SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is my current obsession. It is gorgeous and exciting and offers something for everyone. This country is far more convenient that the previous two that we have visited, still maintaining a magnificent culture. The remnants of apartheid remain, supplying ample racism and separatism for an otherwise advanced society. South Africa’s Constitution, adopted in 1996, is one of the most liberal and accepting governing documents in the world. It illustrates their ill feeling toward any type of discrimination, including race, religion, or sexual orientation. However, their society and people do not live their life this way. Whites, blacks, and coloreds all have different jobs, live in different areas, and ultimately hold themselves to dissimilar standards and regards. In America, our culture and lifestyles change, to be followed by an updated law or ordinance. To contrast, South Africa has adopted a very progressive Constitution and is waiting for society to keep up. It is two opposite ways of thinking and each are working in their own way. Cape Town has every component of a contemporary, metropolitan city in which people can live and work in a complementary way. However, this is not the case. Whites live in the city. Blacks and coloreds live far from the center, many in townships where the quality of life is very subpar. There is no law that mandates or even recommends this separateness; it is merely how things have been done for many years. One-seventh of their population has HIV or AIDS and many are living on less than $2.50 a day. Despite all of the poverty and health issues, South Africa is by far the prettiest place that I’ve even seen. At Cape Point, the coast juts in and out, so that if you stand in one position, it appears that islands surround you. Cape Town is a must-see.

Day 1: The night before, we had planned to wake at 5am, in an attempt to catch the sunrise on the way into port. The Observation deck was blocked off because of heavy winds and choppy conditions so we sat in the teacher’s lounge, which overlooks the bow of the ship. Coming into Cape Town port was as beautiful as I had heard it would be. It looks as if the city is tightly squeezed between the water and the mountains, cramming a lot into a relatively small amount of space. We had breakfast, got ready, and waited for the boat to be cleared by customs. Upon disembarking, a group of about ten of us made our way to Mitchell’s Pub to kill time before my SAS- organized Faculty Directed Practicum (FDP). The area right outside of the ship was very different from Morocco and Ghana’s. The mall is immediately next to the ship, as well as a hotel and a variety of shops and restaurants. There is even a small amphitheatre and Ferris wheel within a five-minute walk. Little did I know that Mitchell’s would become such a staple in our short week. We ordered cocktails and I got Fish n’ Chips, which were better than any I had ever had. Our group discussed plans for our time in South Africa, ranging from four-day Safaris to lofty hiking goals, to tourist traps and more. We stayed at Mitchell’s for a while and returned to the ship to catch our FDP around noon. The FDP was a wine tasting trip that aimed at teaching us about wine production, management, and marketing. We took a bus to the wine country, called Stellenbosch, which put Napa to shame. The wineries included gardens and structures that looked like they were right off the most majestic of Hollywood sets. We went to two wineries, each of which are multi-generational and family owned and operated. At the first winery, we learned about the distribution strategies and managerial aspects. At the second winery, we had a tour of the building where the wine is actually made while learning more about the production. At both, we tasted a variety of their wines and brandy. I personally do not like either so I handed mine to friends whenever possible.  I’ve think that I’ve always subconsciously associated wine with maturity and so I kept trying it in an effort to enjoy it, but it never clicked so I gave up. At every winery, some friends bought bottles of wine and chugged them before the next one or before reaching the ship at the end of the day. Needless to say, I was babysitting to get those kids back on ship without being thrown in the ship’s security’s Drunk Tank. We got back and got ready to head to Mitchell’s. I had an extremely questionable burger and proceeded to see every SAS kid pile in the bar. We ended up staying there all night, returning to the ship for a few hours of sleep.

