After saying goodbye to Stellenbosch, none of us thought the next leg of the journey would involve walking through a sea of bats in an irrigation tunnel – but somehow, it did. That little adventure bought us passage into “Impact Camp” at Bonnievale, beginning a week of relaxation and excitement.
For three nights we slept outdoors under metal overhangs, only meters from a gently flowing river. By day, some conquered the river by kayak, some by rope swing, some by determined dam construction. By night we sat around the campfire, enjoyed Braai after delicious Braai and waited eagerly for phone call every twenty minuets for an update on Olympic hockey game.
Throughout the week we also had the opportunity to interact with Nathan Rieger, a pastor we met last semester in Winnipeg. He led some group devotionals and made himself very available for one-on-one chats. A lot of us really appreciated having him around and tapping into his inspiring wisdom.
We spent the second half of the week by the ocean in windy Jeffrey’s Bay. There we had the opportunity for a bunch of unique experiences. How many people can claim to have ridden horseback over sand dunes and along the ocean? How about having surf lessons in one of the country’s surfing capitals? Some even braved the dunes a second time to go sandboarding. In our down-time we explored the shops and enjoyed each other’s company. To cap off the week our host Bev took us out for a lovely seafood dinner at a restaurant whose floor was made of sand.
Unfortunately this week we had to bid farewell to our beloved “Baba” and bus driver Stefans. A small accident while backing up meant that he had to take his bus back to Johannesburg for repairs. The whole group was distraught to see him go, but hopefully we’ll get to connect with him again before we leave South Africa.
-Brock P.
0 comments:
Post a Comment