Garden Route

The fifth week of exchange was the moment many of us have had in the back of our minds since coming to South Africa. The Garden Route was at the doorstep. I was talking to an ex-exchange student the weekend before and he said he enjoyed this trip the most, so expectations were high. On the Monday morning, February the 13th, 2012, our bus arrived and we were on our way!

The first day we did quite some driving, because the Garden Route is Western Cape going into Eastern Cape and Cape Town is deep inside the Western Cape. A guide from the Bokbus company had picked us up that morning and he briefly informed us about the day plan. Our first stop of the day was False Bay. It gets its name from long ago, when the Portuguese used Cape Town as the last stop and then sailed straight to Indonesia in search for spices. When the Portuguese and others would come back they would see a very similar bay to Cape Town and think they had arrived only to discover it was False Bay.  After more driving we stopped at a penguin beach where we saw many African Penguins. After relaxing there a bit we headed to our accommodation for the evening. We were told that it would be our most luxurious hotel but I hadn’t expected a safari lodge. It was amazing! Loic and I stayed in a luxurious hut, and in the evening we relaxed at the pool, after having a very tasty dinner. However, I didn’t care about any of this, the best, by far, was that we actually went on safari and saw lions, elephants, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras and many more animals. My first day of the Garden Route was a great success. 

After a great night sleep, we went on safari again, but this time early in the morning.  We also went to the reptile center where we were allowed to hold snakes, and visited a couple of cheetahs. After breakfast and a load of happy valentines, we left my favorite hotel of the week. We headed for an ostrich farm where we got to feed, ride and pet the animals. It’s probably the most awkward animal to ride, but I felt sorry for the animals because they were extremely stressed out. The last stop of the day was the Cango Caves. These caves were discovered a long time ago by a local farmer, who was brave enough to let himself in and explore. The cave is covered with stalactites and stalagmites and huge formations of them. After seeing the main cave we went on an “adventure”. A guide took us through narrow tunnels, up(down) to 30 cm wide and 40cm in height, through the caves and eventually back out. We al enjoyed it, and that evening we stayed at the Backpackers Paradise where we played some football and had ostridge kebab. That evening we all went to bed with one thing on our mind: Bloukrans Bungee.

Wednesday was the big day that everybody had been talking about. We were going to bungee the highest bridge bungee in the world(216m). This was however later on in the day. We first went canoeing and after that we had pizza. The big moment had arrived and there we were, staring at the Bloukrans Bridge not able to believe we were about to jump off that massive structure. After being strapped into a harness and been given some simple instructions, we walked to the center to the bridge which seemed to take ages. Once we were on the bridge the music was pumping and everybody was in the zone. One by one we jumped and all came back up with a huge smile on their face. It was definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Next stop: skydiving! After the bungee we went off to the beach to relax and let the adrenalin flow out of us. That evening we stayed in another youth hostel where we met the same guys who jumped of the bridge with us. We watched the videos of us jumping and we all had a good laugh.

Thursday was our last proper day of the Garden Route. In the morning we did a zipline through the tree canopy. The money we paid for it went to charity. It helped poor people getting educated and improving their facilities. After having done the bungee this wasn’t very adrenalin pumping but I still enjoyed hanging out with the group and viewing nature at its finest. After doing ten ziplines we had lunch and went off the beach where we could swim and have something to eat. We were already on the way back and after the beach we made progress heading towards Cape Town. After a long drive we arrived at a farm in the middle of nowhere. It was a very calming place and we all sat down and enjoyed the sunset and talked about the trip.

Friday we drove back to Cape Town. We made a stop in Hermanus where we had lunch and sat on the cliffs enjoying the view. We arrived at Bishops around five and all of us said goodbye to the girls from Hong Kong because they were leaving the next day. I had a great trip with moments I will never forget and I hope to go back to that part of the world one day!

 Robben Island

Robben Island Entrance

Leper Graveyard

Robben Island Penguin

View of Table Mountain from Robben Island

Lime Quarry

Mandela's Prison Cell

Mandela's Garden

Cable Car Station

Just Another Picture of Table Mountain

Cape Town

Green Point Stadium

Cape Town

Our Route

Robben Island

Robben Island and Table Mountain Hike

On Thursday the 9th of February the exchange coordinator had arranged a trip to Robben Island. After gathering early in the morning, we were taken to the Waterfront where the ferry would take us to Robben Island. The ferry departed from the Nelson Mandela Gateway, and after thirty minutes we arrived at the island.

Robben Island is a World Heritage site. Therefore we were't allowed to walk around the island alone. A bus took us around,and a guide informed us about the history of the islands and what countries influenced it. After a while the Dutch were mentioned, and as our guide had been to the Netherlands before, he started to talk about how terrible the cheese was (I agree) and that when the Dutch came to Robben Island they started eating the penguin population with cheese. After the bus had taken us past the major sites: Leper Graveyard, Lime Quarry, prisons of important people and a couple more, we were dropped off at the section where once Nelson Mandela had been kept prisoner. It was here that an ex-inmate joined us and told us his shocking experiences he had on the island. He took us past 46664's prison cell (Nelson Mandela was given a number) and showed us the garden that Nelson Mandela used to maintain. He told us about how he had been beaten by the guards, and that today he sits next to these men in parliament. After the ex-inmate had shown us around it was time to go back to mainland where we had lunch with the exchange group.

