Lions, Ostriches & Bungee Jumping, Oh My!

Jocelyn
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Lions, Ostriches & Bungee Jumping, Oh My!

After getting our bearings in Cape Town for a couple of days, we took a quick flight to George to explore the other side of the Western (and a small part of the Eastern) Cape.  We (Toby) cautiously drove on the wrong side of the road to Knsyna, a small town we were calling home base for a couple of days of adventures.

Knysna is a sleepy town with not a lot of nightlife, but has some decent restaurants by the harbor with ridiculously cheap bottles of delicious South African wine.

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Harbor in Knysna

From there we set off on three days of adventures.

Adventure #1 – Bungee Jumping off Bloukrans Bridge

I had been bungee jumping in Bali – at a nightclub, at 2am, off a 60 meter ledge over a pool.  Bloukrans Bridge is 216 meters high.  It’s the highest natural bungee jump in the world. I couldn’t wait.  Toby, not so much, but he wasn’t going to say no to an adventure.  Once we arrived to Face Adrenalin they weighed us, we signed our lives away and then we could watch the jumpers before us from a distance, or up close on a TV screen in the little café.  I felt the anticipation start to build more and more.

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Bloukrans Bridge – 216m bungee

Once it was our turn about 20 of us walked out to the middle of the bridge.  They have music blasting and the staff is awesome.  The jump order went from either heaviest or lightest, alternating between the two until you ended up in the middle of the group.  They asked who wanted to go first.  I hesitated.  The heaviest guy went first which gave me just enough time to really get my heart beating out of my chest.

A few minutes later my ankles were strapped and they were carrying me out to the edge of the ledge.  1, 2, 3…FLY!  It was absolutely incredible (except perhaps the biggest wedgie that occurred as they hoisted me back up to the bridge) and I can’t wait to do it again whenever we make it to Queenstown, New Zealand!

Adventure #2 – Oudtshoorn

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Cheetah Cubs at Cango Wildlife Reserve

The ostrich capital of the world.  Yup.  That’s a thing.  We had heard about this place from Toby’s friend whose wedding we would be attending later that week.  When I found out you could actually ride an ostrich it seemed only natural that we make our way there.

Our first stop was actually the Cango Wildlife Ranch where we were able to play with cheetah cubs.  As a lover of all cat-family animals I was in love.  The rest of the ranch was set up like a small zoo – with peacocks, meerkats, crocodiles and turtles as a handful of other animals you could check out along the way.

After our cheetah experience we headed over to the Cango Ostrich Farm where I was able to ride an ostrich.  They blindfold them to make it easier for you to get on, you hold it by the wings and then it takes off around the corral before I was gently dragged off to safety.  To this day I think it is one of the highlights of my trip – for all of my friends and family.

Adventure #3 – Walking with Lions

Before our flight back to Cape Town to kick off wedding festivities, we headed over to Botlierskop Private Game Reserve.  We had been going back and forth on whether it was worth the cost to walk with lions – after doing it, in my opinion, it is 100% worth it.  We ended up being the only ones on the walk with about 6 staff and our guide.  We walked with a younger brother and sister and watched them frolic around the grass, climb trees, and just generally enjoy their walk.  After that it was time for our first game drive, which I’d definitely recommend if you don’t have time to make it to Kruger National Park.

Walking with lions Botlierskop
Walking with lions Botlierskop

Our time in that part of South Africa was up, but many more adventures awaited us in Week 2 of our journey.

Adventures from Cape Town

Jocelyn
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Adventures from Cape Town

For the first couple of days and second week of our South Africa trip we used Cape Town as our home base. Although people talk about the city being dangerous and private security is everywhere, I had a great time and never felt unsafe.

Where To Stay

Urban Chic Boutique Hotel – we opted to stay on Long Street our first few nights in Cape Town since we knew we’d be staying in a house in Camps Bay the second week. The hotel was small but nice and breakfast was included. There were a few bars we hopped around to at night but if I did it again I’d probably opt to stay at the beach the entire time.

