From Cape Town to Durban

I left Cape Town last Thursday, to take a week long trip up the coast to Durban. It was a lot of ground to cover in 7 days, so I didn't stay too long at any one place. I used a backpackers bus called the Baz Bus, which goes door-to-door to tons of hostels along the coast. It was definitely a nicer way to travel than the typical African minibus. I stopped at Wilderness, Storms River, Jefferys Bay, Port Elizabeth, and Cintsa, before arriving in Durban late last night. I only stayed one night at each place, but that wasn't as hectic as it sounds. The Baz Bus runs on the same schedule everyday, and so I had a full 24 hours at each place. I won't bore you all with a description of each place, (especially since I can tell some of you about it in person in a couple days) but I typically spent my nights at backpacker bars, and days hanging out on beautiful beaches.

As you can see in the pictures, I did a little more than hang out at a beach when visiting Storms River. Yes, that's me on the end of that bungy cord, and in case you're wondering, it's 216 meters from the bridge to the bottom of the gorge (making it the world's highest commercial bungy jump). Unlike skydiving, I never had any intention of bungy jumping, it just kind of happened. It was definitely a little scarier than skydiving, but still more fun than scary. (Hey Mom, aren't you glad you're not hearing about this till after I did it?)

Right now I'm in Durban, and tomorrow I'll be flying back home. See you all soon.

Cape Town

I spent 5 nights in Cape Town, and was blown away by how beautiful and fun the city is. I stayed at a backpackers on Long St, surrounded by several bars, restaurants, and other backpackers. I was definitely impressed with the night life, and it was fun being back in a "western" like city (although sometimes a little overwhelming). During the days I was normally up early to hit up all the sights in my short time there. I climbed Table Mountain, visited Robben Island (where Mandela and others were imprisoned), went on a tour to see the Cape of Good Hope, African Penguins and a winery, and went cage diving with great white sharks. Unfortunately we only saw a few sharks on the cage diving trip, and none while I was in the cage!  But it was still fun. I think my favorite part of the city was that every car ride/boat ride was like going on a scenic drive. 

Pictures:  the Cape Town waterfront, shark cage diving, the coast near Gansbaai, me at the Cape of Good Hope, and African (or Jackass) Penguins at Boulders beach.

Namibia

I spent last week on an amazing 4 day safari in the Namib Desert. Our first day we drove from Windhoek (the capital of Namibia) out to Sessriem, and hiked up Elum's Dune to watch the sunset. Then it was up at 4:30 the next morning to drive into Sossusvlei where we hiked up another gigantic dune at sunrise. The scenery, was absolutely breathtaking: huge sand dunes, giant mudflats, and no roads or buildings in sight.  We also saw a surprising amount of wildlife, considering it was the desert. We spotted springbok, oryx, jackal, and ostrich.

After spending another night near Sossusvlei, we drove out to Swakopmund. The scenery in Swakopmund was equally impressive with giant dunes running right up to the ocean. A few of us went quad biking through the dunes in the evening. It was a great way to see the dunes and a lot easier than walking. It also marked the second time in Africa that I followed Branjolina's footsteps. Apparently they went quad biking a couple years ago with their kids.

The next morning I decided it would be fun to jump out of a fully functional plane at 10,000ft, so three of us went tandem skydiving. The 30 second free fall was definitely one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done. I was a little nervous on the way up, but the actual jumping out of the plane happened so fast there was no time to get scared. After skydiving we drove back to Windhoek, and I got a bus the next night to Cape Town. It was a 20 hour ride, but luckily it wasn't a real "African" bus. It's actually nicer than any bus I've been on in the States.

Right now I'm at an internet cafe in Cape Town. This morning I went with a couple of girls to see a huge colony of seals on Duiker island, and I think now I'm gonna head off to climb Table Mountain. I love Cape Town so far, and I have a feeling I'll stay longer here than I planned on, but don't worry, I'll still come home in less than 2 weeks!