Howzit guys,

Welcome to the first blog of trip 2 of 2010. Wow what a busy first few days in Cape Town it has been. In three full days we have had three surf lessons, played football against the local football team on the beach in Kommetjie and climbed up and down Table Mountain.

Needless to say everyone arrived safely on Tuesday, with arrivals throughout the day those who arrived early had plenty of time to acclimatise, whilst Matt who was working on New York time and arrived at 23:20 had an initially tougher time getting into the Cape Town groove. We had a great braai (barbecue) on the first night and a few local beers were sunk while the group got to know each other. From the start the group gelled really well and it is exciting as the trip leader to see such a great bunch of people on the trip with us. It definitely reminds me how good my job is!!

With all the enthusiasm and excitement the group to the water really well for their first surf lessons, and Pete and myself were really impressed with how well everyone did in their first surf lesson, with everyone standing and some of the group getting good rides across the clean faces. In the following two sessions everyone was onto hard boards and the rapid improvement from everyone was very apparent. The wind has come up onshore giving our arms a bit of a rest, but it looks like we have good waves coming from Sunday on.

A good football show was put on at the beach down the road from the house, where the riders played against a team from the local township (shanty town). Whilst the riders were very impressed with the skill of the locals, and would definitely have feared playing them on a proper field, the unpredictability of sand somehow worked to their advantage and they beat the local talent!! Some very impressive skills were also shown from our group and the Norwegian Henrik surprised many with his talent. We will certainly be playing more beach football in the days to come in Cape Town.

Onto today, and the mighty Table Mountain. Well I call it mighty, to be fair in stands at 1000m which is high for some and low for others, but either way it certainly isn’t a walk in the park and trainers were certainly chosen over flip flops for this walk. I was very happy to see that it was a clear morning, as the day before the mountain had been covered by its “table cloth” of white cloud which ruins the visibility from the top. So we set off with the sun beating down and plenty of water in our backpacks. The walk is not a long one (1-2 hours) but is a particularly steep and strenuous one, and after the first five minutes you begin to wonder if you’ve made the right decision! I was very impressed that with a lot of determination everyone made it up. The ‘path’ consists largely of steps which are about half a metre each and you wonder how long the legs were of the person who designed it! On the top the views make every step worthwhile, with views all over Cape Town, the ocean and great views down the Cape Peninsula including the very suburb we had driven an hour from to get to the base of the mountain. With strong winds the cable car had stopped which created a whole new element. We had to walk down too! Usually we have the luxury of the cable car to get us down. Either way everyone embraced the challenge and there were good debates as to whether the walk up was worse than down or the other way down. I would definitely rather walk up than down with it being very steep but each to his own.

So, as you can imagine the group are rather tired but proud of the achievement today. I am certainly expecting to be stiff for the next few days and think I won’t be the only one! The guys are just finishing dinner now then we are heading out to a seaside pub to sample some of the local beer and rest our weary legs. With penguins and possibly Cape Point tomorrow and then good waves coming on Sunday Cape Town really is a non-stop stop on our trip!

Well hope you’re all well in your respective parts of the world. Check back on Sunday for our next blog.

Cheers
Chris

Hello all
Well the trip is now solidly underway and Cape Town has truly blessed us with great waves and weather over the last few days. The wind which accompanied the sun on the first few days has died down and the result is clean waves and hot days.

Cape Point, or The Cape of Good Hope, was our day trip on the Saturday after that walk up the mountain. Speaking of which my legs are only now recovering from the hike! It certainly took its toll on those a little older in the group! En route to Cape Point we stopped off at Boulders beach and the ever-entertaining “Jackass” Penguins did not fail to impress while we had our lunch. They are very interesting creatures, fairly awkward out of water but very beautiful, and when in the water they look like birds flying underwater. Amazing to see. In Cape Point (the most South-Western tip of Africa) we were lucky enough to see Bontebok, Ostriches, Baboons and a deadly puffadder (snake) which was quite exciting. If you get bitten by one of those you have about one hour to get to a hospital in order to survive, but the chances of getting bitten are very small as you have to literally stand on it to get bitten!

We then headed to the point itself, considered as the point where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean’s meet, according to the sea life (both plant and animal). From here we got great views and another perspective of Cape Town. What amazes me amazes me so much every time I go to Cape Point is how far away from any form of civilisation it feels, yet it is only half an hours drive from where we are staying.

In terms of the surfing the most exciting bit for everyone was getting their new surfboards! Everyone is doing really well on them and Muizenberg has really played ball offering perfect waves with light winds in the mornings. Getting your first new board is one of the most exciting days of your life and for me personally I still remember it even 11 years later!

Today the group supported our u9 and u11 TTRide foundation Football teams with their friendly game against Ocean View, and tomorrow we will help do a clean-up in Masi. With only one full day left, a surf and a trip to the famous Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent all those years in prison, Cape Town has treated us well. Plettenberg bay is next, with the more adrenaline-filled part of the trip! I have heard there are great sandbanks there at the moment and the water should be warmer so we are looking forward to it.

I hope you’re all having as much fun as we are in your respective parts of the world…haha!!

Take care

Chris

Hello all,

Well here we are in Plettenberg Bay (Plett), approximately 550 kms up the East Coast from Cape Town. The Ticket to Ride Trip 2 is now really getting into the swing of things, or rather the TTRide groove.

