Jbay to cape to ghana

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March 25
Today when Entienne showed up I told him I wantted to cancel the whole surf camp. I explained my reasoning and he seemed really chill and relaxed about it. So I had to pay him 400 Rand, 350 for the taxi and then 50 for the breakfast. Plus I'm sure I lost my deposit. But overall I should be able to save a few 100 so whatever. 
Anyway after I made breaky we Stephan, Karmin, Emil and myself headed out to Cape St Francsis to surf seal point. It was a fun little point break with a cool white light house at the point. There were a few guys out there when we got there but they left shortly. It was maybe waist to chest high few bigger sneaker sets. It was good fun. We surfed for a few hours then headed in, got some grub at a little local shop then drove around the bay searching for a better wave. Unfortunately, we didn't find any though. We even went to Bruce's Beauties the famous wave in endless summer but it was completely flat there. So we went back to seal point to check it but it wasn't looking worth it so we headed back to jbay and checked it there but no dice either. So back to the hostel to chill and try and sort out transport to the bungy tomorrow. Thought about renting a car but decided to hop a ride with the gang tomorrow as they were headed back towards capetown.  That being sorted I went to grab some food for dinner and checked out shells hostel for her. When i got back the apparent manager of the surf camp was at the hostel looking for me. He wantted to know if he could help solve the problem. I explained the situation and everything he seemed ok with it. He said I may have judged to early but I didn't want to spend the money to wait and see if it got better. He also said they normally don't cancel but if I was unhappy which I was he said it was fine and glad I spoke up. We chatted abit he gave me his number if I needed anything then he left. I made dinner and passed out on the couch while the others were making a braii for dinner. They eat so late here. 

March 26
I got up prety early checked the nonexistent surf and waited for the others to get up and get on the road. We were meant to leave by 8 but didn't end leaving till 8:45ish or later. Then Stephan wanted to stop at a sandal shop for his friend well the shop had uggs and Karmin tried them all on and had the owner run to the factory to get the size and color she wantted. Haha.  They do make some sweet thongs (flip flops) too I'm gonna go back and pick some up. We finally got on te road around 10:30 ish. I felt bad to make por shell wait so long but I couldn't do anything. It's just africa time. Haha but it worked out pretty sweet in the end because shell met us on the side of the high way we scooped her up and then went to the bloucorans bungy jump bridge. They dropped us off we said good bye I tried paying them but they didn't take my money. They were super nice and friendly. Anyway shell and I soon signed our lives away and got harnessed up for our jump. The bridge was a pretty big cool arch one. They had a sweet station set up under there. The only down side is they don't allow cameras and you cannt see people jump because they don't allow you to the edge and it's solid concrete everywhere no grated or glass floor like new zealand. The view was decent you could see a small glimpse of ocean between the mountains behind us. The jump height is 216 meters but the actual jump freefall is probably half that. The free fall didn't seem as long as the Nevis in NZ or even the one in Vic falls. I think it was becaue they only use 2 cords one for heavy people and one for light people so unless your on the upper end of weight for the cord your weight cannt stretch it for the full free fall. Shell didn't think it was as big as Vic falls either and that was apparenlty only 108 meters high. I don't know. 
After our jump we went and watched our videos ans picked up some shirts. Then went to the cafe to grab some coffee and grub. Shell started talking to the group of kids inside, they were a rugby team from Argentina and were headed to Port Elizabeth when they were all done. So we asked their coaches if we could hitch a ride and they said no problem. So we waited around the cafe for around 4 hours. Druring which we had some crazy weather hot n sunny to windy cold rainy with hail to crazy fog. Finally one group finished so we got on their bus and started out. But as we left the parking pot shell noticed they turned the wrong way so we asked the bus driver where they were going and turns out they were going to plats bay tonight and PE tomorrow. So we had them stop and had to walk back to the bungy jump place. Little miscommunication haha wasted the day but enjoy shells company so it didn't matter.  I had a sign made that said JBAY Please. So I had that up and a thumb while we walked back. When we made it to the drive way of the bungy jump place a car had truned around and told he would take us to the gas station near storms river bride where it would be easier to get someone to pick me up. So he took me to the gas station then took shell back to storms river village. I walked down the raod to the station infront of a line of cars but no takers then I went to the pumps and asked the first guy I asked said he would take me to the exit for jbay as he was in a hurry. I said that be great. I bought him a cup of coffee and we were on our way. We chatter pretty much the whole way about south africa his life and crime in SA. He told me a story how he got mugged and robbed by a couple in capetown. Pretty crazy story. He said that's why he was hesitant when we saw me. Anyway when we got to the exit it was rainig and he said he'd take me into town. He took me basically to my doorstep, which was awesome as it was getting late/dark. 
I reheated some pasta for dinner and then hung out with Steve a ozzy who has been living in SA for 6 months and an english girl.      
I then caught up on here and nicked off to bed.

