South Africa: Heaven on Earth...

Ok…so first of all I have to start by saying that if I can’t live there one day…I am definitely going back to Cape Town like 10 more times in my life…I absolutely loved it! From the first moment we saw Table Mountain from the ship it was just an absolutely beautiful spectacle for an entire week. My first day started out completely freezing (it was in the 40’s) and windy..but if you know me well enough that made it even better haha...we went up to the wine lands for an FDP for my marketing class and had two wine tastings…I have never done one before so I was quite excited. Of course we had to pay attention and ask questions related to marketing but it was a great day and I enjoyed learning about the “right way” to drink wine…both places were absolutely stunning and seeing both sides of the product was really neat, from the vineyards, the stock rooms, the marketing end, and then tasting the final product. It was a very successful first day in Cape Town. That night we went out to Long Street which is where it is pretty much happening at night in Cape Town. Mitchell’s brewery was a two story bar and sports bar that was right off the ship at the port so almost every night it was full of all of us haha. We then went to Long Street and found an Irish pub (which you are right dad, you can find one in any city in the world…there was even one in Namibia!) where they had a local band which was a lot of fun. Of course they knew we were all American students and proceeded to play Sweet Home Alabama and similar songs…it was a lovely evening to say the least….

The next day I had another FDP for my history class and we hit pretty much all of the important historical and cultural aspects of Cape Town. We went to a Muslim dominated part of the city which was really cool because it was the last day of Ramadan…the houses were all painted different bright colors (which we learned later was because the government won’t let them change anything to the façades of the homes except the color, so to differentiate one home to another everyone has painted them crazy colors…it was really neat) We then went to the District 6 Museum which was all about apartheid and obviously very interesting. You hear about things like apartheid and stuff in class at home but there is nothing like talking to the people who were actually affected and reading their stories. Even though there was a lot of the same notions in the south in the U.S., South Africa took that times 10…it was very sad. After that, we went to the Khayelitsha township which was by far the best part of the day. The second we got off the bus, 50 children or so swarmed us with beaming faces ready to play with us…one little girl grabbed my hand as I was walking and started practicing her English. Her and her friends starting singing Rihanna and it was the cutest thing ever. So I joined in with them and they were showing me their expertise in the current American pop culture. I was shocked when they knew all of the Rihanna and Jordan Sparks songs! These are some poor little kids living in these little tin boxes and there English was perfect, and they knew more words than I did to songs playing on our radio. I ended my morning feeling like I was in the Sound of Music…I had 20 kids surrounding me and we were singing Amazing Grace…yes I cried, and it was a wonderful feeling and an experience I will never forget. We then went to a restaurant (in a woman’s home) in the township and had the local cuisine which was devoured by all of us…That afternoon we then got on the ferry for Robben Island, which is where Nelson Mandela and others were imprisoned for speaking out against apartheid. There was an eerie feeling on the island (being a prison and all) but it was very interesting to learn more about this horrible time. Ironically it was a very beautiful island with a great view of Table Mountain and Cape Town. Also, completely filled with the cutest little African penguins haha.. We also took the same exact ferry Nelson Mandela did…and being a very sentimental person, me and two other people decided to sit exactly where they sat on the ship. (This would have been pretty cool on any other day, however, they stood at the very front tip of the ferry the entire time and it wasn’t 40 degrees and raining when they did it….needless to say we were stubborn and soaking wet by the time we went back to the boat). I didn’t go out that night after that extremely long and emotionally draining day.

The next day we just kind of hung out around the port…there was a lot to do and see so I took it as a relaxing day to take everything in. That night one of my friends had made reservations at a restaurant 30 minutes outside of Cape Town at some famed place…I didn’t really know at the time that it was going to be such a perfect evening! The second I got out of the taxi they were playing “Motuno Noreno” by Jomed (only my dad may get this) and I freaked out! I was stoked that I knew the music they were playing and began to realize that they were playing the North African Groove Putumayo CD and I was stoked! Everyone looked at me extremely confused as to how in the world I knew the song and have the CD! The atmosphere of this place had to make it one of the top 5 restaurants I have ever been to. We had dinner in a tree house! Need I say more? Haha…oh I was so happy…the music was all my music from my iPod that no one else knew and the food was amazing! They had performances of traditional music and dancing and it was the best night I had in Cape Town. (Dad: it was like an outside Buddha Bar, but African themed with tables in tree houses) Afterwards we went to a bar on the beach, but it was too crowded so we went back to Mitchell’s haha.

The next day I left for my safari for three days. We flew to Johannesburg and then on to Kruger National Park. The first night we went on a short game drive and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen… They had a lovely dinner prepared for us at the lodge with some local music and then we went to bed because we had to wake up 4:30 the next morning. So…we woke up haha…and went on a sunrise drive and pretty much drove around the park till dinner haha. We saw 3 out of the Big 5 (elephants, buffalo, and rhinos…no lions or leopards L ) But we saw a lot of other cool animals! That night we went on a night game drive, which was sadly disappointing because we didn’t see as much as we wanted but almost got charged by angry elephants because we go too close…so that was fun haha) The next day was in an airplane the entire time, so not much happened…except that both are flights were delayed and we got back late haha.

Yesterday was our last day in Cape Town and my roommate Rebecca, Kelly, and I went to the top of Table Mountain which was absolutely breathtaking. We had lunch at the top and then came back down and did some last minute souvenir and Christmas shopping before we had to embark the ship. As we were sadly sailing away, we were told to report to our rooms immediately and secure all items because it was going be a choppy night…well…let’s just say choppy was an understatement haha. Everyone is dead after Cape Town and definitely does not want to go to class for the next 11 days straight. This is about midterm time, which sounds kind of funny but this is pretty much our last long stretch of classes until after Japan so this is the only time to have them…We are stopping in Mauritius in a few days to get fuel but we can’t get off which is such a tease! The Sea Olympics are happening the one day we have off before India and we are getting our team stuff ready (There are 20 events to choose from, I am on the Red Sea volleyball team!)…and we have a dance before India too…so that will be fun! I had dinner with the two interport students from Chennai, India…they were very nice and eager to tell us about their city. They are also showing the Vice Presidential debates tomorrow in the union which will be nice…I am sure I will post before India but everyone have a great next few days and keep in touch through my email! :)