Day 7 – Oudtshoorn at Buffelsdrift Game Lodge, Cango Caves, driving to George
Today we woke up at the Buffelsdrift Game Lodge in luxury tents. These were definitely the coolest place we’ve stayed in this trip! They had a beautiful view of the scenery and cool outdoor showers. We could hear the wildlife during the night and into the morning (which made it a little bit harder to sleep but was a really cool experience). This game reserve was a nice change of pace from the cities in which we have spent the past week. This bushveld region, which is a subtropical woodland ecosystem, embodied a common stereotype of Africa, where there is desert and large wild animals. We feel that the juxtaposition between the cities and our opportunity today helped diversify our conceptions of South Africa as not just a stereotype but an entire country of people, places, and experiences.
To start our morning, we ate breakfast in the Buffelsdrift restaurant and then headed outside to begin our elephant encounter. Fiso and Angelo, the elephant trainers, taught us how to feed the elephants before we met them. There were three in total: Jabarie (meaning powerful), Bulelo (meaning thank you), and Malaika (meaning angel, in Swahili). Malaika was the only girl and because elephants socially organize in a matriarchal structure, she was the boss of the boys, determining where they go and when they eat and drink. Every person got to feed an elephant carrots and pumpkin and receive a hug from their trunk. We learned more about these beautiful creatures and their endangered future due to poaching. In fact, 16 elephants lose their lives every day to make piano keys. If you want to help their cause, some charities include: Save the Elephants, Elephant Crisis Fund, and Knot On My Planet.
After saying goodbye to our new elephant friends, our teams journeyed to Cango Caves. This cave system predates human existence and provided shelter for early hominids. We saw a series of incredible rock formations, like drip stone (stalagmites and stalactites), and flow stone. There were four chambers that we visited and upon returning to the first, and also the largest, we discovered that underground concerts has been previously held there (though they were stopped in 1994 for conservation purposes, as visitors were breaking off pieces of the rocks). Rachel and Hayden – from the soccer team – sang two beautiful songs for us to help demonstrate the quality of the acoustics. Some teammates were incredibly claustrophobic because the size, the humidity, and the occasions upon which the tour guide shut off all of the lights.
Finally, we headed to George to check into our hotel and end the night. Our hotel prepared an amazing buffet for us and during dinner, we prepared for our service project tomorrow. Today was a wonderful experience that checked off boxes on many peoples’ bucket lists. As this trip comes to a close, it is days like these that will remain in our minds and our hearts for a long time to come.
Until tomorrow!
Sophia & Jane