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| Glenn's Journal for 11-18-02 "The Big Day" Monday morning and we are scheduled for the Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve Canopy Tour. We prepared for the day and departed the house a little before 10:00 am making sure we arrived in plenty of time for our 11:00 am appointment. We crossed the bridge that holds the Guinness World Record for the highest bungee jump at 216 meters (over 700 feet). We would stop back by here on the way back. We arrived at Tsitsikamma adventures company in plenty of time. Let me explain a little about canopy tours. In the Nature reserve they have built platforms in certain major trees at 15 - 40 meters above the forest floor. They then connected each platform with a very strong cable and tow lines. We prepared for the day by strapping on a harness that would link us to the cable (zip line). We then transported to our first platform and were shown how to ride the cable. We would just load onto the cable with the pulley attached to our harness, sit on the edge of the platform, and push off propelling us over to the next platform. It is an amazing way to see the Nature reserve. We spent two hours zipping through the trees and we all had a great time. The tour even included lunch. It was a great way to celebrate Denise's birthday!!! After our tour we stopped at the bridge with the bungee jumping. We were hoping to see someone actually jump but we did not wait for some poor sucker to show up. Actually a busload of young adventurers showed up to sign up but we decided not to wait the half hour before the first jump. After this stop we stopped in a Mohair shop and Langa Lapu Fabrics before heading into town. In town we mailed a box with all of our purchases from Kenya and South Africa home. The box is on a slow boat that should take three months to show up at home. (As a matter of fact a box that was shipped from home in September to Australia has not arrived yet!!) After town we returned to the condo, relaxed, then cleaned up before heading out for Denise's birthday dinner. She chose Weldon Kaya, an African style restaurant, for dinner. They dressed nicely while Erin and I did our best. Dinner was fabulous as we had starters (appetizers) including mussels and salmon. The main entrees included ostrich, kingklip, and springbok along with a nice bottle of wine. Denise's dessert came with a sparkler and the words Happy Birthday (spelled without the h in birthday) spelled in chocolate. We also had a few visits from the owner who enjoyed chatting with his guests and making sure everything was good. We were the only guests for most of the first hour we were there so we received a little more attention than expected but he was very nice. After dinner Erin and I went outside to enjoy the view. The restaurant is located overlooking the city and bay of Plettenberg Bay. The lights were on throughout the city and the stars along with the lighthouse shone across the sky brilliantly. We joked around about the usual things while I was only thinking about how to pop the big question. Chris and Denise went upstairs to enjoy the view and called out to us from there. Upon their heading to the car they let us know they were ready when we were. I had not popped the question at this point and didn't know when I would get my next chance with this kind of view. Upon walking to the front of the building Denise mentioned that we should check out the view from the top. I quickly took this opportunity and we headed upstairs. Erin continued to joke around and we ended up at the discussion of marriage. (We have been joking about who would ask whom, but I knew who should.) We came to the point in our discussion where she asked if I was asking her to be married so I took the opportunity to catch her off guard, got down on one knee and asked if she would marry me. In my mind she hesitated a little (I was nervous!!!) but replied with a "yes". We embraced (o.k. Kissed deeply!!). She quickly asked for the ring that I had in my possession. I slipped the ring on her finger and we quickly pondered about what we had just done. We returned to the car where we had kept Chris and Denise waiting. Erin wasn't in the car two seconds before letting them know that we had just gotten engaged. They were very happy for us. We returned to the condo where we crashed for the night. Tomorrow we are spending some time in town before catching the afternoon bus to Port Elizabeth. Chris and Denise are off to Shamwari Game Reserve for a day with the "big five". |
| The highest bungy jump forum in the world is this bridge near Tsitsikamma Forest - 216 meters up! (over 700 feet high) |
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| Glenn sliding across the zip line during the canopy tour |