Laat hy val waar hy wil

The title is a toast that means let it fall where it wants to. So basically everything will come into place eventually. So my week...nothing of great importance happened. I had classes. I started my wine course. I find it fascinating we learn about the different kinds of grapes and how you grow them and the history of wine in South Africa. We also got 2 free wine glasses, well not actually free but included in the price, so now I have 4, which I think, is great. We get to taste wine at the end of class for class like 5 each class. We have to look at the color and then smell it and taste it and score it. We have to tell them what we smell and taste like grass or green apple etc...That part is wicked difficult for me I don’t always smell or taste things. But I am getting better. Okay so that was the week. This weekend AIFS took us to the Cederberg Mountains, which are about three and a half hours north of Stellenbosch. Here are some pictures from the drive up there:


We got a flat tire when we were like less than 10 minutes from the place we were staying. This was no normal flat tire. The rim was bent around the tire and the tire was shredded. Jen and I who were sitting in the back of a van like an hour into the drive could tell that something was wrong but Tillie, the driver, said we would be fine. It was crazy. We were on dirt roads, although that is fairly common in South Africa. We finally got the tire changed after banging a rock against it to try and pry it off of the car. The place we were staying was so close to the mountains. We had to split in to halves one closer to the action and the other across a stream. I took one that was across the stream. The cabin was called Orion; I totally chose this one because it is Orion.




The other choices were Pluto and Jupiter. I was with Rosalia, Rita, Eric and Kylie. I got the awkward bed. It was in the kitchen. It’s okay though I really liked it.

my bed is behind the table


Rosalia and the kitchen

That night I was in charge of helping prepare the dinner. I buttered roles.

this was on the walk over to the other set of cabins








I climbed a tree before I had to help with dinner.



That night was low key I played 20 questions and ate dinner and then hung out around the fire.

The next day we went on a hike up Wolfberg Cracks. This was okay. I really enjoyed the hike but there were a lot of people and I didn’t like being surrounded by so many people hiking. It was just loud and when I hike I like to hear nature. I think that silence can teach you a lot. But I took it all in stride and all in all enjoyed it fully. The geology there was crazy. There were so many crazy rock formations. I am thinking about getting a geology book because it really sparked my interest. I think that it is so beautiful and amazing how it all forms so depending on the room in my luggage I want to get one. On the hike we had to crawl through this area called the cracks. This was so neat. It was kind of like spelunking without the cave but it was short stretches. It was a great hike. I want to try and go hiking more when I get home because I really enjoy it. Here are some pictures from the hike:

some crazy flowers
















Later that day we hiked to a waterfall. There people could go cliff jumping. I didnt take part in that. I am not a big fan and my blisters were all bandaged up so that I didnt want to untape them just to put my hiking boots back on but I did get to relax in the sun for a while and take some pictures. It was great.










me and chelsea



Later that night when we got back I showered and played phase ten until dinner which wasnt until after 9. I wont lie I was a little cranky from being tired and hungry.


We decided to skip rocks on the way over to see if the food was ready. There were a lot of gnats but I dont think that they were actually gnats there so that was annoying.


Kylie and Rita


eric, kylie and rita

After dinner we had smores which were delicous. I ate three. That is alot of sugar.





Rita and Chels enjoyed thier s'mores.



me blakelee and chels

After that I hung out by the fire and star gazed and then went to bed.

The next day we went wine tasting. There was one wine that was sooo good. It was called bukettaube or something like that. This grape is only grown in South Africa. Next we went to see some cave art. It was drawn by the San tribe.







This was from a spritual ritual for the san tribe.





This is a cavish structure where people since the early 1900's have come to have secret meetings. Such as the first apartheid president so important people.

These names people were angry at so all the white marks are where stones have been thrown and ruined the rocks.









After that we drove home and I have been typing this. So I hope all of your week has been great and I will keep you posted on what I do next week.

Cheers!