AMICK’S AFRICAN ADVENTURES
Hello everyone!
Wow, there’s a lot that’s happened since my last update. Warning – I’ve been on the move a lot and this is a really long message. (Plus, you all know how I like to talk…) 🙂
I’m in Swaziland right now, and I’ve made a lot of stops between Cape Town and here. There’s a great bus for travelers in South Africa called the Baz Bus. It drives along the Garden Route, picking people up and dropping them off at hostels along the way. It’s easy, safe, and a nice way to meet lots of other travelers and hear what they’re doing. I bought a one-way ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg via Swaziland, and am allowed to get off at any of the stops I want to and there’s no time limit for finishing the trip. So, here’s a quick summary of the places I’ve been and the main highlights from those places: – First, and this was NOT a highlight, I had to say a sad farewell to Gia in Cape Town. She set a high standard as a travel companion, and it hasn’t been the same without her! – My first Baz Bus stop was in Hermanus, a city along Walker Bay. Walker Bay is a whale sanctuary at this part of the year, and southern right whales come in really close to the shore. I spent a few relaxing days walking along the cliff paths and watching the whales – several of them breached numerous times, which I’ve always wanted to see. I also went sea kayaking for one morning, and almost had 2 whales run into me! They came up out of nowhere and were coming towards us, so we frantically paddled out of the way and they passed just behind us. I think they were just curious and checking us out. – While I was staying in Hermanus, I went to Gansbaai for 2 days to see great white sharks and to go into the water to see them from a shark cage on the side of the boat. That was incredible. We saw about 6-7 sharks each day, ranging in size from 7-14 feet long. I can assure you that even the 7-foot ones look really big when they’re circling you at close range! At one point, I was in the cage while a 14-foot one circled around and around it, close enough ,several times that I could have touched it. It didn’t touch the cage – just watched us and went for the bait next to the cage – but it was pretty thrilling!
We also had the luck at the end of the second day to see nature at work. We were on our way back to the dock when we saw a dead humpback whale floating on the water. We went over to investigate it, and stayed and watched for about an hour while great white sharks came and fed on it. Our guide said that he had never had the opportunity to see that before, and it was amazing to watch. – My next stop was Oudtshoorn, where I did a 34-mile mountain bike ride down from a mountain pass into town, stopping along the way at an ostrich farm and a wildlife ranch that rehabilitates cheetahs and has lots of other animals including lots of Nile crocodiles. That was a fun day, but the bike ride was a little more dangerous and not as downhill as they told us when they got us to sign up! – Next, I went to Wilderness, another small town in a forested area along the coast, where I met up with two other travelers and went on a beach walk, a canoe trip, and a hike through the forest to a waterfall. It rained on us during the canoe and hiking trip, but was still quite nice. – The rain continued to my next stop, Knysna, so I only spent one day and night there (mostly doing errands), Then, I went on to Plattenberg Bay, where I spent a nice morning walking around the town and along the beach and then went to a place called Monkey Land in the afternoon. Monkey Land was a little cheesy, but the monkeys were pretty cute. – Next, I went to Storms River for a day of adventure – a tree top canopy tour in the morning that consisted of sliding with a pulley along cables from platform to platform about 60-70 feet in the air, and then I did another bungi jump in the afternoon. It was great – the highest bridge used for commercial bungi jumps in the world. The bridge was 216 meters high, and the bungi cord stretched to about 170 meters. I love that feeling of jumping out and flying!
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- Community Invited To Paint Rocks For Urban League Project - April 26, 2024
- The “Bad Guys” In Your Garden & What To Do About Them - April 26, 2024
- Why Voting In The Primary Election Matters - April 26, 2024