Travel Blog for ME! Darryl Mellows

Singapore Airport

2005-08-28T00:11:48Z

Well. I'm on my way back home now. I finished my first leg from Jo'burg to Singapore (10 hours) and now the next stretch to Narita (6 hours). It's been a great trip. I made lots of new friends and contacts from all over the world. It was amazing how many English, Dutch and Germans I met in South Africa though. The final days in South Africa I spent with friends that I made along the way from Cape Town. Some I had bumped into on and off for almost 4 weeks. I had three special fairwell dinners with each of them and was able to say a proper goodbye. I will have special memories of South Africa and the people I met there. Looking back, I think the reason that I had such a fun time was that I took the backpackers bus and stayed at hostels. I met like-minded people who were in South Africa for the same reasons as me. It was also great because it was a well-worn route and there were so many different places to stop and visit. Often plans would be changed at the last moment on a single recommendation. I would definitely recommend anyone to go to South Africa for an exciting trip. But now, back to reality. If you're reading this, I want to thank you for taking the time to share my experiences. I hope I shone a good light on South Africa and the many things there are to see and do. All my best to you all.

Singapore Airport remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Long time no hear. Sorry.

2005-08-23T18:18:29Z

Wow! What a long stretch without an entry. My apologies. I've been so busy and when I haven't been busy, there hasn't been a WORKING computer anywhere nearby. The last I wrote, I was in Coffee Bay, complaining about the young wipper snapper college kids in Port Elizabeth keeping me awake. After there though, things got SO exciting. I went to Cinsa, a really small holiday village to a hostel called Buckaneers. It took up a whole side of a mountain with about 10 small buildings for accomodation and bars and eating halls. It was such a great time. I traveled there with a German couple that I had been bumping into all the way from Cape Town. They were travelling with surf boards all along the coast. I only spent two nights there, but was so busy the whole time canoeing, walking on the beach, and so much partying. The next day we went to Coffee Bay where my last entry was. That was the first real taste of African culture. The hostel, the Coffee Shack, was 60 km South of the main road and surrounded by traditional Transkei round homes painted a light green except for the back side. This side always faces the wind and sun so it absorbs the heat. I went in one where a couple hippy girls were living. Really really interesting. We were listening to African songs by some of the locals and with some of the musicians, we were singing contemporary songs with them. It was a really good time. The hostel was also a lot of fun. The owner was a world surfing champion ten years back and gave a group of us free lessons. He was very good. After that we headed off (me, Reanie and her boyfriend from Holland and two Argentinian girls; Paz and Maria) to Port St. John to hang out there for two days. It was a little bit of a let down as it was so quiet there. It is the winter after all, but we were able to go for a hike to a place down the face of a wall to see the "Blow Hole". It's a formation in the rocks that takes the waves and sends them through a hole that looks like a whale blowing water out its blow hole. It was a great hike. We also were taken to the top of a flat-topped mountain to an air strip to watch the sunset. It was amazing to watch the misty ranges of South African mountains turn from bathed in yellow to orange. It was a truly special place. After Port St. John we had some bus troubles and finally arrived in Durban at 2;30 in the morning. I was expecting to hate Durban as I heard so many stories about the high crime and the high probability of being mugged, but it's not that bad (so far). We are having a lot of fun. I bumped into a friend on the street that I have said a proper goodbye to a total of 4 times now. Every time we think we will not see each other again, presto. There he is again. Daniel is probably the most talented musician I've ever met. He's truly gifted and always plays and sings at each hostel he goes (and sometimes on the bus too). It's great fun. Tonight we are all going out (my Dutch and Argentinian friends) to celebrate our 7th and final day of travelling together. It's sad, but we are all better off for having met each other. I'm still having the time of my life.

Long time no hear. Sorry. remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Coffee Bay

2005-08-16T17:03:32Z

It's been a long absence, but I finally am making an entry in my Travel Blog. I finally left Jeffreys Bay and made my way to Port Elizabeth. When I arrived at my hostel I was greeted by dozens of drunk partying college students in town for a tri-varsity tournament. I'd like to say that it was a fun and rock'n time, but it was not. I went to bed around 11:30 and was pleased that all the students had gone out to the bars. BUT, at 4:00 they came back. Cell phones, lights on and full on conversations was not really appreciated at that time of the morning, but I took it in stride because it's a hostel and that sometimes happens. Soon afterwords, they all crashed in their beds and even on the floor and fell asleep. Immediately, the power snoring started up and that was it for me. I went to the TV room to wait it out and when I went back to my room, another guy had jumped into my bed with his feet on my pillow. Oh what fun. I ended up watching TV until morning as a result. The next day I went on a Safari to a private game reserve. It was really great. We saw so many animals. Oh, it's dinner time. I will continue later.

