Cape Town: The Extended Version

Hello all you beautiful people! Nate here and I’m so happy to be writing to you.

I know this blog has been update free for a while, but our internet bandwidth has been next to nothing for the last week or so. Who knew how hard it was to keep 1,000 people hooked up to one wireless connection being fed from some random satellite while floating in the middle of various seas? The connection is better now, however, so I will get as much done within this window of opportunity.

Around six days ago, we left Cape Town, South Africa after spending five awesome days gallivanting around looking for adventure. As many of you know, my mom and my brother flew from California (all 27 hours on a plane worth) to join us for the five days we were in port in Cape Town.

It was so nice for Sarah and I to see two such familiar faces and forget the ship life for a while, and although there were ups and downs involved with our visit to South Africa, I’m confident everyone walked away happier then before.

Our adventure started the morning of Wednesday, February 18^th when we pulled our ship into the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. The view of the cape and its surrounding mountains, including the world famous Table Mountain, was supposed to be gorgeous, if not for all the fog that morning. All we were able to see was Signal Hill (which compared to Table Mountain is a small pile of dirt) and some seals resting on the port. Sarah was the first person off the ship due to her ambassador position so she could greet the diplomats. After our morning meeting with the students, we were free from the ship’s restraints and very anxious to see my mom and brother. We knew what time they were landing at the airport and the name of their hotel, but had no idea where the hotel was located and when and where they would be. After checking out the very rich and fancy waterfront, Sarah and I decided to set off on foot in search of the St. George’s Hotel. Yeah, it’s a new country to us, a huge city, and an all together foreign place, but how hard could it be to find a hotel by wandering aimlessly through dark alleys and dodgy neighborhoods? It turns out not very hard at all, but it wasn’t a cake walk either. After about an hour of weaving our way through traffic and round-abouts, and crossing (read: running for our dear lives) major South African freeways, we found the St. George’s Mall…home to the St. George’s Hotel. We arrived a good two to three hours after we knew mom and Devon had landed, asked the front desk if they were indeed registered at this hotel (which they were), but found out they had not checked in yet. This worried us. It was then we envisioned mom and Devon at the harbor, near our floating home, wandering the docks in search of us, lost in South Africa. But then we thought forget it, let’s get lunch and come back around check-in time.

That was the right idea. After a pretty crappy pizza lunch (but a very nice place) we headed back to the hotel and saw a long haired, lanky kid on the corner looking a bit lost. It was Devon. Mom pulled up minutes later in her rent-a-car, and we all rejoiced. They told us the tale of their crazy morning, driving on the left side of the roads looking for their very out of the place hotel. It didn’t help that they were beyond exhausted after 27 hours on a plane and enduring a 10 hour time change. We didn’t want to keep them up too long, so we all walked to our ship for a quick tour, then they took a cab back and passed out at their hotel. Sarah and I walked around the mall that night, and slept on the ship. It was a good first day.

The next day, we met mom and Devon at their hotel a little after 10:00 am. They were rested and much more excited about being in Africa. We had planned to go to the top of Table Mountain for the day, but I had been setting up a safari through e-mail with an agent and had to complete the deal the same day. This agent worked for Jenman African Adventures and had an office in a “suburb” of Cape Town. It didn’t look too far away on the map, and was relatively close to Table Mountain, so I figured we could do the deal first, then head to the mountain. We decided I would drive. The rent-a-car, aside from being made for the left side of the road, was also a manual transmission (and you had to shift with your left hand). Devon can’t drive manual, and mom and Sarah didn’t want the stress of driving on the left and shifting with the left. I was all over it. We started out, with Devon navigating, and soon realized these “suburbs” are crazy mini-cities crammed together and stretched for miles across Cape Town. It was easy to get lost, and when we finally found the right address on the right street, we were told we were in the wrong suburb. We then found the correct suburb, and decided to park the car and walk. This stressed Sarah out, considerably. Although they are called suburbs, each house is protected with steel plated walls, barbed-wire and electric fences. Also, tourists don’t go to these suburbs, because there’s nothing there for them but locals. So we stuck out like a…well, like a bunch of Americans in Africa. It was awesome. We found the office, paid up, than received directions to Table Mountain.

To cut this shorter, we ended up driving the long way around to Table Mountain due to a few wrong turns, but it wasn’t bad, and the actual mountain was awesome. Although we didn’t see any dassies (more on those later), the view was one of the coolest I’ve ever seen from a higher vantage point, and the hiking was nice. The cable car freaked Sarah out a bit, but in the end it was a great time. After the mountain, we drove to a local beach we saw from the mountain called Camp’s Bay. We didn’t stay long, but vowed to make the next day a beach day.

So a beach day it was. On Friday, we drove to Boulder’s Bay first, which was about an hour from Cape Town. This is where the famed African penguins live. They are called Jackass penguins, because they sound like donkeys. The beach they lived at was very nice, and the water was the warmest in South Africa. Mom and Sarah chilled on the sand while Devon and I explored the boulders. We swam with the penguins, got bit by the penguins, and fed the penguins. It was amazing. Also, while at Boulder’s Bay, we finally saw some dassies. Dassies are local animals that are supposed to be very abundant on Table Mountain, but instead we found them mingling with the penguins. They are medium sized, gopher like mammals, and their closest relative is the African elephant. Devon and I called them elephant gerbils. After Boulder’s Bay, we went back to Camp’s Bay and killed the last half of the day on the beach (with freezing water) playing frisbee and interacting with the locals. We also found an amazing bead artist and picked up some souvenirs. The next day was our safari, which meant we needed to be up and ready by 6:00 am, so that night we went to St. George’s Hotel and spent the night.

We finally woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday the 21^st after a restless night (a club down the street filled our dreams with the loudest techno music I’ve ever heard until about 4:00 am). Safari time! We booked our safari with a reserve called Aquila, which is located only about 2 hours outside of Cape Town. Aquila’s focus is on conservation and most of its wildlife have been rescued from hunting reserves, where they are then rehabilitated and eventually released into the wild. We were picked up at the hotel in a van with several other safari goers. Once we arrived, we were treated to free drinks and breakfast, than we set out on a 3 hour safari. It was amazing. I’ll let the photos do most of the talking, but one thing did happen that I’ll explain. Near the beginning of the tour, we came across some elephants, both male. It was also at this time our caged-for-our-protection-safari-going-vehicle broke down. The battery died, and one of the elephants became very interested in us. The elephant started resting his head on the hood of the vehicle and slinking his trunk all along the front. The driver and our tour guide became visibly anxious, telling the elephant to go away. After several minutes, he did, but it was a cool close-up experience. Here are some photos of the safari:

Afterwards, we had a chance to hang out at the pool at the lodge in the reserve. There was lunch, a bar, and shade. Devon took a nap. Then we went back to the harbor, had dinner, and said goodnight. The next day was our last and we had tickets for Robben Island.

On Sunday, or last day in Africa, after eating a restaurant breakfast in 15 minutes, getting to the Nelson Mandella Gateway a half hour early, and in line for our ferry to Robben Island, we were informed that all the tours had been cancelled due to rough sea water and high winds. It was a bummer we didn’t get to the island, but we did walk around the mini-museum at the gateway, and with time granted to us, it meant we got to shop at the mall. C’est la vie. Devon got a haircut, mom got souvenirs, and we said our goodbyes.

It was sad to see our family go. Sarah especially had a strong bout of homesickness afterwards. But it was so nice seeing them and spend time with them in such a new and exotic place. Thank you mom and Devon for joining us, and we miss everyone that much more! We can’t wait to see everyone.

Next, we’re off to the small island nation of Mauritius. Look for more updates.

Peace.