We had a relatively relaxed morning. We had breakfast with the others and watched as they tried to fit everything back into their car. After saying goodbye to everyone, Neil and I headed south while they headed north. The final thing on our to do list was the Cederberg Mountains. Although I had already been there, Neil really wanted to go hiking and I was more than happy to visit the area again - it was so beautiful. The maps we had were a little confusing and we ended up stopping in a town called Clanwilliam to ask for directions. These were less than helpful, but we did get to see the main Rooibos tea company's production plant, which was kind of exciting.
We finally made it the entrance to the park, and found ourselves on more dirt roads that were even bumpier than the ones in Namibia. It was super muddy, and had started to rain and eventually downpour. It was incredible how much it was raining - although I didn't see any gentlemen falling from the sky. It put kind of a damper on the day. While driving around, looking for a trail head, we saw another car that looked like it was having engine trouble. We talked with the group, some other international students, and they said they were alright but that the road in front of us was flooded. We decided to keep going a little ways and check it out to see if it was something that we could cross. As it turns out, it was way to deep for out little car. I got out to check the depth and it was up to my knees.
Because of the continual rain, the fact that we couldn’t get to the trail we wanted to hike and even if we could it would be awful hiking and camping conditions, we decided that we should just head home to Stellenbosch. We found a bathroom, got a few more beautiful views of the mountains and headed home.
We arrived back in Stellenbosch around 8:30pm, made a quick stop at the grocery store and then arrived back to campus to make dinner. Although it was sad that our trip was over, both Neil and I were glad to be back in a warm environment and sleep in our own beds.
All in all, it was a great trip. We did and saw so much of a country, learned a little bit about its history, experienced some of its colonial and native culture, and had a ton of fun while doing it. We drove 7605km (equivalent to 4725.5 miles) and ate somewhere between 6-8 bags of Sparkles (hard candies) and a few pounds of rice/cous cous/quinoa. We saw over 20 different animal species and met some new, interesting and inspirational people. I become more acquainted with country music and Neil (may have) come to understand my love for Pride and Prejudice. We saw more straight roads and empty horizons than I ever thought was possible and went whole days without seeing more than a two or three other cars. It was an amazing two weeks and a trip that I will never forget. Thanks to our ventures, it became even more clear not only how big of a world we are in, but how small one person can be in comparison.
This is how deep the water was that was flooding the road.
We stopped at one of the campsites to use their bathrooms before they left. There was a small bridge crossing the river and this was the view from the middle.
While we were driving back towards the exit, we got some excellent views of the valley.
This was leaving the park.
As we were leaving, we were crossing the bridge (above) and when I looked out the window, it looked like we were floating in water.
On the road back home...
**Neil took most of these!!
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