March 27
So today the swell was really supposed to pick up 12+ but be windy. Well I got up early to try and catch it before the wind but there was no swell in the water. It was maybe waist high mush. I ran down to the point to check it there because there were a few guys out but it was mostly longborders and very inconsistant. So I went back to my hostel and shell was there looking for me.  
I was thinking of renting a car at least for the day to check out Cape St Francsis and seal beach. Shell was keen to split the cost becaue she wanntted to check that area out and she rented a board too. So we walked to the car rental place rented a small compact car and took a little road trip to the cape. Well when we got to seal beach by the light house it wasn't working there either. It almost looked smaller and that place is supposed to pick up more swell than jbay. We then checked the main beach but that didn't look worth it either so we had some lunch on the beach and went for a walk. After our walk I wantted to show her Cape St Francsis town and the amazing houses there. So we drove around town marveling at the houses for a while. Then we went to check Bruce's Beauties spot but it was flat as there. Then we went back to the little town to grab some coffee and a small bite. 
From there wer headed back to the point to check it one more time but still not worth it so we headed back to jbay to drop the boards off then went to this beautiful waterfall place that had a little zip line off the falls down to the pool below. It was really cool. It was a georgous little waterfall in the back of some farm land. The zip line was slow but pretty fun shell got a bruise from the line attached to the zip but not to bad. I then jumped the 3-4 meter cliff into the water. I had to do it a few times  and slide down the rock waferfall before shell mustarded up the courage to do it too.  Sliding down the rocks was way more scary then jumping in but I managed fine almost hit some rocks but came away unscaved. Finally shell decided to jump but wanted me to slide on the rocks at the same time, would have made a cool pick but one one was around for miles. By now it was geting dark and cold so we ran back to the car drove back to jbay and went out for dinner at a placed called Three Fat Fish. A very nice little restaurnat Hanz recomended. We started with salmon fish cakes that were delicious then shell had duck that was amazing and I had monkfish that was pretty tasty.  I think the waitress forgot to fire our mains because we ended up being the last people in there but we had a nice evening chatting and enjoying each others company.  We wanted to splurge and get a parfet for desert but were to full and cold so we jsut ended with coffee and hot chocolate.  After dinner we went back to shells hostel watched a movie then nicked off to bed. 

