Blake Tyra's South Africa Study Abroad Blog: Plettenberg Bay

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

12:00pm South African Standard Time

Weather 81° F Sunny

What a fantastic weekend! I have never had so much adventure packed into two days in my life. Spending this last weekend at Plettenberg Bay has been the highlight of my semester thus far. From heart-pounding adrenaline to bonding over a campfire, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the trip.

On Friday afternoon 14 of us international students made the 2.5 hour drive west to Plettenberg Bay. It was a beautiful drive along the coastline with ridged mountains lining the highway. It made me understand how flat Minnesota really is. About 30 minutes out of Port Elizabeth there was a police checkpoint on the highway that we had to pass through. In South Africa, the police can set up random checkpoints to stop, ID, and search any vehicle on the highway. The car I was riding in was new and they waived us through the checkpoint. The other two cars in our group were very old and they were stopped and had their drivers’ licenses checked. Apparently once the officer figured out they were internationals, they didn’t even bother investigating any further and sent them on their way. Police in the United States could never get away with randomly stopping vehicles along an interstate. It is just another difference in culture here that I’ve adjusted to. Good thing we had nothing to hide.

Our accommodation in Plettenberg Bay was a backpacker lodge that had a large room of bunk beds for our group. The view from the lodge was breathtaking as it overlooked the ocean and a beautiful countryside. After arriving we went to the store and bought meat for a braai. We had a great time grilling and conversing as we cooked up a delicious meal. After dinner we spent the night around a campfire talking and getting to know each other better. It was relaxing to be outdoors in good company and let go of all the stress that studying abroad has naturally brought about. I’ve been able to manage it well, but there are times when just forgetting about it and relaxing is a must to stay in a healthy mindset.

On Saturday morning I went with a small group to go for a short hike before canyoning later in the afternoon. Others went to the beach instead and some went for an all day hike on an advanced trail. We hiked a 5.5 km trail on a peninsula that had unfathomably incredible views overlooking Plettenberg Bay. During the hike we were able to see hundreds of seals below us sunbathing on the shore and swimming in the bay. The trail was full of different terrain: boardwalks, hills, rocks, cliffs, and even parts at the top of the peninsula were purely beach sand. The trail eventually led down to the ocean where we could dip our toes in the water. It was a great way to start the day and get some good exercise.

After the hike we met up with those who had went to the beach and together traveled 10 minutes out of the city to go canyoning. Our gear consisted of a wet suit, life jacket, helmet and a rock-climbing type harness. Gabe gave me his waterproof Go-Pro video camera to use, so I had that strapped to my helmet the entire trip. I plan on editing the footage and making a video so I can post it on my blog later on. After getting our gear on, we piled into a jeep and drove out to the canyon where we would start the adventure. The first part was getting down into the river. This involved repelling along the canyon bank about 100 feet to the river below. Our guides were very thorough in their instruction and made sure that we performed each maneuver safely. After reaching the bottom of the canyon the guide at the bottom unhooked me, resulting in me falling into the river where I couldn’t even touch the bottom. From there we swam downstream when the water was deep and walked when it was shallow. The next obstacle was a large waterfall with at least a 20-foot drop. To get around it we just simply jumped off the cliff alongside it into the water below. Throughout the entire adventure we navigated different obstacles in the river in lots of different ways. Some waterfalls allowed us to just lay on our backs and slide down them; others required a zip line to cross over them because the sides were to narrow. The entire adventure consisted of hours of constant testing of my physical agility and swimming skills—around 90% of the time we were in the water. By the end, I was exhausted, yet on a high from the exciting adventure I had just been on. I have never done anything as fun and adventurous in my life. White water rafting in Colorado doesn’t even come close to how much fun this was. Canyoning is the highlight activity of my time in South Africa so far and I would do it again in a heartbeat any day. I am so excited to start editing the footage from my helmet camera when I have the time. Saturday night we had another Braai and campfire. I would say we had a successful day because we were all so tired that everyone was in bed by 11:00.

