
staying at to put down bags and change into our swimsuits. The hostel
was
beautiful and had the most amazing backyard full of trees, plants,
hammocks and
beautiful shrubbery!We got ready to
leave and headed down to the ocean to go swim with seals! When we got
our
wetsuits and snorkel gear ready we loaded up in a little boat and went
out to
sea! The boat took us about a mile off of the beach to the rocky shore
where the seals were! There were easily nearly a
thousand
seals up on the rocks and a couple hundred in the water. Shew, you could
smell
them from miles away! They made the sillest grunting noises too!When we first pulled up I was a little
freaked out because seals are prey for sharks but I quickly learned that
the
guide with us had a device that sent high frequency signals out that
kept
sharks away. It was overwhelming to swim with the seals! The little
munchkin
ones were so cute and would swim right up to you and just curiously
stare. The
big elephant seals on the other hand were a little scary when you swam
up along
side of one. It was so hard not to stick my hand out and grab one of the
baby
seals! They were so cute! One time I held my breath and swam to the
bottom and
looked up and a little seal came right in front of me and just watched
me. I
thought he was going to bite me but he just swam away. I was able to
touch him
as he swam by and he was so soft. We took a GoPro camera down with us to
record
the interactions and the little seals were showing off for us! It was
the
cutest thing, they would flip around for it and then come up and start
nibbling
on the camera. We swam with seals for about 45 minutes.It
was hard to believe that we were able to
swim with theseanimals! They were
seriously the cutest things ever.
Seals on the rocks! There were nearly a thousand stretched across for about a half a mile on the rocks.
Emily, Liz and I before swimming with the seals
Right before I jumped into the water. Those dark shadow and little heads in the water are the seals
On the boat before heading out to sea!
Friday
night we went to a little braai (cookout) down the road and I successfully
started a dance party with every person in the restaurant. I think the youngest
person besides our group was around 60 years old. It was quite entertaining to
dance to the YMCA, Sweet Caroline and the Macarena.
As you can tell, I am not enjoying Africa at all. ;)
Saturday:
It was an early morning but it was so worth it! We got up around 6:15 and drove
two hours into Mossel Bay to shark dive with Great Whites! If anyone is a Shark
Week fan, you probably have seen Mossel Bay many times because it has the biggest
population of Great Whites in a domestic area. These sharks hang out in the
deeper waters only 80 meters away from the shoreline! Crazy! When we got into
Mossel Bay we passed the famous seal island! We had to be de-briefed and
explained how to properly react when the sharks approached the cage. The boat
ride out to spot where we dove was about a 25-minute boat ride. The water was
beautiful in the early morning and allowed for some quality thinking time! As
we approached our location the ship crew poured, “chum” into the water to
attract the sharks. It was about 10 minutes later when the first beast came to
sight.After throwing the anchor into
the water, we were fitted for wetsuits, the cage was thrown into the water and
it was time! The cage was metal bars and about 8 feet tall.There were bars in the cage that we were to
hold onto while inside. It was pretty scary to look at it but when you were inside
of it I felt very secure and safe. I was the second person to climb into the
cage! I could not wait much longer; I was so excited I couldn’t stand it! The
boat crew would throw bait into the water to leer the sharks to the us and when
they were close enough he would pull the bait out of the water to get the
sharks to breech.A few times the sharks
came head first into the cage, now that was a little frightening! They would
hit the cage so hard with their noses that they would start bleeding. At one particular
time the shark came by very slowly upthe cage and you were able to see every tooth
in his mouth and every scratch on his body. His eyes were the weirdest sight
I’ve ever seen, they looked like glass and would move around in his head. Ewww
it was gross. I didn’t ever feel unsafe in the cage but there were a few times
when the sharks would ram the cage that I caught myself squealing and grabbing
the random man next to me. We got really close, ha-ha! Even though they are
very dangerous animals they were magnificent to watch. They were beautiful
creatures and so majestic.I could have
sat on the boat and watched them for hours. Sadly we never saw a full breech,
but we were lucky enough to see 6 Great Whites in the time when we were cage
diving.
