Final Weekend Day 3- Caves, Ostriches, and Baby Cheetahs!

We spent the next two nights at a backpackers’ lodge in the town of Oudtshoorn, an area known for ostrich farming. Not surprisingly, our breakfast at the lodge in the morning included scrambled eggs made from ostrich eggs. The volume of one ostrich egg is equal to 24 chicken eggs! Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you if the taste was any different from a chicken egg because my nose was stuffed and my senses of smell and taste were limited.

The last day of our adventure-filled final weekend (Monday, August 9) was jam-packed with interesting activities. In the morning we toured the Cango Caves, a set of caverns under the mountains filled with limestone rock formations- stalactites and stalagmites. The caves were not that different from some of the limestone caves I’ve seen in the U.S., but the unique thing about Cango Caves is the type of tour they offer. At the caves you can choose to take either the Standard Tour or the Adventure Tour. The Standard Tour is a basic walking tour through the large open areas of the cave while the Adventure Tour is a little more involved, including climbing and crawling through small spaces like a real cave explorer. The majority of our group, myself included, opted for the Adventure Tour. I’m not the biggest fan of small tight spaces, but I’m always up for trying new things. It was a challenge to climb through that cave, but I managed through the ducking, crouching, crawling, and squeezing better than I thought I would. My dancer’s agility certainly came in handy. Some of the more intense parts included the “Devil’s Chimney,” a narrow tunnel about six feet long that you have to climb up through. The space is so narrow all the way around that you can’t really put your arms to your sides. You have to push upwards with your legs mostly and keep your arms in front of you. I felt a little like I was swimming to the surface from deep in the water, I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible so I pulled myself up with all my might. Another tight spot was the “Post Box,” a space about 2 feet high and 8-9 feet long. You basically have to army crawl on your stomach through the tunnel. At the end you have to squeeze through a space a little more than a foot high and slide down a short slope on your stomach. Thankfully the tour guide was there to help us out. My friends and I had a great time taking silly pictures of each other among the cave formations the whole time we were on the tour. In the end it was a great time and a great way to bond with people, helping each other through tight cave spaces.

Limestone stalactites

After lunch we visited an ostrich farm. As part of the tour, visitors are given the opportunity to ride on an ostrich if they want. However, bearing riders is very tiring for the ostriches so the farm only allowed eight people from our group to ride. I wasn’t dying to ride an ostrich so I opted out, but I did get to sit on the ostrich and get my picture taken. Watching the others ride was pretty hilarious. It’s very difficult to stay balanced on the ostrich, so there are two trainers who run alongside and pull the person off once they start to lose their balance. The trainers themselves were very good at it and could even steer the ostrich by gently pulling its neck toward one side or the other. Some of the other close ostrich encounters included getting an ostrich “hug,” where the trainer holds their hand with food behind your back and the ostrich reaches its neck over your shoulder to get it. I was surprised at how soft the ostrich’s neck feathers were. Two of the guys from our group were talked into “kissing” the ostrich, putting a piece of ostrich feed sticking out of their mouths and the ostrich would come and peck it out. That was very entertaining to watch and both guys claimed that it was one of the most awkward things they’d ever done. Haha. We also learned that ostrich eggs are incredibly strong. A large adult man can stand on one without it breaking. It takes an ostrich chick close to 48 hours to peck its way out of the egg when hatching.

Ostrich riding

Ostrich hug

The last thing we did that day was visit a place called Cango Wildlife Ranch, which was kind of like a zoo but more interactive. We toured through their different animal exhibits and saw warthogs, vultures, lemurs, flamingoes, crocodiles, a pygmy hippo, a river otter, white and brown tigers, white lions, and adult and baby cheetahs. For an extra fee they allow people to enter the enclosures and touch some of these animals. All of us paid to pet baby cheetahs, something Corvell told us about a long time ago that we were all very excited to do. The cheetah was adorable and reminded me of a very large housecat. One of the babies was even playing with a stuffed toy while we pet it. It was so cute! Some others in the group also got to hold a boa constrictor and two girls even paid to do a cage dive in the crocodile enclosure.

Crocodile cage diving

That night we were treated to a delicious dinner at the backpackers’ lodge that included braaied ostrich meat, on shish kebabs and in sausage form. Mmmm! Then we spent the rest of the night relaxing and hanging out. It was sad to think that we’d be leaving South Africa in just a few days, but it was nice for the time being to enjoy spending time together. We’ve all grown very close as a group over the past six weeks and I knew it would be hard to say goodbye to each other and to all the wonderful South Africans we’ve met along the way as well.

Day 1- First Impressions

I’m finally here. We made it to South Africa yesterday (Wednesday, June 30) around 10:00pm. It was definitely a relief to finally be off an airplane after a total of 18 hours of flying. And spending 11 hours straight in the air is enough to drive anyone a little crazy. In an attempt to stave off boredom, a lot of people (myself included) started pacing the aisles and standing around in the back of the plane by the kitchen around halfway through the flight.

Our homes in South Africa for the first 12 days are a couple bed-and-breakfast places in a suburb northeast of Cape Town called Durbanville. Most of our group is staying in Deo Gratia, the guest house I mentioned in my first post, but there wasn’t room there for all of us, so I and a few other girls are staying in another bed-and-breakfast down the road. We’re staying in a little cabin-like building with a small kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom upstairs in this sort of attic room. The furniture and the feel of the place remind me of being in a cottage up north, except for the fact that the roof is thatched and rounded in the front. It definitely has a uniquely African feel that way. Supposedly in a few days we’ll all be switching rooms so that everyone has a chance to stay at both lodges. Our coordinators like to change things up for us.

This morning (Thursday, July 1) we went to a mall in Durbanville to get things like plug adapters, calling cards, toiletries, and cheap cell phones to use while we’re here. According to Corvell, our coordinator, South Africans love to shop and there are malls like the one we went to all over the metropolitan areas in South Africa. This mall wasn’t much different from a large mall in the U.S., although there were businesses like foreign exchange bureaus, a post office, and a grocery store than you aren’t likely to find in your average U.S. mall. But it’s nice to have a place for one-stop shopping here. We also visited a cheetah conservation center where we were able to go into the cheetah enclosure and pet the cheetahs. (Although only when the cheetah is lying down and the trainer is holding its head.) Overall, it was a very nice, relaxing first day. I also enjoyed riding in the van and just looking out the window at the countryside. It’s exciting to just ride around and see new things everywhere I look.

Petting the cheetah

A little on South African money: The currency here is called the rand and 1 U.S. dollar = about 7 rand. There are 1, 2, and 5 rand coins and 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 rand bills. I’m definitely getting some useful practice in dividing by 7 to find out how much I’m paying for everything. It’s a little disconcerting for a brief second when I’ve gone to order something like a sandwich that’s labeled 29.95 – until I remember it’s in rand not dollars and I’m really only paying a little over $4.

All in all, after one day I’m definitely enjoying myself. The landscape around here is stunningly beautiful with mountains in the distance and green grass and trees everywhere, even in the middle of winter here. (Average temperatures are in the 50s right now. Winter in South Africa is similar to winter in southern Georgia or Texas in the U.S.) From first impression a lot of things seem similar to the U.S., at least as far as food, lodging, and shopping are concerned. But looking around at the land and the people on the streets, I definitely feel like I’m half a world away from home. It’s a nice change though, especially because most of the people are so friendly and the landscape is so beautiful. I’m definitely glad I came.