Making the decision to leave Cape Town was hard because there was still so much to do but it was in the end an excellent decision. I got on the Baz Bus (which I wasn't too sure about because backpacker buses are known for the amount of 18 yrold piss heads who are just trying to get laid - not really my thing!) but actually it was low season and there weren't that many peopel on the bus so it was a very civilised way to travel (and the safest option for a girl traveling on her own). So I headed straight for Jeffery's Bay (I would've liked to see more of the garden route but i didn't have much time and had already been to Plett and Knysna).

J Bay

Us Brits really are everywhere! The first thing I was met with, as I got off the bus, was a guy from Devon greeting us and showing us around, Hmmm. It was very weird - I felt immediately at home when I walked into the bar and saw Stefania (friend from Long St Backpackers) chatting up some boys (as usual!) and then was pulled through into the lounge to continue the tour and who do I see but Kim and Sjoerd (also LSB'ers). It was an instant party and although I felt ill, had a really good night and ended up being thrown out of the bar with a couple of guys from Alaska at who-knows-o'clock coz the barman was ready for bed! That was pretty much the theme of Island vibe Backpackers - good bar, good people and sun, sea and sand during the day.

That first night, whilst still sober I agreed to go on a horse ride the next moring with Stefania. Although we were both kicking ourselves for this at 8.30 the next morning (stefy more than me, I have to say!) I am so glad we went; it was one of my favorite things I did while I was there. Very upset though because I didn't take my camera; I just wasn't expecting it to be one of the most stunning rides I have ever been on. We were the only ones there and due to the "Load Shedding" (another word for the frequent and very annoying blackouts that are plagueing SA) we were transported there in a camper van; Stefy in front and me in the back - not on the bed that is fixed to the car, Oh No! on the flimsy plastic lawn chair that was placed in front of it! It was all I could do to stay upright when we went round a bend and the chair legs buckled beneath me. We rode along a path for what seemed like ages, just walking, taking in the scenery and trying to get over the night before. I thought that it was goign to be boring. I was wrong. We rounded a bend and started climbing a huge sand dune and at the top we saw acres of tall dunes stretching out to all sides and ending at the most beautiful, deserted beach. We walked long the top of the dunes and as we desended to the base, our guide said that I could go off if I wanted while he stayed with Stefy. I galloped through the dunes, weaving my way around through the sand. It was incredible and I had almost forgotten how much I loved to do this! We reached the beach which is only ever used by a few local fishermen or anyone crazy enough to walk from J Bay. So for 5km we were completely alone and while Stefy contented herself with walking along behind, I galloped in the surf and raced our guide along the beach, occasionally returning to Stefy and running away again! We were out for 3 hours and it was definitely worth the money!

The next day was just as awesome (can you tell I liked it here!). I got in the back of a lee's bucky (so another random and slightly unsafe journey that would never be allowed in England ensued) and a big group of us went out to the waterfalls; which are in an entirely random place, through a farm and what felt like someones back garden. V strange! We spent the day chilling by a lagoon, jumping from great heights and drinking the wine that had joined Stefan, Jamie and I in the back of the bucky. Standing at the edge with everyone looking at you is no time for courage to fail you; so off I popped and 6 metres later I was freezing my ass off! We headed back to the hostel and proceeded to have a very raucous night which included hats and hooters for ringing in Stef's Bday at 12 and an actual bucket full of red and white wine and granadilla twist! Yurlch!

Chinsta

Stef and I headed out of Jeffery's Bay when we lost most of our musketeers and ended up in Chintsa; which is bascially a one horse town with one backpackers, one shop and a beach. We chilled for a few days (apart from one night, but that's another story!) and generally recharged in a beautiful setting.

P.s. if anyone heads out there don't just spend your whole time at Buccs, there is a beautiful resturant overlooking the ocean, on the top of the hill in Chintsa East called Michealas. Good food with a view!

Coffee Bay

Coffee bay is another beautiful, but quiet place that has somehow found it's way onto the backpacker circuit because of a chilled beachy vibe, free surf lessons and fantastic hostel. At the Coffee Shack we were greeted with a free welcome drink and a lesson on the 'Buffalo' rules....basically no right hand drinking and this is riggorously inforced by Mali the resident DJ and anyone else who takes it upon themselves to be Buffalo Police! dangerous? Yes. On arriving I was again confronted with more brits, who turned out to be completely awesome (shocker, I know!) and it's actually really nice to find people that are automatically on the same wave length and share the same sense of humour. It's a fact of travelling (being able to say this now coz I'm a few weeks on from here) that you will not always meet people who it is so easy with; and it's especially hard when you start to miss friends back home who you don't have to 'Try' with. That's why it was so nice to be able to jibber on about Phil and Fern, Brit jokes and banter with people without worrying.

