Sudi Afrika

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Clinton's first taste of South Africa was on a wine tour through Stellenbosche which also included cheese and a chocolate factory. Now, if I had have known it was going to involve a chocolate factory I may have gone, alas, I hate wine and went to a movie with Shae instead. No regrets really - Clinton bought two big chunks of chocolate back and a bottle of wine which he insisted I was going to like. (I happily ate the Choccy, tasted the wine after I received some death threats if I didn't.. and promptly tried to spit it back out.. not really, but I didn't like it as predicted!) After Stellenbosche we drove around 45 minutes to Capetown where the tour ended at approximately, precisely 10:30am.

Clinton, Shae and I had a shark dive organised in Hermanus Bay the following day to which I still had to pay for to secure our spot. As we were waiting for the taxi to take us to our hostel I gave the company a call to find out that it "might be cancelled due to the weather" This freaked Shae out as it was her life long dream to dive with the sharks, and in general it put a cloud over our plans as everything would have to be delayed. At around 5pm we were told that it will still go ahead, however we'll be picked up at 9am instead of 6am (No complaints here!) That night our Kumuka group organised a meal with everyone except Sharon & Cam, and Steph the tour guide. Unfortunately both Clinton and Shae drank two bottles of wine (the second bottle in under 40 minutes!) and were quite pickled by the time we reached the restaurant. Just after we got there Clinton disappeared for a good 15 minutes. Nat and I looked around for ages and found no sight of him, and just figured he was mugged and thrown into the harbour so we ended up just sitting back and ordered our dinner. Amazingly he returned a bit later with a little package for me. He had gone to a jewellers which he spied on the way in and bought me a diamond necklace for my 25th Birthday. I guess I had to forgive him for disappearing on us! Shae left straight after dinner and retired to her bed (the piker) and Clinton 'cleansed' his stomach very abruptly and was fine for the rest of the night. We ended up going out to a nightclub called the Jo'burg which was pretty cool. We didn't want to stay out too late though as the shark dive was the next day.

In the morning, we packed up all of our 40+kgs of belongings and lugged them up the stairs to the reception. We handed our key in to check out and the lady says so casually "Oh, by the way, the shark dive has been cancelled" to which we were in disbelief for a few minutes and then broke the news to Shae who was not too happy and went on a killing rampage - Well.. not exactly accurate, but I'm sure she wanted to! We were told the company was going to call back with the pick-up times for tomorrow, so our plans were all pushed forward a day. It worked out for the better though as we had a perfect day to see some of Capetown. We tried to get a booking for Robben island where Nelson Mandela was kept, however it was unfortunately all booked out. We then caught a taxi up to Table Mountain and took the cable car up. It had amazing views all around - so picturesque. The floor of the cable car actually spun whilst it went up so everyone could have a good view of the bay and cliffs. Whilst up there, we also bumped into Yvonne & Karen (The Irish girls) and Lisa who we organised again, to have dinner with that night.

After Table Mountain we went down to the docks to see if we could get tickets to Robben Island. Shae, the sweet-talker, asked if they had any cancellations and they produced two tickets in the blink of an eye. I was happy to ditch Clinton and go with Shae, but Clinton didn't like that idea too much. Shae then asked if it was at all possible for a third ticket at any time, and the lady magically produces a third. Luck was on our side! The tickets that we were given had 'Susan Kruger' on them. Shae laughs and says "Poor Susan Kruger is going to get a surprise when she tries to pick up her tickets!" As we were walking to the ferry, we then realised that 'Susan Kruger' was in fact the name of the vessel! The actual tour was really informative and interesting. Our guide was an ex political prisoner there and was very animated and rolled his r's like no tomorrow!

The following day we had our Shark dive pick up at 5:45am! We stumbled bleary eyed out of the hostel, hopped into the van, and went on a two hour drive to Hermanus Bay. Here we had a pre-shark meeting, paid our fees and bought a REALLY expensive underwater camera. We then drove out to the launch site and boarded the boat. Once anchored we were told that it could take 5 minutes or two hours to see a shark - it took approximately 90 minutes! It was around 3.5 metres long which seemed huge though we were told they can be up to 6 metres. A group of five people, including Shae, jumped into the cage for the first viewings. As the boat was swaying on the water, around half the people got seasick and spent the rest of the day hanging their heads over the boat. There were two unfortunate incidents though when one threw up on the top deck (gross) and one of the people in the second dive group threw up whilst in the cage with four other people (even grosser!!!!!!!!!!! - we saw it from the top deck.. not a pretty site) Luckily the fish found it a treat and went about clearing it up. By the time it was Clinton and my turn to get into the cage it was all gone (thank god!!!) We were really lucky and got to see a lot of action from three sharks. When Clinton got cold, he hopped out and Shae jumped in. We stayed in there until we were dragged out and we had to leave. It was an amazing experience. The shark, when trying to get the bait, whacked into the side of the cage (where I was) so I got a great view of its jaws, body, tail all at once! When all the Shark action was over, Shae and I had a great time taking photos of our faces under the water. On our way back to land, the boat went flying (literally) over a wave, the cameraman nearly fell out, and Clinton nearly ended up on the lap of another lady a metre or so away. It was very amusing.

