Aug 2006

Have had a great few days. Coffee bay is amazing. The real Africa it is said to be. Beautiful rolling hills with nothing in sight but the ocean and the random tribal hut. Yesterday I experienced the most amazing thing. I walked to the village about 4 miles away and sat in during a tribal ceremony. More or less a big party and a good excuse for everyone to pass around huge buckets of Xhosa beer which is made from maze. Great time and I hung out with the older ladies all day as you can see in the photos. They were pretty much offering up their daughters to me but I don’t have any cows. (You need to give 15 cows to marry) the way they took me in and made me feel welcome was so amazing. Also the way they have kept their cultural beliefs through out time is so interesting. The ceremony was held in the Headman's front yard. And to finish off the night we had heroes and villains costume party back at the hostel and I won dressed up as Osama bin laden. (sp?) I am leaving for Durban tomorrow on a 10 hour bus ride and then leave for Bali on Sunday. Oh and by the way you can see all of my safari pictures if u go to my photo gallery on travellerspoint.

sorry this is all I could out on right now my camera is acting up I have a ton more I will put up when I an. heading to Bali on Sunday!! Can’t wait.

What a great day again!! I ended up moving out of the backpackers and am staying at the couple’s house whom I met yesterday. They are really cool, very laid back and are travel journalist who work out of home. It is in the middle of the woods and there are actually monkeys in the yard and on the house. I went sand boarding today down huge sand dunes. It was so cool just like snowboarding but allot hotter and not a building or person in sight for miles. I actually encountered a first yesterday in my surfing life. I was called out of the water by life guards whistling and running up and down the beach with a huge flag with a shark on it. I don’t think I have ever gotten out of the water so fast. It was the same spot where the person (Shannon whom I stayed with in j bay for a night) was attacked by two great whites at once and was all over TV and the internet in the states. At the moment this computer won’t let me put up pics with my camera so within the next few days they should be up.

It has been a while on here mainly because I have been on the move for the most part of the past 4 days. I left Sunday night from j-bay to pt. Elizabeth. Got a ride from a doctor I met who was going back that way. Stayed in backpackers Sunday night with a reservation for the safari the next day. The town of pt. Elizabeth is pretty lame, mostly just a stopover for traveling up the coast. On Monday I finally went on a safari, a real one not animal kingdom at Disney. What am amazing day!!! I was picked up around 2pm by the game park and driven about an hour to the reserve. The tour was done in an open range rover that you would expect of something like that in Africa. I saw all of the animals I was looking forward to seeing except a cheetah. The giraffes were amazing and the lions were the most breathtaking animal I have ever encountered, watching something so powerful and in control of every situation right in front of you is an amazing thing that I think every person should experience and that doesn’t mean jump in your car and go to animal kingdom. We then went back to the camp and had tea before setting of on the nocturnal safari to see the nocturnal deer and crocs and what not. Ended the night beautifully by a fire and then a superb dinner. Returned last night about 10 pm and was up early this morning at 7 for the bus up to east London where I am now. I just finished having dinner at a very nice couple’s house whom I met here. It is so amazing how much every person in this country knows about their own history and that of their country. It seems u would never find that in the U.S. which brings up great conversations everywhere. I miss everyone and hope all is well in civilization as I am moving up to more untouched parts of the Dark Continent and into the Transkei. No paved roads or street signs. I will put up pics from the safari ASAP cheers nick

Great day today. Got about 3 hours of sleep last night because of a big going away party for someone in town. Had a good day of surf and actually broke one of my boards in half on my last wave. Oh well its life i will buy one tomorrow. Tonight we are having a brai- aka BBQ on the brick grill outside. Also thought i would throw some local slang at you. Allot of stuff is mixed with Afrikaans which is the second language here brought by the Dutch.
Braai-barbeque
lacka-"right on"
Ahoy-"hello" haha my favorite. i always think of pirates.
howzit?
Bru- bro
shot-"thanks"
dankie-thank you
jorl-party
kif-good
dop-brink