The Garden Route

Every part of the drive I was just mesmerized by how beautiful everything was. Not only is the drive along the coastal beaches of southern Africa, but along the little quaint adorable villages and towns. There was so much there to soak in and learn from and of course everything, yet again, was breathtaking.

The places we stopped for “rest stops” were little adorable farmers markets with fresh organic foods and fun little things to buy. All in all it was so fun.

I had won this trip for free, so it was what influenced my friends to sign up with me. Many people will just rent a car and drive with friends along the “garden route, route,” but it was not only safer and more stress free to go through 2Way travel, but so much more enjoyable because we didn’t have to worry about a thing. I went with 12 other girls in this great car with an incredible man named Eon as our tour guide/driver. He was just fabulous. Such an AWESOME dude named Eon who is 35 and used to work in corporate sales. One day he went to work and thought “no. this is not for me. This is not the life I want to live.” He quit right then and there and decided to travel and work as a guide showing people around Cape Town. He is married and him and his wife want to open a Yoga Retreat center right out of Cape Town. I told him to sign me up right then and there.. He is amazing. I sat up in the first row with my friend Paige and we engaged him the entire first 3 days asking questions about everything over the moon. I am going to post next about what he taught me about aging so far. He enriched the whole experience and was a HUGE highlight for me.

Here is the day breakdown in bullets, to document it.

Day 1:

-Left Cape Town and started the garden route.

-Amazing music in the car and good talks with the crew

-Went Canoeing on the water through this beautiful little town

-Got to our hostel at around 6 pm- it was called AFROVIBE- actually the cutest hostel in the entire world. It was RIGHT on the beach and SO nice. Looked like little beach houses. They had rainbow drinks waiting for us at sunset and we all cheersed together and talked about life and how cool this experience was going to be

-Deep talks on beach

-Dinner at hostel with another CIEE group- It was veggies and rice and salad

-Sat around the bond fire with locals we met, slade and marcus and ian, talking about our future and Cape Town and how amazing everything was

-A few of us laid on the beach and star gazed. They were BEAUTIFUL and easily the brightest stars I have ever seen. The water also had bioluminescent plankton so when you rubbed it as it hit the ocean, it GLOWED. Super cool.

-Cute bunk beds, I slept in bottom bunk

-There was a painted quote on the wall in the hostel that says “We are not African because we live in Africa, we are African because it lives in us.”

Day 2:

-Breakfast at hostel. They had fresh smoothies, yogurt, fruit, gf granola and coffee

-Went to the Bungee jump, which is “the largest bungee jump in the world.” Who knew. All my friends were planning no doing it, but I knew I had zero interest in doing it! Just genuinely do not feel the need to jump off a bridge and even being there I still didn’t have any desire. All my friends did it, but I got to go with them to the top of the bridge to watch them do it. It was so insanely scary just walking up to the bridge. The entire thing moved as you walked. I was so glad I got to be with everyone and help calm their nerves when they jumped. I took photos and totally added to the experience. Everyone had the best time. I didn’t feel once bit of regret that I didn’t go and I am so happy about that.

-After we went to Tsitsikamma National Park (pronounced tit-see- kama) where we hiked. There is this beautiful suspension bridge. I soaked it all in.

-I got a pretty bracelet in that town. It’s traditional African rainbow beads and in the middle has the symbol of Africa. It is really cute and a nice keepsake. Also the money goes to children with malaria.

-Then we went zip lining through the rainforest. It was so fun not scary at all, which I was surprised at because I am terrified at heights. We had funny guides. It was really relaxing actually.

-Got to the hostel at night called Island Vibe (funny that it has the word vibe in it). It also is right on the ocean and cute and quaint. Our room was for 14 people set up like Madeline style with bunkbeds

-4 other CIEE groups with there and it was fun because we all had dinner together and chilled out. We danced, laid on the hammocks along the beach and star gazed

-Also before dinner this group of adorable little African girls with traditional paint on their face did a drum dance for us. Then they painted all of our faces with their own paint! They hugged us HUGE afterwards and were so thankful we gave them tips. Really humbling and special.

Day 3:

- I woke up early because I couldn’t sleep and ended up catching the sunrise right on the ocean. It was breathtaking.

-We had breakfast in the town that IslandVibe is in. It was at a quaint café called “love and food.” I got poached eggs and GF bread and mushrooms and it was up there with one of my favorite meals. They also had amazing cappuccino.

-We shopped in the little beach stores and the billabong outlet.

-Next we went to the ELEPHANT WALK!!!! It was in this really nice area that people come and honeymoon and have weddings. The place was an elephant rescue center when they save them from being killed in the wild. They had 3 elephants and we got to walk with them and hang out and learned all about them. They are really friendly animals and love to give love! If you stand in front of them they wrap their trunks all around you in the warmest way- it’s SO sweet. We got to feed them and sit on them and pet them and it was really awesome.

-I loved the elephants but felt really bad for them that their lives are for people’s pleasure…it made me upset. But these ones were rescued and now treated really well so that made me feel good

-Next went to an ostrich farm. We got to pet and learn about them as well. They were interesting because there is a huge industry based off their existence. They were/are a huge part of the economy in South Africa. Ostrich feathers used to be a huge sign of wealth. People used to put them in their hats and if you had that it meant you were very well off. Once the car industry boomed, though, people couldn’t wear the feathers in the hats in the cars because they were too tall! Because of this they lost their eliteness and the whole industry started going down hill.

-Got to the hostel at dinner. It was so cute as well. Not right on the beach but clean, nice, quaint and family owned. We showered and had a big group dinner.

-We danced and hung out with the whole crew. I made two friends from Europe-Nate and Kris. Awesome people. We stargazed again and they were so bright and beautiful. I felt so small and insignificant.

Day 4:

-Breakfast at hostel. Really good yogurt and coffee

-We went splunking, which is cave exploring in the “Congo Caves.” There was a whole tour through it and we learned about how the caves formed from the ocean. Through the caves you had to climb, slide hike and walk. At a point I was on my stomach going face first through these small crevices. It was actually terrifying and claustrophobic, but it was a cool experience being in these two million year old caves and fun getting to climb around and slide through. I did the Kotel Tunell caves in Israel, which are similar, but these totally put them to shame

-Next we went to an animal observatory where I got to meet and play with CHEETAHS!!!! The first part was a tour of the center, which was like a zoo tour and then the second half you got to pick an animal to interact with and I picked the cheetahs! They were so soft and it was so cool getting to be with an actual CHEETAH!!! Ahh really awesome.

-We ate lunch there then drove 5 hours home back to Cape Town, but it was during sunset and we played great music. I sat in the back with my friends Rachel, Elli and Paige. I will cherish our talks we had on this drive. Really good, deep connecting talks about life and family and ourselves. It made me feel so close to them. It was sad saying by to Eon after, but I am so thankful for the experience I had.

Feeling really happy and whole and connected to the people around me and myself and this beautiful place that I get to call home for the next 5 months.

Today is Mock Classes Day where you go to figure out your schedule and where your classes are. Some professors hold an introductory class. I attended all of mind, but none of my professors showed up.. I guess TIA. (This is Africa). I met some incredible people though.

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