Adventure Weekend!

Wednesday, March 8th

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 these  animals! 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 up   the 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.