March 28
So again I woke early to check the surf but no dice still nothing. So I rang shell and we thought of going back to the cape to check it ther but we would have gone over our milage limit so we decided to drive around jbay to find a wave for shell go surf. We wound up on the other side of town and there was a small wave out ther for her so she suited up I had to fix the leash on the board she rented. I then pulled it out and shut the boot/trunk stuck my hand in my pocket looking for the keys, not there, oh maybe front seat not there and door is locked "Shit" trunks locked and I could see the keys through the window. Damn it. I told shell to go have a surf and I'd figure it out. So she went out and I went to the nearest restaurant to call the car agency. They did not have a spare key though, it was in cape town for some stupid reason. She said shed have to try and figure something out. So I went back to wait by the car. Shell came out of the water claming she didn't like surfing haha. We waited a bit and she siad I should ask the surfer next to us. He rang his mates and got s number and rang a locksmith for us. Who eventually showed up and I had to pay 250rand for his 5second of work on the door to open it. 250rand is about 38 bucks terrible huh. I read the back of the paper i signed for the car it states if keys are lost stolen or locked in I have to pay for recoverage. Ridiclous. Any way we got the keys and drove to check out a little market shell had noticed the other day but there was nothing good there. We then went to the shoe shop so I could pick up the sweet thongs/flip flops I saw a few days earlier. Shell got some leather bracket and a belt for her sister, everything was beautifully hand made. 
After that we had to go drop the boards off fill up the car and clean it out to be dropped back off. 
We then went back to my hostel to have some grub. I took a little nap while shell watched some movie. Then I went out for a surf. It was pretty crappy it was small and it's such a fast wave all your doing is pumping down the line. I didn't have any good waves really. After the crappy surf we went back to the hostel shell made me some pasta and we chilled on the deck. We played some chess and chatted to ?Mark? another surfer studing in Port Elizabeth who was from NJ crazy small world. We all decided to have a braii for dinner so we had to go buy some wood and mark needed some meat. We had some beautiful steaks for dinner with some garlic rolls. After dinner we watched a flick and went to bed. 

March 29
Well you guessed it still no surf but I decided to give it ago my last day I could. I sat out there for an hour or so and it wa terrible cought 2 waves maybe, so inconsistant. After the surf I met shell and we went for a walk to the main town strip to do a little shopping and I wannted to see if Steve would take me to the airport in his beach buggy. He didn't think the buggy would work but he'd ask around. While we were there he managed to find me a ride for around 250 Rand so I took it I was hopping for a bit cheaper but didn't have anyother options as a taxi would have been 350. Anway I bought some more presents and did a bit more shopping then walked back. We stopped at the surf museum in town. It was pretty cool. Then we stopped at a fish market to pick up some for dinner. 
When we got back to my place we made lunch and watched the surf I contimplated going out for an hour or so then I finally said screw it last chance and went out. I caught a few close out barrells but nothig special it was nice to be in the water as the sun was settin and the moon risisng. When I got out I showered up and went up to shells to make dinner. I was in charge of the chips which didn't turn out to good but not terrible, not like moms, haha. Shell took care of the fish and made a sauce for it. We ate on the top deck in the moon light overlooking the ocean. It was a delicious and enjoyable last meal together. We then palyed a few games of pool and tried watching a movie but shell fell asleep before it even started. Haha. Then we said our sad good byes and i walked to my place   Shell is an awesome girl so down to earth, adventerous and kind. It was hard to say bye to her. 

March 30
I woke up early packed up make some breaky had a last look at supertubes, still no surf. Then waited for Marilyn to pick me up. She was a cool old lady that use to work for Billabong on the fashion side she said she's done all parts of it design, promotion, sales ect. She just made all the dresses for her daughters wedding pretty crazy. Anyway she took the senic road to the airport and wow it was beautiful. When we got to the airport I thanked her paid her and said goodbye. When I went to check in I found out my flight was canceled because of mechanical problems so they put me on a later flight 1:30 mins later. So I'm just chillen in the airport now waiting to fly back to cape town. 
The flight was fine and Kathy came and scooped me up at the airport. She didn't mind driving me down to Muizenberg to sell my board back. We stopped in beautiful Haout bay to drop off some jewlery to be fixed. When we got to the shop I returned my board, note to self: shops cannot put money back on a debit card use the credit card. So I wound up geting 1000 Rand cash which I will lose money converting.  Kathy and I then went for a little walk on the beach it was blowing quite hard as usual though. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at a cool little cafe. After our lunch we headed back to her place to get ready for the lion heads hike. As we were leaving I spotted Stephan (the guy I met out in jbay) crossing the street. It was crazy, Kathy apparently knew him as well, weird small world. He offered us to come hang out a bit but we had to get back to the hike. 
We stopped off at Kath's house got sorted for the hike and drove up the pass. Wow it was packed tons of cars and people up there, they were comming by taxi fulls as well. We did the hike up, third time for me haha. The sunset was spectacular as usual and the moon rise was equally fantastic. Silly me didn't bring my camera being the third time up there I didn't think it'd be much different. 
We hung out up there for an hour or so then hiked down to the car and went out to a very cool old building converted into a bar. Kath was meeting some old friends there. After hanging out a bit we headed back to the house but we stopped at street vendor to grab some street grub. 
When we got back I was exhausted so I nicked off to bed.

