The Weekend: Part I

Sorry it has been so long since we have written on here but we have just been busy and lost track of time. Last weekend Alyssa, Patrick, Sara, Maria, and I rented a car and head to the Wild Coast on an unforgettable road trip….

Friday morning Patrick, Maria, and I went to the airport to pick up the car we rented. The plan was to have Maria rent the car since she is 21 and Patrick would drive since he can drive a stick. While the car rental place wasn’t clear on all their rules but after a little talking and a quick switching of drivers behind their back we made it out of the parking lot. We swung back by Annie’s picked up Alyssa, Sara, and our bags and we were off for the Wild Coast. The Wild Coast is East of Port Elizabeth and Port St. Johns was an eight hour drive. It was really rainy and foggy all day Friday so it was a good day to be driving. We stopped by Pic-n-Pay to get some groceries and snacks and then left PE by around 1:00 p.m. The weekend was so much fun and we saw so many incredible sights that pictures can’t even begin to describe but let me tell you I feel like I truly saw AFRICA this weekend. The drive was crazy because we were literally driving up the sides of mountains the entire time. We took N2 which is a major paved road most of the way but once we got to the turn off for Port St. Johns the roads were a whole different story. The Wild Coast is truly what you think of when you imagine Africa. There were tons of animals on the sides of the road (or middle for that matter!!), people were walking everywhere, women with baskets on their heads, and tons of round huts scattered throughout the mountains. We had children running up to our car asking us for sweets or money and it was like we stepped into a completely different world compared to the very much Westernized Port Elizabeth. The ride there was a little nerve racking since it was raining and so foggy while we were traveling up the side of the mountain but we still had lots of fun. I must say the music on the radios here in Africa is crazy. We would go from Brittany Spears, to old rock, Xhosa music, and then round out the hour with talk radio. Regardless it made the trip that much more fun and “the peanut gallery” as Patrick put it added to the entertainment. They were all either constantly talking or sound asleep. Anyway, considering the weather we made pretty good time on Friday. We stopped only a couple times and with only a few wrong turns we made it to Port St. Johns around 9:00 p.m. When we first got there we were all a little freaked out because what we had heard was such an amazing place was deserted, sketchy, and very run down. We made our way through town and got to our hostel called Jungle Monkey. To add to the slight paranoia of our arrival the electricity was out in the hostel and as we were walking up to the check in area there was a guy laying on the ground yelling with men holding him down. Apparently he was really drunk and being rude to some women so they called the police and they were on the way. We were all kind of thinking this wasn’t going to be the weekend we had hoped for but things started to turn around. We got checked in, and the electricity turned back on so we made supper in the hostel. Typical pasta but it was still good. After that we just all watched a movie on my laptop and then headed to bed since we had a long day of driving. Saturday morning we go up fairly early and asked the bar/front desk what they recommended doing. They told us about this waterfall called Magwa Falls about an hour and a half East of Port St. Johns. With some “interesting” directions we headed for the falls. 

The road to Magwa Falls is something I will always remember. After turning off the main road we headed down this crappy dirt road until we reached a tea plantation. It was quite the drive but the falls were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. They aren’t very well known as they are just relayed by word of mouth. When we got there we pulled off in the grass and walked down to it. The way it was set up we were on top of the falls and we had to cross the stream and walk to the other side to see them. They were so incredible and the pictures we took can’t even begin to describe them. It was at Magwa Falls that I had one of the coolest yet humbling experiences since I have been in South Africa. Patrick and I were having the girls take pictures with us in front of the falls when a goat farmer came up to the stream herding his goats across. He was probably in his twenties and was really friendly. He knew English but most people do since English is an official language in South Africa. However, while I was talking to him he asked me where I was from and I said America. He looked at me rather puzzled and said he had never heard of that before. It was so crazy to me because usually everyone knows the US whether or not they have a good impression of us. It really made me think. We are always saying how we feel bad for these people in Africa who lack so many of today’s modern and even simple things. When in reality maybe they are the ones with the better life. While we live these crazy hectic lives with technology all around us these people live in by far the most beautiful place on earth and get a chance to enjoy the simple things in life every single day. It was just really neat experience and really made me think. Not to mention the views.

