Day 5 – West2Wild

After spending the last 4 ½  days at the YEP Haga Haga project, the YEP West2Wild road trip continued with YEPs Robyn Lighton, Kai Fitchen, Reghart Pistorius, Henko Roukema, HH photographer Steph and the Mercedes-Benz Vito crew bus on the 1 200km long return trip from the Wild Coast to the mother city (Cape Town) on the West Coast of South Africa.
 
With the help of a map of a completely foreign city to all of us, we took a couple of detours to reach our first stop – the Mercedes-Benz Coastal Education and Visitor Centre in the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve in East London. It was really interesting to learn about the local environment of the East London area and how Mercedes-Benz is involved with environmental education in the area.
 
The aim of the MBSA Coastal Education and Visitor Centre is to make exceptional strides towards education and awareness of our natural heritage and to protect a valuable heritage site and conserve the wealth of coastal biodiversity in the area. This center provides an eco-tourism facility to educate children, city residents, and visitors to the area, and given MBSA’s CSI focus on community upliftment, protecting the environment and education, funding establishment of the Centre was a perfect fit.
 
The Centre is providing a number of social benefits, including job creation through opportunities offered to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME’s) to become involved in the operation of the facility. The footprint found at the Reserve that scientists believe to be 120 000 years old (the oldest known humanoid footprint in the world) inspired the shape of the MBSA Coastal Education and Visitor Centre.
 
As ambassadors for YEP we provided flyers of the Mercedes sponsored Pangaea Project and we distributed our Shark Safety tips as provided by the Shark Spotters and also SASSI consumer pocket guides on Sustainable Seafood.
 
After a long drive down the Sunshine Coast we reached  our pitstop for the night where there was a nice warm plate of pasta waiting for us…

Day 4 West2Wild

Today we had an opportunity to sleep late for a change and gather some energy after a hectic couple of days filled with lots of EXPLORing, LEARNing and ACTing! We could enjoy a nice warm shower for once and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. We did a presentation at the summer youth camp next to the Nahoon Dam, with a great turn out of about 80 youths who all enjoyed the talks about our expeditions and projects! The Youth Camp’s theme was “Illumination” – and we adjusted our presentation to show them how youths can help to “illuminate” earth with clean-ups and also how we can all help to brighten the lives of others by being part of YEP .

Afterwards it was really special for all of us and made our hearts all warm when so many youths came talking to us and was excited about the Pangaea Project and how they wanted to get involved! I am convinced we will soon see many new YEP community members from the Border District ☺

This made me realize that the YEP community is not just about nature but also about helping others and shining out and setting an example for others to follow, and brightening our special world with good deeds! Because Pangaea is about the environment, and environment includes nature and people! We have all learned so much from the West2Wild Project especially about project planning – despite planning everything with precision, always be prepared to have plans changed at any moment due to unforeseen circumstances…and one should be able to adapt to these changes!

We left the Summer camp with so much inspiration to continue spreading the Pangaea message and only have about 100km to travel before joining the YEP Haga Haga project and we are all very excited!

Day 3: West2Wild Project

After waking up at the break of dawn, we packed up all our camping gear and got back on the road. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to a local YEP and new friend, Lani, as we continued on our journey up the beautiful coast of eastern South Africa. The drive up to East London was LONG, but filled with laughs and fun times never the less.

Driving through the Tsitsikama forest was spectacular! We all rolled down our windows to smell the fresh air and smell of new rain. It’s only been three days, but already we feel like a family, and enjoyed listening to each other stories and plans for the future. Despite getting a little lost in Kingwilliams town, we eventually found our way to the Summer Camp where we were to spend the night and give a presentation on "Pangaea".

We arrived and were so excited to find a working toilet and shower! Our camp was set up within a few minutes, then we were off to do a Clean Up project on the Hanoon Dam. After a series of funny events,
(which I’m sure you will all see in our own version of a ´moose cut´) we made it to the dam and got to work! We were disappointed with the large amount of litter, but were very proud after picking up 4 big black bags of rubbish!

After about 14 hours of travelling in the past three days, we were super keen to have a nice early night but not before making some delicious popcorn on our little gas stove! We had a very successful day, and look forward to our presentation tomorrow morning!

Day 2 West2Wild Project

Early in the morning we crawled out of our damp sleeping bags and headed straight to Mossel Bay, where we were given a very interesting presentation at the so-called „shark lab“, which is a shark research facility. We then even dissected a small shark…. After spending the morning at the shark lab and surrounding area we drove back to Lani’s house to collect some more secondhand school books and clothes which we donated to the local “Life Community Centre”. The smiles on the childrens’ faces made our day seeing how happy they are about the clothes!

