Spring Break… in South Africa!

I got back today from Durban, South Africa, ending a ten day journey across the country. I traveled with two other friends over our holiday break from our studies. We saw some amazing sights, ate some awesome food and stayed at some incredible places! Here is a brief overview of my travels over the past week. I plan on giving more detailed info on each place I stopped with pictures, stories and fun facts soon in the future!



We started our adventure by being picked up by a company called BazBus, a hop-on-hop-off bus service across South Africa. Our first stop was in Albertinia, just three hours down the road from Stellenbosch. There we stayed at the Garden Route Game Lodge and took two safaris before heading to Oudtshoorn (our second stop for the trip). We toured Oudtshoorn, went caving at Cango Caves and rode ostriches at Cango Ostrich Farm. Most of this was déjà-vu from my last trip to the Klein Karoo.

Our third stop was in Plenttenbergbaai (Plettenberg Bay) were we stayed at one of the nations top recognized hostels. We toured Monkeyland, a primate sanctuary, Birds of Eden, the largest aviary in the southern hemisphere (and one of the largest in the world) and toured Tanikwa Cat Reserve. All three provided up-close and personal encounters with monkeys, tropical birds, cheetahs, leopards, wild cats and other large indigenous cat species. My friend also bungee jumped the worlds tallest bungee jump at 216 m (709 ft)!!!

Our fourth stop at Addo National Park near Port Elizabeth marked the end of our journey along the Garden Route. After spending some time in the park and a night safari to view nocturnal animals we headed out early Friday morning for an all day drive to Durban. We passed through the Transkei; birthplace of Nelson Mandela, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and first black president of the Republic of South Africa. We finished our trip with a lovely weekend in Durban.

We flew back this morning from Durban. This was the most incredible spring break vacation! I don't think any trip in the US would be able to top something like this!