The next day we went on a bit of a killer hike to the Mpuzi caves, still not as bad as Platterklip, but actually at some points it was more dangerous! We had to side step our way down a near vertical cliff with shingle and dust under foot instead of nice strudy rocks. (never thought I would miss those rocks!) Then scramble over wet rocks at the oceans edge and through a cave into another which was pitch back and full of twittering bats. (stef even got the happy present of some Guano, directed right on her swede!) We were meant to be doing some more cliff jumping, but when we got to the site, the ocean was raging and if we had jumped we would've been trown back against the rocks... hmmm No! We had to walk through a river to get back to the lunch site and the tide had come up a little higher than expected; we ended up taking off our clothes, holding our bags over our heads and wading in! It came up over our waists so once our bags where safe and dry on the other side we thought nothing would be better than a bit of a swim! After lunch (toasties on the braai, tres crazy!) we went a little further down river and Joseph knew a spot where we could finally get to do some jumps! Actually really love this now, it's definitely a rush because of the lack of harnesses! All the boys did loads of jumps and dives and crazy stuff that I still don't have the heart for, but after a while I thought it was my turn and I headed up the rocks. I almost wimped out - it was much higher than the one at J Bay and had rocks poking out the water to one side! I was being a bit of a pansy and unfortunately we have it on tape because I asked a friend to take a photo and he ended up filming the entire thing! Bastard! I knew I was going to do it so, at the moment I was thinking about it the least, I jumped. Whoo Hoooo! So even though I was a big girl about it to start with, I was the only girl to jump so I still think i've got a couple of balls of steel hidden somewhere!

That evening some newbies arrived at the hostel and there where a few familiar faces; love that about this route you keep bumping into people you know, or half know. (obviously a problem if you've got some right 'tards on the circuit, but luckily all I kept on doing was seeing people I wanted to!) We all went out to a Xhosa village to have dinner and dancing at the Headmans house. It certainly was an interesting evening and with Joseph as our translater we learnt a lot about the culture. We watched the young girls and boys dance then had some traditional dinner and Xhosa brew - really not the best tipple I've tried - Amy described it as vodka-sicky-vomit (really stretching the vocab skills there Amz!) During Q&A we started to ask about marriage and the ritals they go through etc. They said that the boy will choose the girl and his family will pay the girls family a certain amount of money and livestock depending on her 'worth' - based on education, virginity etc. Not something that I personally would ever be comfortable with, feeling like you were being bought, but it was meant to show that the man has enough to provide for the girl. (minor problem coz after paying for her, he's broke and her family are rolling in it!) This is when I got myself into a bit of trouble - joseph, on hearing that there were many unmarried men inthe village, asked if they would like to keep any of us girls behind for them - it was then that all the 'mamas' pointed at me! I was the chosen one to stay in the village and wash/cook and carry wood - could they have picked a less suitable candidate!?! Sitting at a computer and designing building layouts is a whole lot easier than the lives they lead, (even if I have to deal with the dirty builder stares on site!) so I explained that I couldn't possibly stay. They offered 20 cows for me! The average for them is 10 so obviously I was flattered into considering, but unfortunately i'm not entirely sure my dad in all his computer geekiness would know what to do with 20 cows!

When we arrived back I was speaking to Ben, a brit (who else!) doctor working in a Xhosa community, about the dancing earlier in the evening. I presumed that the girls danced topless because it was part of their traditional culture, but he explained that the Xhosa community is actually very modest and traditionally cover up. I thought that the evening was done very well all in all; Joseph is from a local Xhosa village and the hostel works very closely with the local community, I thought they would frown upon anything that was 'put on' for the tourist, especially if it went against the cultures traditions. I am now worried that this community felt that this was expected of them so they did it for us, dancing with their tops on wouldn't have taken anything away from the experiance. At the time I took photos of them dancing because it was incouraged and I wished to try to capture the movement and atmosphere of the evening as someone who is interested in photography. I have included a couple of these photos because, as a photo, I liek them and they do evoke something from that evening.

We had a fab next day on the beach, the guys - surfing and playing volleyball, us girlies - sunbathing! Then the rains came. They stayed all that night and all the next day. We actually spent 5 HOURS playing monopoly under the canopy, snuggling up under thick blankets! That night was meant to be a small full moon party - think Thailand's on Valium - but the moon sadly never made an appearance through theclouds, yet we still managed to have a good time and get pretty sozzled! (me not as much as the first night because I had finally learnt to drink with my left hand!)

Because the rain was due to continue Amy and I got the bus outta there and were on the road to, a hopefully sunny, Durban!

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