Lani’s Dad explained to us what they are doing to preserve the land (that we are camping on) and how their project works! Afterwards we all felt really excited about the project and how the community will benefit from it and also the hard work that people are doing to preserve this very special piece of coastline close to George! We did some more exploration on that truly stunning piece of land; we hiked to a lookout point with the most amazing view with the waves crashing hundreds of meters below the cliff.

At 8 p.m. we had our presentation at the Carmel Holiday Reserve, which went very well.

Tomorrow we will leave very early and unfortunately we have to say 'Goodbye' to Lani as she is unable to join us on the next leg of our exciting adventure.

Day 1 – West2Wild Project
Amazing last 24 hours!

Kai and Robyn arrived at Henko's late last night. We all instantly got along while packing the Mercedes-Benz Vito courtesy transportation Crew bus and discussed what would happen over the next few days. The four of us (Henko, Leni, Kai and Robyn) set off at dawn on our new exciting road trip up the beautiful South African coastline.

Despite Kai´s constant need for the loo- the trip went super smoothly. We stopped off at Heidelberg, which excited Leni as it reminded her of the German town with the same name. We had some coffee and Robyn
practiced her first day of veganism! Go team!

Finally we arrived in Tembulethu, which is just outside of George. Meeting new YEP Lani and her family was wonderful. They showed us the stunning landscape inhabited by wild zebras, bonte bok, and ostrich, which we will now call our home for the next two nights.

After setting up camp, we explored the area around us, experiencing true South African beauty. We then headed to the Carmel Holiday Farm to organize our presentation details for the following day. After meeting Gary, the organizer, the four of us headed down to Vic Bay, a famous South Africa surfing spot, to explore the beach front.

We arrived back at camp, and failed terribly at making popcorn on Henko´s gas burner. All in all, we had an incredible first day, enjoying each other’s company!

Thanks to Lani´s family for the land!

I have been so privileged to have been a part of the 10th USA Expedition with my upbeat expedition fam jam, whom I miss already! With all the intense paddling, and underwater discovery, time flew by! Every moment during the three weeks was memorable, special and a life lesson. Our physical limits were stretched, our mental power strengthened. We all grew as people, as our perspectives were broadened. After arriving home last night, adjusting to being back to the normal routine will be challenging, after an adventure this significant. What I’ll always be thinking about at the back of my head is that this is just the start of the journey of adventure and exploration. Now it’s time to act to protect our beautiful planet.
The words thank you cannot begin to describe my great appreciation for this experience. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I will cherish these memories for eternity.
-Aya
 

Back to Fort Lauderdale

Last night, we again slept outside on deck of Pangaea. I love it to stay the night outside, to feel the fresh air, see the stars and hear the waves and the wind. It lets me sleep well. In the morning at 5 o’clock we woke up and sailed east, eventually stopping just a few miles from the shore of Miami Beach. Here, we had our last dive to an underwater mausoleum called Neptune Memorial Reef. With cemetery gates and statues of lions an large columns, this is one of the most unique dive spots on Earth. High waves and a significant current made the jump from Pangaea into the open Atlantic ocean a special experience. The current provided quite a challenge. If you dive in strong current, you have to feel and understand it. It can really disorient you. I learned to dive on the ground and behind rocks and reefs where the current is not as strong.

After the A.M. dive, we sailed on to Fort Lauderdale, which served as both the beginning and end of our expedition. As soon as we pulled into the marina, we got started on hosing down the boat and scrubbing off the thick layer of salt that covered every single railing, and surface. The boat is now cleaned, tidy and the staff got some grocery shopping done. Tonight, Mike says we will prepare an “expedition end party” and celebrate till the first person has to leave to go the airport in the morning. Although the thought in the background that this marks the end of our expedition, we will surely enjoy this last night all together. And we are all looking forward to the future, to projects, meeting, and new adventures. The knowledge we soaked in and the experience we each gained from the expedition is sure to change all of our lives and open new opportunities. Let's celebrate!

-Livio

Vandenberg shipwreck dives

One of the most important lessons I have learned from Mike Horn on this expedition is the absolute necessity to remain calm. The difference between life and death for an adventurer can often be found in their ability to keep a level head in challenging circumstances.

Diving has been the perfect adventure sport to exercise this need to relax and think clearly. It functions on some what of a paradox: the further you come to the limits of human exploration underwater, the greater the need for the diver to slow their heart rate, relax their breathing, and conserve their physical exertion.

Often when we think of extreme sports, we think of fast-pace, on-the-edge, break-neck activity. But diving is a different beast; it’s a finesse ballet — an underwater mind game where we must remain in constant control of our minds. Our dive today took us deep into a military shipwreck but with Chistian, our sepcialist dive instructor and other qualified instructors in the team, we were well entoured and were able to remain calm and clear-headed, to do our most difficult dive yet.

