South Africa

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click here for a 4 minute video of the trip

After my Christmas with the Jones', I spent 3 weeks in South Africa with my great friend Hal. We spent 3 days in Johannasberg, including a visit to the Pilanesberg game reserve and the Apartheid museum. From there we drove to Cape Town via the Garden Route, camping 3 nights in Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast and 3 nights in Nature's Valley in Tsitsikama National Park. Highlights of the trip included a bungy jump off of a bridge 750 feet over a river, a helicopter ride around the coast and dressing up as the fun police and going on patrol in Cape Town. I learned about cricket while listening to a few test matches on the radio. I played 25 very close games of Chess with Hal and saw the production offices for the movie he's making, Doomsday.

In addition to the great adventures, I learned a great lesson about myself. Having just started a relationship with my amazing girlfriend, Alissa, I started to fall into an old habit of becoming somewhat of a dud to others while in a relationship. Without Hal to give me a slap in the face, I probably would have continued down that road becoming less interesting to myself, my friends and my girlfriend. The lesson is this: Be yourself. Always. You can compromise "a little" and only sometimes, but there is no better way to go through life than to understand yourself and be yourself.