And Then I Felll In Love With... South Africa

We arrived in South Africa on the chilly morning of March 3rd. I had set my alarm for 5:45am just so I could get up in time to see the sunrise come up behind Cape Town’s Table Mountain, and trust me when I say that it was worth it. It was absolutely beautiful. However, there was no “tablecloth” of clouds covering it as we arrived. After waiting in the looooong line to exit the gangway, a group of friends and I set out to climb Table Mountain. It took forever to get everyone together which was frustrating. When we finally all managed to be in the same place at the same time and we hailed two cabs to take us to the cable car lift where the hiking trails began. There were two trails, one easy and one hard. Without knowing it, we took the hard one. It ended up in half of us turning back because we were too dehydrated and the climb was too long it was only going to get harder. Myself and two others ended up hiking half way up, then we hiked along the side of the mountain for about an hour. It was hard to find the trail and there were some pretty narrow steep drop offs. I loved it. Eventually, we found a trail that led us the rest of the way back down to the cable car ☺ It was a good hike and we still had a good time even though we didn’t make it all of the way. When we arrived at the top, we were able to look out over the city and the bay. We were above the clouds and it was SO pretty. I can’t even describe it… the best I have are some pictures that don’t do it justice. Later that night, we went to fancy restaurant in the wine lands called Moyo. It was like no restaurant I had ever eaten at. They had tables in treetops, lights hanging from the trees, unbelievable food, blankets on our chairs, a guitar/singer who walked around, face painting, and the best wine ever. It was such a relaxing and romantic atmosphere. The people who I went with were great company. The night was just as unforgettable as the day had been.

The next day I was scheduled to go cage diving with the great white sharks. That however, was cancelled due to stormy weather and rough seas. I was disappointed since it was one of the three things that I wanted to do in South Africa. However, I knew I just had to roll with it. Instead we all went out to lunch at this really awesome Mediterranean restaurant and we got to know the owners. The food was outstanding and the atmosphere was great. We sat on pillows on the floor and ordered some wine and had good time relaxing for once. After lunch, we went to the green market and bought a bunch of stuff. It was raining and icky out, but I love days like that. I have a really funny story (or at least to those who were there) about one of people who tried to sell me an elephant. I saw this little tiny elephant on one of the tables and asked how much he wanted for it. He said that it was part of a calendar set. I said “Oh, okay. Thanks” and started walking away. He said, “why don’t you buy them all?” I told him that I only wanted the little guy and that I would loose all of the others. He laughed and kept trying to sell them to me and I kept saying that I only wanted the tiny guy at the end. He then asked how much I would pay for the just the little one. I said nothing because I wouldn’t want to ruin his calendar… ‘cause I really didn’t want to. This went on for probably 5 minutes. I told him that I was really sorry, but I just didn’t need them all and I didn’t want to ruin his calendar and I started walking away. About 10 minutes later, I was buying a painting (that I LOVE) when my friend realized that the elephant guy was behind me. The person selling the painting asked what he was doing, and he said following this girl (meaning me). I turned around and he held up the tiny elephant and said I’ll sell it to you for 10 rand. I looked at him and laughed and said okay. So now I have this little tiny elephant and a picture of me and the guy that just wouldn’t give up. I still feel bad about ruining his calendar though. O well. I smile every time I look at the darn thing now. Later we went out for dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant/sushi bar that was recommended by the interport student. I ordered yet more prawns (surprise). I got a huge platter of 30 giant prawns. Being the pig that I am, I ate all but one. It was mushy ☺.

The next morning I had some time to myself. Most of the students on the ship had a 3 or 4 day safari trip that they went on. The rest of my friends had SAS day trips and I had nothing. I walked around Cape Town’s waterfront for a couple of hours by myself. I got bored real fast, but it was nice. I was supposed to meet up with my friend Anna at 1:30 after she got back from her day trip. She didn’t get back until 2:45 so we had to cancel our afternoon trip to a tea plantation. Instead, we went to the aquarium and saw some fishies and sharks. Then we had tea overlooking the harbor. I can’t remember what happened the rest of the night, but I guess that’s what I get for waiting 2 weeks to write this…

I was really excited for the fourth day, because that was the day of my Township visit. Before I went on that, I spent the morning on Long Street with my friend Finley. We basically walked around for a while and went in a few shops. We went in to this music store and in the back corner there was a tiny room where they booked tours and stuff. Finley pointed it out to me, and I ended up booking a day safari by myself for the second to last day in port. Kinda risky, but I did it anyways. After that random event, we went back to the Mediterranean restaurant were we had a breakfast pizza and mochas with the owners. They were so nice to us, maybe that’s because we kept coming back. I then went on my township tour!!! It was incredible. I can’t even begin to tell you the thoughts that went through my head. I was a little disappointed because I felt rushed the entire afternoon as we went from area to area. The little kids were adorable. It was so much fun to interact with them. One little boy climbed up on me to give me a kiss on the cheek. I could have spent the whole day there. The conditions in which they are living in are incredible, shocking, and indescribable though. It was a life changing experience. I’d love to go back one day and stay in one of the bed and breakfasts that we visited. That would be an experience. Later that night, four of us girl went back to the Mediterranean place for drinks. It was a lot of fun. The owners bought us a round on the house, which is always nice.

Then, I jumped out of a plane! Yep, the fifth day I went skydiving over Cape Town. It was awesome, awesome. I loved it and I want to do it again! We only had a 30 second free fall… which I guess isn’t all that long. But it was still nuts. I got a pretty hilarious video of myself during the free fall. I duck taped my camera to my hand but it died during it was sad. The view was incredible. I could see Table Mountain and Robbin Island on the way down. It went by all too quickly. As soon as we landed, I was ready to go up again. Then another night of more good food, good wine, and good company.

I had to wake up SUPER early the next morning to go on my safari. I just hoped that someone would be there as I walked to the pick up point. To my relief, the tour guide pulled up shortly after I had arrived. It was myself and about 8 other old foreign people so I pretty much kept to my self the entire day. We had a 2 hour drive to the game site. The sights on the way were worth the cost of the entire trip. We drove through the winelands and straight up the mountains along a twisty mountain road. Luckily, no one got carsick. Our driver was awesome and knew a lot of neat facts. The safari was fun. It wasn’t like the ones my friends had gone on, but it was about one twentieth of the price, so I didn’t complain. I saw a lot of animals and I got some pretty sweet pictures (if I must say so myself). My favorite part was when we got out of the jeep and walked around pretty close to a herd of giraffes. ☺ I was exhausted when I got back to the ship later that night. I still had enough energy to go out for a nice stake dinner with my friend Brandon. Yum! I miss good food so I eat as much as possible when in port.

I had another early morning. I was super exhausted but it was time for river rafting down the Breede River. It was a scorching day so it was nice to be near the water. My partner and I had a little difficulty steering our little inflatable raft thing. We kept zigzagging for some reason. We both had a lot of kayaking experience before so it was pretty frustrating. I think she lied. Haha. But it was a great way to end my time in South Africa. I got back and had about an hour to run around and do some last minute (very impulsive) shopping. ☺ Then I PASSED OUT!