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Published: February 8th 2008
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Hey everyone!
I have had a busy few days and am now in Storm's River, a great little village which is slightly more rural than what I've seen so far. The people are very friendly and the hostel is good, but first I will tell you about Wilderness, where I spent the last 3 days.
I took the bus from Cape Town to the Fairy Knowe hostel in Wilderness, which took about 8 hours. The hostel is in the woods, about a 25 minute walk from town (during which you pass many, many huge vacation homes). The rich white/poor black syndrome is quite obvious here. The beach here is absolutely huge, but with hardly anyone on it so I spent a day there and walking around town (which took about 3 minutes total). The hostel was very relaxed and quiet, with a bunch of dogs running around and lots of old trees in which, I presume, there are many little fairies leading their own lives). My dorm was in an old farmhouse built in 1874, with the original windows and floorboards (creaky, but such character!) They also had a big outdoor bar under a thatched hut, with huge couches
to lounge in which I couldn't get enough of. I met 3 people with whom I spent a lot of time, Joanna, Eve, and Will---on our first day together we went paragliding with one of the hostel owners. He's been flying for 9 years and it was incredible! he drove us about 20 minutes away to Knysna, up a mountain, and we were off! It wasn't scary at all, just really relaxing and with probably the best views I will ever experience.
The next day we all went horseback riding, and while the trail was great, probably the best part of it was getting to know our guide, Elbrus. He is from Russia and used to be a stunt rider with the Moscow State Circus, but now lives in SA and trains horses to do stunts in movies. He and his horses have been in tons of shows, and he and his wife showed us their promotional video---this guy can do some craaaazy stuff!
One other cool thing that happened in Wilderness was meeting Mattias and Alex, who are two traditional journeymen from Germany. The first day they showed up we couldn't figure out who the heck they
were, because they were wearing rather strange, old-fashioned clothing and top hats. They belong to a group of about 500 who practise this tradition that started in the middle ages, where young men travel the world for 3 years and a day and survive by offering people their services as craftsmen (Mattias was a builder, and Alex a carpenter). The rules are: they cannot come within 60 km of their villages during the 3 years, have to wear their traditional clothes the whole time, can only start out (and return) with 5 euros in their pocket and no worldly possessions, and must not carry a bag (all their things were tied up in hankerchiefs). In 3 years, they have been EVERYWHERE. Alex asked me where I was from, and I told him Canada, so he asked me to be more specific, so I said BC. He persisted, and I told him Prince George, and he replied, "oh yeah, I've been there." Can you believe it? Like I said, everywhere.
Once back from our horseriding I waited for the Baz Bus, and took it to Storm's River. I'm staying at the Dijembe hostel, which also has a bunch of dogs,
one of which can play soccer (no lie, I tried to play against him and didn't stand a chance). I got up this morning, had breakfast, and then..............did the world's highest bungy jump!!!!! 216 metres off the Bloukrans Bridge!!!!! I had been wanting to do it since I heard of it, and dwelled on the idea for months, literally, then decided to go for it and did! The anticipation was killer, since I was in a group of about 50 and ended up being fourth to last, so had to wait for a solid 2 and a half hours while everyone else went. Free-falling was unlike anything I have ever felt, and once I was at the bottom and dangling I could NOT stop laughing. It was crazy, but I'm so proud of myself for doing it. I am now exhausted, due to the continuous adrenalin pumping through my body for about 5 hours today. It's all on DVD though so I'll show it off when I get home! I also had a bungy buddy, Glenn, so it was nice to have some moral support through the whole thing. Tomorrow I am hopping back on the Baz Bus and going
to Jeffrey's Bay, which I've heard is full of surfers. Don't worry mom, nothing more to do with heights (and aren't I clever to have withheld this from you until now??) I am off to bed now, miss everyone tons and am loving your emails, as usual😊 Goodnight from Storm's River, hope everyone is well😊
Love Linds
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