March 31
Today we wokeup to hike table mountain. We hiked from kirshtenbosh gardens up to mcleans beacon the highest point on the mt 1087meters. It was a steep but fun hike and I was happy it was in the shade of the trees. We hiked with another group of south African girls for a while until they split off to the resivors and we went to the top. Kathy origionally wanted to hike up and down but I think she under estimated the hike and herself. Haha she did it all but was slow moving. When we got to the top she said we should take the cable car down. Haha so we hiked across the table top to the car and headed down. What a spectacular view of cape town from up there though. You could sea city life, other mountians and oceans it was awesome.  I wish i did it wih shell and the girls too. Anyway We then caught a cheap taxi back to the gardens to get the car. 
She then dropped me off at her place so I could pack my bags and get sorted for leaving. She went to the market to get some meat to make some burgers. I managed to fit everything in my bags I hope I don't buy anything else in Ghana. Haha lunch was delicious my last good meal for a while, 24 ish hours transit. 
Kath then dropped me at the airport we said our goodbyes(she's keen in starting an overland surf tour with me haha well see).  I checked in and was off, unfortunately they didn't check my bag through to Ghana so I had to pick it up in joburg and re check in. 

April 1
Well I landed in Cario and was expecting to just sit in the airport all day but apparently they are putting me/us up in a hotel for a few hours, pretty crazy. Although we have already been sitting here for 2 hours what's another 10 huh haha. Well they finally got us organized through the side gate of immigration then shuttled over to a really nice hotel. Where we checked in had an amazing buffett breaky complete with some crazy good humas stuff. Then we had to wait a bit more for our rooms to be ready. When I finally got my room I layed down cracked open the Ghana book for the first time and had a look through it, while watching some movies. A few hours passed then I decided to have a shower and wash my socks and insoles. Then I went down to have an amazing buffet lunch, there was so much food it was ridiclous and of course I had to try it all. The waitor laughed at my plate sizes, said "I wouldn't have to eat for days after". Hahahe doesn't know me. The food was delicious some of the best I have had I recon aside from some of the really nice restaurants we've been to. After my massive lunch I walked around the grounds the pools complete with fake waterfalls, a casion, and a fitness room, pretty amazig hotel for the airline to put us up on for the layover. Apparently they do it all the time if your layover is over 8 hours they provide a place for you. Pretty sweet. Guess that's how they make up for having the oldest crappiest 1980s soviet planes. Haha I then went back to my room to rest and relax a bit watched some more tv and organized my things. Around 3:45 the phone rang which was my signal to go to reception to get picked up. Where I met Aquac and Eric Ghana brothers that traveled to Malasya for 2 days apparenlty on a tour or something seemed kind of odd but pretty nice guys. They want to come to america to study someday. Anyway we got shuttled to the airport picked our pasports and boarding passes up at the service center went through security and immigration. I stopped at a cafe to get some coffee abd the kid behind the counter thought my hair was plastic amd wanted to touch it. That was hilairous.  Now I'm just waiting at the gate to depart.

April 1 cont.
Well the flight was decent. But immigration was a night mare. They told me my visa expired. It says valid for 3 moths from date I took to mean from the date I arrived not the date it was issued. They wouldn't let me extend it either because your only allowed to do that while it's valid. The offical said I could pay him 100 USD and he'd stamp it or I could go get a new visa for 150USD. I asked if I pay the 100 would I have a problem leaving and he said no. He said that would create a problem for him if he did something wrong. So I believed him and paid the 100USD to have him stamp it. I left grabbed my bags then headed out where Nanado and his friend were waitig for me. It was great to see him. We went out to the car and some guy came overtrying to get me to give him money for something. We just drove away. Nana Addo said you learn 2 things in Ghana patience and corruption. Which got me thinking about that government offical thinking that was some sort of scam or something. I didn't sleep a wink last night because I was so worried about getting caught or having to pay again to leave, plus it's hot and sticky here. Anyway they took me back to Kens house. Where we chatted a bit planed some spots to hit the next few days then I nicked off to bed. 

