SurfShack

Day One:

The clock struck 4:30 am and we were promptly awoken. With a 5am departure looming we must finish the last minute packing and gathering of the food. After about an hour and half, the sun started to peek over the mountains as we drove up the eastern coast of the country. The greeting to our day was beautiful with the sun rays jetting across rolling hills of farm land, mountains to the west, and various bays to the east. We arrived to our accommodation in Victoria Bay around 11am. It was a wonderful feeling to drive past the backpackers lodge and pull into our private house, Silver Spray, which is directly on the shore overlooking the sea where the surf awaits us in the morning. We quickly dropped off our bags, detached the trailer, and got back into the car to drive to lunch. This was no ordinary lunch. Our trip lasted one hour and we arrived at ____. We enjoyed a huge spread of tapas that included ostrich fillet, cheeses, breads, ham, salami, olives and salads. To round out our lunch we sampled 15 wines from the farm and one craft beer. The landscape of the farm was gorgeous, overlooking a snow-capped mountain range and colorful rows of flowers on the apricot plants used to make some of the award winning wines. After lunch we took a ten minute journey to the Cango Wildlife Ranch. At the ranch we got to see many native African animals in protected environments. Most notable about the ranch was going into the lemur area and letting them jump all over you! Also, diving with crocodiles was a lot of fun, but could have been better if the crocs were feeling a bit more active. We ended our evening by picking up some pizzas and relaxing back at our accommodations. Tonight we go to bed with a lit up bay from the full moon and the sound of crashing waves from the larger than anticipated swell. Tomorrow we take it on first thing in the morning.

Day Two:
Today started with a wonderful sunrise over Victoriabaai. Lovely colors of pink, orange, and blue across the sky. Breakfast was a delight. Fresh chopped fruit, yogurt, and mussoli. Just the energy needed to take on the waves. What was not ready was all of us. This morning we got pummeled by the waves. Huge, white water waves in never ending sets made life miserable for an hour and a half. For lunch we enjoyed cold meat and cheese sandwiches before we headed back out. By this time the waves had become cleaner and slightly more time was between the sets of clean face waves, making it a much more enjoyable time in the water. The waves were so fun, so fast, and much bigger than the waves we have come to know in Muizenberg. After another hour plus we came in start cleaning up for our braai. We got the grill fired up and soon we enjoyed lamb, boerwurst, chicken, kingklip, corn, pasta, beans, and salad. What a feast! Our night ended by playing cards and enjoying homemade pancakes with honey, bananas, and carmel.

Day Three:
Today we woke up to slightly grey skies and chilly air. We decided to not go for a surf because the swell wasn't ideal and we wanted to get on our way to different safari adventures for the day. After a nice breakfast and a cleanup of our house we jetted off to our first stop, _______, where we got to see many large African cats. Once again we had an awesome tour guide, which was great because we were actually inside the cages and areas where cheetahs, mountain lions, and some slightly smaller wildcats were. This was awesome. The leopard was the most spectacular. It was clearly in a playful mood because it was prancing around, jumping against the cage, and very active. From there we drove about 5 minutes to the elephant sanctuary. We were a bit early for the tour so we relaxed next to the fire in the lodge with complimentary roobis tea and coffee. At 3:30pm we were greeted by our guide whom for the rest of the trip very impressively remembered all seven of our names. After a few instructions we stood on a platform to be introduced to 3 elephants. Their names were Jabo, Tandi, and Merula. Mine was Merula. Merula was a female elephant from Africa. We walked hand and trunk through the forest to an area where we stopped to stroke and pet the elephants while a trainer pointed out the characteristics and body parts of the animal. It was awesome! From there we once again walked trunk in hand to the feeding area. We gave them chopped raw potatoes and beets. Yum! After that we said goodbye to the elephants. Our guide then gave us a very in depth lesson on the anatomy of the elephants, which was incredibly interesting. I loved learning that baby elephants are inside their mothers for 22 months before the are born. When they are in labor, it only takes about ten minutes for the baby to be born. The reason for this is because in the wild it must be quick to avoid predators. After about 10-15 minutes of life the baby elephants, who are about 25-30kg can walk. That being said they don't have a clue what their trunk is for and you can often see babies chasing after their trunk or even standing on them and toppling over. From the sanctuary we drove about 200km and arrived at Jeffrey's Bay around 7pm.

Day Four:
Today we woke up around 7:15 am and changed into our wet suits very quickly. The swell was looking great at Kitchen Windows, the beach right outside our accommodations. After a great hour or so time in the water we came and got showered up, had breakfast, and decided to hit the shops in town. It was neat to be surrounded by stores that are targeted to surfers, like Billabong, RVCA, and others. After some shopping we had lunch at a spot in town. Dave recommended the calamari, so I had fish, calamari, and chips. From there we looked at a few beaches and ultimately decided to drive about 35km to Cape St. Francis. The waves were quite small and broke quickly so the surf was not incredible but we all still managed to have a nice time. For dinner Dave made coriander pesto pasta with prawns, a salad, and red wine. It was scrumptious! For dessert we had chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce. At dinner we talked a lot about sharks, which was a great topic before another big surf tomorrow. After dinner we decided to go upstairs to the hotel pub for a beer, a springbok shooter (amarula and cream de mint) and some competitions on the fooseball and pool table. 10:30 pm and none of us can keep our eyes open.