Camps Bay – as I just mentioned, we rented an awesome house with a pool overlooking the water in Camps Bay. We were with 15-20 people at any given time so a house was a great option for us as spent most nights hanging out and having a braai [barbecue in South Africa], but the neighborhood was cute and coastal regardless.

What To Do (in Cape Town)

Hike Table Mountain! Definitely not one of the hardest hikes I’ve done, but still challenging and so worth it for the amazing views. There is also a cable car (which we happily took down) but make sure to double check that it’s not closed due to wind if that’s the route you choose to go.

Visit Bo-Kaap – this neighborhood isn’t far from Long Street, where we stayed the first couple of days, and doesn’t take very long to visit. We just wandered around and took in the colorful buildings before finding a place nearby to have a quick snack and some drinks.

Paraglide off of Lion’s Head – this was a spur of the moment decision. The last day we were there we were enjoying some lunch (and drinks) and started to see paragliders landing on the grass across the street from us. Curious, we decided to find out what it was all about and discovered that you could hike a bit up Lion’s Head Peak and then paraglide back down to the beach. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where we were eating or what the company was that we went with – but if you’ve got an itch for more adventure when you’re here it’s a fun time!

The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront – a little touristy for my taste but we wandered around, found drinks and food and enjoyed the views. My favorite part was probably the shopping – check out the Watershed and V&A Food Market if you find yourself in the area.

What To Do (day-trips from Cape Town)

Shark Diving! No matter if it’s your cup of tea or not, you’ve probably heard of Shark Alley in South Africa. Although it makes for a pretty long day trip from Cape Town – I think it’s worth it (and you also don’t have to make it a day trip – you can always stay somewhere else along the way or stop there on your way to another part of SA. I was a bit nervous about being claustrophobic in the cage but it was fine — honestly I was concentrating too hard on how freezing I was. The water was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. You’d basically hold your head (and hands) above the water until they’d tell you to duck down if a shark was swimming by. Depending on how much the sharks are swimming by could make a difference on how long you end up in the cage. I think we lasted about 20 minutes. There were opportunities to go back in again but I passed while shivering on the sun deck.

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Hout Bay, Seal Island, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Boulder’s Beach, Cape of Good Hope – yes, all of that was in one LONG day trip. We started out with a quick stop in Hout Bay before hopping on a boat to check out Seal Island. Then we made the drive over Chapman’s Peak (beautiful) before arriving at Boulder’s Beach where you can go visit the penguins. After that we drove close to the Cape of Good Hope where we each got a bicycle to ride a couple of miles to Cape Point – the most southwestern point of the African continent.

Tips – It gets windy at the Cape of Good Hope! We hike up to the top of the Light House and I thought we might blow off. Also, your tour guide will probably warn you about baboons before you hop on your bike. It’s true. They are scary. And loud. On our ride down we saw some baby baboons in a tree and stopped to look at them. Moments later their parents came running over making wild dog type noises and scaring the crap out of us. Not sure I’ve ever been so happy to have a getaway bike at my disposal.

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4 Days in Israel

Jocelyn
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4 Days in Israel

After throwing around a number of ideas, we settled on a trip to Istanbul over Thanksgiving 2013. Our only “problem”? It was going to be pretty chilly there and we wanted a few days in warmer weather. But in Eastern Europe at the end of November, where were we going to find that? A two-hour flight south, in Israel!

Because we only had a few days we decided to use Tel Aviv as our home base and make a few day trips to Jerusalem, Masada and the Dead Sea from there. I definitely think if you don’t want to be constantly moving and only have a few days this is the way to go.

I absolutely loved Tel Aviv and would love to go back in the summer. Living in San Diego, I loved the city on the beach vibe.

