Cederberg Mountains: Baboons Are No Joke

A few weekends ago our entire program went on a weekend long trip to the Cederberg Mountains, which are about 4 hours North West of Stellenbosch. The car ride was anything but entertaining, so Sam and I decided to make our own fun, a bit at the expense of the other passengers in the van. Sorry guys, but I can't be blamed for the radio playing my favorite song the entire way there. (If you know me, you know I love a good dance party).

Friday

That afternoon, we arrived at the mountains for a weekend of campfires, hiking, and no cell phone reception (dun dun dunnn). You can already guess what we were all the most scared of. At night we had a good ol' fashioned Braai, which is basically South Africa's version of a barbeque. The food was so good that Sam decided to stop being a vegetarian.

After dinner we went for a late night hike (when I say hike, I mean five minute walk at a slight incline) with Rachel's star chart to try to do some star gazing, but it really just turned into us filming a ton of videos about our love of NEATure. After our "hike" we had a sleepover that rivals 7th grade cheerleading slumber parties. At first the room situation was myself, Sam, Rachel and Kenzie in one room of the cabin and Lo and Christa in the other. BUT, a wild, ravenous, african spider was spotted in Lo and Christa's room, and we're not here to kill defenseless creatures (or, more precisely, we don't have the guts to get close enough), so we decided moving their beds in our room would be a better idea. The end result? A room with absolutely no walking space and a ton of giggling until three in the morning.

Saturday

We woke up at the crack of 7:00 to hike the mountain. It's no secret that I'm not a morning person in any way, shape, or form, but my roommates and I managed to climb out of bed and make it to the vans in time. I don't think any of us knew exactly what we were getting ourselves in to when we signed up for the hike, but upon arrival to the mountain we were all dumbfounded at how huge it was. The only way to go was up, so that's what we did!

On the way down the mountain all of us were so exhausted we could barely walk. If anyone stopped for even a few seconds their legs would shake uncontrollably, it was actually pretty crazy to watch!

When we arrived at our cabins we realized that the wild baboons we were told about earlier in the day were up to no good during our hike. Apparently, they can open doors, which I think is just about the creepiest thing I've ever heard. So, while we were gone, they made themselves at home in every cabin but ours, thank goodness! Some of the baboons even took the liberty of going to the bathroom on peoples beds. Umm..sleep tight?

After getting over the trauma of primates invading the campsite, we all made our way to the local winery for a wine tasting! The vineyards were so gorgeous, and so was the winery manager, so the girls and I were having a great time. After sampling about ten wines it was time to make our purchases. I bought a bottle of this awesome wine called Cederberger, which is a blend of 50% Merlot, 30% Pinotage and 20% Shiraz. I'm not sure if my math is correct, but I believe that adds up to 100% awesome. Mom and Mrs. Ferguson, get ready because there is a bottle headed your way as well!