From Hermanus Bay we went to Plettenburg Bay to go Bungy jumping. The trip took around seven hours by Baz Bus (a backpackers bus service) so we got there around 4pm. The next morning we got a lift to Bloukrans Bridge, checked into the bungy, got harnessed up, and walked to the bridge. Here I took a flying fox over to the middle (it was pretty cool) and Clinton and Shae walked along the platform. I was the first jump of the day and pretty much had an empty mind, otherwise I probably would have freaked out! It is the highest bungy in the world - 216 metres above the river, to be precise! They counted down from five, and I jumped. It was once again, an amazing experience. The free fall lasted ages, and the second bounce is supposedly equivalent to the jump at Vic Falls. Once I was up, it was Clinton's turn. His was running smoothly up until he stepped to the edge. He actually did freak out and was shaking his head to stop as they started to count down. Luckily he didn't chicken out and jumped! (supposedly he wanted "a moment" to calm himself) Next up was Shae (and her fractured leg) We had been telling her (ever since Vic Falls) that when she jumps, her bone is going to snap, her flesh is going to rip apart and her other leg will slip through the bungy cord and she was going to fall to her death (nice friends we are!) Additionally, we found out that a) she doesn't know what blood group she is b) she does not want to be kept artificially alive c) she does not want to be amputated and d) she refused to answer any questions about cremation. All in all, her jump went smoothly, except for the strain on her leg which she said "really hurt" which I'm sure doesn't really sum up the true pain of having a bungy cord stretch a fractured leg. She was walking afterwards though, so it seemed ok. She left that day to go back to Capetown, so we're not too sure on the aftermath.

Our next highlight in South Africa was Cango Wildlife Park in Oudtshoorn. Strange going to a wildlife park after all of our safaris, but they had tigers there, and anyone that knows me well, you know I can't resist tigers. They didn't have a hell of a lot there. Mainly they are set up for the conservation of cheetahs. They had a variety of big cats, reptiles and other animals though. My dreams came true when they announced they had three Bengal tiger cubs three month of age. I paid an equivalent of $60AUD and spent 15-20 minutes with them and their keepers just playing, stroking and falling in love with them. They were so adorable. We also got to hold an albino python (Clinton's request) for approximately $10AUD. All in all it was an incredible day!

Today we spent our morning in Cango caves on an adventure tour. It was hard work! The humidity was anywhere from 60-95% and we were climbing through unbelievably small crevices including one named "tunnel of love" because it squeezes you. We were told that a rather large lady tried it once and got stuck for 10 hours! Eeek! The next tricky one was the "Devils Chimney." You had to pull yourself up a vertical, tiny hole. I spent a good time in there contemplating how the hell to turn around and slide up. Eventually I made it, followed a little easily by Clinton. The rock formations inside were very beautiful though - it was all worth it (even though I did, at one point, slip on the rock floor and land quite hard on my bum!) Once we were outside, we were drenched from the activity and humidity. It took a good few hours for our clothes to dry I think!

After the caves we were picked up and taken to an ostrich farm. Here we got to see ostrich eggs hatching, and got to hold day old ostrich chicks (they were the size of a small full-grown chicken!) We were then taken through the farm and got to feed them, get a hug from 'Betsy', sit on one, and in Clinton's case, ride one! It was one of the most funniest things I've ever seen. He lasted around 8 seconds, give or take, and fell on his arse as well!

It's our last night in Oudsthoorn tonight, and then we're off to George tomorrow to meet up with our friend Louis. We'll be heading to Jo'burg on the 14th on an overnight bus and then fly to Mauritius for two nights. Unfortunately we'll be home in less than 10 days and back to reality 😞

Love Clinton & Flip

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