Wild Adventures in South Africa!
July 15, 2024
HELLO FROM SOUTH AFRICA!! We’ve had such a great start to our trip!
On our first night, we celebrated everyone’s arrival in South Africa with a very special birthday: our very own Cole! We enjoyed cake and ice cream, and everyone got to know their travel companions for the next two weeks. We went to bed soon after, as everyone was exhausted from the long flights and needed rest for our early morning departure to Mozambique.
We woke up bright and early, excited for our travel day to Tofo Beach, Mozambique. We took a morning flight to Vilankulos and spent the afternoon driving to our accommodation. We ended the day with a dinner of chicken curry and rice, accompanied by the soothing sounds of the ocean and rustling palm trees. To our delight, dessert was a delicious chocolate brownie and ice cream. We had arrived!
The next morning began with high hopes of seeing Whale Sharks and catching big waves. Cole was out of bed first, especially eager. Chocolate crepes for breakfast certainly helped us prepare. From breakfast, we headed straight to the ocean. We walked down the beach and readied ourselves for our first Ocean Safari. A tractor had to push the boat most of the way down the beach before the boys in the group pushed our vessel into the ocean.
Once out on the ocean, we saw humpback whales, and while in the water, we had an amazing experience swimming with dolphins! Soon after getting out, we hopped right back in for our first encounter with a whale shark. It was massive! The entire group got to swim next to it. App coined it a “grand slam,” referencing the three species we saw. On our journey back, we stumbled upon another whale shark. This one swam a bit slower and stayed with the group longer, allowing everyone to get more than just an amazing look at it but a once in a lifetime experience.
After the ocean safari, we had lunch and began our surfing lessons. Everyone got up super quickly! Chandler, App, and Charlotte, with their prior surfing and wakeboarding experience were absolute pros. Surfing was awesome and everyone was worn out from it, so we concluded the day with dinner, moonup, and bed.
We woke up and had breakfast, then immediately headed out for our second day of ocean safaris. We were all super excited to see more wildlife in the water and ride on a boat around the coast! We saw more whales and tons of dolphins. We stumbled upon a group of 12 dolphins that were super playful with the group. Cole and Canon got in with them, and the dolphins swam around them, even doing jumps to splash them!
After the ocean safari, we went to the local market at Tofo Beach. The group got bracelets, souvenirs, and a couple of t-shirts to remember our time at Tofo. Mary Reeves and Grayson practiced their haggling skills with the local vendors. After lunch, we had our afternoon surfing session. Everyone had advanced so much and could get up on their own without the instructors’ help! To finish off our activities for the day, we celebrated our new surfing abilities with milkshakes by the beach.
The next morning we got to sleep in and enjoyed a relaxed morning before walking down the road from our stay to our cooking class. Will and Elizabeth showed us how to scrape coconuts, while App and Ella demonstrated the best way to grind it. After completing the coconut sauce, we turned our attention to making bread for dipping. This was also made using coconut, and everyone got to design their own shapes. Chandler was our design master. The group was amazed when our guide, Big Tony, brought out an assortment of blue crab, sailfish, pineapple, apples, and our coconut curry and bread for lunch. Everything was incredible and easily some students’ favorite meal of the trip so far! We headed back to our accommodation and cleaned up for our sunset Dhow sailboat ride. We traveled out to a nearby sandbar, where Ella and Grayson found some beautiful sand dollars on the island while Canon and App raced in the sand. The day ended with everyone tired but happy, reflecting on the wonderful experiences and memories we’ve made so far.
We woke up bright and early the next morning as we hit the road to head back to Johannesburg. On the drive to our flight, Elizabeth and Will showed off their trivia skills as the students competed for chocolate medals and sour gummy worms. App unfortunately sat on one of his chocolate medals, rocking stained shorts off the bus, which had the group laughing with tears – even App too! After a quick change, we were off to South Africa! We arrived and after our meal at City Lodge, we ended our day excited for our future safaris!
Everything has been smooth sailing for SAF 3B! Our students and leaders are having the times of their lives and don’t ever want to leave!
Signing off,
Rob and Helen
Check out shoutouts from the team below!
Grayson: Hey Mom and Dad, I am having so much fun! I have made so many new friends and I am having a great time. We just got finished surfing and snorkeling at the beach and next we are going to the safari!! Love y’all!!!!
Elizabeth: Hey Mom and Dad! South Africa is SO much fun! I have made so many great friends! We just finished the tropical portion of the trip and Mozambique and next up is safari!! I miss y’all SO much and can’t wait to tell y’all about it soon! Love y’all soooooo much!😘
Ella: Hey mom and dad, I am having so much fun! I love my group they are all so sweet! Mozambique was gorgeous and I loved going sailing there! The places that we are staying are really nice, tomorrow we are going to the safari portion and I am so excited! Lots of love, Ella 💕
Charlotte: Hey mom and dad! I am having so much fun and have made so many new friends! We just finished the Mozambique section of our trip and it was amazing. It was so much fun and I loved the surfing. Going to the safari next! I’m so excited! Miss y’all so much! Love you, Charlotte
Will: Hey mom and dad, I am having a blast. We just finished up with the beach at Mozambique and are about to start the safari in South Africa. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to go on this amazing trip. I love y’all- Will
App: Wuuuttt upppp, I’m having a great time and we just got back from Mozambique. Surfing was a lot of fun and a lot like home. The waves were pretty far out but they weren’t huge. One of the leaders gave me the GoPro and I got to film me and the group surfing. Swimming with whale sharks was super cool! We had a traditional Mozambique lunch and we had this super good fish, which was sailfish. We’re going to the safari tomorrow. I also heard about the euros, harry kane can’t win anything. I’m thinking about y’all and love y’all. Your favorite son, App
Cole: Heyyyyyyyy DAD, MOM, STELLA, DUTCH, and charlie. I am having a great time here and this is a great experience. The leaders are very nice too. We just came back from Mozambique and I swam with so many creatures like a whale shark, and so many dolphins. ALSOOOOOOO, I started to learn how to surf and I am not good but I actually really like it! One day we had crabs for lunch. Everyone is really nice and funny. Love your favorite child-Cole😎🥸
Chandler: hello family, the leaders are very nice and so are the other kids, I’m having lots of fun in Africa. I really liked swimming with whale sharks and dolphins. Surfing was also pretty awesome. We are getting ready to go on safari tomorrow. Been thinking about y’all, love y’all! Can’t wait to see you soon, Chandler 👍🏻
Mary Reeves: Hello family I hope everyone is doing good. I am having lots of fun!We went snorkeling and saw lots of animals. We saw whale sharks! I learned how to surf. I’m not horrible but it was rough at parts. I have made lots of friends and we have had good food! One day we had crabs and they were so good. Tell Greta I said hello and bring her to pick me up please that’s all goodbye!
Canon: Hello mum and dad. I loved the experience so far. We saw two whale sharks in Mozambique. We are about to head out for the safari portion of our trip. Overall, thank you very much for the trip. I have loved it.
Thank you, Canon
Safe arrival in Johannesburg!
July 10, 2024
Hello South Africa +Mozambique Families!
All students have landed safely in Johannesburg and the group is headed to their first activity! The trip is off to a great start and we can’t wait to share more updates from their adventure.
-Moondance HQ