Day 2: I didn’t have anything planned for this day and most everyone I knew, including my roommate, left on a 2-day bungee jump and shark cage diving trip early in the morning. I woke up and wandered around the ship, hoping to find someone that I knew that had stayed behind. I ran into my friend Colleen and her two brothers and cousin that had flown down to Cape Town from the US to meet her. We walked around the immediate area, through a few markets, and finally to the Aquarium. The Aquarium was really fun, but pretty similar to an American one. It had different species of fish and animals, but wasn’t a thoroughly different experience. I still enjoyed it very much and we agreed that it was a perfect way to kill an hour. From there, we made our way to Spier, which is a little area in the middle of the winelands that has a large bird reserve, a cheetah reserve, and some really amazing restaurants. Talking with the taxi driver was one of my favorite experiences in South Africa. I sat in the front seat with him and it was a van so those that were in the back seats were pretty separated. It was a long drive so after a while our discussion became more and more candid. He told me how he had lived outside of Cape Town for his whole life, had never left his country or even been to Johannesburg. In addition, he had never hiked Table Mountain, which was very prominent in the city and a must-do for travelers (that I never made it to, unfortunately). I asked him where he lived and he drove us by his neighborhood, a township made of miniscule tin and steel houses. We discussed his views on race and why it was the way it was. He opened my mind to a lot of ideals and made me think about things in a brand new way. When he dropped us off, he thanked me for talking with him and said that when he gave white people rides, they never sat in front and never talked to him. He said that our discussion made him like Americans a lot more. You could tell that this man, Clint, an upstanding father of three who loved his wife, worked hard to make sure they always had food on the table. It was heartbreaking as I came to enjoy and respect him, realizing that he deserves a lot more in life but is stuck in the townships with almost no opportunity. In Spier, we started with the big bird reserve. It was laid out very well and displayed all of the birds that were native to South Africa, including huge vultures and many different types of owls. I even pet and held an owl! Afterwards, we went next door to the cheetah reserve where we looked at a bunch of them before surrendering and paying to have one-on-one time with them. We had to clean the bottom of our shoes and disinfect our hands before entering because, apparently, cheetahs have such weak immune systems. There are very specific rules and recommendations when interacting with cheetahs, in hopes of not becoming their next snack. You are supposed to only approach them from the back when they’re lying down so that they don’t get the idea that you’re threatening them. Also you are only supposed to press firmly when petting them, on their sides or back, with the direction of the fur so that they aren’t tickled and aggravated. While Colleen and I were petting the cheetah, named Phoenix, it stood up abruptly and turned, which was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. The trainer grabbed her chain and calmed her down, thankfully. Afterwards, we walked through the extensive gift shops and restaurants next door which were very fancy and unique. One of the restaurants, called Moyo, is set up so that every individual table is in its own tree house. We didn’t have time to eat there but I really wish we had. We came back, got ready, and had dinner at an Italian place, where I had calamari for the first time- and LOVED it. We then made our way to Mitchell’s, again.  At some point, I was convinced to go to a club on Long Street, a prominent street in the city that has all the nightlife. It was a mistake because most of my friends were still on the bungy jumping and cage diving trip and I was so tired. I finally convinced some people to get a cab with me and go home, where I slept for an hour or two.

Day 3: I woke up early and made my way to the bus for a SAS trip to Cape Point and Peninsula. I didn’t know anyone on it aside from my extended family mom but ended up making a few friends pretty quickly. We drove southeast along the coast, stopping to look at baboons and ostriches on the side of the road. Baboons are extremely aggressive animals and you’re supposed to keep quite a distance between them and NEVER have food out where they can see or smell it. Ostriches are a lot bigger than I expected and are the most prehistoric animals I’ve ever seen. A lot of their characteristics resemble dinosaurs, especially their feet, which are just one big claw. We went to the farthest South tip of Africa and then proceeded to the Cape Point where you could hike up a tall mountain and look out and see where the two oceans met. There were peninsulas all around, jutting out and creating mind-blowing scenery. From there, we drove to Boulders Beach where African penguins live. These penguins live in the sand and don’t need cold weather, like the ones in Antarctica do. They roam free and play in the water but definitely didn’t seem as active as I expected them to be. We then continued our drive and went to and seafood restaurant right on the beach where I again had calamari and loved it. We walked up the beach and went to little outside markets before the scenic drive home. That night, a big group of us went to a Thai/ sushi restaurant on the waterfront. It was great food and fun people but the restaurant wasn’t used to a table of fifteen so everything was a bit slow, including dealing with the check, which took about forty-five minutes. The dinner was worth it. Everyone was agreeing that South Africa was a magnificent place and that leaving would be hard. We went to Mitchell’s for a while before coming home for another early morning. There’s an American flag that hangs on the ceiling of Mitchell’s and all the past SASers had signed it. That night we all stood around with Sharpie’s and signed the flag- it was a right of passage that we all had looked forward to.