After we hit up Magwa Falls we headed back in to Port St. Johns. While it looked a lot better during the day compared to when we arrived it was still a rather sketchy place. We went down to the beach and stayed there for a while. The water was a lot warmer than in PE and the sights were amazing there too. After that we took the car to this airstrip on top of this mountain to watch the sunset over the ocean and the town. It was incredible to see the whole town below and the ocean was right there as well. Some of our other friends from Annie’s had rented another car and they met us at the hostel for Saturday night. We made supper when we got back. The girls left Patrick and I in charge of supper so we made rice, vegetables, and garlic bread. After that we sat around at the bar in the hostel and listened to this band playing African music on these drum things. It was really cool and with the rain in the background it was the perfect way to end the day.

Sunday we got up at 5:00 a.m. and went back to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. It was so cool to watch it come up over the ocean. We almost didn’t make it but with Patrick’s mad driving skills we arrived on time. After that we all packed up and headed to Coffee Bay. We will try and post more about the weekend soon. Enjoy some of the pictures!! 

This is Alyssa posting...and I just thought I would add this because it is one of my favorite pictures!

Bayworld and The Beach!

We had a pretty fun Saturday! In the morning Shawn, Patrick, Sara, Hannah and I all went to Bayworld. <-- Here is their highly exaggerated website. It is this oceanarium, museum, reptile place. It was by far one of the strangest places I have ever been. The oceanarium wasn’t really all that much. A lot of the tanks were pretty dirty and it was kind of hard to see. We did get a good view of the African penguins and the seals though. Below are some pictures of both. We even got to see a show in which Gabby the seal did all sorts of cool tricks. It was definitely worth the $5.

After the oceanarium we walked into the museum part. It was really weird. They had all of these fake dinosaurs and reptiles. Then they had all of these animal skeletons, African art, a fashion area, ships, weapons….everything. It was just a weird combination of stuff to have in one museum. Some things were pretty cool though!

After Bayworld we walked to McDonald’s for some lunch. On our way we stopped at the market and Shawn got a really cool painting for R80! That is like 11 USD! What a bargainer :) We stopped to look out at the ocean and we saw a heard of dolphins SUPER close to shore. There were probably 30 dolphins and a surfer right in the middle of them. It was so cool. Shawn got really excited and ran down to the beach to jump in the water but by the time he got down there they were too far away to swim to. It was still really cool to see though. After the dolphins we went to McDonalds. Shawn was (as usual) very excited to get lunch. The first time I ate there I thought it was okay but I wasn’t the biggest fan this time. The fries were good but my sandwich was different. The Coke wasn’t the best either. Shawn enjoyed his meal though…and most of mine! The chocolate sundae was still awesome. Patrick ordered it because he got back in line. He said that he asked for a hot-fudge sundae and they just looked at him. He repeated it but it was obvious that they had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out, it is just called a sundae with chocolate topping! After lunch we went to the beach. We also buried Shawn in the sand. Patrick was pretty serious about it! I don’t know how much Shawn enjoyed it but it was pretty funny to see. The weather was really nice so we stayed at the beach for a couple of hours.

We then walked to the Boardwalk to see what movies were playing and decided we would come back later. We took the minibus back to Annie’s and changed. I made Shawn and I supper. It was an experiment but turned out pretty good. It was pasta with chicken and spicy Thai vegetables. We had some garlic bread too. Shawn liked it as least! After supper Shawn, Patrick, Sara and I took a minibus back to the Boardwalk. We left when it was still light out so we could take the minibus which is cheaper than a taxi. We had time to kill so we went to the casino in the Boardwalk. Shawn and Patrick got cards and did a little gambling. We lost everything. Luckily Shawn and I only put in R20 a piece. We went to the movie Conviction. It had Hilary Swank in it and was actually really good. We took a taxi back and just hung out the rest of the night. It was a really fun/laid-back day! Today we are just hanging out and don’t have any crazy plans!