Anyway, Nico and I don’t hang out with the same crowd. Most of the people I hang out with here are from America, while most of his friends are from Germany and other European countries. Because of this, I really didn’t plan on going. But, at the last minute, I said “Why not?” I have to seize every moment I can here in Africa. I cannot stick to one group and type of friend. So, I put my bathing suit, pants, and underwear in my purse and headed to the Hillbilly house to meet up with him. When I walked up, I could tell he was surprised that I had actually showed up. Standing with him were a few people I had seen, and talked to sparingly, but people I really didn’t know. I was also the only Black person, and that always makes me a little nervous. But, whatever… I sucked it up and went.
At this point in time, like most points in time, I was COMPLETELY BROKE, and the group was going to the grocery store to get snacks and food for the braii (which is a South African bar-b-q, but they don’t use SAUCE.. they just grill the meat. It’s okay, but I prefer good ol’ American bar-b-q). I didn’t want to have to rely on strangers for food and drink for the entire weekend, so I used my bank card, knowing that the money was probably not there. However, I told my Mama and David and both of them put a little money in my account so I didn’t overdraw. THANKS AGAIN!
After picking up some food, we headed to Kogel Bay. The ride to the beach was like an hour’s drive, but the drive was so scenic, that I really didn’t realize that it was kind of a long trip. The drive was right along the coast, so from the car, we could see the beautiful coastline and the mountains. Luckily, Lisa, who is also from Germany, decided that all the girl’s should ride together, so I got to ride with her and not in Nico’s crappy car. When we got to the location, we had to carry all of our things down this path and over these dangerous rocks to the beach. The beach was just as beautiful as Nico said it was. It was secluded and surrounded by mountains. It was the type of place that made you think, “Wow… What did I do to deserve to see this?”
After arriving, we laid on the beach and let the water rush over our feet a few times. I wasn’t really in the mood to get wet. Plus, the waves were dangerous looking. They were big and many of the experienced surfers on the trip had problems tackling them. Nico and this American guy named John got into an accident; the front of Nico’s board hit John in the face, slitting his eyelid and cutting his nose. There was blood rushing down his face. It was scary. The injury seemed minor though, but just to be safe, they took him to the hospital. I saw him a few days ago, and he looks fine now.
After talking and lounging about, we headed to another section of the beach, which was less windy because it was surrounded by caves. It was really nice. After the sunset, we set-up a fire and starting grilling our meats. Nico and Matthew pulled out their guitars and started singing around the campfire. It was really cool to just chill, sing, and watch the stars come out. There was a lighthouse across the bay too. It was the first time I had ever saw a lighthouse in action. We were around the fire, making s’mores (marshmallow, chocolate, between to tea cookies [they don’t have graham crackers in South Africa!]) and, all of a sudden, people starting screaming and jumping up from their seats. The tide had come in! I told Nico it would, but he wouldn’t listen… (men are ridiculous). The place where we were was surrounded by cliffs and a cave; if we would have stayed any longer, we would have gotten trapped, so we moved our stuff back to the spot where we were earlier, only to find that the tide would probably get us there too. So, we took our sleeping bags and stuff to the top of a hill of sand and fell asleep under the stars. It was a little scary sleeping on a hill; I made a ditch in the sand with my feet at the bottom my sleeping bag so that I wouldn’t slide down the hill in the middle of the night. Sand is not as comfortable to sleep on as I thought it would be either. It’s harder than sleeping on a floor, and I like sleeping on floors! Also, the waves, which had already seemed too treacherous to swim in, were crazy that night. They were crashing so loud that it scared me out of my sleep a few times. But, the weather was perfect, and I went to sleep with sand everywhere and a smile on my face.
In the morning, we ate snacks and most people surfed. I changed into my bathing suit, caught a little sun, and read a book. I don’t like when my skin gets too dark, because I start looking like a guy, so after a while, when I felt my skin toasting, I found some shade to chill in. After a few hours, I heard people gasping. I looked up the cliff, and there was baboon! He had stolen some food from someone and ran back up the cliff! After the sun slowly took away the shade I had found, I decided to go play in the water. The water was cold, but it was still pretty fun. I buried Nico’s foot in sand, then decided it was about time for me to go. Luckily, a group was leaving, so I squeezed in with them. This really sweet Afrikaner girl, who is in one of my classes, drove. We saw a group of baboons when we were waiting by the car; it was funny. It was really funny, because that’s South Africa. Wild animals… (I’ve seen a chameleon just walking across a sidewalk), beaches…. , and mountains! I really love it here.
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