April 2 
So I did get a wink of sleep last night because of that immigration problem and where I'm staying. Ken seems like a good guy and he gave me his bed and all but I kept congurig up the worst situations in my head. I finally got our of the room by 8am Ken was half asleep on te couch. We had a few quasi random conversations as I tried reading the Ghana book so I could have some imput on what to do and see. Ken kept saying Nana Addo was on his way but he never showed. So I asked if we could go get some food. We walked around the block and found a street food lady selling cocoa or poriage and some fried bread stuff. We then went and got some fresh bead from a differnt place. We went back to kens house ate some of the food which was crazy spicy and the sat there some more. I asked to go to the internet place I saw so we walked over there. I spent 40 mins or so on there then went to kens friend place called tbe garage where we met 2 guys who could have been the head of the local gang. We had some food with them and sat there a while. I felt very uncomfortable I texted Nana Addo to see where he was. He said he was waiting on his sister and would be over soon. We then went backto kens house where we sat some more. Nan Addo then called and said he'd be over in 15 mins his sister had to head this way so he'd get a ride. A while passes some friends/cousins pass though then kens brother Ernest wanted to go to the pool so ken said we should go and Nana Addo could just meet us there. Well it's 1:30 and I have done nothing but sit around all day. Pretty ridiclous. I wish I made my stay here shorter in fact if he's not around by 2 or so I may go back to the intenrt place and try snd call my travel agent to change my flights.
Well he did finally show up at 2 and he told me we would go to his friends place and meet some of his crew and then drive around Accra to show me some stuff. When we were waiting for the taxi we apparently met the hottest Ghana producer hammer toson or something. He was really nice and even paid for our taxi cross town. Well his friend and cousin live in a place that is half finished concret building. They guy we were meeting there was cleaning up so Nana Addo and I went in and sat down and he gave me a full run down of his countries history, people lives and religious beliefs. It was very intresting and crazy he talked about witch doctors and black
Magic stuff. It was pretty nuts. Oh this was all while he smoked some weed. Quite a few guys came through while we were there I guess part of his crew. One guy who was awarded radio commentator if the year a few years back. The guys were all very friendly rasta guys as ken puts it. Haha.
Well we finally got in the car around 4pm for my drive through Accra experience. We first drove to an old slave trade castle which was on the beach. We were not allowed to go in or even near it. We actually got stopped by some military police on our loop back from looking at Accras main beach, which was super crowded and pretty dirty. From there we went past the freedom memorial arch and museum. Then we wnet to kawani memorial and museum Ghanas first president. That was pretty intresting especially afer the history lesson Nan Addo gave me. He is very knowledgeable about his country, it's quite impressive. From there we drove along the coast towards the lighthouse and passed some old delapatated British colonial slave trade houses. Then we drove through what used to be the main rich British area of Accra but now is home to thousands of poor in a shanty town called James town. We drove around there for a while it was very crowded and pretty sad. From there we drove back to the main part of the city we saw the convention center and national theatre. Where Nana addo hopes his new job will be, workig for some highly regarded professor. They pointed out some other small things along they way. Then we went to some local spot for some drinks. The driver had some crazy strong local drink that had Ginger something called tiger balls and some local grain alchol in it. I tasted it and it was intense. Naddo had a beer and I had a soda we had some local fried fish squid and tiny prawns as a snack. It actually grew on me and was pretty tasty.
From there we drove around the corner to a place that had street food and we all split a big BBQ taliapia, salad and buko the maze mush stuff. I'm normally weary about street fish being old and fishy tasting but that was really fresh and delicious. After dinner we drove back to his cousins place so the driver could check in his baby daughter but not before they spotted a friend and we pulled over and hung out for a while and they smoked some snore. It's like jamacia here they smoke all the time. After that we checked on his kid then I got dropped back at kens place. I was exhausted becaue I didn't sleep much last night. So I had a bucket shower,shave and brushed my teeth and went off to bed.

   

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