In the Land of Swimsuits, No Shoes, and Booze- St. Lucia

When those of us from the states picture Spring Break, we imagine huge crowds of attractive twenty-somethings ready to boogy down with other drunk twenty-somethings. Well my friends, my spring break was not much different. I went with a group of four other people (Grace, Natalie, Paul, and Paul’s sister Evie). We tried our hardest to keep costs down but adventures up. To do this, we decided to go to St. Lucia and Kosi Bay, which are both up the eastern coast of South Africa, just south of the border with Mozambique. Naturally, as these places are famous for their amazing scuba diving and animal spottings, we were in.

After a horribly early flight to Durban, we started on our way to St. Lucia. Anxious to adventure, we tried to stop everywhere we could see that might have been something exciting. After the first stop to the non-existent Craft Fair, we decided to stop for a sign that read “Reptile City”. After paying a whopping R30, we were greeted with skinks, snakes, emus, peacocks, crocodiles, turkeys, birds, and so much more. Upon walking around for about ten minutes, we were all a bit burnt out from the animals, and Paul- the only “man” on the trip- was too scared by the snakes, so we decided to head out. Adventure #1 complete.

The crocodiles at Reptile City

We got to St. Lucia and found our backpackers, ran in for two seconds to put our stuff down, then went immediately to find more adventures. We followed a sign to a Crocodile and Hippo cruise, paid for a ride that would take off in a couple hours, and went to find food. On the menu was a traditional African mean called Bunny Chow, so of course Grace and I had to split that. They take a loaf of bread, hollow out the middle (like the bread bowls we are used to) and fill it with a delicious curry meal with veggies, meat and amazing seasonings. It was awesome. Then it was time for the cruise, so we headed down to the water to hop on the boat. Within the first 10 minutes, we saw a herd of about 15 hippos, and 1 baby hippo! Throughout the trip we saw at least 50 hippos, maybe 15 crocodiles, water buffalo, kingfishers, and other birds, each of which the boat driver was not afraid to get us up next to. Wild.

Hippos! Just the first of many...

The next morning we woke up for another adventure to the beach. Upon reaching the beach, we saw waves that were at least double our height. Being the bushy-tailed kids we are, we ran straight in and got clobbered by every single wave. It was crazy. After the beach, two of the workers from the backpacker invited us to go to the Ski Boat Club with them to get drinks. We headed over, ordered a few ciders, and kicked back to watch even more wildlife. There were tons of monkeys around the town, and we quickly learned that there is not much that they are afraid of. One monkey walked over to the restaurant, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then ran into the kitchen. About a minute later we heard some silverware crashing to the ground and saw the monkey running out with three bananas in hand. After drinks we went to the river to watch the beautiful African sunset, then headed out to Key West (how aptly named for Spring Break!) for some drinks with friends.

The huge waves we played in!

The monkeys who stole the bananas

Grace, Natalie, and I at sunset.

My new friend, the dungbeetle.

To describe our last day in St. Lucia will be almost as hard as explaining to my parents why I was drunk the first time they caught me drinking. And probably includes the same amount of alcohol. We had planned a safari with our backpackers without knowing who our guides would be. We were told to meet in the lobby at 8am. Knowing we were on Africa time, we arrived in the lobby around 8:15. Fifteen minutes later, one of the guys from the bar the night before (Kevin) showed up asking if Darren (the other guy from the bar the previous night) was up yet. We shook our heads unknowingly as Kevin instructed us to go eat breakfast before the safari. By 9am, we had ordered our breakfast right as Darren came stumbling up to the restaurant with a Hunter’s cider in hand and eyes that barely opened. We noticed that he didn’t have shoes on his feet, and they looked as if he had not worn shoes since Before Christ. Over breakfast, conversation consisted of Darren explaining to us the fact that he doesn’t wear shoes and simply will not go places that make him wear them. At 10am, we paid the bill and headed into the Land Rover that Darren told us Kevin had to drive because he was going to be drinking. 10:03am and we are stopped outside a grocery store to get lunch items (or so we thought). 10:10am Darren and Kevin come outside the store with 8 six-packs of Savanna Dry and 8 six-packs of Black Label. 10:12am Darren is cracking open the first Black Labels and handing them out around the bar. 10:15am Darren is asking Kevin if they remembered the food. By the time we got to the game park (iSimangolo- meaning a place of wonders and miracles) we were already one beer deep. The moment the Land Rover crossed over the gates to the park, Darren somehow became a new person and immediately started rattling off facts about the park, the animals inside, and so much more. The first half of the safari consisted of Springboks, Red Dykers, and Dungbeetles- nothing too exciting.