After we dove, we went to a
shark aquarium in Mossel Bay and were able to get into one of the glass tanks
and swim with baby sharks and fish.I
didn’t like it too much though. When we got into the tank, there was only about
6 inches between the roof and the top of the water. The tank itself was very small and only three
people could swim at one time. It was
difficult to swim down to the bottom of the tank without holding onto
weights.It was a fun time, but I don’t
think I would do it again unless the tank was a little bigger.
Saturday night we ate dinner
and went out with the group for a little bit before coming home and hanging out
at the hostel. Emily, Liz, Katharine and I decided to sleep outside in the
hammocks under the stars! The stars are amazing out here! It was beautiful! We
were convinced we were hearing monkeys in the tree but it ended up being bats.
Ewww!
Liz & I at dinner Saturday evening.
The hammock I slept in, this cat snuggled with me all night long!
Sunday morning we made our way
towards Port Elizabeth but made a few stops along the way. We first stopped at
Monkeyland which is a sanctuary for monkeys that have been in captivity as
house pets, circus animals, zoo’s etc.There are 10 different species of monkeys; we were fortunate enough to
see 9. The monkeys were absolutely adorable! Especially when the mom monkey had
a baby monkey on her back! Their little faces were so sweet. They were very
interested in our cameras and shiny jewelry but not into the tour group.It was so funny to watch these monkeys
interact with one another. They were howling, squawking and even throwing fruit
at each other, and Emily!
After
Monkeyland we walked over to the bird sanctuary, which is Birds of Eden!
They
had some of the most beautiful birds at B.o.E. Parrots, Toucans,
Flamingo and
other exotic birds with some of the craziest names. One parrot would sit
and
talk to you! He was pretty cute! Our British friend Shannon decided to
be our
tour guide through Birds of Eden. She is easily the funniest person I
know! The
things she would about each bird would leave you in stitches, and she
was
making it up along as she went. That was until she got the pamphlet with
the
information on each bird. I think everything was funnier because of her
accent!
The birds were amazing and thankfully didn’t poop on anyone’s head, even
though
it is considered good luck.
Emily & I at Birds of Eden.
The parrot that would talk to you!
After
Birds of Eden, we headed off to go zip-lining at Tsitsikamma. As I mentioned
before, I am afraid of heights but I’m proud to say I have conquered my fears
this weekend.The gear we had to wear
was kind of heavy, but required to stay safe! The zip lines ranged from 40
meters long to the longest which was 216 meters long. We went over creeks,
rocks, trees and waterfalls. When I would go across I would turn my body around
that I was going backwards and would look around me! Going over the waterfalls
was the best part! They were absolutely beautiful!It is hard for me to explain everything in
sufficient enough details to give you an idea of how astonishing everything is
here! Hopefully my photos will give you all a better idea of the adventures we had
this weekend. They are memories I will never forget.
I’m beginning the start of my seventh week
of teaching! I was observed Tuesday afternoon and it went very smoothly.I am starting to get very sad knowing my time
here is South Africa is coming to an end. I honestly get very choked up when
the girls and I talk about it.
This weekend was an absolute blast. We have been immersed in
South African athletics. I
wanted to give an update on the Oscar Pistorius case, he has made bail and was released from prison on Friday
morning. I had previously mentioned that when Reeva Steenkamp chose to be
cremated that she would be cremated at the Victoria Park Cremortium, which is
directly behind my school. Well, yesterday was the day when she was finally
laid to rest. May she rest in peace.
Katharine(left) Liz(right) and myself at the cricket match!
Team America!
But on a lighter note, we spend our weekend being true Port Elizabeth locals
and met some semi-famous athletes. Friday we hung out at the beach until the
last possible moment in the sunshine! We cleaned ourselves up and headed out to
St. George’s Stadium to watch a cricket match. It is very similar to baseball.
We were rooting for the Port Elizabeth Titans. We were not sure what color they
were so we kind of cheered for both teams! It was all in great fun though.
Saturday we also spent at the beach! Anyone tired of hearing about the
beautiful weather?? I’ve convinced myself that I was a fish in a previous life because I never want
to leave the water, unless it is freezing! But the waves were quite big on
Saturday! We were able to watch some surfers, and boy did they get massive air!
