Blake Tyra's South Africa Study Abroad Blog: Tsitsikamma Adventure Falls and National Park

Sunday, February 1^st, 2015

6:00pm South Africa Standard Time

64° F Cloudy

Hi everybody!

I have been having an amazing time these past few days. We were unable to connect our computers to the hotel Wi-Fi on Thursday upon arrival at out hotel, so I wasn't able to post to my blog before heading out on a retreat this weekend. Luckily it is working today.

Traveling from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth went very smoothly. As the 13 of us were gathered at the gate waiting for our plane to Port Elizabeth, two German students approached Erin and I and asked, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” I explained that we spoke English and they immediately switched to perfect English because they learn it from grade school on up. After introducing Erin and me, we started talking about where we were from. They both were from Southern Germany, Bavaria they called it, and we did our best to explain where Minnesota was in the US. After talking with them for a while it turned out that they both were studying at the same school and would be staying at the same hotel. As we continued to get to know each other, the German students approached another girl waiting alone and she was also from Germany, but from the western part. She too spoke perfect English to me and I could tell she was glad to have found friends heading to the same place.

This was our second South African Airways Flight and I am very impressed with their airline. On both of our flights we received excellent service and amenities. During the international flight from DC to Joburg, we received the standard free everything: drinks, liquor, meals, snacks, pillow, and blanket. I was impressed however that we also received an amenity bag that included a face mask, plane socks, toothbrush and toothpaste. I know that my last Delta International flight only first class passengers got anything near that. On the hour and a half flight from Joburg to PE (Port Elizabeth) everything, even liquor, was free as well, including a chicken sandwich and muffin for lunch. VERY IMPRESSED! It’s impossible to find anything close to that on a US domestic flight nowadays.

After briefly settling into our rooms at the Summerstrand Inn, our group went to the local shopping mall called Summerstand Village. It is about a 15 minute walk away and has just about everything we need: Grocery Store, Hardware Store, ATM’s, restaurants, phone stores, post office, drug store, and other various shops. We are required to buy everything for our rooms minus bath towels, so I am learning how to shop for necessitates like toilet paper and paper plates. Everything is very inexpensive here. The dollar is worth 11 rand, so it is easy just to move the decimal over in any price we see. We ate at a local fish place in the Summerstrand Village and for 48.50 rand (<$4.80) I got a huge piece of fresh caught fish, fries and a coke.

On Friday morning we left for a weekend retreat that the university puts on for 80 of the international students each year. Since St. Cloud State has close and positive relations with NMMU, our entire group was able to attend. A private motor coach took us 2 hours outside of PE to the Tsitsikamma Adventure Falls. Upon arrival we gathered in a large pull barn and were briefed on what would be taking place over the weekend and some of the rules. The owner also explained that it was possible for the power to get shut off at any given time, but that it would only last for 2 hours. I later found out from other international students that it is common in other parts of the world for power to be shut off to help conserve resources and avoid overloading the power grid. I am slowly learning just how spoiled we are in the US.

Our group of 80 was made up of mainly German and US students. There were a handful of other nationalities, but the Germans were the majority. We were housed in 5 different rooms attached to the pull barn that had anywhere from 8-16 beds in them. Some rooms even had triple bunk beds which I didn't even know existed…don’t get any ideas SCSU. The next few hours we had free time to explore the grounds. During our time there I was able to meet up with the Germans I met at the airport and we slept in the same bunk room and spent a good amount of time getting to know each other more throughout the weekend. The Kuris River ran though their property and made for a beautiful, green and luscious landscape. There were many trails we explored that zig-zaged along the bank of the river down to a swimming hole with a cliff to dive from. The Germans were smart because they had brought their swimming suits down so we enjoyed watching them cliff dive into the river.

After free time we were given a lesson on the current education and employment situation in South Africa. It was shocking to find that many young people can’t find jobs and only 3% of South African’s have a university degree. Three local women came in to cook dinner for us, but they had one rule: We would be split into groups to do the dishes for the entire weekend. At first I was a bit thrown off that we would have to do the dishes at an all-inclusive camp, but I reminded myself I wasn't in Kansas anymore. It turned out that doing the dishes brought about a sense of teamwork and helped us get to know each other better. It also made sense because we had nothing better to do after dinner before the nightly bonfire. The first night we had a delicious lamb curry. Apparently lamb is more common and inexpensive everywhere else in the world than the US. It was an exotic experience to try different South African Dishes each night and become immersed into their culture from the start.

Tsitsikamma Adventure Falls star attraction is their 8 zip lines that cross back and forth over the river and waterfalls below. Saturday we harnessed up and got to head out for my first zip lining experience. Zip lining was simple, yet physically demanding. We started at the first line, got clipped onto the rope by a guide and sent over the falls on cables anywhere from 50-200 meters. At the end of each line a guide would tell us when to break, un-clip us and send us down trails to the next line. It felt as though we were commandos in the jungle as we navigated hills, suspension bridges and rocks to the next zip line where we flew across the river hanging from a rope only to keep navigating the terrain to the next zip line. After the final line I was exhausted and ready for some rest and relaxation. We all pitched as a group to get a DVD with pictures and videos of us flying over the river, so I will also post them when they are shared with me. Needless to say I had a blast and would definitely go zip lining again.

After Lunch we took the buses to the Tsitsikamma Section Garden Route National Park where we took a guided, terrain filled hike through the forest. It was the most beautiful nature hike I have ever taken. The park is right along the coast, so not only were there spectacular views of the ocean and beach, but the entire hike was filled with sounds from the ocean hitting the rocks below as we hiked up the hill. The pictures can speak for themselves. After the guided trail hike, Gabe, Tamarah, Angela and I took a half mile, hilly trail to the suspension bridge at the park. It was definitely worth the hike. Again, the pictures can speak for themselves.

We then returned to our camp where we had dinner and social time over a bonfire like the previous night. I have made too many friends to count from all over the world and was able to really relax this weekend. I even made plans with a group of German guys staying in my hotel to get together and watch the Super bowl when it airs here later today. I am grateful for this experience to explore South Africa’s rich nature while meeting my future international classmates. The best part of it all…I have yet to find a mosquito, no matter how dense of woods I was in.

Walking to the Store from Hotel