IT'S TIME FOR AFRICA!!!! Cape Town 2012: DAY ELEVEN:

AHHHHH Dream came true!!!! Today I rode an elephant, like real life Dumbo but even bigger and wayyyy cooler! But anywho, we began our day at bright and early 6:30 AM with an amazing hike t this suspension bridge over the cliffs surrounding the Indian Ocean. It was incredible! After the hike we went to the cat sanctuary. This place is unreal! We went to all the different cat habitats and were INCHES from a cheetah and leopard. It was amazing!! We also got to see the African wildcat which is evidently the original ancestor of all domestic cats and looks IDENTICAL to Simba (Marlee’s cat), which is not surprising at all because the guide explained that these cats appear normal and then bam… they are insane! Just like Simba… They showed us this cat video to raise awareness for the harm that comes to African cats every day… it was basically the Sarah McLachlan commercial in cat version. So sad!! After we left the kitties, we were off to our next stop, the elephants wooooo!! When we got the elephant sanctuary we got to walk them through these trails in the forest by their trunks. This was amazing! You just put your hand out behind you and they put it inside their trunks to hold on to us. It felt soooo weird haha. After that we go to see the elephants do tricks for us: they could flap their ears and balance on their knees. They are so smart!! Then one by one the trainers gave each of us a lesson on the elephants. We got to feel their skin and tusks and feet and look inside their mouths to see their GIANT molars. I learned that elephants lose their molars 6-7 times in their lifespan. However, when they stop growing back the elephant will die of starvation. This is what is responsible for the most elephant deaths :/ Then, finally, we got to ride them!! This was like one of the main reasons I signed up for this trip, so I was beyond excited. Elephants are huge!!!! Like you think you know how big they are, but you’re wrong. In person, on top of one, they are soooo much bigger!! I rode Tande (which means love) and it was amazing!!! And all of this happened before lunch… what a day!!! Next, we went and had lunch in Monkeyland, which is probably one of the coolest places I have ever been. It’s basically like they built a restaurant inside a money habitat in the zoo. The monkeys are just free to roam wherever they would like: on our table we had lunch, on the roof, umbrellas. You name it and the monkeys were there! It was just like Tarzan! After Monkeyland, we drove to our second hostel, which is so nice! it is literally right on the beach and has such a cool atmosphere. It’s like this surf shack/bar. As soon as we got there, a bunch of us went for a walk on the beach, and we ended up swimming in the INDIAN OCEAN!!! Ahhhh this was a first! There was three of us that just decided that since we came all this way we just had to get in. So even though we were fully clothed and it was freezing, we raced into the water like five year olds. Definitely up there with the coolest things I have experienced here! After our swim, if you would call it that, I literally had ten minutes to shower and get back on the truck to go do a service project in the town of Sedgeville. It was quite the rush but it was so worth it! We went to this community center called Masithandane, which means let us love one another. It is this organization that benefits the community in everyway possible. They feed the hungry, nurse the elderly, make mosaics to beautify the town, educate the children, and the list goes on and on. There we got to make these pillow like dolls called Huggables. Basically, we just painted these sheets of fabric with paint and then the ladies there sewed them up and put yarn on them for hair. They’re pretty awesome… I was stoked when I found out we got to keep them. And the kids there helping out were amazing! One of the little girls write my name on her huggable so she would never forget me…Sooo cute!! Once we cam eback from Masithandane, we had this incredible dinner on the rooftop of our hostel, over-looking the ocean. We had the best cider (alcoholic that is) called Savannah Cider. It was so yummy. After dinner we all watched each other’s bungee jumping videos which were so funny!!! Some people have perfect form and others are just flailing around trying to stop themselves from falling haha. I would say I was somewhere in between, but I would do again so fast!! After our little view party we found out that Wednesdays were beer pong Wednesdays… and of course, it was Wednesday…dear lord. South African rules are far different from American rules, so naturally me and my partner lost (but only by one cup)! Then we taught our guide Martin and his friends how to play flip clip, which was so much fun!! Pretty much today was amazing and I cant wait to experience all of tomorrow’s adventures… starting at 7 AM!!