September 24, 2011

Cape Town, South Africa

 

Cape Town has one of the most breathtaking sites ever. When we pulled into port yesterday morning, Table Mountain hovered over the city; its intense beauty harboring secrets of the past, and promises of tomorrow. The Victoria port was an intense relief after the two working ports of Tema and Casablanca. Victorian style buildings and waterfront shops catered to the passenger port, providing a much warmer feel compared to the cranes and dirty berths of the two previous ports. After breakfast, I was a Student
Ambassador to some students from the University of Cape Town. We brought them onto the ship, and gave them a grand tour and had lunch together. They were incredibly friendly, and were amazed by our ship. No one wanted to leave when the time came. After just a few short hours, we had formed quick friendships despite our backgrounds and different English accents. We exchanged email addresses and promises to meet again in the next few days.

After the Cape Town students left, I met up with Jena and we simply explored the waterfront with Brian and Eric. There is a mall right outside the port, and it is the best mall I have ever been to. It isn’t better than Galleries de Lafayette in Paris, but it is better than the malls I have been to in the US. Jena and I came back to the ship around 3:30, and we left on our trip to Lion’s Head at 4pm. A bus took us to the base of Lion’s Head, and we were led by an awesome South African and a few Americans who are studying at UCT.

We started climbing, and the hike was somewhat strenuous. The view was absolutely amazing; in one direction you could see the entire expanse of Cape Town, while the other direction provided a view of white sandy beaches with bright blue waves washing upon the shore. Robben Island was also in the distance, where Nelson Mandela spent his prison years.

At one point, the hike got pretty intense, and we had to use chains and metal footholds to hoist ourselves up the rocks. One single misstep would have been perilous, for we weren’t wearing any climbing gear and what we were climbing was at an almost 90 degree angle. I thrive on adrenaline pumping adventure, so I loved every minute of it.  After about an hour and a half, we made it to the top of Lion’s head, and the view was spectacular. When we made it to the top, we enjoyed a light dinner of sandwiches and chips, while taking in the picturesque landscape. Jena and I took turns snapping photos of one another, reveling in the sight of something so marvelous. When the sun was setting, the sky was splashed with colors of pink, blue, and orange. That sunset is one that I will never forget. Once it was dark, the city seemed to spring to life with lights. We climbed down in the down, which was somewhat difficult. Not many people had flashlights or head-lamps, so many of us just hoped for the best as we climbed down. The weather was somewhat chilly, especially as South Africa is just entering spring. When we made it to the bottom, someone opened a bottle of wine and we all shared it. The experience was unforgettable, and South Africa had already grown on me after that first day there.

Jena and I got back around 9pm, and we quickly changed clothes, for we were going to experience the infamous night life of South Africa.

Jena, Brian, Eric, Kelsey, Gary, and I all headed out around 10pm in search of a nightclub. Gary was leading, since he had went on the city orientation earlier that day, and knew where Long Street was. Long Street in Cape Town is notorious for all of its bars and nightclubs, but with Gary leading, we had no idea where we were at. Gary is from Taiwan, and everyone likes to make him the butt of the jokes. If something ever goes wrong, everyone blames Gary. He takes it well though, and is pretty easy-going :P So Gary was leading us to what we thought was probably the way back to Ghana. We were in a pretty sketchy business district, and there seemed to be no one around. Finally, we made it to Long Street; despite the lack of faith everyone had in Gary’s leadership abilities. There were so many clubs that seemed to be filled to the brim with people, and yet we were somewhat weary of walking into one. We came upon a bar called Cape to Cuba, where a few other SAS people were at, and walked in. We thought we were just going to stop and chat with them, but we ended up spending our entire night there. We met a group of older men from Australia and New Zealand, and we struck up a conversation with them that persisted through the entire night. They bought a round of Springbok shots for everyone, to celebrate the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The Springbok shots had Bailey’s and peppermint in them, and they were pretty good. Around 2am, we decided to head back to the ship. I grabbed a taxi with Kelsey and Eric, and we headed back home, concluding the first day in South Africa.

Today, I slept in until noon which provided some much needed sleep. I went out on the deck for a little while to sketch, and then came in to check my email. I met up with Eric at the computer lab and we decided to go out to the mall. We went to the supermarket in the mall that had food that I am missing so much. As soon as I get back to the US, I am getting a sweet tea from McDonald’s and eating an entire package of cookie dough. Yum J  After the supermarket, we tried looking for a watch for Eric, with no luck. We shopped around a little at a few of the stores and markets on the waterfront, and then came back to the ship. We met Jena, Brian, and Gary out on the deck, and decided to head out to a seafood restaurant to get some fish and chips. I got hake, which was some pretty decent fish. I am not sure if it compared to Lake Erie perch though, but it was still good. We sat around talking and joking until 9:30 or so, and then came back to the ship. Everyone was so tired from the night before, that they all decided to head to bed early. Tomorrow, Brian and I don’t have anything planned, so we are thinking of heading out to one of the beaches or perhaps Kirstenbosch for the botanical gardens. We’ll see where the road takes us.