1. Frank the Tank… At 5:00 AM on Monday morning, Frank the Tank, as we affectionately called it, pulled in front of our apartments. We did not realize it then, but Frank, our driver Palele, and twenty of us would practically live together for the next five days. Since I had hours upon hours to think about how to describe Frank, I came up with a combination of a recycling truck + the Magic School Bus on the Oregon Trail. For the first few hours, we had multiple motion sickness casualties and even a broken finger from the rocky ride. Not to mention, we got lost about 78 times. And, adventure week began…
2. Cowboys of South Africa… Our first goofy adventure consisted of riding ostriches! We went to a small town that houses 90% of the world’s ostriches. Interestingly, they use every inch of the ostriches’ body for leather, food, and decorative feathers. I got the unique opportunity to even ride one as well! Ostriches are not the brightest color in the crayon box so to control my bird I just put a bag over his eyes. I climbed on the back and held on to its wings for dear life. I made it about twenty second before I fell off, but at least, I missed the ostrich poo!
3. South Africa Downunder… Our first Fear Factor-type test came when we went caving through one of the many South African mountain chains. Even though I wasn’t claustrophobic before, I may have experienced a few moments of panic while we climbed through the stalagmites. At one point, I had to solider craw through a 20 centimeter hole! You should have seen the big, football-sized boys try. I’m still laughing!
4. I met Dumbo! ... One of my absolutely favorite parts of the week consisted of interacting with the beautiful animals at the elephant sanctuary. I got to feed, pet, walk, and even ride these amazing creatures! The rumors are true. Elephants are extremely intelligent. I called their names and they came to me just like a dog would do! Riding them was surreal, but I thoroughly enjoyed walking them. I held my hand out to which my elephant put his truck in my palm and clutched on to my fingers. Remarkable!
5. I jumped off a bridge and survived… Even though I had zero plans of doing this death-defying feat, I somehow mustered up the courage to conquer the highest bungee jump in the world. At seventy stories and well over seven hundred meters tall, I was terrified. In small groups, we walked below the bridge on a platform to arrive at the jumping site. Supposedly, I heard the view was incomparable, but I did not allow myself to look down. Thankfully, nothing gets me more pumped than raging music. These crazy guides set up a jamming atmosphere with rave-type music to help us forget that we were about to test fate. Since I assumed that none of you would believe I did this, I succumbed to the tourist trap and bought the video. Coming soon to theaters near you!
6. A real life Lion King… I had the luxury of experiencing Disney’s Lion King in real life (minus Simba and Nala). We rode through the Addo Reserve during a night game drive and a sunrise game drive to see all the animals in their prime element. Unfortunately, we only saw an owl, porcupine, and a hundred kudos during our below freezing night game drive. However, I had no interest in the animals in comparison to the millions of bright, beautiful stars in the clear, night sky. I have never seen so many! I even saw the Southern Cross! Thankfully, the day game drive topped the charts. The reserve houses around four thousand kudos and again, we saw most of them. We did see real Timons and Pumbas in their natural habitat. (Yes, of course, we did sing “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata!”) Plus, our jaws dropped at all of the elephant families that crossed our paths. One massive elephant did not appreciate our presence and gave us the “I dare you to come closer” look as we crept toward him. While he did not charge us, he used the passive-aggressive approach of camping out in the middle of the road. Well done.
7. Home sweet hostels… Every minute of this week consisted of a different adventure. Our hostiles did not deviate from this pattern. We spent the first and last night in a surfer-type hostile in which we slept on the porch in frigid temperatures. The second night had to have been our favorite. This hostile had several large fires in the cozy common room with a pool table. We concluded a long, bonding evening with Hamilton playing Dave Matthews on his guitar. Perfect. Of course, we could not leave Africa without sleeping in a bungalow, in comes night three. Imagine Little House on the Prairie in Africa… you got it! Our plantation did have an amazing playground with a trampoline and zip line. No, we are not twenty-two years old…
8. I saw Free Willy and Flipper! ... In fact, I saw their whole families! In a picturesque environment, our adventure team braved the record high swells to observe dolphins and whales from their side of the pond. We probably saw around ten dolphins playing in the waves as they broke. Later, we begged to search for whales and finally convinced our tour guide to make it happen. Amazingly, we actually saw a huge bryde whale! The guides estimated that it spanned fifteen or more feet!
9. Jaws and I are now great friends… Have you ever watched Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week”? Well, I swam in the exact spot in which these professionals film it every year! Believe it or not, seven of us willingly hopped in a cage and swam with these unbelievable creatures. The shark guides used bait and a seal decoy to lure the great whites as close to the cage as possible. Unfortunately, it’s illegal in South Africa to touch these animals, but I could have pulled a tooth if I wanted. They were that close! Dun dun, dun, dun, dun, dun dun….
10. Loving on some kids… Thankfully, in all of the craziness, we still had time to interact with the most precious children in the world. We organized a head to head soccer game versus a twelve year old African team. In short, we got annihilated. They did not hold back their slide tackling at all! The big boys even met the ground several times during attempted steals. Later, some local Sedgefield children taught us how to make Huggables and mosaic crafts. The community uses this arts program as an income for these children in addition to getting them off the streets. It’s unbelievable how much alittle heart and passion can make a difference.
11. On top of this bucket list week, I PASSED THE GACE!!!!!
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