The next day, it was time to climb up Table Mountain. After gathering extremely early, to avoid traffic, a small bus took us to our starting point. The climb started off with rock stairs which continued for a while. After everybody had completed that, we climbed a bit and followed a path. The next stop provided us with some spectacular views of Cape Town. The path eventually took us to a part that we had to scramble up, using chains and metal bars sticking out of the rocks. After completing this it was then that Mr. Court (Bishops coordinator) told us this was the most dangerous hike in South Africa (5-6 people dying annually), which obviously gave us a lot of confidence. From now on it was pretty straight forward, a path took us around the mountain from where we could easily level ourselves with the top of Table Mountain. It was an amazing experience which we all enjoyed. It was quite chilly at the top, but the view was great and all of us sat down and relaxed. It took us around three hours to get up, and five minutes to get down. The new cable cars which spin around took us down in no time. It was cool because you could see the exact route which we had just climbed. After dropping the girls off at Herschels we went back to Bishops, and finished our memorable day off with a bit of pool.

Bus Tour

Creativity at the Market

Painting at the Market

Company's Garden

Dutch Flag with Table Mountain

Camps Bay

Week Number Three

Time is flying here in South Africa! I just completed my third week, in which I did two major activities. On Wednesday the 1st of February the entire exchange group went sightseeing and today, Sunday the 5th of February, the Dutch exchange students went to Cape Point.

Wednesday morning we gathered outside of the chapel at eight o'clock to go sightseeing. The tour started at the Waterfront and after a few stops we got of to walk through a small market. The market was interesting to see, all the people were kind and the objects they sold were very creative. After the market we went to St. George's Cathedral and had a quick look before going of to the Company's Garden. Before jumping back onto the bus we popped into the South African Museum. The bus ride was very nice because it was a very hot day and it was nice to have a breeze in your face. Our next stop was the District Six Museum. It told the story of the 60000+ people who were forced to leave their houses in the sixties. There were many more stops but the best of the day was the view that we had half way up Table Mountain and Camps Bay. In Camps Bay we were allowed to hop off the bus and have lunch. Lotte and I ran into the Pick'n Pay (local supermarket) grabbed a baguette and salami and had lunch on the beach. After Camps Bay we went back to Bishops, where everybody was picked up!

Today the Dutch exchange students and their partners went to Cape Point which is supposably the point where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. We walked up to a peak which had an amazing view over the ocean. Too bad that my camera battery ran out! After having seen Cape Point we went to have a picnic on the beach. All of us had a good time. To end the day we went on the Chapman's Peak Drive, which gave us some spectacular views. I really enjoyed the day, even though it was terribly hot. 

Table Mountain

My House

Fresh Fruit 

Sunset

Waterfall Elandspad

Elandspad Hike

Uniform

Table Mountain

Waterfall Elandspad

Elandspad

Elandspad

Just Another Week in South Africa

First of all I would like to apologize for not posting in a while. I had a busy week, including being ill for two days. Therefore this post will cover my entire AMAZING second week in South Africa.

To start off with I'll go back to last week Saturday. The exchange gang and I went to Ratanga Junction which is one of the main fun parks here in South Africa. We had a great day in the sun enjoying the rides. The best ride was the human slingshot which cranks you up 30m in the air and then drops you. It is basically a giant swing reaching speeds up to 90 km/h. After completing all the rides we went to one of the biggest malls in the Southern hemisphere, called Canal Walk, to have lunch.

The next day my host family took me to Hout Bay. Hout Bay is one of Cape Town's suburbs which lies along the ocean. It is known for the amazing views and the Chapman's Peak Drive, which is one of the world's most scenic drives. As I told you in my introduction I had been in South Africa several times when I was young. We stayed in Camps Bay during our favorite family holiday. To get to Hout Bay you drive past Camps Bay, so a lot of old memories came back to my mind. After Hout Bay I met Seumus' grandparents. Their house is built at the foot of Table Mountain and has an extraordinary view of the harbor and Lion's Head. Both the grandmother and father are great individuals. 

After a great weekend I went back to school. The school days are very long. I wake up at six and come back home around four to five. It is quite an experience to go to Bishops when you are used to RLW. I enjoy the school days, especially hot lunch and meeting new people. Unfortunately I was ill for two days. Apparently a stomach bug has been going around the country. Staying at home gave me a chance to follow the Africa Cup of Nations which started last Saturday. It is a real pleasure to watch African football. Watch for yourself and you will understand why.

Friday was the big day. It was the first day that the whole exchange group came together on a trip. Friday it was time to go on the Elandspad hike. It was absolutely astonishing. We went up into the mountains north of Cape Town. To start of we hiked for about an hour to get to the river. From there on we stuck to the river, jumping from rock to rock, swimming and jumping off the rocks into the pools. It was nature at its finest. The best part was when we went up to the origin of the river, which was a waterfall. We swam in the water, the freshest I have ever tasted, and swam through the waterfall into a small cave behind it. It was there that Lotte, Loic and I looked at each other and said:"This makes school worth it." 

To finish off my week I wanted to go on a speedboat ride along the Cape. I picked up Loic and headed for the Waterfront. When we arrived we went to an atm machine but both of us failed to get any money. Loic's card simply didn't work and I forgot my pin. Not the most intelligent thing my dad told me when I was talking to him later that day. Luck wasn't on our side that day because the speedboat was broken so we had to leave early. However Loic and I finished of our day sitting on a bench on the balcony of Seumus' grandparents in the sun with a coke and chips watching a massive container ship leaving the Cape Town harbor. Can it get any better than that?