N2 Adventures

This past weekend was a good one.
It was a 4-day weekend so a group of 8 Americans decided to go on a little road trip called the Garden Route. You basically drive from Cape Town along one highway called the N2 until your heart desires. Considering we didn't have the average amount of 2 weeks time, we only made it as far as Plettenburg Bay. But still. It was beautiful. To give you a little breakdown of what the trip looked like....

On the first day, we drove out of Cape Town for 4 hours and checked into the backpackers at Mossel Bay. We had a sweet room. 4 bunk beds so all the guys and gals slept in the same room (yah, I think we're old enough and past the cootie stage). We had an outdoor porch with the sweetest hammock I've ever seen. The place looked nice, but we had to check out early and get the show on the road. We decided to eat breakfast at Mugg & Bean. My new favorite breakfast place!! I ordered the Belgian Waffles with ice cream (hey, it's never too early for ice cream) and a cheese omelet with toast. I was hungry. To everyone's surprise, I finished every last morsel. We played a few fun games while we were waiting forever for our food. I can't wait to share them with friends back home. So after breakfast, we drove to our first activity of the trip: the Cango Caves Adventure Tour. We were led by the most serious tour guide I've ever met - he would tell us these scary things and not even flinch his emotions. It was crazy..one of our girls almost backed out but she toughed it out. He led us through a few beautiful chambers but our main fear was the end of the tour when we would have to squeeze tightly in the caves. By the end, we were pretty much on our stomachs and hands just wiggling to get through the holes and crevices. The last thing was the hardest part for me (curse my short legs!) but I managed to lift up to the platform thingamajigger. After everyone squeezed through, we walked back outside and we were never so happy to have fresh oxygen. Definitely not for a claustrophobic person! Afterwards, we drove to our next destination but stopped at various points to take photos. We stopped by the camels, the ostrich farm, and scenic mountains and valleys. We got into Kynsna in the evening time and had dinner at 34 South that Nikki & Donielle recommended to us. I ordered the Kassler Chops with sweet potato on the side - it was deelish. mmm. Some of the group went out to partyparty but most of us came back early and had some birthday cookies & cake.

The next day, we checked out pretty early. Something about the day was off from the start. The weather was gloomy and grey and our group was separated doing their own things. And the car I was in got a ticket for parking in the No Loading Zone. How were we supposed to know all the street signs and their meanings?? Two of us were sitting in the car waiting for a friend to get flu medicine from the pharmacy when an officer came up to us and handed us a ticket. He didn't even give us a warning... But ehhhh, what can we do. So anyways, we just grabbed breakfast quickly and met up with the others near the beautiful lagoons. Took some photos and then we took off for the next activity: BUNGY JUMPING. I had absolutely no desire to jump. Like...I never did. I have always wanted to go skydiving but not jump off a bridge. 4 friends were committed jumpers and 3 of us were bungy buddies who could escort them to the platform. 1 stayed behind just because. 1 out of 3 bungy buddies turned into a jumper....and it wasn't me. I had a percentage going on if I was to change my mind. It went from 5% to 98%. Yes, I was THAT sure I was going to jump. I spoke to the guy in charge and told him I wanted to sign up, but he said I could....without my friends being there. Not even a few friends! The reason behind this craziness was because a new group was coming in so something about the capacity. Sooo I said never mind and said maybe I'll come back. But now I definitely want to go back after hearing about everyone's jump and watching their videos. Besides, it's the world's HIGHEST jump. 216 meters. Eek. Just even doing the bridge walk made me a little woozy. It was awesome though because we met up with a couple of our other intern friends who were also doing the Garden Route. Sweet little reunion. After everyone jumped their fears away, we went to our next destination: Plettenburg Bay.

Easter Sunday. I went with two friends to a church across the street for service. It turned out to be a Catholic church so it worked out for my Catholic friends, and it worked out for me too cause I just wanted to go to a service. It was nice. We met up with the others and got breakfast at Europa. I ordered a layered bagel sandwich with rocket, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette. Then we took off for our last adventure of the trip: ziplining! We drove about an hour away to the Tsitsikamma National Park. We got strapped up with harnesses and cables, along with dorky helmets and huge gloves, and got started right away. We did 8 ziplines - the coolest ones being the ones over waterfalls. It was a lot of fun and the day was just gorgeous. We were supposed to paintball and quad bike, but those things didn't really work out so we just drove around to some scenic areas instead. We also planned a braai (BBQ) at the backpackers' camp fire so we prepared the burgers, hot dogs, and chicken kebabs. But before dinner started, a few of us went to Flashbacks (a local pub) to watch a soccer game and to grab a few beers/pizza. It was interesting and fun because my friend, Doug, is such a passionate fanatic so we all learned a little bit more about the sport. The girls went back early to cook. It was really nice to have everyone in a circle by the fire...especially since it was our last night. We had some good laughs and stories.

The last day was pretty much spent driving back to Cape Town. I took over about 3 hours of the way back and it made me verrrrry sleepy...especially because we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour.

All in all, I had a fantastic time. My group was young, reckless, and easygoing. I couldn't have asked for a better group.

I am PSYCHED about the few upcoming trips. I might do a Nomad trip with the boys up to Namibia, Botswana, Vic Falls, and Chobe. Possibly a 20-day camping trip.

I have another story to tell, but it is a bit of an embarrassing one.
I fell through the toilet on Tuesday.
Let me explain.
I usually stand on top of the toilet seat cover because our mirrors are a little high for me and we don't have full body length mirrors. Well, I do this pretty often...but for some reason, the seat cover decided to crack on me. I fell through and my legs/feet were cut and bruised along the way. It wasn't a very pretty sight. But I cleaned up quickly and still decided to go into work. My carpool buddy offered to take me to the hospital but I said no. When I got to work, my boss told me to go to the hospital just in case. So my co-worker drove me to the ER and I got it checked out. Turns out on my left foot, I have a deep cut with a little bit of tissue that was removed. And then on my right foot, I have a sprained toe. So yeah....I can't walk well at all because both feet are injured. Eck. I wish I had a better reason for why I'm walking this funny and why I have cuts all over my legs. Something heroic like I got in a fight with a mugger who stole someone's purse. Or even something like falling on a hike. But nope...I have to be the one who fell through the toilet. Oh well, it could've been a lot worse.

So anyways, back to the Cape Town daily grind. Yeaaah, it was hard coming back after such an amazing trip, but I can never get sick of this city and lifestyle. Lots of work to catch up on. And I am moving up to the penthouse for April and May. I am stoked beyond belief. But it's also bittersweet because about 10 interns are leaving at the end of this month. My roommate, Kelly, being one of them. :(

I've been telling a few friends that even though this year of traveling has been the most incredible experience of my life, I am almost excited to be back in Boston and just return to my student lifestyle. I miss having events to go to, having a class schedule, learning things, meeting and connecting with new people, etc. But wherever I am, I am just thankful for everything, as cheesy as that may sound. I am thankful for Cape Town, the things I am being exposed to and forced to think about, the people I am meeting, the things I am learning. And I know when I return to the states, I will be thankful for the convenience of everything, being near family and friends, and etc. But anywho, for now I am thankful for being here.