We are a few days away from the end of the expedition and time is disappearing faster than I am soaking it all up. I wish it wasn't so. I wish I had more time to hear Mike’s stories. I wish there were more dives to plunge and sails to hoist, to be pushed further and harder and learn more from the amazing team which makes all this possible. However, this feeling is a symptom: a tell tale sign of the experience of a lifetime.

This being my last blog, I wish to acknowledge a sentiment of Mike’s expressed in a YouTube clip I watched when first learning about the Pangaea project. This boat, our Pangaea, represents one world. All of us here on this boat, from the Young Explorers, to the team, to Mike himself, have poured their hearts into this expedition. We have treated each other with respect, worked together for the benefit of our family on board this boat, laughed together, encouraged each other, and sustained life aboard as a team. It may be a bold statement not shared by all, but I see Pangaea and this team as a microcosm of how our world needs to work together. If we can take this metaphor, and apply it to our world, where all work together for the sustenance and support of one another, we can ensure the preservation of our environment.

When I set foot on dry land in a few days, I will take the lessons I have learned on this boat and let them serve as inspiration and more importantly, hope, for what our world can be. I believe it.

-Dan

Pangaea enjoys some great sailing with now the Young Explorers at the helm!! Mike and the crew look on carefully as Pangaea heads north up the Florida Keys. Tonight they moor at Rodriguez Key, in Dade County, Florida.

The Dry Tortugas

After a long night sailing we arrived to the Dry Tortugas. The first sight of Harbor Lighthouse and majestic Fort Jefferson — the massive brick structure that seemed to take up an entire island — was enough to have everyone on deck, passing the binoculars around. After throwing out the anchor and having breakfast together, Mike informed us that it was up to the YEPs to organize the day on this island chain located less than 100 miles from Cuba. It was up to us to decide what we were going to do, and when we were going to do it. Basically PANGAEA was in the hands of the YEPs for the day… What a responsibility!

We discussed the options and decided that it would be best to take the dinghy to land and get some more information about our surroundings from Dry Tortugas National Park office.

So far, what we knew was what we could see: the Tortugas are a cluster of seven small islands composed of coral reefs and sand. The surrounding shoals and water make up Dry Tortuga National Park. Fort Jefferson, whose massive cannons can be seen on the outer wall from miles away, takes up the greater part of a picturesque remote island.

We arrived to shore with feelings of awe and apprehension. It felt as though somebody was about to march out of the fort, read us our rights and arrest us for trespassing. Instead we found the staff to be friendly and informative.

Our unofficial tour guide was called Ray and he was was truly an interesting man. Ray is a retired schoolteacher and present-day volunteer who works at Fort Jefferson for one month each year. Ray informed us that the building of the fort commenced in the 1800’s and after the masons laid 16 Million bricks, the largest brick structure in the Northern Hemisphere was technically never even completed! In fact, the whole entire fort, though once active, never fired one hot shot and was never fired upon. This is due to the fort being decommissioned as a result of civil war technologies which made it, quite suddenly, very outdated.

Ray helped us plan our day and showed us on a local area map where the best places to scuba and snorkel were. I was so impressed by the fort and the enthusiasm of our new friend, that I decided to give him my Mike Horn Wenger Swiss army knife as a token of our appreciation. His gratitude and plans of using it for maintenance at the Fort as well as on future camping trips assured me that I had made the right decision.

We made full use of the afternoon by squeezing in two Scuba dives, the second of which was the wreck of an old sailing ship — the Windjammer — that had ran into the reef during high winds in 1907. The 1,862-ton vessel’s port anchor had been lost in an attempt to slow the ship down and the navigational error caused the wreck. It was amazing to see the anchor lying such a distance away from the ship on the ocean floor. As I was diving it occurred to me how terrifying it must have been to be on board the ship while it was going down, and I wondered at what I would have done if I was put in that situation. It turns out, the entire [Norwegian] crew of the Windjammer survived but the ship was a total loss — although future Scuba divers’ gain! There was a huge amount of fish and coral life to be seen, including a huge barracuda and a giant lobster hiding under what remained of the bow of the ship.

The day came to an end with a rousing celebration of Fred (the Swiss wilderness guide) and Dima (Mike's official photographer) birthday dance party before turning Pangaea back east at 11 PM for an overnight cruise.

With only seven days of the expedition left, we are zooming across the ocean at night so as to make full use of the day light. Tomorrow is sure to be yet another eventful day of diving and excitement. As this is my last blog of the expedition, it is sad to think that this epic experience is drawing to an end. I am extremely grateful to have a part in it, and what I have learned will stay with me for the rest if my life.

-Rick