Moving along the Southern Coast we entered the area known as the Garden Route. It is popular among backpackers, which proved useful catching rides and meeting people from all over the world. There is a lot of diversity in the landscape including some of the best beaches in the country and old growth forests. It also helps that it is part of the Indian and not Atlantic Ocean so the water temperature is ten to fifteen degrees warmer.
These pictures are from an area known as the Transkei. It is where Nelson Mandela is from and was a "homeland," which were areas that were set aside and given a degree of autonomy from the South African government to pursue their policy of "separate development." It was just a smoke screen because the local government was controlled by the South African government, there was zero development done and they used these areas to recruit cheap labor for the mines in the wealthy areas. Because of this these areas are the most behind the rest of the country and have a completely different feel. Beautiful but poor.
This was a hostel dog in Storm's River that turned into a statue when you held a piece of food in front of him. So we had some fun seeing how much stuff we could put on him. We gave him the biscut afterwards for keeping us entertained.
I did a little bungee jump along the way. They advertise it as the highest commercial bungee jump at 216 meters off the Bloukrans bridge and into the canyon below. It was my first bungee so I thought what the hell, no sense starting on the bunny hill. Willingly jumping off a perfectly sturdy bridge is a feeling that goes against every human instinct of survival. A middle aged woman went before me and as the two assistants' countdown approached one she crumbled to the ground and fell backwards toward the platform. Her second time she took a pathetic little hop and we could hear her scream go trailing off down the chasm. I was not honestly nervous at all until after I was strapped in by the bare ankles and standing on the edge did the gravity of what I was about to do occur to me. But when the countdown hit one I voluntarily took the suicidal leap and tried not to soil myself as the whistle of the wind increased during the four seconds of free fall and I watched the ground come rushing up at 120 miles an hour. This frightening, exhilerating, midlife crisis ending sensation was followed by the glorious feeling of my lifeline coming into affect to keep my forehead off of the earth below. The bounce up of a hundred plus feet brought all of the blood from my lower body into my skull to say hello. This was followed by another two seconds of free fall and so on and so on. I would have done it again in a second if I could have afforded it because the second time they let you jump off backwards...
Below is a waterfall in Tsitsikamma National Park Josh and I hiked to with a few Germans we had met. The coast line was so different than the white sandy beaches we had been at only the day before. This park is known for its unique tidal and fauna life.
Moving along the Southern Coast we entered the area known as the Garden Route. It is popular among backpackers, which proved useful catching rides and meeting people from all over the world. There is a lot of diversity in the landscape including some of the best beaches in the country and old growth forests. It also helps that it is part of the Indian and not Atlantic Ocean so the water temperature is ten to fifteen degrees warmer.
These pictures are from an area known as the Transkei. It is where Nelson Mandela is from and was a "homeland," which were areas that were set aside and given a degree of autonomy from the South African government to pursue their policy of "separate development." It was just a smoke screen because the local government was controlled by the South African government, there was zero development done and they used these areas to recruit cheap labor for the mines in the wealthy areas. Because of this these areas are the most behind the rest of the country and have a completely different feel. Beautiful but poor.
This was a hostel dog in Storm's River that turned into a statue when you held a piece of food in front of him. So we had some fun seeing how much stuff we could put on him. We gave him the biscut afterwards for keeping us entertained.
I did a little bungee jump along the way. They advertise it as the highest commercial bungee jump at 216 meters off the Bloukrans bridge and into the canyon below. It was my first bungee so I thought what the hell, no sense starting on the bunny hill. Willingly jumping off a perfectly sturdy bridge is a feeling that goes against every human instinct of survival. A middle aged woman went before me and as the two assistants' countdown approached one she crumbled to the ground and fell backwards toward the platform. Her second time she took a pathetic little hop and we could hear her scream go trailing off down the chasm. I was not honestly nervous at all until after I was strapped in by the bare ankles and standing on the edge did the gravity of what I was about to do occur to me. But when the countdown hit one I voluntarily took the suicidal leap and tried not to soil myself as the whistle of the wind increased during the four seconds of free fall and I watched the ground come rushing up at 120 miles an hour. This frightening, exhilerating, midlife crisis ending sensation was followed by the glorious feeling of my lifeline coming into affect to keep my forehead off of the earth below. The bounce up of a hundred plus feet brought all of the blood from my lower body into my skull to say hello. This was followed by another two seconds of free fall and so on and so on. I would have done it again in a second if I could have afforded it because the second time they let you jump off backwards...
Below is a waterfall in Tsitsikamma National Park Josh and I hiked to with a few Germans we had met. The coast line was so different than the white sandy beaches we had been at only the day before. This park is known for its unique tidal and fauna life.
1 comment:
How cute!
Post a Comment