Garden Route Shenanigans

---

Just got back from a 5-day Garden Route adrenaline tour which was incredible!! Unfortunately the actual adrenaline tour we wanted to do turned out not to be running anymore, but we took the itinerary into a tour place down the road and they sorted the whole thing out for us, and at a slightly cheaper price! So here's a quick overview of what we did in the past week:

THURSDAY

CANGO WILDLIFE RANCH - OUDTSHOORN
This place was awesome! It's kinda like a mini zoo but everywhere was really open, no cages or anything, just open enclosures and a bridge over the more dangerous animals like lions and crocodiles, but still really open for you to see. They had every African animal it was fascinating! And we did the 'extra experiences', which included cuddling with 6 week old baby cheetahs (awwww!) and 5month old white tigers, and also going croc cage diving!!! The water was freezing and you had to be lowered in with a crane, and if the crocs don't come to you they take you to the crocs! It was really cool though, we got close enough to count their teeth :D

Thursday night we had a braai at the hostel and went to bed fairly early.

FRIDAY

CANGO CAVES - OUDTSHOORN

We did the Cango Caves Adventure Tour, which was brilliant :D. We started by just going through the normal chambers (unbelieveable! it felt like we were in an underground palace or something, they're the biggest in Africa and 2nd biggest in the world!! They used to do concerts there which would have been amazing but had to stop because of graffiti) and then we had to do a bunch of smaller tunnels which was really fun :D. The first one was called something in Latin that meant backache, and you had to bend in half for about ten metres through it. The second was called the Tunnel of Love, and you had to climb a ladder up to it then walk sideways the whole way, coz it was only about 30cm wide! When you got through there there was a cool little chamber, and a tunnel called ‘The Devil’s Chimney’…definitely the hardest! It was tiny and went up at a 45 degree angle, and looking up it from the bottom you really wouldn’t think you’d fit! You have to lift your leg almost up to your head height to get started and push up, finding “footholds” (hardly!) and pushing up on your legs the whole way as there was absolutely nothing to hold onto! My body was twisted into such strange positions!! And when I thought Id gotten to the top, I was almost there but was ‘beached’ on a rock haha, there was nothing to pull me up so I kind of had to shuffle! It was pretty funny, not for Leanne though as she got a bit scared that she was stuck halfway and then slipped and hit her head :/ she did it in the end though! After that tight squeeze there’s one more, called the Post Box, and you have to shuffle on your tummy, then slide out through a gap in the rock only 27cm wide - they also called it the ‘rebirth tunnel’ and you can see why!

GREAT WHITE SHARK DIVING - MOSSEL BAY
After a big rush (it’s about a two hour drive and we had one and a half!) we got there just in time to jump on the boat. There were five of us plus the diving people. We sailed out to near ‘seal rock’ and watched the seals for a bit as the boat people tried to bait the shark. They used a disgusting tuna head (Han it would’ve been your worst nightmare) and fish guts and things, pretty gross but it worked! Me and Leanne struggled for about half an hour to put on two WET wetsuits (you think putting a wetsuit on is hard anyway, but try putting it on wet, then putting another wet one on top of that one!). As soon as a shark came near to the boat they lowered the cage and we climbed in, it was freeeezing but the experience was awesome! Unfortunately the visability was terrible so we couldn’t see much underwater, but there were four huuuge sharks and they came right up to us, at one point only 20cm from the cage! It was so surreal, I’m just gutted we couldn’t stay in longer than an hour but I think we would’ve frozen to death!