Grace getting ready for snorkeling in Cape Vidal.

After this, we stopped to go “snorkeling” in Cape Vidal. Knowing this was supposed to be one of the best scuba diving places in the world, we were all psyched. Upon arrival, though, we realized our snorkeling trip would consist of us swimming out as far as we were able to, fighting off the huge waves, and seeing no coral reefs. Well, it was time for another beer. We were in the water for about 30 minutes then came in for lunch. During lunch, we learned all about one another over more cider. We now know the story as to why Kevin only has ½ of an ear (it was bitten off in a bar fight), how Darren came to work in a backpacker, and so much more. The second half of the safari was a bit more successful in that we spotted a leopard and a rhino! 

If you look close enough, to the left of the tree you'll see the spots of the leopard- he got camera shy.

Upon our return to the backpackers, we realized that our original plan of driving to Kosi Bay would not be a safe option, so Darren offered us a free night. We all were asleep by 4:30pm, woke up for a quick dinner around 8pm, then passed out yet again. In the morning we would be off to Kosi Bay!

A springbok!

The beautiful Cape Vidal on not such a beautiful day.

The rhino that would not get out of the road to let our car pass! He was on a mission.

Water buffalo that was ready to charge at us!

The True Meaning of Football

Before coming here, I had prepared myself for a new world of sports by watching Invictus and following most of the World Cup. Rugby and soccer; two sports Hunter and dad had never been particularly interested in watching, and thus two sports that I myself never got into. I have been a football, baseball, and basketball girl my whole life. I had no idea that sports would play such a huge part of my life here.

To begin, it seems that every game the Springboks or Bafana Bafana play elicits crowds larger than any team in the States. The Springboks are the country’s national rugby team, and Bafana Bafana, the national soccer team. While we haven’t been able to see either team in the flesh, we have gone to popular sports bars around town to watch the games. We went to watch a friendly match between Bafana and Ghana, which we ended up winning, and the bar we went to was absolutely packed; we had to wait until half time to get a table. The Springboks are in a tournament currently, but not doing as well as hoped. They did just beat the Australian Wallabys today, though.

Partying at Forester's (lovingly called Four-y's by the locals) for the Bafana Bafana friendly match with Ghana (we won 1-0)

The games we have gone to see, though, have been amazing as well. Western Providence is the rugby team for the area that we live in. InterStudy paid for us to go see one of those games, which was really fun. Last night, Judy, Paul, and I went to see the first Friday soccer game since apartheid in the new World Cup Stadium. We made friends with a local in the beer queue (what a great place to meet someone!) who told us that since apartheid was instated, the country stopped Friday soccer matches, which had always been extremely popular. This was the first Friday game since then, so it was huge. It was a double header with the first game between Vasco de Gama (Cape Town), and the Pirates (Johannesburg). The second game was between Ajax (Cape Town), and a team in Blumfontaine. Walking up to the stadium, the sound of vuvuzelas is absolutely unmistakable. We had of course brought our own, and on the walk toward the stadium were taking lessons from the locals. By the second game, I had perfected my skills so much that a local sitting in the row in front of me was impressed and cheering me on! The game was so much fun. I can tell that I will quickly become as much of an enthusiast about soccer as I am about basketball.

Judy and I outside the World Cup Stadium in Green Point, vuvuzelas in hand.

Inside the beautiful Green Point Stadium!

Part of my interest in sports comes from one of my classes, though, too. In my gender and development class, we are learning about different ways of ensuring gender equality. It is clear that in South Africa, women have much different societal roles than men. Most of the kids in my class think its weird when girls play football, rugby, or really any sport other than netball (of which I have yet to learn). We are learning about the ways that sport can increase society’s knowledge of the role that women can and should play in the world. Over the course of this class, it has become clear to me that gender roles in South Africa are much different than in the States. What I have come to appreciate is the role that sport can play in uniting a people, whether it be a country that was once divided by race, or that of lessening the divide between genders.  

Whales, Paintballs, Gelato, Oh My!

The program that I am in South Africa with, InterStudy, planned a weekend getaway for our group to a town called Hermanus. Not knowing much about this town, I was excited about the fun times that the group would provide us. We left Friday afternoon, and drove for about an hour and a half to get to the backpacker we would stay at for 2 nights. Upon our arrival, the backpacker made us a traditional braai with a salad. The night was pretty mellow other than the crazy Dutch guy that pretended to be the DJ of the night, playing songs that he “wanted us to dance to”.

