Spring Break... Take 2

My second spring break of the year was spent in Cape Town about 8 or 9 hours east of Port Elizabeth. 

We left on Sunday where the first stop was the Bloukrans Bridge AKA the HIGHEST bungee bridge in the world… 216 meters (708 feet). Now before coming to Africa I had absolutely NO desire to bungee jump.  Eat exotic bird? Sure. Drink legally on a nightly basis? Why not.  Go to class? MAYBE. But bungee jump- Hell no. 

Well.  Needless to say, I did it. AND I did it in the pouring rain.  I believe the words “raw death” were used to describe my face stepping up to the ledge.  And I believe the words “FUCKFUCKFUCK” were used all the way down…. That’s one video the grandkids won’t ever watch. But, I must say I would do it again and again.  It was the most exciting adrenaline rush of unquenchable fear I have ever gotten… and I’ve eaten at the cafeteria.

That night we slept at a township which I’ve mentioned before as a poor all black area.  It wasn’t too bad actually.  I got to help cook, get schooled in dance moves by a J. Bieber obsessed nine year old (yes, that shit did make it to Africa), and got a unique cultural experience out of the country.  She fed us chicken, potatoes, pap (which is known as miely-miel), carrots, and cabbage. And of course… sitting in the middle of the table was a large cold bottle of COKE. Not diet coke of course, but coke.

The next day our tour guide, Mike, took us up to Cape Point where we hiked up part of a mountain to a lighthouse along the coastline. 

Next stop… Penguins. All I wanted was for one of the little rodents to flap its wings for me.  I begged and pleaded in what I thought was excellent Penguin, but did they comply? No. Dear penguins, when you go extinct… you had it coming.

The next day I wandered around the streets of Cape Town with some friends.  And it looks a lot like Georgetown minus the overpriced cupcakes… and diet coke. We passed shop after shop after shop when suddenly my heart stopped.

There. Maybe 30 yards away was an enormous group of rioting protestors outside a courthouse.  Now I know that joining in on such activity is in poor taste seeing as they are illegal… but come on.  I’m a Journalism Major.  This is why I get UP in the morning.  So I glanced at my disapproving friends who denied my valid request and we continued walking away. Lesson of the day:  Make sure the crazy kid who wants to run off and do things isn’t in the very back of the group… she’s gonna do them.  So I took off and was already half way there before they started screaming.  I txted them letting them know I’d meet up later. This was TOO good to pass up.

I took out my camera and crawled under the police tape getting right in the middle.  Police were everywhere getting ready to shoot rubber bullets so I asked my questions quick.  The protest was in regards to a trial that had been postponed every year for 4 years for the rape and murder of a lesbian.  Apparently, “butch” lesbians (as she described) were being targeted all around South Africa.  Rapes and murders by men took count in the hundreds even thousands and no one was doing a thing to stop it.

I didn’t leave until the battery on my camera died, but it was unbelievable.

The next day I woke up at 4am to go cage diving with Great White Sharks. It was a two hour drive but completely worth it.  We were put into 7ml wet suits, lowered into a cage, and into the water we went watching as they thrashed around in front of us.  After an hour or so I got out.  The whole “breakfast before wavy sea boating” wasn’t my finest idea.  So I leaned over the boat to vomit-WORST idea.  Apparently the sharks can see shadows in the water so before I knew it a 12 foot great white jumped out of the water and tried to catch my face. The entire thing was above water- and it almost fell in the boat. 

And that was the day Katie nearly lost her face.

The following morning we drove to an ostrich farm where we learned the history and got to pet the enormous critters.  They really look like fluffy Velocoraptors. Then, I and two others got to ride them around the farm.  That was scarier then the shark.  I kid you not.  Unless you have ridden an Ostrich like a pro- you and I are not equals.

Then came the Adventure Cave tour where we climbed up and through tiny crevices in the cave to make our way to the end.  The humidity and heat was unbelievable.  However the far more entertaining aspect was our tour guide.  “Gay” was far too simple a term to describe the fellow and he had quite a thing for our tour guide.  (Not that I can blame him).  Every time Mike crawled up a cave, he made him pause in weird positions… highlighting certain asspects. I did not complain.

That was the final night of our trip where we stayed in a backpacker.  Skeptical though I was, that was by far my favorite night since I have landed on this continent. I stayed up all night with a friend doing shots with the owner and the bartender kept feeding us free drinks. I haven’t laughed that hard since America started pretending it “had talent.”

P.S. Rebecca- I cannot access my MU email since the portal changed. How do I fix it?