Day 4- SAFARI! I woke up early and got on the bus to the Aquila Reserve. I again didn’t know anyone who was going on this but made friends once we got there. We got in an open-air safari car and drove through the park, looking for the Big Five safari animals. We saw many Springboks, which look like small deer and are South Africa’s national animal. We also saw hippos, barely moving by the edge of the pond, sleeping all over each other. Every once in awhile we saw a little nose pop up from the surface of the water and we learned that hippos spend a majority of time underwater because of the heat and that they can hold their breath for six minutes. We saw more ostriches and a peacock. We also saw zebras, which are a lot shorter and stockier than I expected. There were really cute babies and a pregnant mommy. The rhinos were big and tough looking but our guide told us how their horns are sold for a lot of money so poachers have been sneaking into the reserve and killing the animals just for their horns. The elephants were HUGE and my favorite. There were two males and they seemed like they were very good friends. They kept eating dry brush that did not look appetizing to me in the slightest. At one point, one elephant came right up to our car, which was really cool. We then went to the lion area and saw six lions all lying around a stone structure. The biggest male was very protective and aware of our presence. He would not take his eyes off of the car and looked like he was ready to pounce at the drop of a hat. Afterwards, we went to a smaller enclosure that had a leopard, warthogs (Pumba!), mating crocodiles, and more lions. We went back to the resort building of Aquila and had the best meal that I’ve had in a long time. We made our way back to the ship where I found Lauren and got ready. Lauren and I went out to dinner to a restaurant on the waterfront called Caribou, which was famous for traditional and upscale African food. The bartender came over and taught her a lot about their wine and let her try some. I stuck with tea- which was SO good here. We got calamari to start, the newest staple in my diet followed by two recommended dishes that we shared. The first was a filet of ostrich and the second was chicken, doused in sundried tomatoes, pesto, and wrapped in ostrich. Both were out of this world amazing. We enjoyed dinner and stayed there a long time, making it to Mitchell’s around midnight. We had a few drinks and took cabs to Mercury, a club on Long Street. There were about 100 SAS kids there and just as many locals. This was my favorite night in South Africa- they played Blink 182 and Stacy’s Mom and a ton of throwbacks. We danced for hours and didn’t end up making it back until around 5 am.

Day 5: I was supposed to Shark Dive at 5:30 this morning but it didn’t work out because of the big swells. I was okay with that because I wouldn’t have gotten one minute of sleep if we had gone. So, after sleeping, I went with my friend Kylie and walked about the wharf, looking for something to do. We stopped at the tourist kiosks that sold skydiving, parasailing, shark diving, etc. trips. I wanted to skydive but Kylie didn’t want to so we ended up buying a helicopter ride! The price is not per person, but a total amount for each ride up and there are three seats in it so we invited our friend Tim on it… he is forever grateful. It was a half-hour flight and went all along the coast. It was definitely the best way to see this part of South Africa. The coastline is even more breathtaking from the sky. We even saw two sharks and a whale from above! After the helicopter trip, Kylie and I went to the mall to grocery shop and shop for clothes. I severely under packed so picking up a few items was essential. That night, we went to dinner with a big group at a sushi restaurant. It was right on the water and very nice, but I mistakenly ordered something that I didn’t really want so I stuck with blood orange mojitos (amazing)! We went to Mitchell’s for our last hurrah and SAS was out in force. We took over the bar and danced and sang karaoke all night. No one really wanted to leave to go to bigger clubs because Mitchell’s had become such a staple for us and we wanted to spend our last night there.  

Day 6: The next day I woke up thinking that I was going paragliding. However, Kylie had woken up much earlier and left to go shopping again so paragliding didn’t happen. I ran into my friends Alanna, Colby, and Kacie who I took a cab to the Long Street outside market with. We shopped for traditional trinkets, jewelry, and my favorite- the African kitchen items. We got lunch at a local café where I had an amazing Mexican burrito. I was a bit apprehensive because I didn’t even know South Africa had Mexican food but it was very good. We walked around for a while looking for hair salons because Kacie wanted to get dreads, but unfortunately we didn’t find one. We shopped at local boutiques, buying a few items by South African designers. Afterwards, we made our way back to the ship, stopping at Mitchell’s because I wanted to buy a sweatshirt from this port’s home base.

This blog post is not as detailed as Morocco and Ghana’s because I wanted to send it out soon and there is just too much to write. South Africa was so action-packed with so little sleep that I’m sure I’m missing a lot… the days all seem to run together. If you’re my friend on Facebook, I posted tons of pictures from Morocco, Ghana, and half of South Africa. I cannot wait to come back to this country, there is still so much that I want to do, including bungy jumping, shark diving, and hiking Table Mountain. The rich history, extent of activities, gorgeous landscape, and inevitable threat of criminal activity all lend hands to a society with an incredibly rich culture. I recommend visiting Cape Town to all people, in all walks of life as it has such a variety of experiences to offer. I just woke up from sleeping for a total of 13 hours and I still don’t feel quite caught up yet. We have 5 more days until Mauritius, where we only have one day. I’m going out on a catamaran to snorkel for the whole day. After that, we have 6 days before reaching India. I know that India is going to be an experience of a lifetime. I have a lot planned, all of which I can’t wait for. I’ll blog as soon as possible!