Friends at the Hermanus Backpacker!

The next morning we woke up to go sea kayaking. To do this, either 1 or 2 people get in a kayak and paddle out to sea. The fact that I tend to get a bit seasick on anything that rocks didn’t damper my mood. Charlotte and I hopped into our kayak and played the game of teamwork. Our guide (who would later in the month make a stop to Helena 5 for a casual date with Elizabeth) took us all along the coast to marvel at the beauty of Hermanus from the ocean. Here, we learned that the white foam that dots the ocean is not from pollution or a dirty ocean, but rather a result of kelp cleaning itself. The white foam took me back home, as I decided that an appropriate name would be “The Ocean's Snow”.

Here enters the gelato. Gelato Mania was a little shop right on the water that served the most amazing gelato at an advertised 93 calories a scoop. Needless to say, gelato enters the picture more often than I’d like to admit to.

Next, we had the opportunity to go whale watching. The boat ride to find the whales lasted about 30 minutes. Once we found the sweet spot, though, we really hit the whale lottery. There were a total of 7 whales all in one spot, all playing around the boat. At one point, 2 whales swam under the boat, and reappeared literally 10 feet from us. It was an absolutely amazing sight.

The whales were SO close to us

A whale breeching-- quite a rare sight, but this morning we saw about 15 whale breeches!!

That night, after another wonderful meal from the Hermanus Backpackers, we headed out for a night on the town. We went to a little restaurant we had heard of that had a Bob Marley cover band. After a bottle of wine and of course a round of Malva Pudding, Grace and I were feeling brave enough to dance our little hearts out. The best part of the night was when the guy who had been watching us dance came over to me to ask me for a dance. At this point, One Love was making its second appearance of the night, and he and I went for a spin. What a dance that was.

My own living Bob Marley

The next morning, a few brave souls went shark cage diving, but a few others and I decided to stay back. Niko, one of the backpacker employees, took us on a little hike up to a waterfall, and then to the beach. It was a relaxing morning, which we had to of course follow up with another round of gelato.

For the last part of the trip, we became true warriors. We had the opportunity to go ATVing and paintballing. My group went ATVing first, which turned into one of the funniest moments on the trip. This is when Judy, the resident New York hipster of the trip, had her proudest moment. Before getting on the ATVs, Judy had warned us all that despite having her driver’s license, she hadn’t driven in about 3 years and didn’t really know how to drive. We all shook it off deciding that if a 7 year old can play Mario Kart, a 20 year old should be able to turn the handles enough to stay on a road. Oh, were we mistaken. Within 30 seconds of putting her foot on the gas, Judy had been unable to steer (straight), and ended up on the side of the path in the bushes.

The amazing landscape of Hermanus

The waves were getting a bit hectic...

Now the pain starts. Upon gearing up in some of the least attractive brown suits, we were handed guns filled with hard paint bullets. The marshall told us that because we had come at the end of the day, some of the professionals wanted to play, and that luckily, they would be our opponents. After 2 loooooooong games of paintball, I had about 4 huge bruises, but an awesome story to go along with them.

Here, we left Hermanus behind and headed back to the real world of school and work.

African Word of the Day: “swak”, a slang term meaning “weak” or not cool. In America, we might use the term to describe a bad play in football- “That play was swak.”

The Marvels of the Garden Route

I'd like to claim that the reason I haven't been blogging is because I've been supremely busy with nothing other than school work. While this is partially true, I've also just been busy being in South Africa in general.
The first thing I need to catch the world up on was my trip up the Garden Route. This is the eastern coast of South Africa, and all in all we travelled a total of about 10 hours up to reach Port Elizabeth. South Africa celebrates its women once a year with a holiday called Women's Day, which meant that UCT had a 3 day weekend. With about 14 other InterStudy kids, we rented 3 cars and decided to get outta' Cape Town.

The view on the drive there.

The first day we travelled to Mossel Bay, which is about a 6 hour drive. Here, we stayed at the Park Lodge House Backpackers. It was absolutely marvelous, with an outdoor "tribal circle" where we were all able to hang out. This night consisted of banging bongo drums, and meeting some fellow European travelers. The hilarity of this trip came out of our friend, and resident Dad, Ross Caton. As the main planner of the trip, we were all reliant on him for just about everything. In sharing a dorm room with him that night, we all found out about the infamous Sleep Sack. This is a thin sheet that Ross slides his body into before bed, so that he may sleep on the backpacker beds with, free from athlete's foot and STD's as he would explain to us.

