Before you begin...

Instructions:
1. This blog begins with the most recent entry first. Therefore, to read about my trip from the beginning, you need to scroll to the very bottom of page and read up.
2. There are links within each blog to more pictures. They are underlined. When you click on them, they will take you to another page to view the picture. To return to my blog, simply click the 'back' button.
3. There is at comment button at the end of each entry. Please use it!
4. To see more pictures from my trip, click here.

Disclaimers:
1. I do not claim to be an English major, so there are most likely typos and grammatical errors throughout this blog. If you catch any typos, feel free to let me know.
2. Any informational errors are mine and mine alone. (But if you catch one, again, feel free to let me know.)

Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank my parents for allowing me to travel to Africa this interim and most of all, I would like to thank my grandmother for provided the financial means to make this trip a reality. This truly was the trip of a lifetime and I will cherish these memories forever. I hope that you will be able to experience part of Africa through this blog.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Day 4--Capetown to Strandfontein


Sunset at Strandfontein

We woke up bright and early this morning (6:30) to grab a quick breakfast and leave our hotel (yay!). We had a rather long bus ride to our campsite, but it was okay because I slept for most of it.
After about an hour or so, we pulled over to the side of the dirt road to have lunch. We were right next to the beach so it was very pretty. I realized that if I want to eat well on this trip that I need to try to be near the front of the line because there was only one hill of bread left by the time I got there. After we had cleaned up lunch, we went to walk on the beach. This beach was unique because it was covered in living and nonliving bivalves. They were everywhere. We learned that it's because that particular beach is very rocky and rich in plankton (which the bivalves eat). I found some really pretty lichen shells to take home as a souvenir. Kara found a whole skull of a fur seal and some other people found its jawbone, some of its vertebra, and its humerus. It was a pretty neat stop.
After that it was back on the bus for a quick stop at a local town. We went to Bird Island Voeleiland, a bird conservatory. There were supposed to be penguins there, but there were only seagulls. There were hundreds of them! They smelled really bad. The penguins typically go there because they burrow into the 3-5 feet of bird poop that has collected there to build their nests.
Before we went to the campground, we stopped by a local grocery. This town is more like the Africa I pictured. Everyone was very poor and walked everywhere.
Our campground is really nice. We're right on the beach, the grass is green, and the weather is pleasant.
We were treated to a surprisingly good dinner of lamb stroganoff. Burger cooked some gem squash, a native African vegetable. I tried it, but since I don't like squash, I didn't find it very appetizing.
The sunset on our first camping night was absolutely spectacular. Since I live on the east coast, I never get to see the sun set over the ocean. The effect was breathtaking.

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