Cape Town ended off really well with great waves again at Muizenberg for the group’s last lesson in the friendly waves there. In the afternoon on Thursday half the group ventured off to Robben Island whilst the others moved into Masi to help teach some of the children English, paint a rubbish bin and carry them on our shoulders (often two or more at a time)! All the while kicking a football around of course as it just seems to be the ‘done thing’ in the township. The crew who headed off to Robben Island had a good bit of South Africa’s history shown to them. From their reactions on return they couldn’t really define the experience but were rather just amazed in disbelief at the conditions in which political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela had lived in for so many years. The tour guide was a former prisoner, so there were no frills and it was the real deal, as South Africa largely is!

The last evening in Cape Town was spent at Paul Botha’s amazing house overlooking the Kom. Paul, one of the pioneers of surfing in Cape Town, is also a master chef and cooked us an amazing braai with Ostrich sausage, Chicken and Ribs. From Cape Town we made the trek to Plett. Plett is a small holiday town and one of the most scenic towns along our East Coast. Albergo’s where we stay does a fire every night to braai on, and being in a backpackers means that everyone gets a good opportunity to start cooking their own meals and sorting out their own food. Some have taken to it more than others, and Freddie Webster’s first attempt at cooking, an instant rice mix, was close to a success. He decided that the instructions were just a guideline and not really essential, wise words from someone cooking their first meal! Haha. The girls cooked last night and Tom Allport is taking on a Thai Green Curry tonight.

To the surfing, the first session at Plett was an eye-opener for everyone. Primarily because everyone got absolutely nailed by the waves, and a lot of water was swallowed as well as a lot of nosediving. In amongst this some of the group got into the swing of it and got some amazing rides in the 2-3 foot hollow waves. Luckily after the session those who had struggled were only more determined for success in the next session instead of giving up hope. This paid off, and with the safety-conscious coaching of John Henry and his crew the guys got really amazing waves today. The waves were slightly smaller but still challenging and today was probably the most overall improvement I have seen in any single day on this trip. They did themselves proud and we got some great footage that will be going up shortly. The day was topped off with a strenuous running/swimming session with some bodysurfing. As if in reward we had a large pod of dolphins swim by. There was equal interest from both the group and the dolphins and they met halfway where the dolphins were swimming in amongst and under the group. What an amazing experience!

Tomorrow morning will be the day 35-second freefalls when those who choose to throw themselves out of a plane! The adrenalin begins…

See you on the other side,

Chris and Pete

Rob Pitman and Jeremy Wright have been catching the action on film from day 1 and have put it together for you all to see. This is a mix of surfing and exploring Cape Town by Trip 2 on the Cape Town to Durban / Mozambique trip with Ticket to Ride. Enjoy!

Hello all,
Plett is now drawing to an end, but not without some excitement yet to come. The surf sessions with the International Surf School are finished with 3 great days, many of the group have been skydiving and the thought of jumping off a bridge is in the back of everyone’s minds!!

The surfing lessons ended in Plett really well with perfect two foot waves all to ourselves in a perfect setting. The wind was really light and the day boiling hot, making it the first opportunity for everyone to lose the wetsuits and surf just in their baggies (boardshorts) or costumes. When I say boiling hot, I mean the recorded temperature a mere 2km away at the airfield was 40 degrees Celsius!!! In the afternoon just walking the 40 metres from where we had lunch up to the backpackers was a considerable effort in the heat.

Skydiving (the rather suspiciously silly act of jumping out of a moving plane) is an experience that is hard to describe. Words do not really do it justice as it somehow covers adrenalin, fear and beauty. Most of those on the trip who had not skydived before saw it as the perfect opportunity, and with such a beautiful setting Plett is the best skydive I have done. It is worth it merely for the flight up in the plane and the views that come with it. Watching all the reactions of the group towards jumping out of the plane as the time drew nearer were fascinating. People like myself who have a fear of heights definitely have much more of a build up of fear (and probably rush when jumping out) than those who actually get to enjoy the flight up and the view when freefalling to the ground. With Jon and James being refused the first time as it was too windy, then a second time yesterday when it was too hot (both times having gone to the venue), and clouds this morning making it impossible to jump, one may begin to wonder if they are really supposed to do it…

This afternoon we went to Tenikwa Cat Sanctuary, to see almost all of the South African Cats. With cheetah, a leopard, Caracal, Servals, and many more it is really special getting to see these animals up close. Whilst most of these have been raised in captivity it is the knowledge of what these animals are capable of that amazes me. The guide gave and example of a leopard that took down a 150kg cow. Sure it was ‘only a cow’ but the leopard was a measly 24 kg!! That is killing something over 6 times its bodyweight. Leopards are often hunted and killed for doing these ‘crimes’ killing livestock, with projects such as the Cape Leopard Trust in the Cederberg mountains fighting to educate the farmers hopefully they will be protected and saved as their numbers diminish.

Tomorrow is likely the big day. If I were to mention that to anyone in the group they would immediately know that I meant jumping off the highest bridge bungy in the world. Unfortunately Ticket to Ride has included this for free in the trip, making it very hard for people to opt out! Whenever we do end up doing it, by the next blog on Sunday I will be able to let you know how it goes!

For tomorrow and more specifically Friday we have one of the best swells of the year predicted to be hitting our coast, so we will be heading up to the famous Jeffreys Bay with anticipation of catching cooking 6 foot Supertubes. Fingers crossed this dream will come to life.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep Safe.
Chris and Pete