Carolyn, Ross Daddy, and Grace in the tribal circle.

Ross in the sleep sack. Ross, we promise they wash the sheets!

The next day we traveled to Bloukrans, also known as the highest bungee jumping bridge in the world. I, along with 11 other adventurous souls, suited up to jump off. This is the most thrilling thing I've ever done in my life. The walk to the jump is probably the most scared I've ever been. The bridge runs over this 213 meter (700 feet) drop, and there is a rickety little cage set up under the bridge that walks you out to your doom. The whole walk I was trying to look down to prepare myself for what I would be looking at as I jumped straight down. A group of about 20 people goes up at one time, and one by one you jump off the bridge, then hang upside down for about 1 minute until a man comes to rescue you. I won't even try to describe the feeling of jumping off that bridge. I was completely calm and collected (with adrenaline pumping through my veins) up until that last couple seconds when the men are counting you down with your toes hanging over the edge. Then you jump.

About to take the plunge...

That's me!!!!

After Bloukrans, we went to Jeffery's Bay for another stop on the Route. This night we went to a lovely dinner right on the beach, where we all discovered Malva Pudding. Absolutely life changing. The soft, spongy, chocolate-y dessert, paired with the white chocolate warm syrup that flows over top of it will make any person melt. Wow. After what I loving refer to as "The Best Meal Since Africa", we went back to our backpacker called Ubuntu. The guy who ran Ubuntu was almost as wonderful as the malva pudding I had enjoyed earlier in the night. Of course I couldn't resist the tall, blonde, surfer dude who toured us around the backpackers, who also had the most adorable dogs. Then of course, in order to fully capitalize on being in South Africa and on the beach, Paul, Grace, Ben, Lill and I decided to take a late night trip to sleep on the beach. Because I was scared of getting kidnapped, though, I decided it would be smart to sleep with my drivers license in my sock so that the police would be able to positively I.D. me. Luckily, the worst thing that happened to me was a head full of sand.

My girls! We either share appetizer and dinner or malva pudding. Both good choices. 

The next day, 2 cars of friends decided to go to an animal reserve. There were tons of lions of all ages. We payed R60 (about $9) to play with baby lions which was absolutely amazing. Driving through the reserve se saw Springboks (the South African rugby team is named after these guys), zebras (pronounced zeh-bra), water buffalo, and giraffes. In one day I got 2 of the Big Five checked off my list of animals to see.

Just some new best friends. 

Then we drove to Port Elizabeth, which because we hadn't planned to do anything here was less than eventful. We backtracked this day to go to the Tube'N'Ax Backpackers in Storm's River. The Tube'N'Ax was the most amazing place. They had a bartender working, and our group stayed up all night playing drinking games, with Thumper being the main game of choice. The drive back home the next day was a long one, but our car decided to take a couple detours to adventure through a cheese house, great ocean look-out, and an illegal trip through some beautiful yellow flowers.

Devin and I at Port Elizabeth

The beautiful ocean view and the wonders of a self-timing camera.

Ah, the joy of life. And the illegality of this picture...

African Word of the Day: "hectic", which locals use to describe just about anything that is hard, crazy, or slightly faster-paced than normal. I have also had a professor use this term to describe the process of photosynthesis.

More to Love

I keep thinking about all of the wonderful things in this country that I love and would never want to change, but the more thinking I do about these things, the more I also start to think about how different things are here than at home. While these things in no way change my feelings toward my experience so far here, there are some differences that I feel are worth noting.

In America: We rarely worry about leaving the doors unlocked, and for the most part feel safe in an un-gated neighborhood.

In Africa: We must go through a gate to get into our apartment complex, then open two different doors in order to get into our flat, then may sometimes lock our bedroom doors, for a total of 4 different points of entry.

In America: We get internet, energy, airtime, etc. all in a packaged deal. We pay once a month and it’s usually unlimited.

In Africa: We pay for each megabyte used on the internet. We are allotted a certain amount of energy and if we go beyond that, we have no lights until we can go to a store and buy more. We pay for airtime by the minute. For each of these things, you buy them at certain stores. For example, I know that Pick ‘N’ Pay sells airtime, I can buy more internet online, and I can go to the hardware store for more energy.

In America: We go to a grocery store and wastefully use new plastic or paper bags each time.

In Africa: We get charged to use a plastic bag from the store. Each bag has its own cost.

In America: Our hot water heaters are conveniently kept out of sight so that we shower in peace, not thinking about how much we use.