Coffee Bay remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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STILL at Jeffrey's Bay

2005-08-11T11:29:20Z

Here I am. Still in paradise! I'm finding it so hard to leave this place as it's so relaxing and beautiful. Moreover, the people here are so nice! I've been having a blast. Two days ago, I took surfing lessons. It was great. Not at all easy, but it was a load of fun. I actually managed to stand up 3 or 4 times. I enjoyed it so much that I was looking into buying a board and wetsuit yesterday to take back to Japan. The place where I live in Japan has really good surfing, so it would be a great sport to take up. Boards are so cheap here! Even to buy a new board would cost you under $300 (US), but they have so many used boards. I still haven't decided completely whether or not I will get one. I am planning to go out surfing again this afternoon with some of my German friends. One of them is just learning too, so we can surf together. As for Leaving Jeffreys Bay; I have booked the bus for tomorrow night to take me to Port Elizabeth (PE). I also have booked a safari for Saturday to take me into one of the game reserves there. I'm looking forward to it. Having a great time.

STILL at Jeffrey's Bay remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Jeffreys Bay

2005-08-11T11:19:54Z

Yesterday I arrived at Jeffreys Bay close to Port Elizabeth. It's a fantastic place about 10-12 hours East from Cape Town. It's an incredibly popular place amongst surfers in South Africa and from around the world. The weather has been cooperating too. We've had nice weather the whole time except for two rainy nights in Cape Town. During the day the temperature is always in the high teens or low twenties, but at night things cool off considerably. I'm staying in a hostel called Island Vibe today. It's definitely the nicest place I've stayed at so far. It almost looks Hawaiian in style, probably for the surfers. What a place! I'm about an hour from the higheset bungi in the world (216 meters). We passed it last night and looked over the edge. Holy crap! It's SO high! You'd have to be nuts to jump! I don't think that I will do it. I may try my hand at surfing though. It's a tad bit safer, although it's not uncommon for surfers to spot sharks in these waters. But it is uncommon for there to be attacks. Today I will walk around and check out the town, and perhaps tomorrow, weather permitting I will give it a shot. I think that I will hang out here for a couple of days and enjoy the scenery before I leave the "Garden Route". After I leave this area, the terrain and people change quite a bit. I plan to TRY to go to Lesotho (a small mountainous enclave in the center of South Africa) and Swaziland if time (and money) permits. That's all for today.

Jeffreys Bay remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Mossel Bay

2005-08-04T14:25:45Z

I had to do it. I could have stayed in Cape Town for my whole trip and still have been satisfied, but I had to leave. What a fantastic place. So much to do. I took a tour to the most South Westerly point in Africa (another way to say "we're almost the most Southerly point) two days ago on the second of August. It was such a good time. We were on a bus with 19 people and spent the day cruising along the coast to Cape Point. We took what is called the "Baz Bus", a popular backpacking tour company in South Africa. It was one of the best tours I've ever been on. The guide knew practically everything about the wildlife, vegetation, geology and history of the area. It was amazing. The people were a fun bunch too. Yesterday I went on a tour of Robben Island to visit the maximum security prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for most of his sentence. I met some Dutch tourists there and ended up spending the day with them. We went on a sunset cruise in what was definitely the biggest catamaran sailboat I have ever seen. They served champagne and toured Table Bay while we sat on the front deck and watched the sun slowly set. That was incredible! After that, we ended the night at "Mama Africa"; a very popular (for good reason) restaurant. They had the most incredible food and entertainment. We arrived at 7:30 and didn't leave until almost 12:00 because they were so good. They were a traditional African drumming and Xylophone group. One of the drummers could sing Italian Opera so well and so authentically that we all thought the voice we heard was coming from another source. They were just stunning. It was a great way to end off my time in Cape Town.
This morning, I left Cape Town and made my way East along the Coast about 400 kms to Mossel Bay, a quaint medium-sized town on the start of what is called "The Garden Route", an approximate 200 km long stretch of coastline. I haven't had a chance to properly explore the town yet, but its claim to fame was in the 16th century, the Portuguese used to use this place as a fresh water stop as well as a mail drop spot for returning ships to grab. I am staying on a converted passenger train in my own berth right next to the ocean. It's just awesome. Having a great deal of fun.

Mossel Bay remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Day 4- Still in Cape Town

2005-08-01T15:47:14Z

Hey everyone. I'm still in Cape Town and having a fabulous time. I have been keeping busy with the wealth of activities they have here. From shopping to abseiling; they have it all here. I tried to go abseiling (rappeling) from the top of Table Mountain today, but there weren't enough people to make a large enough group for them to take us. As the gondola is closed for repair this week, they must drive us to the lower gondola station and hike up. At over a 1000 meters, it's a good sized mountain. Next time I guess. Today I went sand boarding at the dunes west of the city. It was very different from snowboarding. It's almost like snowboarding on really wet sticky snow. I almost got the nack of it. It was pretty good all the same. If I'm still here on Friday, they are going to run us up to a pretty hairy mountain bike course. They are trying to find another guy to go with me as they need to have at least two people to run the tour. Not too many tourists can or want to take this tour as it's too difficult. I hope i'll be okay. Tomorrow, I think that I'm going to take a trip to the Cape of Good Hope. It's supposed to be very beautiful. I picked up another brochure for the bungy jumping excursion 200 kms from Cape Town. 216 meters (708 feet!). I still haven't talked myself into that yet. I am yet to see if I have the courage to try it. There's just too much to do here! I'm going crazy trying to decide what to do.

