Easter Break Reflections

Its so beautiful here at The Wild Farm outside of Wilderness. It's a cloudy day, and you can hear the waves crashing from the ocean at the bottom of the mountain. We are at the top of the mountain and can see 360 degrees of beauty, just like what was advertised in the Coast to Coast backpackers guide. There's a slight breeze, as there should be when you're near the ocean on a cloudy day.

Last night I harvested tomatoes, onions, and peppers from the Wild Farm to use in our pasta sauce. They were free, because you pick what you want. Yesterday we also took a really cool back road from Knysna to Wilderness. It was beautiful, because everything is beautiful here, but it was also nice just to get off the main highway for a bit, and see the countryside, you know?

In regards to safety, almost every night the backpackers that we are in is full to the brim of other young people doing the exact same thing as us. There are couples from Germany, American exchange students, British vacationers, Australian best friends, and more. Laura and I drive very safely, and the roads are very well maintained. Everyone that we've interacted with (aside from the car rental guy, but that was in Stellenbosch) has been really nice and helpful. We met up with Sander, Nicky, and Nadine for a bit, and got really lost in Port Elizabeth, because we didn't know where that backpackers was. I was just following Sander's car, but everyone that they stopped to ask for directions from was really helpful.

The clouds are starting to break and the house on the next hill over is perfectly spotlighted right now.

I think I want to live in Port Elizabeth at some point in time in my life. Most tourists say that there's nothing really in PE aside from its proximity to Addo Elephant Park. I think I like that in a city. I think I want it to be more real than a tourist destination. It is pretty big, and its by the ocean, but it didn't feel pretentious when we were in it. I think I might want to go to Rhodes for grad school. I dunno though. I need to do more research.

On the animal side, so far I have seen 2 baboons. (one on the side of the road, one on a rock looking out at the ocean). I saw 2 jackals, at least 50 elephants, 3 zebras, over a hundred warthogs, at least 50 dung beetles, multiple kudu? Something boks? Some kind of antelope with twisted horns, and multiple monkeys on the side of the road. My favorite monkeys were the ones waiting to cross the bridge until I passed them. I also saw 2 crabs. Oh, and laura almost touched a deer thing. Maybe that was a springbok. Everything that's a deer/antelope is called a _______bok. We're making our way back to Stellenbosch now, and I am pretty satisfied with how well this spring/autumn break has gone.

Peace love grace truth

christine