In Africa: Our hot water heater is literally in the shower with us. We are thus forced to think about how much we use.

In America: Ketchup

In Africa: Tomato sauce, which is simply not the same.

In America: Cheetos, Cheez-its, etc.

In Africa: Nik Naks- that’s it.

In America: We register for classes electronically, and it takes a total of maybe 10 minutes.

In Africa: We must wait in about 5 different lines, each of which takes at least 15 minutes, then we end up just entering our classes online anyways.

In America: A snowboard rental with the boots is around $50, and the extra one hour less would cost another $50, rounding out to about $100 for the day.

In Africa: A surf lesson for an hour and a half, including the surfboard and wetsuit cost R220, which is about $30.

In America: When we set a lunch date for 12:30, it is rude to show up at 12:35.

In Africa: When we set a lunch date for 12:30, it is acceptable to show up anytime between 12:30-1:30.

In America: When it happens to still be winter, but the temperature is anywhere above 60˚F, we wear shorts (or just pretend its summer).

In Africa: If the season is winter, no matter how warm it is outside, girls wear layers. I mean winter coats, cotton tights, and Uggs.

In America: Taxis are cars that have insurance, pick you up for a certain price, and then get paid based on the distance you traveled.

In Africa: Taxis can mean one of two things. The normal cabs that we are used to- although the price is negotiable. There are also mini buses, that drive the main roads with one guy hanging out the window yelling out the final destination of his mini bus. If you step into one of these, you are probably one of about 15 other people, the price is usually less than $1 US no matter where you want to go, and there is no insurance ensuring your safety in case of an accident. 

All of this is something I am becoming more and more accustomed to, the things I am slowly beginning to love about this country.

African Word of the Day: “Lekker”, which means tasty or delicious when referring to food, but can also be substituted into almost any sentence that would have used a word such as “good”, or “great”. Example: “The waves today were fully lekker, bru.”

Here are some new pictures that I definitely think give a good glimpse at all the new things to love about Africa...

Some graffiti I thought was really beautiful in the cute little town of Obs. (Observatory).

HUGE pots of paella at the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday mornings. So delicious! As was the sangria that I had along with my paella... I was missing my Mexican food.

A typical ride in my new version of a 'taxi'. They're mini buses with usually about 15 people stuffed inside. There's a whole row of people behind us that aren't really visible in this picture!

Greenmarket Square. A great place to find traditional African souvenirs, and a great place to simply walk around and spend the day.

A view of Long Street- one of the main streets that young adults go out on. This is the view from a bar called The Waiting Room.

Muizenberg Beach! I think thats me out there somewhere showing off my rad new surfer skills.

A Little Piece of Paradise

Everything about my life right now is paradise. The place I’m in is beautiful. The people who live here, are for the most part, amazing. The group I get to share this experience with teaches me new things every day. And for the past two weeks, I’ve had nothing to do other than love this life, which I can say I truly do. Life is a little piece of paradise.

Iconic Jameson Hall.

Classes start tomorrow and the idea of going back to real life, one with a routine and one in which my only goal isn’t pleasure is making me nervous, yet very gracious for the experiences I’ve had thus far. I am able to look back on everything I’ve gotten to do, all of the carefree opportunities I’ve been a part of for the past 2 weeks, and I can think nothing more to myself than how lucky I am. Wow.

One example of just how lucky I have been was that I went surfing today! The first time I’ve ever been surfing was in the (freezing cold) Indian Ocean, with good friends and a great instructor. We started out on the beach learning how to hop up on the board, and then immediately got into the water. After getting over the initial shock of how cold the water was, I was able to get far enough into the water to catch my first wave. I didn’t stand on the first one, but rode the whole way into the beach on my second try! It was incredible. As of today I’m sure that one of the clubs I want to join at UCT will be surf club, partially because of how great my surfing experience was, and not to mention the plethora of 6-packed men that should come along with the club.

Natalie, Grace, and I getting ready for our surf lesson! We are all laughing because Grace had struggled a ton getting her suit on, only to realize she had been trying to fit her leg into the arm part. Then Paul (not pictured here) put his suit on backwards! This picture was finally taken about 10 minutes into the struggle.

Another one of these awesome adventures was the climb to Devil’s Peak yesterday. We started off doing some pretty strenuous uphill hiking, but about an hour into the hike is when it got aggressive. We started having to literally climb up rocks, where our bodies were completely vertical in order to keep up with the group. There were parts where the only thing that separated us from an almost completely vertical drop to the bottom of the mountain was our hands gripping onto the face of the rock. It was such an adrenalin rush, but one I suggested to my mom that we not do again when they come to Cape Town.

