Jumping Off Bloukrans Bridge

After a pleasant evening in Storms River, Eastern Cape, we headed out of town and crossed over the Bloukrans Bridge, which traverses a beautiful rocky gorge. This bridge is the site of the highest bungee jump in the world, according to a posted certificate issued by the Guinness Book of World Records. We decided to take a few moments to watch the bungee jumpers.

See the center of the bridge, where the arch is at its highest point? Below the bridge's road surface and above the arch is the point from which the jumpers take the plunge. We watched several adventurous people plummet, rebound, replummet, and pop up again. I commented that that was a crazy thing to do and that I didn't understand the appeal. Dan, on the other hand, decided to give it a try.



To get to the center of the bridge, you take a zipline ride under the road surface. (In South Africa ziplines are known as foefie slides.) We both did that part, which was pure glee. In the photo below you might be able to see the person dangling from the zipline between the third and fourth pair of columns. Two tiny people waiting to catch the zipline rider are between the fourth and fifth pair of columns.



To prepare the bungee jumpers, a dj blasts upbeat music while an attendant straps the jumper's legs together. Dan opted for the waist version, where the bungee line is actually attached to a harness on his torso rather than his legs. Alas, we were not allowed to photograph him jumping. (A big part of their business is selling expensive DVDs of the jump.) But think about it -- it was a long way down! Dan describes the experience as "interesting."

Tsitsikamma National Park

Along the southern coast of South Africa is a stunning national park called Tsitsikamma.



In this park is the Otter Trail, the most popular trail in the country. The first few kilometers of the trail are known as the Waterfall Trail, which we hiked.



This mini-deer is called a duiker. He and his buddies grazed next to the trail.



Here's the waterfall, reached after a lot of scrambling up and down big rocks. If you've hiked Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park, you have some idea of the type of rock scrambling involved.



The views all along the trail combine the rocky coast and gorgeous water.



Vegetation nearby included these practically flourescent pink flowers.

Robben Island

This is the cell where Nelson Mandela spent years of his life as a political prisoner. Seeing this place and hearing the tales of our tour guide, a former politcial prisoner here, was a moving experience. Among the disturbing practices of the apartheid regime was the allotment of different amounts of food and blankets according to race. They also made ridiculous justifications for their decisions. One rule was that black inmates were not permitted to eat wheat (in the form of bread) because it was "not a part of their natural diet" and instead, they were given maize (corn). However, maize is a plant native to the Americas, so it doesn't follow their logic. They simply invented reasons to treat people more harshly depending on darker skin tone.



In the prison yard, the Mandela and his fellow inmates were forced to break rocks in complete silence, day after day.

Sadly, as grim as it was, this prison seems like a palace next to the jails in Ghana, where non-dirt floors, bathrooms and food are a luxury.

One of our fellow tour-takers asked the guide if there was much brutality between the prisoners. The guide replied that in fact, it was quite the opposite. Those prisoners who had been in for a while looked out for the newbies. They were all working toward the same political aims and saw each other as allies.



Outside of the prison walls, Robben is a pretty place. There's a nice view of Table Mountain from here. Not pictured but everywhere are bunny rabbits. Apparently there aren't many bunny predators here.



Another feature of Robben Island is a penguin colony. Those penguins are cute, but boy do they smell!

Table Mountain

One of the main attractions in South Africa is Tafelberg, also known as Table Mountain. It looms above Cape Town, the roofs of which are visible in this photo.



There is a cable car that goes from the base to the top, 3,565 feet high. The cable car has wraparound windows, and the interior rotates so that you can see a 360-degree view without moving around. The view on a clear day like this one is spectacular.



Up at the top, there are some trails. We traipsed around most of them. At one point we passed a schoolgirl, who said to us, "Please take my picture." So we did.



In the photo below you can see Cape Town down in the distance. The island you see is Robben Island, formerly a political prison where Nelson Mandela spent years and years. (More about Robben Island coming in a future post.)

Cape Agulhas

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. Both of us were extremely busy at work due to Congressional delegations visiting from the US. There were a lot of schedule changes that kept everyone hopping.



So, back to our South Africa trip.

Here we are at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point in Africa. This is the point where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet.



This place is gorgeous and fairly deserted. There are lots of rocks to climb on and tidal pools to peer into. This one has some snails in it. We also saw starfish and sea urchins.

The Agulhas lighthouse is a short drive away. Inside is a museum, and you can climb to the top, which we did. There's also a little cafe inside, where we enjoyed scones for breakfast.

Assorted South African Wildlife

Elephants like to stand close together, touching, while at water holes. We saw this family and two other elephant families all at the same waterhole at the same time, about 50 elephants in all.



Hippos hide submerged in the water much of the time, but once in a while they get up and show themselves.



Another name for a wildebeest is gnu. What's gnu with you?



This giraffe is relaxing in the tall grass while some birds, oxpeckers, hang out on his back.



Ostrich babies follow their ostrich mom.



There are many types of antelope in South Africa. This one is a nyala. Check out those swirly horns.



Is this monkey a proctologist?



This lion didn't want to turn around and show his face, but just to prove we saw him, we got a photo of his back.



We saw more impala than any other animal. They were everywhere.



Zebra buddies out for a walk.



Warthogs are so bizarre looking that it's hard to believe they're real.

Beach stuff in South Africa

South Africa has a lot of coastline, and we were fortunate enough to visit some of it. Here are some things we saw at the beaches.



What is it? A jellyfish or portion of one? Dan poked at it with a stick, but we couldn't tell.



On this beach at Cape Vidal on the east coast, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Walking along the sand was lovely, even though it was a bit overcast and windy. We noticed some odd designs in the sand and took a closer look.



They turned out to be snail trails. Those snails sure take circuitous routes.

Special Treatment at the Engine Museum

Happy new year, blog readers! Hard to believe it's already 2008. Especially since we're still blogging about our October 2007 South Africa trip.



On our way to Graaff-Reinet (historic town where we saw the Bentleys), we took a wrong turn and ended up in Stutterheim. We saw a sign that said "Engine Museum," and Dan's eyes lit up. Decided to check it out.



Only one person was there, an older gentleman who was thrilled to greet us. He proceeded to show us each engine, describing its purpose and where it came from. He even started the engines up to show us how they worked.



In one case, the start-up mechanism was a wheel with a handle that one had to turn vigorously. When the engine caught and started, it would jerk suddenly. The museum guy let me start it up, and the sudden jerk took me by surprise and made me jump back(see the picture below).



The next day, after leaving Graaff-Reinet, we visited the nearby Valley of Desolation. You can sort of see where it got its name, although it's a beautiful sort of desolation.