Day 4- Still in Cape Town remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Cape Town, South Africa

2005-07-31T07:56:17Z

Well, I made it here in one piece. Not at all the easiest way to get somewhere, but three days after I left my apartment I made it here. Cape Town is a beautiful city. It's very hard to describe. It's modern and clean with a clear and distinct contrast between the haves and the have nots. I am staying on Long Street in the down town party district. It's a pretty wild and crazy place with losts of action every night.
Yesterday, I went shark cage diving 140 km from Cape Town. It was absolutely incredible! I had so much fun! I thought it would be terrifying, but without the dramatic music they were far from scary. We went out Gansbaai early in the morning and only had to go out 20 minutes from shore until we reached the famous "shark alley". The tour company's name is "White Shark Ecoventures" and it's website is www.white-shark-diving.com . The reason that there are so many sharks in this particular area is that there is a seal colony nearby and the sharks catch the seals when they go out to hunt for fish. We actually saw a shark get one far off in the distance. The interesting thing about the way they attract the sharks is that they tie a mangled tuna to a rope with a buoy on it and when the shark approaches, they pull the carcus away the the shark usually becomes more aggressive. They also have a heavy rubber seal cutout tied to a rope. They throw it out and pull it in quickly. We saw at least two sharks jump half out of the water to attack it. It was incredible! We even went in the shark cage to watch the sharks as they attacked the tuna. Funny enough, it was not at all scary. It was utterly amazing. It was a really good day yesterday. I'm not too sure what I'll do today, but there is so much to do here that I'm sure it won't take long to find something.

Cape Town, South Africa remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Changi AP Singapore

2005-07-28T15:58:36Z

Well, I made it so far. I left yesterday morning from Heda to spend the day in Tokyo before I left for S Africa. It was a good day, sunny and warm. The biggest problem was at the end of the day when I needed to find a business hotel to stay at. Even at the biggest train station in TOkyo (Tokyo Station) I couldn't find one vacant room. I decided to head up to the airport on the last train as I figured that there would be plenty of cheap vacant rooms there. Wrong again! TO make a long story short, I ended up sleeping with the other homeless people on a park bench near the station. I am now at Changi AP in Singapore, waiting for my connecting flight to Cape Town. I actually don't mind the 9 hour wait. There are so many interesting shops and restaurants. One of the best APs I've been to. It's midnight now and my flight leaves at 2:15. Almost there. I think this will be the last of the hot weather. It was 32 degrees when we got off the plane. I checked the weather in Cape Town and it was 12 degrees this morning. I am going to go watch a movie at the AP theatre now to kill the last hour and a bit.

Changi AP Singapore remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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South Africa July 27, 2005

2005-07-26T15:28:56Z

So far, I'm still in the planning stages of my trip. I have looked at all the information on vaccinations against malaria and have decided that it is unnecessary to innoculate myself. South Africa is one of the few African countries that you do not need to take precautions for. Also, in the winter there is even a more reduced risk of catching malaria from mosquitoes so I feel reassured of my safety. I have looked into transportation across the country, from Cape Town along the coast through Port Elizabeth and Durban all the way up to Johannesburg and Kruger Park. I just realized actually how big South Africa is. The trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg alone is more than 1400 km, and there will be many side trips as well. I have decided to take what is called the "Baz Bus" to get from one place to another. It follows a predetermined route between two major points but also will stop anywhere along the line to drop off or pick up other Baz Bus passengers. You can get on and off as many times as you like between the two spots and they will even come to your hostel to pick you up. Sounds like a good deal. Also it will be a good way to meet fellow travellers who are like minded. How can that be bad? Some of the things that have caught my attention or made me sweat are the shark diving/viewing trips and the highest bungi in the world (215 meters). Neither one have I commited in my mind to doing (yet). Some things that I do plan on doing are Abseiling (repelling) down the famous Table mountain and taking a 3 hour mountain bike trip through a game reserve. Sounds fun eh? I may even take surfing lessons as they have world class surf beaches. The only problem being the weather. Today there are gail force winds occuring in Cape Town and the vicinity and as you can see from the temperature, it's winter time in Africa so some things may not be open to me. We will see exactly what happens though. That's all part of the adventure. I will write more once my trip is under way.

South Africa July 27, 2005 remains copyright of the author mtn_biker, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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