We're back!!!!

We’re back! Last night we finally made it back from Adventure Week on the Garden Route! Since Katherine and I were split up during the week we are going to post separate blogs about our experiences. So this is Mary Claire’s post! This week was probably the most eventful week of my life so putting it all into one blog post is going to be really hard, but I will try to do my best. The first day of adventure week we headed off on a “truck” which was a 25-passenger safari vehicle. We drove 8 hours to our first hostel, which was located in the Plettenberg Bay area. It was in the middle of nowhere and the stars at night were absolutely beautiful! We saw shooting stars, the Milky Way, and the Southern Cross. Tuesday, we started off the day at the Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve. We saw rhinos, giraffes, hippos, springbok, zebras, and lions. It was absolutely incredible! After the safari we loaded up on the truck and headed to Bloukrans Pass, which is the home of the world’s highest bungee bridge. It is 216 meters or about 710 feet high. It was probably the scariest but most awesome thing I have ever done! They count down and before you know it you have jumped off a bridge and are plummeting head first towards the ground at about 120 km/hr. It was the most exhilarating experience of my life.

The bridge we jumped off of! 

The craziest thing I have ever done.

Right after we all bungeed we headed straight to go play soccer with some local kids. They were about 10 years old and whooped us. Wednesday, we went to a national park and hiked for a little bit. Then we went to the wild cat sanctuary where we got to get our picture taken with a cheetah! Next we went to the elephant sanctuary. I got to walk an elephant and ride one!

We then traveled to our next hostel called AfroVibe located in “Slow town.” It was located on Myoli beach over looking the Indian Ocean. Later on that day we swam in the ocean, then had dinner on the rooftop overlooking the sunset. Thursday, we spent the day at the ostrich farm and at Cango Caves. At the ostrich farms we got the chance to feed them, give them hugs, and some even got to ride them. Watching the people ride them was absolutely hilarious. Everyone needs to YouTube it.

Getting a "hug" from Betsy! 

Finally on Friday we went shark cage diving. We traveled out about 2 miles from the shore, put on wetsuits, and got in a cage off the side of the boat. They threw bait off the side of the boat to lure the sharks in. Great white sharks literally swam about 3 feet from the cage. It was incredible!! I am so fortunate to have been able to experience all of these things in one week, let alone in a lifetime! Thanks Mom and Dad! Miss everyone and love you all!