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Back to Ethiopia, for one day
So I’m back here in Ethiopia, having arrived safely from South Africa. I spend today here and then fly home on Monday morning; I think it’s at 4am. Nasty.
Our second week in South Africa was much more enjoyable than the first. Mainly because the weather finally picked up and we were able to do some more touristy things. On Monday, we visited Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. We saw his cell and those of the other prisoners who were there. We were given a tour of the island by an ex-political prisoner; it’s quite a pretty island. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to see the hundreds of penguins that live there!
On Tuesday, we met up with Neville again and went to Cape Point, the south western most tip of Africa. It was another beautiful day and the views were stunning. We took the scenic route back to Cape Town, through Camps Bay.
Wednesday, we took the chance to leave Cape Town for a couple of days; I wanted to try out the Bungee jump up the coast, the largest in the world. So we set out on a bus designed primarily for back packers, called the Baz Bus. It picked us up at our backpackers and left us directly to the backpackers closest to the Bungee. Called Wild Tongue, it is situated in a forest and has all the feels of a Tree Huggers paradise. The owner doesn’t wear shoes, and it just has that whole hippy feel to it, including the best vegetarian food I’ve ever tasted. The evening time was spent gathering around the camp fire with the number of Djembe drums and having a drumming circle. It was really enjoyable.
First holiday in which I’ve seen a sunrise and sunset. Usually it’s just the latter.
The next day was the busiest of our holiday. We started off visiting a sanctuary for elephants, some of which were abandoned/mistreated. The handlers let you come up close, and walk with them; the elephants hold your hand with their trunks. It’s quite an experience to look behind you and have a 3 ton elephant walking behind you, holding your hand.
After this, we headed for the bungee jump, Mark said that if I didn’t jump he’d kick me off as it was the reason we’d really come up this far. It wasn’t much of a worry though; I was really looking forward to it. I was jumping with a group of American girls, most of them high schoolers who screamed for every person who jumped. It’s quite a feeling to stand on the edge of the bridge, though they don’t give you much time to admire the view and throw you off if you don’t jump in a second. Really great stuff though; wish that I could do it backwards!
We rounded off our day by visiting another animal sanctuary, for African cats this time. They have a number of different types; the coolest by far were their cheetahs. I was amazed how fast they were; watching them run after their play toy was quite funny. Then it was back to the back packers for some more drumming and gorgeous veggie glop.
On Friday we took a walk along a scenic route to the Salt River Lagoon and then travelled back to Cape Town. We headed out with a number of the American students who we had been sharing the back packers there with. We went out for dinner, then hit the town where it was so late when we got back that we just stayed up all night. I had to get up early for my flight so I figured that I’d just sleep on the plane.
All in all it was a really great holiday, though it is good to know that I’m heading home tomorrow for the first time in 9 months. See you all there!!!
Niall
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