On Sunday morning a group of us went swimming with the seals. We put on wet suits and grabbed flippers and a snorkel mask and took a dinghy out into the ocean. It turns out that the area that I saw the seals from our hike was the same place that we would be swimming with them. Once the boat arrived near the seals we prepped our masks, put on our flippers and jumped into the water. We were told not to touch the seals and to just let them do their thing around us. After swimming over to the seals, I was amazed at how they didn’t even mind having us swim alongside them. It was fun to watch them swim under water and then swim fast up to the surface and jump into the air. The baby seals were not the best swimmers and would often bump into me as I swam around. They were also curious about our flippers and if I stood still, they would nibble on them to see what the strange contraptions were. It was exhilarating. Along the shore there were hundreds of seals just chilling. Some were sunbathing while others were play fighting. It was fun to watch them bark at each other until one got fed up and slid down the bank into the water. Gabe brought his go pro along so he has some good pictures of us in the water with them, which I will make sure to post here too.

After swimming with the seals we grabbed lunch at a local ski club along the beach. There were junior relay races being held on the beach, so it was fun to watch the local children play around in the sand and race each other in different events. Following lunch I went to Monkeyland with a group and the others went to a cheetah park. At Monkeyland we were taken through the forest with a guide that was very informative about all the different monkeys we saw and why they were in the sanctuary. Monkeyland was designed to prepare previously caged primates for their eventual release into the sanctuary. 12 species of monkeys live there and we got to see 10 of them on our tour. I was surprised at how close the monkeys allowed us to get to them. They would even walk right up to us to see if there was anything they could easily steal. While waiting to go into the tour I saw a monkey steal a coke can a man had set down on a railing ledge. It was so cute, but I still felt sorry for the poor guy. I guess he learned his lesson the hard way. I learned on the tour that small monkeys are the most aggressive. This is because in the animal kingdom small animals need to make up for their size with a more aggressive demeanor. Small animals also roam in large groups to keep a higher level of security. Our guide said that if one of the little monkeys were to be attacked that dozens of other monkeys would be there to help it. The guide explained that a monkey’s brain is only 1% of their body weight. This often becomes a problem when a mother is moving her babies one by one to different nests; since her brain is so small, she may forget where all of her babies are and accidently abandon them. The abandoned babies eventually fall out of the nest and hurt themselves. The guides often find these abandoned baby monkeys and do their best to save them. Apparently this is just how things are with an animal possessing that small of a brain. Another interesting tidbit is that 10 male monkeys will mate with one female monkey to make sure that she for sure reproduces. Interesting concept to me, but no doubt it gets the job done. Lastly, our guide explained that their goal is to train the monkeys to understand that humans are only there to watch them. Often times, the monkeys try to mimic and help the guides that care for them. For instance, when a guide is raking, a monkey will pick up a rake and help too. As cute as that sounds, the goal of Monkeyland is to help the monkeys adjust to living by themselves in the sanctuary and not to act or be like humans. Those monkeys that have problems adjusting from cage life are kept in a larger cage until they are ready to be released into the sanctuary and live on their own. I am working on making a video with the pictures and footage I have from Monkeyland and will upload it here as soon as it is ready.

On our way home Sunday night we stopped for dinner in Jeffery’s Bay. We ate at a restaurant Called Ninas Real Food. It had the most diverse menu I have ever seen; there were at least a dozen pages of different Entrées, you name it and it was on their menu. I ordered the chicken pad thai and it was delicious. Plus the serving was such a big size I had to bring the rest home. It made a good lunch for Monday. After I got back to the hotel late Sunday I was exhausted from my action-packed weekend. It was a blast and without a doubt the highlight of my time here so far. It was a great bonding time for our group and I am now closer to the other international students that I had not spent very much time with prior to this weekend. I look forward to the next trip we take around South Africa to explore its beauty and endless adventure.

Getting ready to head out