Me, Lill, and Chelsea only about 1/4 of the way to the top of Devil's Peak.

The view of one of the smaller parts of Devil's Peak before we even got close.

The view of some of Cape Town from the top of Devil's Peak!

The view of Table Mountain from Devil's Peak.

Throughout our time here, we have also been exploring some of the towns that are close to Cape Town. One of these that Natalie and I went to was called Kalk Bay. We went there not expecting a whole lot, but fell madly in love with this little town. There were all sorts of eclectic little shops and boutiques, some cute places to eat, and beautiful homes and fancy hotels. We stopped and had fish and chips yet again- this seems to be our favorite way to eat- with the locals and of course some hungry seagulls. The walk around the harbor was beautiful as well. The locals were selling all sorts of fresh fish like hake, red romans, and others. Then, when they would take out the insides, the local kids would throw them into the water to attract the seals! It was honestly just like SeaWorld, but in the wild.

Boats in Kalk Bay.

A scene straight out of SeaWorld. Charlie (that's what I named him) waiting for more fish guts.

So tomorrow is back to school as usual, the actual reason I came to this amazing place. Playtime may be over but I am more sure than I have ever been that the adventure is truly just beginning.

African Word of the Day: "Bru" which is the surfer's version of "Bro" or "Dude"

The Two Faces of Africa

Every day that I am here, I am more and more stunned by the two distinct faces I am presented with every day. The fact that it just came out of a history as appalling as the slavery days in the United States starts to make one come to realize why this country is in such a state of disarray. The theme that seems to be recurring to me most recently, though, is that of a two-sided coin. Just like a quarter, or Two Face from Batman, there is always one side that is wonderful and magnificent, but then just as easily as you may flip a quarter to the other side, South Africa shows her scarred, ugly face.

Recently, we have been taking tours of the peninsula and getting to know the country more generally as well. On this tour, we drove past the V&A Waterfront, with houses just as magnificent as those on the shores of Malibu beach. After a quick fifteen-minute drive down the road, though, we are in a township called Ocean View. Here the houses barely have roofs that keep the weather out, the people are in clothes that have clearly been around for generations, and if they are lucky, they may be driving a broken-down bike to get around. Once we get inside the community center, though, none of this matters. The people are amazingly welcoming and joyous, as though inside this community center are all the riches in the world. These are the two faces of Africa.

Another example of this gave me my first true glance at the fact that I am living in a poverty-stricken area. As we were all hanging out in my apartment the other night, a girl on the trip from DU named Chelsea runs in asking for help. A lady that had been walking back to her apartment from the bus stop had just been robbed. Within three minutes the cops are there taking reports and making sure that no one else may come back to that area that night. Here is the two faces I saw in this case. Obviously the ugly side came when two men ran up behind this woman with a knife in her face telling her to give them money, and then when they stole her wallet and phone. The beautiful part comes in now. A man who had been meeting a friend came over offering all the help that he could. He had had the same bank card as the lady and told her exactly how to cancel it and make it so that no one could use it. After driving us all to the ATM where she could cancel her card, he drove us back and made sure we all made it safely home.

Today we took a trip to the beach, and used the train to get there. Even the train has these two sides. The “first-class” train, where we were told to buy our tickets seemed really safe and I didn’t feel threatened at all. We were told, though, that the other train is often very unsafe and that we should not travel on it.

The beach in Muizenburg was absolutely stunning, with perfect waves and a gorgeous beach, and of course the background of the mountains and Devil’s Peak. As we were all sitting on the beach watching the waves crash ashore, a seal playfully surfed the water directly in front of us, reminding all of us how beautiful this place is. After this, Natalie, Grace, and I walked around the town and found a cute little coffee/ bread shop. We stepped inside and ordered and then were ushered out back, where we sat with a few locals talking about life. They told us how great the surfing is and told us that while staying in Cape Town, surfing will have to become a normal activity. Can’t wait… Another gorgeous day down and only 4 more months to go!

African word of the day: “The Burg” meaning the town of Muizenburg

Here are some pictures just to update you on what I've been doing!

At a beach on the penninsula with Geoff, Lill, and Nats, and penguins playing at Boulder Beach.

Cape of Good Hope and the lighthouse at the top! Also a pole pointing to all the different cities of the world.

Friends at the bottom of Cape Point.

Thembe and Charles (my mentor) at a bar on Long's Street singing karaoke.