South Africa, I Will Be Back!

It’s been two hours since we pulled away from Cape Town and I already miss the amazing time I had in South Africa. We arrived last week and immediately the first day my friends and I took the challenge of Hiking Table Mountain, which hugs the coast of Cape Town. This was my first hike in my life, and it was 3,000 ft to the top for us. We take the “easier” route since with the exception of Marcus, who is an avid hiker (he made it up Table Mountain in approximately 40 minutes)the rest of us were needing to go at a slower pace. The hike was brutal from the mid point up where we all started to separate based on how fast or slow each person was going. Towards the middle the hike just went straight up rather than having patches that went across that would allow you to have a breather. FUN FACT: BRING EXTRA WATER, my water bottle was gone twenty minutes into the hike, from my exhaustion from the hike. It was hot the entire hike up too, but then as I started to reach the summit the temperature swiftly changed, which I was not complaining about, as it cooled me off from the strenuous hike up. Towards the top I had caught up to Tom, my roommate, who was the next to completing the hike. The two of us finished strong right around an hour, with some encouragement from locals who were drinking and celebrating a birthday on the rocks toward the top, and Marcus who was trying to get us to move faster to meet him. Finally we made it, what an accomplishment that was and the payoff was the unbelievable view of the city of Cape Town and the shoreline. Up at the top we met the rest of our group and ate some lunch while admiring the view. After lunch, some of us opted to take the cable car down as we were too exhausted to hike down, the ride down took a whopping four minutes, saving us loads of time and allowed more scenic pictures to be taken. I actually really liked hiking up the mountain and want to do more of it when I return home.

After our hike, we headed down to Camps Bay for a couple drinks and to see the beach, the beaches are either hit or miss with the ocean temperatures and the amount of people who go to them. Camps Bay is the party area, but mostly cold water beaches with temperatures similar to Gloucester and Maine. The more warm water beaches are the family area and away from the party scene. Needless to say we did not spend time there, but also South Africa is now in their spring so it was not that warm here that I would want to spend time at the beach. Most nights we hung around the port (Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Port) which to me looked similar to staying in Disney World at a themed resort filled with restaurants and gift shops. Most nights we were found at Mitchells, which to you people at NC would be the equivalent of going to Sinnis, as the entire ship seemed to have migrated to there as well. However, it was in walking distance of the ship and filled with some of the friendliest locals you could meet. We even tagged ourselves in that bar forever by signing their American Flag, their famous “fish bowls” (same concept of a scorpion bowl) were favorites of many SAS students. But overall it was a fun place with the best pizza in the entire world.
The second day my friends and I went to Robben Island, the former political prison located off the coast of Cape Town, with their most famous prisoner being Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa following the end of Apartheid. The tour was interesting from a historical aspect and seeing the place where democracy began in South Africa, but also it gave you a raw look into what great people such as Mandela had to endure for the good of their country. On our boat ride to and from the island it was also cool to see penguins in the water as that is something you don’t see everyday. After our tour we continued to explore the waterfront and some of the shopping that it had to offer. It was weird, the port had a mall with stores similar to those of the malls in America and then the touristy African things mixed in with them, so you could get anything from an African Drum, to an iPod, to groceries all in one place.

The next day was by far the best day in South Africa, I crossed another thing off my bucket list and went skydiving. That was the most adrenaline boosting thing I have ever done in my life. Tom and I went early in the morning around 9 to an inland airfield where we went up in separate planes with our jumper and the camera man who took both a video and photos for us. It’s funny I hate heights and was sure I would have some sort of a freak out, but I remained calm the entire time. The entire thing now just seems like a giant blur from the time I put on the harness, to getting into the plane, to them opening the hatch, the next thing I knew I was on the edge of the plane feet out and on the count of two we were out of the plane for 35 seconds of free fall and then it was a nice coast down to the ground. The entire time I was in free fall I just loved every second of it. The DVD slows down free fall and you can see how much I am enjoying myself. By far worth every penny and I will go again at some point in my life. That night we met up with our friends, and went on a Jolly Pirate Cruise, where we were able to climb the ropes and act like savages for an hour, while catching the sunset and even a “Free Willy” sighting. By far the best day of my life, just a carefree relaxing day with no worries at all.

The next big thing I did was my Day Safari at the Inverdorn Game Reserve. I provided the morning entertainment as I had to race to the bus as I woke up a little late and just made the bus by a minute. Three hour ride later we arrived and saw some incredible animals up close on our personal convoy tours. We started off by seeing the Cheetahs, which were all grouped together, then moved into the main reserve where we saw Springboks, Zebras, Giraffes, Buffalo, Rhinos, Ostriches, Wildebeests, and Lions to name a few. The end of our tour of the reserve included us being able to get out of the convoy and get even closer to a heard of giraffes, which was wicked cool.

Today I ended my week in Cape Town by touring two up and coming wine vineyards. We were able to sample some great wines and learned a lot about the wine production industry and the role that South Africa plays in global wine sale and development. It actually was interesting to see how these two different companies planned to attack the very competitive wine market and who they planned to target as their customers.

Well that’s mostly it, as for what’s going on the ship, Archbishop Tutu just celebrated his birthday on the ship with a dinner in his honor in port. Apparently, Gerard Butler is shooting a movie in Cape Town, and some girls on the ship met him and took photos with him. We actually met a former SAS student at Mitchells, who is here working on the movie and told us about how this trip has helped open doors for him. There was a restaurant in port that was named “BAIA” so small world there. This was the last port on the Atlantic so we will be soon moving into the Indian Ocean and farther and farther away from good old Boston. Now we are off to Mauritius for one night and I cannot wait to relax and head to the beach.
Enjoy yourselves,
-Ed