So, we left for Jo-Bay on Friday morning and stayed until Saturday afternoon. Here is a very brief description of it: a surfer’s paradise. It is considered one of the top four or five surfing destinations in the world and each July the Billabong Pro surfing competition takes place, attracting surfers from all over the world.We stayed at a backpacker called Island Vibe, a really cool place on the beach with a great view of the ocean and the city. It was pretty cheap and a lot of fun in general, both very important characteristics. While there, we of course gave surfing a shot, something I had relatively good success at. A few of us also tried sandboarding, which is basically snowboarding on sand dunes by a beach in 90 degree weather! It has its ups and was a fun experience, but I prefer snowboarding. One of my favourite parts of the trip, believe it or not, was dinner on Friday night. We ate at a place called Die Walskipper, an awesome seafood restaurant situated right on the beach only a few minutes from our backpacker. It is open air, with nothing but a large tent and one wall that serves as a wind block for shelter, and the coolest part, the floor is sand! It was really relaxing and the group had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the evening! Overall, Jeffrey’s Bay was a great weekend trip and a definite highlight!
The other weekend trip that I went on was to Knysna and Plettenburg bay on Thursday and Friday the 26th and 27th of February. For those of us in Marine Biology, our last day of class for the week is on Thursday afternoon, so five of us took advantage of this and left right after class. It was a pretty short trip, where we had to be back by Friday night so that those of us in the Scuba Diving class (something I will touch on in a later blog) could go diving on Saturday morning.
We got on the road by 12:30pm on Thursday afternoon and arrived around 3:30pm. The initial plan was to do an overnight hiking route along the coast. However, due to lack of information, we arrived too late in the day to make the hike out to the hut we were planning on staying at. It was a surprising turn of events, but each of us explored some different options, and we ended up making some great plans. On Thursday in the late afternoon, we went on a little cruise of the Lagoon that the city is built around. It was very relaxing and a good time chatting with those I was travelling with. Afterwards, we went to dinner at
a restaurant famous for its oysters, called the Oyster Catcher. We tried some of the oysters which were wonderfully prepared and something I wouldn’t mind having again. On Friday morning we got up relatively early and went on a hike about 20 minutes outside of Knysna. It wasn’t quite the ocean-side hike I was expecting, but it was pretty nice. It was actually surprisingly similar to those in Minnesota. Afterwards we 
stopped by Plettenberg Bay, stayed briefly, then continued on to our next destination, Monkeyland! As its name hints at, Monkeyland is basically a section of forest with a wall around it and a ton of monkeys inside then made into a tourist destination. We got really close to a bunch of the monkeys, and had a lot of fun learning about them. Afterwards, we checked out a bridge that spans a huge gorge, also home to the highest bungee jump in the world. We didn’t actually bungee jump that day, but took in the great view and mentally prepared for something that we will definitely do before leaving. Afterwards we headed back towards PE, which was itself an adventure I suppose. The driving is quite a bit different than in the US and the common practices have taken a little bit of getting used to. Besides driving on the left side of the 
road, it is common courtesy for slower moving vehicles to move partly or all the way onto the shoulder (without slowing down) so that faster moving vehicles can pass. You can imagine driving down the road with, for example, one oncoming truck passing another. Let me just say, I definitely gripped the steering wheel tighter in those moments! But it has gone well. On only a couple of occasions did instinct kick in and I accidentally drove on the right hand side, but luckily they were on remote roads.So there is a little sample of what I have been up to since getting here. They were both great experiences and definitely make me excited for the ones to come!
I guess this blog did get a little bit long, so I apologize, but I will work on getting caught up. Sending my love from South Africa,
Kirby
No comments:
Post a Comment