Surf Safari South Africa

About one month into our time in SA we met up with a guy named Cliff who got us hooked up with some sick surfboards. The time came to really put them to good use. For 10 days we traveled along the coast in rented Toyota Yaris with our boards strapped on top. We started in Durban and ended up in Cape Town. If you did the drive straight through it would take about 20 hours. We took our time and hit up some sweet surf spots along the way.





One of the coolest places that we stayed was in Jeffery's Bay or (J-Bay) This is a legendary surf spot visited in the Movie "Endless Summer II. Check it out! The town has a surfer vibe and we stayed at a sweet backpackers run by the coolest young couple ever. From J-Bay we drove 20 minutes out to Cape St. Francis, another spot that they visited in the movie. It is supposed to have the longest point break in the world. I am sure that it can really "go off" but when we were there there wasnt much of a swell but it was still fun.

We hit some other sweet spots and were out in the water for 7 straight days, surfing in board shorts and sometimes a rash guard. Renting the car was the best thing that we did and we were able to see a lot of the country including the famous Garden Route. We hit storms river and jumped off the highest bungee jump in the world, shot oysters at Knysna, and soaked up some serious sun on Clifton Beach in Cape Town.

South Africa is a country of contrasts. From the rural villages to the bustling cities I have come to love this country and all that it has to offer.

Getting home was quite a story in itself. After traveling for 42 hours we finally arrived in Portland. It was the longest travel day(s) of my life! This was our flight pattern:

Cape Town-Durban-Johannesburg-Lyons-Paris-San Francisco-Portland.

We are now safely back in Winter Wonderland Monmouth. The night that we got in, it snowed 4 inches. Perfect timing. Thank you for all who read my silly stories and shared this experience with me. I hope you enjoyed this blog and learned a little along the way. God Bless!

Backpackers Heaven!

There are so many rad backpackers here in SA. There are the ones that we have stayed at so far:

On the Beach Backpackers
Surf n Dreams
Mantis and Moon
Coffee Shack
Ubuntu

Check them out!

We came, we saw, we loved

This has been a great time here in SA working with Agathos. I have learned so much about myself and have had some great experiences. We fell in love with the country and with the kids. There is so much work to be done here that it is hard to leave. The relationships that were built in this short amount of time were priceless. I don't know if SA is in my plans for the near future, but if something comes up, it will be hard to say "no." There are so many more things to say when a time like this comes to an end, but I would rather tell you in person, so look me up over the holidays and we can chat!

We are now in the middle of a 10 day "South African Surf Safari." We started in Durban and we are driving down the N2 to Cape Town, have a few days there and then head back home for the holidays.

Luxury Resort

Just 20 minutes away from the Cottages is the Dragon Peaks Resort. They have a good relationship with the management and we were able to get permission to head up there for 4 hours free of charge to use their facilities. We had perfect weather and the kids had a blast.

It was a perfect way to end our time

here at the cottages.

Sleeping in the mountains

We have wanted to do something special with the “middle age” group of kids at the cottages. We decided that camping would be a lot of fun for them (and us) We took 8 kids with borrowed tents and sleeping bags and went up to JD and Barbara’s property for an over night trip. The first dilemma was finding the right place to pitch a tent. Most of the property is on a pretty steep incline. One of the only flat spots is a little forested area that would be perfect except one slight problem. On one side of the forest is the ancient burial grounds of a local chief. Locals still sometimes come out there to perform traditional ceremonies on their sacred ground. The kids were well aware of that fact and were initially terrified of the thought of sleeping out there (in the dark). We eventually went to the other end of the forest and convinced them that we would be safe and that our God is bigger than anything that might be out there.

The rest of the trip was great. We had hotdogs and smores for dinner, and pancakes the next morning. We played their favorite game: Dodgeball. Pronounced “Dau-gee-ball”, climbed trees, made a fire, read stories, played monopoly and Uno. Whewh. We were busy.

The next morning after breakfast we went down to a little pond and went swimming in the water. Once we convinced them that there were no snakes, most of them had a blast swimming and even some attempted backflips, under Eli’s supervision.

For the Love of Music

The other day the kids caught sight of my MP3 player and were eager to see what the big deal was about putting goofy things over your years. Their expressions were priceless. Music seems to have no problem crossing cultures and touching the hearts of those that listen.

Friendly Dutchman

Tim has been such a fun character to work with here at the cottages. He lives about 15 minutes away and does volunteer carpentry for the cottages. His joy is super contagious and he is always making jokes. We have been out there several times to help him with his entertainment system and other electronic devices.

The other day we were called out for a T-bone braai as a thank you. Flora, his partner, whipped up some great Zulu sides to go along with our meal.

SA Knowns how to party!

On Thanksgiving Day, The Cottages were abuzz with activity. The bead project was doing its annual “profit sharing” with the community. They were able to buy about 50 lbs of groceries for the ladies that work on the project. They were so excited and there lots of dancing and singing and ululating by the women.

After that we had our own Thanksgiving/Birthday party celebration with the children. We had 3 turkeys, gravy, mashed potatoes and even cranberry sauce! (Thanks Mom). It was truly a feast. We had a whole program with dancing, singing and more dancing and more singing. After the meal, I was ready for a nap, but the party raged on into the night. By the end, I was exhausted but my tummy was so happy.

More Safari Adventures

Well just two days after our horseback riding in the bush, we scored some seats on a safari ride in a “Big Five” private game park. The Big Five are a big deal here. They are: Elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and wildebeest. Anyway, going to a big five game park is a “must do” for everyone visiting South Africa. We were pretty stoked at the possibility of seeing these amazing creatures. Around noon we headed out to the game park with an Aussie couple, and a family from Belgium now living in SA.

Our tour guide was probably OVER qualified. He had taken 6 years to work every national game park in all of Africa. He grandpa and his father were both game park guides so this guy knew he stuff. The first stop was the lodge, after checking on a family of hippos lounging in the sun. The lodge was right in the middle of the game park with no fences separating it from the wilderness all around. You are not allowed to walk more than a few feet away from the buildings because the animals can come right up there. Elephants like to drink from their pond, and a hyena killed an impala about 3 feet from one of the guest rooms deck. Pretty crazy stuff.

We went on a Wednesday, so there was NO ONE else at the lodge. We got supreme service! When we arrived they had iced drinks waiting for us and drums to announce our arrival (to no one but the animals) Eli and I took a quick dip in the pond, tried to dry off (slightly unsuccessful) and enjoyed a delicious meal. After that we headed out into the park for 3 hours hoping to see at least a few of the big 5. Wanna know how many we saw? ZERO. Yup that’s right. We got skunked. It was a bummer because we were going all out to find the elephants and we saw signs of their presence all around us. It just wasn’t meant to happen. It was exciting though because we were briefed about what to do when we saw lions, and elephants and such. We didn’t have the most amazing stories, but hearing all of our tour guides crazy adventures almost made up for it.