South African Frontier

Well, if you were wondering where the most beautiful place in the world is it's in the frontier of South Africa. What an incredible weekend. I find myself saying that every time I come back from an excursion but it's true. The excursions are a ton of fun and they utilize our time very well. They get in a lot of experiences in a small amount of time which is great.

One of the farm houses we stayed at

On Friday, we departed early in the morning and headed out of Port Elizabeth. After a 3 to 4 hour car ride that winded through and climbed high into the Great Winterberg mountain range we finally made it to the two farm houses that we were going to be staying at for the weekend. The two families
hosting us were parents that had lived on the farms ever since they were very little. They were most likely in their 50's or 60's. The group was split into two groups and then from there the boys were sent to stay out in the guesthouse and the girls in the house. The houses were unbelievable. One thing that this program does well is it shows us both sides of the economic/financial spectrum. We volunteer and see the poor side often and this past weekend we experienced the very nice and wealthy side. Two opposite worlds. 

Waterfall fun with the group!

The farms are positioned in one of the valleys of the Great Winterberg mountain range. This specific valley had a population of 45 people. So the two farms we stayed at had a lot of acres. Also, when you are high in the mountains it is much cooler than down in the town. Very nice to have a cooler weekend. It was neat to be staying in a place where all you saw when you looked up were large sides of mountains. Out of all the mountains in the world I'm sure these wouldn't compete, but the highest peak here was the third highest in South Africa.

When we arrived on Friday they immediately fed us lunch and then told us to get our swimsuits on.They piled us into the back of two trucks and drove us down to a waterfall. We climbed down the rocks and then jumped into the water and swam underneath the waterfall. This was so much fun! We spent about an hour just messing around and hanging out in the water before we headed back. On the way back we stopped for a brief second to feed an Eland, which is a type of antelope that is found in Africa. The farmers we were staying with not only farmed cattle but also game. So they had a lot of interesting and fun animals on their farmland. After, we were brought to the milking station and were given the chance to milk a cow. We were also the taste-testers. This is about as organic as you can get...straight from the utter. I think the farmer got a kick out of spraying it at all of us. 

Sheering a sheep

Saturday brought multiple adventures. Right off the bat they had us piled into the trucks and sent off the the other farm house where they raised sheep. They grabbed one of the sheep so we could all try sheering it's coat off. When sheering the coat (wool) you have to get very close to the skin and then cut. I had a lot of fun doing it but was worried I was going to cut the sheep. None of us did, though.

Once we sheered sheep we drove up a side of one of the mountains and then were let out so we could climb the rest. A few of us made a dash for the top and Jake, Jared, and I topped it first. What a work-out. From the peak we could see the entire range and valley where we were staying. Being on top of a mountain is incredible! The entire group had a lot of fun up there and we were able to spend time just taking it all in. Once we were ready to go we walked back down and headed back. However, before we went back to the farm we stopped at a spring which had a small waterfall and ate lunch. We had kudu hot dogs and apples. Some of us guys then went for a dip under the waterfall. The water was so fresh you could drink directly from it which was fun to try. Once we got back to the farm we were given a chance to shoot a rifle. I have shot before but it was still fun to do. We all got a round off and then headed inside for dinner. That night we explored the backyard a bit and found a swimming pool, tennis court, and a large space for games. So we tried it all and then ended up playing a big game of capture the flag. Brought us all back to summer nights when we were ten and would run around. 

Getting in a little gun practice

Sunday (today) we woke and ate a nice breakfast before being driven down to a third waterfall. This one was by far the coolest, though. We had to hike about a mile and then swim a bit to get to it. The water had carved through a bunch of rocks over hundreds of years and made a small canyon. It was on the farmers land so we were lucky to be able to go to this secluded spot. We swam through the canyon where the rock walls rose about 40 feet above us. We all took our chances at fighting the current of the waterfall so we could get closer to it. Many of us made it back by it but it was tricky. Lots of clinging to the rocks for support but that made it all the more fun. Once we swam and jumped many times we headed back and said our goodbyes. We then made the 3 to 4 hour trek back to P.E.

Extremely fun experience. The quiet, cool, and beautiful setting of the mountains made us all want to stay. This has been the most African-like setting we have been in so far so I truly feel like I am getting a feel for it all which is fantastic!

Admiring God's work