Day 2 - Rastas, Elephants, and Springboks

We woke up on Day 2 and had breakfast together before heading out to a nearby Rastafarian town called Judah Square. It’s the only legal, politically recognized Rasta community in South Africa and they offer tours in order to raise awareness about their lifestyle. Hestea has been bringing the AIFS group here for years so everyone knows her and was excited to see us and show us around. They taught us about their religion, introduced us to their two local pharmacists who make herbal remedies for illnesses, and spoke about the role that the elementary school plays in the community. I knew very little about Rasta life before so it was really interesting to learn how their religion has strong Christian roots and how they don’t allow alcohol, cigarettes, or weapons in their town. After playing some soccer with the kids and taking a big group picture with our new Rasta friends we reluctantly got back in the buses. I didn't take any pictures myself because I wasn't sure of the context of our visit beforehand and I didn't want to be too intrusive, so unfortunately I don't have any images of Judah Square to post here.

Our next stop was Knysna Elephant Park where we had lunch and then played with the world’s largest land mammal! We got to feed, pet, and take pictures with the 12 elephants that live in the park. I liked the little ones best, but it’s absolutely amazing to stand next to the big ones because they’re just so huge (check out the picture of my friend Beth with a big guy below). Because the owner knows Hestea well we were given the opportunity to take a peek at the new baby elephant born only 6 days before! Unfortunately, he was born premature (30kg underweight) and isn’t tall enough to breastfeed from his mother. In the wild he probably would have been abandoned, but the employees of the park are trying hard to keep him alive. His stomach keeps rejecting the different formulas that they’ve tried, but they’re still experimenting. Their next step is to feed him a drink with plasma in it that they’ve taken from the mother, so hopefully that will help him grow. After thanking the owner and wishing her the best of luck we left the park. Some people went directly back to the lodge, others returned to Judah Square to hang out with the Rastas, and the rest of us went to the Knysna waterfront. There were a bunch of little shops selling clothes, jewelry, and typical African souvenirs. I sat by the water with my friend Adrienne for a bit before heading back to Buffalo Bay.

Adrienne, Casey, and I sat on the beach until the sun set into the ocean and we went inside for our delicious fish dinner. As we finished eating some of the Rasta guys walked into the lodge with their instruments and speakers. It turns out Hestea, aka MamaH, had planned a little concert for us! It was so much fun to sit by the fireplace at listen to the band play. There was a convenient and cheap bar at the backpackers and everyone was doing Springbok shooters all night (half Amarula and half Crème de menthe). Some of the girls had a nice little dance party with MamaH and at one point she was doing the “ostrich dance” with me on her back. Afterwards I did some stargazing and swimming with some friends before taking a much needed shower and getting to bed. Another awesome day on the road.