It's blog time... no blog for a while... TIA (This is Africa) and I've not had the patience to work with the slow internet in some of the remote spots I've been at...

Where were we?

So Mossel Bay. That place is pretty pants. The hostel was okay but the bar closed at 9.30pm - WHAT THE HELL? I stayed one night. Nothing much to say about MB - it rained and anything I might of wanted to do was cancelled as a result. I don't think I missed too much.

Wednesday at Knsyna - spent the morning canoeing down a river. Saw plenty of African bird life and some monkeys. It was cool but not spectacular. In the afternoon though I went on a Township Tour organised by the hostel. Where we walked around the township etc and saw how the real Africans lived. This was a cool experience. I was touched by the friendliness of the people and amazed how happy they seemed to be given the conditions they lived in.

Thursday at Storms River - this is one of the highlights since I last blogged. The world's biggest commercial bridge bungy jump - 216 metres. My god I sh*t a brick but I did it. The experience of falling (and seeing the ground coming your way) was one of the most terrifying things I have done. But I am so glad I did it. It wasn't a graceful dive off the bridge by any means but the important thing is I MANNED UP!! A DVD of the jump was purchased!!

Friday at Jeffrey's Bay - this place is famous for surfing. Did I surf? No. Did I even make it to the beach? No. What I did do though was meet some cool people in the hostel and we made our way to a waterfall to spend the day relaxing in the sun and ziplining into the water. Had a few beers too. It was a good day. I also met two dutch girls Rosanne (my sister) and Suzanne (my mummy) who would become my travel buddies for a week until yesterday...

Saturday at Port Elizabeth - I say PE but this is not really true as we only really slept there. In the morning we went to the Addo Elephant National Park and saw elephant up close and personal in the wild. Lots of pictures were taken. In the afternoon we went onto a 3,500 acre private game reserve to do a few game drives (including a night drive). This was immense - we saw lions, rhinos, wilderbeast, giraffes... it was really cool. The highlight by far though was sitting in a open top land rover just a couple of metres from the dominant male lion. He even got up at one point and starting roaring. All was captured on video - it was a powerful experience.

Sunday at Cnytsa - this hostel was a cracker. Almost like a private resort with it's own beach and everything. I was very impressed. The day was spent on the beach brushing up the tan for the 'Sun Tan Challenge' but the night was at the legendary bar of the Bucanneers. This was a really drunken night and included some pukage after I was handed a shot of Tequila (error). A highlight was dancing on a table to The Killers plus a top secret moment where I pulled out the Withington charm...

Monday to Wednesday at Coffee Bay - this is real Africa. Not the santised version you get through most of the journey through SA (fun as it is). Coffee Bay is a remote rural community on the South Coast. Cows, sheep and goats abound. The hostel was cracker though and run by local Africans. Some of the highlights included a hike through the countryside to jumping point along the river where you can jump off of a rock about six metres high into the river below. This was cool although having done the bungy not too long before it felt like child's play...

Another highlight was jumping into a 4 x 4 pick-up truck to go to the 'Hole in the Wall' spot on the beach about a twenty minute drive away. We managed to five people in the seats of the car plus another five blokes (me included) in the back of the pick-up truck... then on top of that we pulled in another five African kids along the way who wanted to hitch a lift - it was a comfortable experience and one I won't forget in a hurry!!! Oh yeah and did I mention the drive was on a very bumpy dirt track? I woke up the day after very sore, I can't think why...

Thursday night in Durban - we didn't arrive here until about 10pm and I only planned to stay the night. Didn't really see Durban as spent the night at the hostel bar and played on the world's worst pool table... managed to keep a shot of Tequila down though for the first time in SA... although in fairness I had to - you can't puke up whilst checking into a hostel can you?

Friday - I flew back to CAPE TOWN!!!!! My spirtual home in SA. Back at Long Street Backpackers where I think I will stay until the middle of next week before I head onto Namibia. It was sad to leave my dutch sister and mummy behind though - but I am sure I will see them again some day. Another drunken night ensued. The details are sketchy. I know I failed to leave the hostel. I THINK i danced on a chair at one point. I have also been informed that a party of NINE Norweigan student nurses are currently residing in the hostel. If there is a God - I thank you.

Today - well I had my first beer at 11.30am. The PLAN is to try and do Robben Island at 3pm (maybe it will be third time lucky) and then after that a Saturday night of carnage will no doubt ensue in Cape Town... it's good to be HOME!!!

It's good to be DJ again too!!!

Woop woop!

Miss you all. Take care!

John XXX