What To Do

Half-day trip to Old City Jerusalem – I thought this was a great trip if you were limited on time. The van picked us up at our hotel and we made our way to Jerusalem. We stopped at the Mount of Olives where you can see views of the Old City and New City. We then made our way inside the walls of the Old City and were able to visit the Western Wall, the local Bazaar, the Christian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter. It was an incredible experience. Once that part of the tour ended you were either continuing on to the Dead Sea or…left to get back to Tel Aviv on your own. Unfortunately we were NOT aware that this was the situation we were in so with some loose instructions we decided to head to the New City for lunch. After lunch in a restaurant in what resembled a mall we began the journey home. All of the local train signage was in Hebrew so we picked the direction that seemed to be the correct way to the bus station and hopped on. Luckily, we were right. When we arrived at the bus station we were at a loss for where to go. It was giant. We quickly located an Israeli soldier who was nice enough to bring us exactly where we needed to go. People here are nice – don’t be afraid to ask!

Full-Day trip to Masada and the Dead Sea – To be honest, I wasn’t all that familiar with Masada when we planned our Dead Sea trip, but since we were heading all the way out there it seemed to make sense to do both. For those of you who don’t know what Masada is, it’s an ancient fortress that sits high above the Dead Sea. We took a cable car up and toured around. It was hot and I didn’t love our tour guide, so I don’t have the best impression, but if you’re going to go all the way to the Dead Sea it’s probably worth seeing Masada – there is a good chance you’ll never be back! The Dead Sea however, was amazing! We had plenty of time to relax in the water – the buocancy was crazy! And then rub “magic, healing mud all over ourselves (but ouch – it’s kind of rough, which can irritate your skin and then the salt gets in and burns!…but it’s magically healing, so it’s worth it I guess?).

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Rothschild Street – wander around, shop, eat, drink and just enjoy your day in Tel Aviv!

Jaffa – we visited the neighborhood of Jaffa, the old port area in Tel Aviv and again wandered around, ate and drank – the common theme of all of our trips.

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Last, but not least, head to the beach, wander around, maybe find a rave party in the middle of the day – relax and take it all in in this city by the beach!

A Week in Buenos Aires

Jocelyn
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A Week in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the first city I visited in South America and I immediately fell in love. We visited over Thanksgiving which meant it was just about summertime in Argentina. This was probably one of the longest amounts of time I’ve spent in any city on a vacation and I had no complaints.

Stay

We used Oasis Collections which allowed us to book a cute two bedroom apartment in Palermo Soho instead of a hotel. They provided a great guide with restaurants and things to do as well as access to The Clubhouse. I would definitely recommend going this route unless you’re totally set on a hotel for one reason or another.

Eat

There was no shortage of delicious, trendy restaurants to go to while we were in Buenos Aires. Tip: people eat late here. If we made reservations before 10pm we were early. This just gave us an excuse to eat breakfast, lunch, a snack (appetizers and wine, anyone?) and then a full dinner before staying out all night.

La Fabrica del Taco – a more casual stop on our culinary tour of the city, but located in trendy Palermo, a good option if you’re in the mood for some tacos.

Osaka – a delicious Peruvian restaurant located in the Palermo neighborhood.

Sipan – need a slight break from South American food? How about Peruvian with a Japanese twist. Another delicious choice while we were in BA.

Do

Explore La Boca (during the day) – we wandered around the colorful neighborhood of La Boca, grabbing food and drinks and tango an afternoon away.

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Polo! We watched, we played, we drank lots of wine. It took up most of our day but they kept us full of food and wine and no one fell off a horse while attempting to play – a lot harder than it looks! (especially after a few glasses of wine).

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La Recoleta Cemetery – full of beautiful mausoleums, including Evita’s.

Grab drinks! After dinner at Milion and poolside at Faena, to name a couple of spots we found ourselves at.

Mercado de San Telmo – if you find yourself in the city on a Sunday make sure you check out this amazing market! We left with leather jackets, cow skin rugs, and empanadas served on the street.

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Wander. Shop. Eat. Drink. Enjoy this beautiful city for a few days and just take it all in. Definitely one of my favorite cities that I’ve ever visited. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! And then, when you need a change of pace, head over to Uruguay! Stay tuned for our adventures in Colonia and Punta del Este!

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