They were all over the place. We saw some of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University students earlier in the day with a blow up air mattress and they
would ride in the waves! It looked like a blast too! I was jealous we didn’t
think of the brilliant idea ourselves. Liz & I were dying to try and our
adventurous bone kicked in and we asked if we could try it out! We absolutely
failed. The wave we rode in sent us flying off the air mattress and skidding
through the sand. The girls on shore were dying laughing when we finally got up
off the sand from being knocked and flipped around through the waves. I think I swallowed enough salt water
for a sea of fish to live happily in my belly. But it was fun enough so we did
it again. This next wasn’t as much of a fail. The waves were almost too rough
to play in though. We figured we would have another chance.
Saturday evening we went to watch the South African Kings vs. Western Force
(Australia) rugby game at the
Nelson Mandela Stadium. The Nelson Mandela Staduim was built for the FIFA World
Cup 2010. The architectural design of the stadium was incredible, other than
the steps walking up to the stadium that I tripped up, twice. I also ran into a
lamppost, it wasn’t my night. The South African Kings came out on top beating
the Aussies. Rugby is so intense, it is similar to football but without the
pads, helmets and timeouts. The players are insanely huge and pretty young
men. The fans at the game were
probably the best part. They were so excited to watch their teams. Someone
started the wave and it was the BIGGEST wave, I have ever seen! Everyone was
standing and shouting, the bongo drummers also caught on with the beat. It was
great time! Liz also teaches with me at VP Grey Primary and she has a student
whose dad plays for the Kings! So that was pretty cool to have a connection
with a player.
The beautiful sunset inside the stadium!
Rugby!!! South Africa is in the black!
The connections keep coming! Sunday afternoon we went back
to the Brewery which is a restaurant that we have fallen in love with. We were
sitting down and a big herd of huge men came in and everyone in the restaurant
stopped and stared at them. Turns
out it was the Australian Rugby team, they heard our accents and began talking
to us across the tables. We ended up sitting with them for a little while and
finished our dinner! They were telling us so many stories of the amazing places
they have traveled to play. The
tallest of the group was 6’11 and the shortest one was 5’11. Needless to say, I
felt like a dwarf. So I met the
Australian Rugby team in the tip of Africa. I am getting very cultured.
The school week has been very quiet. Between loosing my voice at the games and
allergies, I sound a bit manly and the students love to laugh at me! It makes
me sad knowing I wont be with them much longer. I have truly enjoyed being in
class with these munchkins! They are students I will never forget.
This weekend we are traveling to Plettenberg bay to swim with seals and cage
dive with Great White Sharks! Ahh! I’m so excited but still super freaked out! We
will be diving by The Seal Island which has appeared on Shark Week many of
times! Yikes!
So as many of you know, the South African “Blade Runer”
Oscar Pistorius is being charged with pre-Meditated murder of his super model
girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Steenkamp was shot three times before Pistorius “realized” it was she.
Boxes of drugs were seized from his bedside drawer. He is also being charged
with having unauthorized ammunition and not having licenses on some of his
guns.
Steenkamp’s hometown is Port Elizabeth and Tuesday at 11am
was her funeral. The funeral was located at the Victoria Park Crematorium which
is located directly behind my school.The crematorium can be seen from the art room and I was able to talk
with the art teacher earlier this morning.She saw Francious Houggard get out of his jeep and walk into
the service. Houggard is the rugby player that was texting Steenkamp and is
apparently the text message created an argument previously in the day of her
murder.The art teacher also saw
the family and friends of the Steenkamp.
Steenkamp has chosen to be cremated at the Victoria Park
Crematorium, and the teachers have told us that when the “ovens” are on, the
school will smell of smoke.
It is very eerie and unsettling to know this. It gives me the chills thinking about
it.
Many people have asked what the feelings in Port Elizabeth are on this case,
and the truth is, its 50/50. I don’t really know what to think about it. His bail
hearing was ironically at the same time as Steenkamp’s funeral service.His trail continues….
I will continue to keep you all updated as this takes
place.
