Friday, September 11, 2009

Spring Break '09!

Spring Break in September has been of the craziest and best experiences of my life.  All 9 of my housemates plus Chris and Grady (our two fantastic guests) went on a 6-day adventure of a lifetime.  I will try to describe this to you but I am not sure I can do it justice…

The first day we left Cape Town early in the morning to drive to the Cango Caves where we got to climb around 250,000 year old caves underground.  Then we went to the Ostrich Farm where I discovered my phobia of large birds so I opted out when I had the option to ride them.  But watching the others get thrown around on these huge ugly creatures was quite entertaining.  Then we went to The Wild Spirit Lodge, our amazing backpacker for 4 nights.  This place was beautiful and perfect for our group.  We all shared one big room and they made us breakfast and dinner everyday, and they even took us on a sunset drive to a huge gorge where we got to have sundowners and see the amazing view. 

Sunday we went zip lining through the forest in the morning and then an elephant sanctuary in the afternoon.  I fell in love with elephants and was so happy to get to hug and feed them! They are such amazing creatures.  That night we got to sit around a campfire for a drum circle that kind of seems like a dream now that I think about it, but it definitely happened and I got really into the drumming!

Monday morning I jumped off the highest bungee jumping bridge in the world and I loved it!!! Imagine standing on the edge of a 650-foot bridge with only a rope attached to your ankles and people behind you yelling 3-2-1-bungee!! And then you swan dive into the air for a 4 second free fall that is the biggest rush of adrenaline I have ever imagined.  The best part for me was that no one besides Grady and myself was planning on jumping, but once everyone got to the bridge we all ended up jumping! We were so high on life that I am sure the people working at the jump thought we were crazy, but it was so incredible and I would do it every day if I could.

The next day we took a break from the crazy adventures to go the beach and I touched the Indian Ocean for the first time.  We hiked to a lookout point that overlooked the entire coast and the crashing ocean waves and it was so spectacular.  The next day we got an equally beautiful view of the ocean, but this time is was two oceans at once! We went to Cape L’Agalus where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.  We sat there to watch the sunset and I was truly reminding of how lucky I am to be living the life that I am.

We ended the last day with a bang when we went shark cage diving.  Just try and picture yourself in a cage hanging off the side of a boat with yourself and 5 other people.  You’re above the water when the men on the boat yell, “Down Down!” and you dive into the water to encounter a 10 foot long Great White Shark 2 feet from your face.  At one point I was in the water and a shark swam up and bite the cage bars right in front of my face! Yes, I was about a foot away from a shark’s mouth and it was great.  Strangely, I am more afraid of ostriches than I am of sharks and I don’t really know what that says about me but I am ok with it. 

To sum it all up (if that is possible), our Spring Break was 6 amazing days that I couldn’t have been better.  I am so grateful that we all got to experience it together and that Chris was able to come along for the ride.  It is almost time to get back to the real world, but I still have a few more days of break so we are going to live it up as much as possible! 

3 comments:

  1. One word... AMAZING! I can't wait to see pics and really hear more about it. I am so glad that you had so much fun and you have to let Maddie know about the shark diving. Much love!

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  2. Oh my gosh! It sounds like quite the adventure you guys had. I'm glad you're enjoying it and got to do all the crazy things you had on your list!

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  3. Yikes!! Are you trying to give your mom a heartattack!! Your "extreme" sports genes must have come from your father!! The most scary thing I have ever done is going in a glider airplane with your Dad...marta wouldn't go! Sounds like your are having a great time. I am jealous.

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