My friend Hannah and I took a 5 hour combi from Gabs to Joburg; and than flew from Joburg to Port Elizabeth. We got into Port Elizabeth in the evening; and had arranged for a shuttle to take us to our backpackers-Island Vibe-in Jeffreys Bay. That evening we hung out at the hostel and met some really awesome people. We also found out that the competition had not started yet; and most people were saying they didnt think it would start up until the following Monday!!
However....we woke up the next morning to find out the competition had started!!! YAY!!! Hannah and I headed down to Pepper Street to watch the pros! There were viewing tents and a bunch of people (not as many as I thought would be there though) were around. The first round of the competition was actually more like a “bonus” round. The winners in this round, automatically went to the 3rd round; while 2nd+3rd places would compete in round 2 for a spot in round 3. Ha did that make sense? We got there around Heat 6 and I got so excited because Kelly Slater was supposed to be out there!! However, I found out Kelly Slater was still in fiji and wasnt around!! OF COURSE...the ONE pro I wanted to meet..wouldnt be there!! We did get to see Adriano de Souza who currently held the #1 ranking so far on this tour. And I got a picture with Shaun Payne, who was a South African wild card. I definitely could have sat there and watched all day and all night! Unfortunately this ended up being the only day we got to see of the competition; we found out it started back up the day we left!! But Im SOOO glad I went and if anything, it reaffirmed my love for surfing (and surfers ;))!
Before coming to South Africa, I was expecting to freeze my tushy off!! But we were blessed with some amazing weather!! In JBay, I was wearing shorts and a tee! And in Cape Town, just jeans and a light jacket! And sunny the entire time!!
We met a young woman from Italy, who was actually volunteering in Cape Town and even taught surfing lessons. So I ended up renting a board and wet suit and went surfing with her and her friend from France! The water wasnt as cold as I had expected it to be; and I almost got up! This time, I was using a regular long board (not a foam board) so it was a little bit more difficult for me...but paddling was SOO much easier, since the board was skinnier. We were out there for like 2 hours but by the end of it, I was exhausted. And the next day...very sore!
So the rest of our time in JBay was pretty chill and mostly just hanging out at the hostel meeting people. We got coerced into helping out at a beach clean up-as they claimed we could do something good for the world. (Hannah and I just laughed, since we thought we probably did more at that beach clean up, than our 2 years in Peace Corps!!) We met some people from Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, USA (one guy had actually heard of JMU!!), Italy, Ireland, England, Canada, etc.
On Monday, Hannah and I got up early to take a combi back to Port Elizabeth so that we could rent a car! And ohhhh my goodness...it took us about 5 HOURS!! Haha it was quite the headache. We found out the place we had planned to rent one, was overbooked, so we had to go to the airport and try another place. We literally went from one counter to the next, getting estimates for prices and finding out who had automatic cars! When we finally found Budget to be the cheapest, we than found out we had to have a cell phone number they could reach us at. (Earlier that week we had tried, but we had been told we couldnt get a sim card due to a new law that said you had to shown you were a resident of SA). Luckily, we managed to get a sim card; but than the lady told us we needed to have confirmation showing we were going to leave the country. We kept trying to explain to her that we would be taking public transport; and you DONT book ahead of time. She said we could show the train ticket to Joburg; and it would be good enough. Well, that meant we had to go print off a receipt (since we hadnt booked it yet). And oh my god that was a mess. First the online website wouldnt work; and than we were on the phone with lady saying we could reserve the train seats but we wouldnt get a written confirmation for a week!! Luckily it all ended up working out; and were able to go back to Budget. BUT than she found out we had check cards and not credit cards, which werent accepted to hold the deposit!! So we ended up having to go to AVIS and finally it all worked out!! So finally around noon....we were on the road to Cape Town!!
We knew we had about a 7-8 hour drive ahead of us; but since we didnt get started till noon...it wasnt the best planning! We stopped right before Plettenburg Bay so that Hannah could bungee jump off the tallest jump in the WORLD! The jump is 216m (a little less than 708ft) high off the Bloukrans River Bridge! Everyone who worked there kept trying to convince we to do it...but that wasnt happening (even though I have to admit there was about 5 seconds of me considering it!). I did get to walk over to where they jumped so that I can witness the craziness! We walked across this steel walkway that was bolted underneath the bridge out to the center. I wasnt allowed to bring any “loose” items-including my camera--which is why I only have a picture of the bridge. But if you look close enough, in the very center (at the top of the arch; theres a large banner there) you can see where people would jump!