SATURDAY

BLOUKRANS BRIDGE BUNGEE JUMP - BLOUKRANS
Yep, the world’s highest bungee jump at 216m. We drove over the bridge first and it was the scariest thing, you can’t even see the bottom from the car! So then the butterflies began. To be honest we were both in a bit of a daze as we got harnessed up and started to walk to the bridge, and watching other people jump off just make you feel even more sick! The walk to the platform in the centre is actually the worst part, it’s through a tiny tunnel, and the floor is made of what seems to be thick chicken wire, so you can see exactly how high up you are the whole way. It took us about twenty minutes to actually walk across the thing! When we got there they got started straight away, and the order was random which didn’t help :/. They put on loud music and all the guys who work there were fantastic, they were all dancing and looked like they were having a really good time. I guess that relaxed us a tiny bit! Watching the first girl didn’t help though - it was the weirdest feeling of nerves and excitement! There was a couple there, the girl went first and just before the guy went he got down (on both knees, as his ankles were tied together) and proposed to her!! It nearly made me cry!! Leanne went about fourth, and even though she told me it wasn’t anything to worry about you really don’t know that until you’ve done it, and typically I was last! When I sat down to get all my harnesses attached to me the guy was going through some things, according to the DVD I was nodding but I don’t remember hearing him at all! Then I got up and the helped me to the platform, they were talking but I definitely wasn’t listening. I remember stopping just before the edge and when they said I had to put my toes over I said “oh my god” and I remember doing a thumbs up at the camera, and then they started the countdown “5..4…3…” and my head decided it didn’t wanna do it anymore!! But “..2..1…BUNGEEEEE!” and my body went into automatic and I bent my knees, held my arms out and threw myself off the bridge!!! It’s the strangest feeling, like you’re not actually attached to anything. It’s sheer fear and adrenaline, and although you feel sick you feel so alive :D I wish I could’ve done it again. I think the worst part is the bouncing, because the cord gets to it’s longest and you finally feel like you’re safe and attached, but then you bounce right back up and it’s the terror feeling again! When I was finally hanging still in the air it’s amazing, it’s so silent and you just look around you and it’s incredible. The only slightly scary thing is your ankle strap really feels like it’s slipping, only because it’s pulling so tight because you’re upside-down, but it does feel like you could slip out any minute so everybody pulls their feet straight, it’s funny :D. Eventually, after what seems like an age, a little man comes down on a rope to pull you back up. I think I grabbed onto him a little too hard but he didn’t seem to mind!! It was honestly the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I’m gonna try to do one in every country I go to! You have such a weird happy euphoria feeling afterwards, and I just desperately wanted to do it again! The DVD is HILARIOUS :D and I’m so proud!

MONKEYLAND - KNYSNA
After the bungee to get our hearts back to normal we went to a nearby place called Monkeyland for a short tour. It was cool, it’s just one big forest you walk around and the monkeys all run free, so they come right up to you and some even try to take your camera or open your bag!

SUNDAY

ELEPHANT SANCTUARY - KNYSNA
Cool as place where you get to walk hand-in-trunk with elephants! : ). We had a cool guide called ‘Delicious’ :D and he told us about a million elephant facts, then we got to meet them and walk with them into the forest. It was very strange though, I assumed I’d just hold the trunk b ut I had to stick my hand inside it, so I could feel her breathing! My ellie’s name was Thandi, which means ‘love’. We then got to go and look at the elephants properly and watch how they’d behave in the wild, and got to touch their skin and ears and feet, and looked inside their mouths which looked like aliens! We had pictures taken with them and fed them and it was amazing : ).

FOREST ZIPLINE - TSISTIKAMMA (lol)
This was fun but there was absolutely no adrenaline as we’d done the bungee the day before! A guide goes with you and does your harnesses the whole way so it’s very safe, and just a fun way to view the forest, it took about 2 hours and the longest zipline was nearly 100m.

MONDAY

OSTRICH FARM - OUDTSHOORN
We had to drive really out of our way to get here but it was worth it, we just spent the day walking around looking at ostriches (which are hilarious creatures!) and stood on ostrich eggs. Then we got to sit on, and RIDE an ostrich! I got on which was very awkward, and grabbed the neck, but they moved my hands to the wings, which are surprisingly meaty. You have to lean right back like horizontally, and then I was expecting it to just walk a few steps but it proper ran, doing a lap of the yard! It was scary but sooo funny :D. Got the best video and pics! I also ate ostrich biltong (South African delicacy, like dried meat) which was loverly :D

And that was the end of our tour, with a six hour drive home! It was a lot of money but we had the best time and there’s no way we could’ve done it on our own, so I’m very happy. Very much lacking in the money area now but that’s life :P.

Miss you all, one month to go! X x x x x

---

Comments

[Nathan]

How do you remember the spellings of these places?! One month :) XXXXXX