Day Five:
When we woke up today the swell was no surfable, mainly due to the very high winds. So we took our time getting out of bed and when we did, Dave had a bacon, onion, and tomato scramble ready for us to enjoy for breakfast. Our main event for the day was going to the Seaview Game Park. This was basically a jeep safari drive, just, you did it in your own car. During the drive we saw springbok, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, and antelope roaming free. Also, there was a section of the park that was a bit more secure where they kept lions, tigers, cheetahs and a black leopard. This place was awesome. We got to go into the cages with four 16 month old white lions. They were beautiful, strong, and playful. We then went into the cage with 3 Bengal tigers. They were a bit less playful and were enjoying some rest, but non the less, very beautiful creatures. The handling of the animals was a great value and a great experience. After we touched what we thought were big cats, we drove through the Lion and tiger section of the park where they kept lions and tigers, some over 12 years old. What a difference time makes with these beasts. The lions were very playful, running after us as we jogged on the side of the cage. The tiger, was less impressed with our presence and gave us flashes of his huge teeth, before proceeding to exhausted himself and sitting down. All in all, a wonderful experience at the park. After we got home we played some pool and then went to the local Italian restaurant and had dinner. Large portions and excellent pizza and pasta made for a great night. Let's pray the swell looks ok tomorrow for a quick surf before heading back to Muizenberg.

Day Six:
Today was travel home day. We left around 9:30am after yet another lovely breakfast. We were hoping for a quick surf, but it was not looking too good so we decided to get a jump on the travel home. We had one stop along the way for an activity. The world's highest bungy jump. The place was called Face, and it was so cool! Although I didn't jump, two of our group members did and they said it was well worth the cost. Compared to many of the high jumps across the world this one was cheaper than all of them, and was even cheaper than any of the other jumps in South Africa. From there, it was an extensive 6 hour journey home. We arrived, tired, and ready to go surfing in Surfers Corner in the morning.

General Thoughts:
J-Bay was sick. Vic Bay was so pretty and even a bit nerve racking. South Africa as a landscape is like an award-winning painting in a museum. The countryside sunsets are unparalleled to any other that I have seen. The company of the trip was wonderful. The comrade of the group when surfing was so cool, so encouraging, and so supportive. The animals and the availability to touch, pet, and just get close to incredibly interesting and large beasts was so awesome. Dave and Fiona's planning of the trip was flawless and much appreciated. The price was great and what I felt was an incredible value for the what was received. What a great time!

We were all very excited for the arrival of the day when we could finally make it out to Simon's Town. The kids were overjoyed at the prospect of seeing penguins and the adults were beyond overjoyed to see the kids so happy and excited. The day began at 10:00am. It was gloomy and chilly, but nonetheless, everyone was excited to head out. With bacon and egg rolls in their stomachs and muesli bars, sports drinks, and oranges in their knapsacks, the kids couldn't wait to jump in the car.
After a twenty minute ride of laughter, wide curious eyes, and pointing at just about everything, we arrived at Boulders Beach. Our explorations began with a small beach where we found sea stars and anemones. It was a lot of fun to see the kids get excited when they saw an anemones tentacle move or felt the sea star slowly close it's tentacles on their hand. I was overjoyed to see how gentle and careful the kids were with the animals. Sea stars were observed swiftly but gently, and placed back in the same area where they were found and with much care. It was heartwarming to see that everyone understood that animals must be treated with respect and love. (these are Rudy's words :) ).
We then made our way down the beach and collected any rubbish that was seen laying around. Together, as a team, we threw the rubbish into trash bins with smiles on our faces.
Following the path, we headed towards the main attraction: penguins! It seems that we may have come during breeding season because many adult penguins were missing and substituted by extremely fluffy and cute baby ones. They are very curious creatures and not at all shy of people and were very close to the fence. We were all warned that if we like our fingers, not to touch the penguins because they will bite them right off! Hard to imagine such cute animals viciously biting off fingers, but none of us were going to test the theory. We enjoy our fingers...they come in handy quite often. The kids were able to identify nests very quickly and would look into every hole and look for penguins. Most of the time they found exactly what they were looking for. I myself was overwhelmed by the cuteness of the fluffy baby penguins and fought hard not to pet one. Rationality screamed "No Jenn, No!!!" every time I would get the urge. Luckily, the path soon ended and we found ourselves on a lovely little beach. By this time the gloomy weather had turned into sunshine and it was a beautiful warm day. So what don you do on a warm sunny day? Go for a swim in freezing water of course! The four brave souls, Rudi, Jaylee, Dan, and Bronwyn decided to climb some rocks and take a dip. As tempted as I was, someone had to take the great photos :)