We went over with like 7 other people and Hannah jumped like it was no biggie!! After the jump, we stopped at a restaurant called the Lookout and had lunch/dinner. There was a little girl eating there as well, who came up to us and asked “Are you kids too?" Haha Hannah continues to tell her “no, we’re adults, just little” haha And the little girl continues to tell us she ordered her big girl meal and asks us why we’re there. Needless to say, it was entertaining. We even saw a whale while we were there!! Than it was off to Cape Town!!We got into Cape Town and at our hostel around midnight! The next day we got up early to head to the Cape of Good Hope and to the wineries. We ventured along the coast and stopped once at Boulders Beach to see the penguins!! I was all ready to jump over the railing, steal a penguin, and run to the car...but Hannah didnt seem too thrilled with the idea. Boo.
We did see a guy in a penguin suit, holding a fish and chips sign though! Hannah and I got a good laugh...ha what a job. On the way into the park, we saw this baboon on the road knawing on the road, trying to get a piece of gum up! hahaha he was working hard for quite awhile and of course as soon as I got my camera out; he got the gum!! The views from Cape Point were absolutely beautiful!! I thought it was the southern most tip of Africa--but turns out it isnt. BUT it is the southern most tip of Africa that I HAVE BEEN TO! And I thought it was where the Indian+Atlantic Oceans met...but technically no. But shhhh...I liked the idea of that! After Cape Point, we headed to Stellenbosch to visit a famous South African winery!! There were so many to choose from, so we ended up just picking one! We went to Delheim Winery. Unfortunately we got there too late to have a tour; but we did have a very nice wine and cheese tasting! We got to try 6 different wines-a mix of rose, white and red; and about 5-6 different cheeses! 
We had every intention to go to Franshoek after this and have a really nice dinner, but we were too full!! So we ended up heading back to Cape Town. We had dinner at a german brauhaus restaurant at the waterfront...and we actually got carded! haha I havent been carded my entire year here...but I guess we both look under 18?? haha and Hannahs even older than me!! Than we went to see the final HARRY POTTER movie!! We were pretty much the only 2 people theatre...and ahh...I cant believe its over!! 
So the next day, we explored Cape Town a bit. We walked down to Green Market square and bargained our way into a few purchases! We had lunch at a place called Mumbo Jumbo, where it turned out that our server was from the states and had just moved to Cape Town a few months back. We shopped and walked around the waterfront a bit as well. We had some nice margaritas and mojitos for happy hour and ended up running into our server from earlier that day. He took us around that night and went to an Irish pub on Long street.
Since Hannah and I needed to get in all the good food of Cape Town before we left; our last day was mostly centered around food! haha we had a great breakfast/lunch at Mr. Pickwicks on long street; another lunch/dinner back at Mumbo Jumbos! We had to run a few errands, to make sure everything was set for our train trip the next day.
The next morning, we got on our train from Cape Town to Johannesburg. We had a 4 person compartment to ourselves!! It was pretty nice...minus the fact that we didnt buy bedding and ended up FREEZING the entire night! I think we were each wearing like 5 layers of clothing!! We made it to Joburg by around noon the next day; and than took another 4-5 hour combi back to Gabs!! We were sad to say goodbye to Cape Town! Hannah is seriously considering moving there after Peace Corps; and I have put on my list of places to live at some point in my life (we’ll see...)!
Back in Tlokweng now and man its been a bit of a bust. Ive been in bed sick (probably because of that freezing night on the train); my internet is currently not working, and I feel like I have a million things to do!! I have mentioned that I am doing a project called the World Map Project and its still (slowly) coming along (I promise I’ll devote a whole post JUST to this project...complete with pictures once its finished!!) Schools are back in session, so I hope to start my club meetings back up again next week! And work in the office...is going.
On a completely different side note--my friend Alexis submitted an article about meeting Michelle Obama and asked to use my picture that I took of her! It ended up making the main page of the website!! She said her mom is going to send a few copies! haha Alexis told me I need to pick up photography again! http://tjpnews.com/
Next up: Its going to be August already..what??? I’ll be at the Bots10 IST for a couple of days for PSDN, starting to plan my trip with my dad around Botswana in November, and hopefully a finished World Map Project!
