I had been on a workout kick for a couple weeks and decided I was determined enough to wake up at 6:00 that morning to do some kickboxing before we left for the ~10 hour car ride. Everyone was making fun of me, saying they were absolutely positive that I wouldn't get up in time, which made me that much more determined. After setting about 3 alarms I went to bed, planning to workout, pack, and shower in the morning. I'm sure you can all guess that my friends were correct, and I actually woke up somewhere around 7:23 in the morning. That gave me exactly 7 minutes to pack, shower, and get downstairs to catch the bus. Classic.
After boarding the bus, I quickly sealed the deal in a seat by myself (SCORE!) and proceeded to do what I do best on road trips: pass the heck out. I would like to say I enjoyed the scenery but to be completely honest, I'm quite sure I slept for 3/4 of the entire drive.
That evening we arrived at Felix, the base camp for our Orange River adventure. We all expected to be sleeping in beautiful, resort-style rooms before setting out on the open water. WRONG. Upon arrival we were told that we would be, in fact, sleeping outside. As in, not even in a tent. I would hardly say we were "roughing it", though. Felix has an awesome pool and a really cool outdoor bar so we had plenty to keep us occupied.
This is the pool and view of the Orange River from Felix.
Here are some more views from the site:
The next morning it was time to start our canoeing adventure!
Kenzie's sister, Torie, came all the way from Wisconsin!
We lined up all of our canoes, packed everything we needed for the week into a small waterproof bucket, and hit the river!
For the next three days we woke up, canoed all day, and slept under the stars at the nearest campsite. At our first campsite we unloaded our things and I immediately started hiking to the top of the cliff we were sleeping alongside.
The views from up top were amazing! (That's me laying down on the edge, one of my new favorite things to do, much to my friend Lo's dismay).
The view of our first campsite from the top of the cliff. That group of sleeping bags near the bushes is where my friends and I slept.
Home sweet home!
The first night we were all so tired from waking up at the crack of dawn that I think I fell asleep before 10 pm, which was good because the next morning was another early one!
We stopped at a sand bar in the middle of the day to swim and hang out in the water. Some of us played frisbee, while the rest decided to play a game of touch rugby with some kids from another canoe group. It was actually embarrassing how badly we got beaten by a group of 10 year old boys, but what can I say, South Africans know a thing or two about rugby.
There were so many of us "pulled over" to play in the water.
Playing frisbee in the Orange River!
By the middle of the trip I started to get a little more brave, unlike Sami who was told that she could get stuck in a whirlpool for over 5 minutes. Thanks a lot, guide, for telling her that one...
After a bit of convincing I got Sami to teeter-totter with me on the canoe!
...And threw her a curve ball by flipping off!
When I wasn't flipping or scaring Sam by pointing out fake whirlpools, I spent most of the day serenading the group. "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."
We arrived to the third campsite on Easter Sunday and were all surprised with chocolate eggs from the guides! After devouring about 7 of them, a few of us decided to play a nice, tame game of capture the flag. I'm sure you can guess how it ended, as most games do, someone got hurt. Poor Zach took one for the team and dislocated his shoulder, but not before capturing the other teams flag and sealing the win for TEAM AMERICA!
Setting up camp for our third night. Those were the waterproof buckets we kept all of our things in.
In true Amanda fashion, I hiked to the top of this really awesome cliff near where we were staying. I guess it's a control thing, but I really love seeing my surroundings from so high up! (And it's necessary to scout out snakes and baboons, of course).
The view from the top of the cliff our third night.
The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed back to base camp! We spent that night at Felix, hanging out by the pool and the bar until the wee hours of the night, got about an hour of sleep, and headed back to South Africa in the morning!
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