Cape Town

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Trip Start Jan 24, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End May 14, 2007 Next
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  Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Saturday, March 10, 2007

Wow South Africa...if I had to choose one word for it, I would say
overwhelming. There was so much to do and see, I feel like some one
showed me a tiny hole in the wall and all I was allowed to do was peek
through even though there was a door just down the way. Already
everyone is planning how and when to come back.


I did a three day safari and saw many animals. It's funny how when
I go to the zoo, I'm not nearly as excited as when I was 7. However all
of that, changes when there is a possibility that the animals could
come and either eat you or lick your face. We took a flight to
Johannesburg to get out to Kruger Park (where most of the animals are).
Our first night we stayed at a hostel and it was AMAZING! Absolutely
beautiful, it was decked out with wooden pathways, huts, and an African
theme. It was run by Tony (Toy-knee) and Tenis. They had a giant
bonfire and a pool table, so we hung out all night doing that and
hanging out with this girl Charlie. Charlie had been traveling the
world for 8 months by herself. She was pretty impressive. Our tour
guides Gavin and Sam came and picked us up at 7:30 in the morning.
Gavin is doing a "hike" next year, he's going from South Africa to
Cairo, Eygpt (18 months! Ryan don't get any ideas) to raise money for
AIDS awareness (a big problem in SA, more on that later). We were all
pretty tired so the 6 ½ hour drive out to Kruger was defiantly a good
time to catch a nap. It was funny all of the trees don't have any
branches on their bottom half.

The "tablecloth" of table mountain

South Africa is beautiful though, all of
the landscape has it's own mark, surprisingly there aren't only plains.
I thought most of Africa was flat, but it actually reminds me of
Colorado. There are plains, hills, mountains, and canyons.


Our first animal were antelope, I spotted it as we drove by. We
also saw ZaZu (hornbill) and a dwarf mongoose. That night we were
scheduled to do a night safari. We saw giraffe, zebra, wildebeest,
spotted owl and bush babies. Bush babies are tiny monkeys with really
big eyes that can jump like no body's business. When we got back Gavin
had made us all of this AMAZING food. It was seriously the best camping
food ever. Chicken stew, rice, veggies and a great salad...get this Mom:
I picked out the TOMATOES so I could eat more of them, I had second
helpings (and I've eaten shrimp in every port too, no eggs yet though
or mushrooms). We'd already set up our tents but we didn't go to bed
for awhile because there was a lunar eclipse. Apparently it only
happens at night once every five years. Talk about good timing. All of
the stars came out, you could see EVERYTHING. The moon looked like it
was glowing red too, when it was blacked out. That was pretty crazy. We got up at 5 am and went for a morning drive. At one point we saw all
of these Elephant tracks. Gavin said it was a breeding herd, but we
couldn't find them. Then someone asked where the other van was and we
turned around and saw an Elephant crossing the road behind us.

The limestone quarry where Mandela worked

We
backed up and it was standing right there on the other side of the
road! 10 feet in front of us! We sat there and watched him for a few
minutes and then he got mad at the first van and tried to charge them.
Luckily our guides are pretty quick with a stick shift. Later we drove
across this bridge and saw a whole herd of Elephants come out of some
trees to drink. There were two babies and they were so cute. After they
splashed a bit they wandered off. We also saw some hippos out of the
water during the day which is odd, because they usually only come out
at night. Hippos are cranky critters, there are more hippo attacks then
shark AND crocodile attacks in Africa. They're very scary and waddle
very quickly. However they're fun to view from afar and they make this
GRUUUAHHH!!! noise. It sounds like someone is running around stepping
on their toes. Maybe that's why they're so cranky. There were also a
lot of bats.



We got a call from one of Gavin's friends that works for the park and
she said no one had signed up for her tour in three days so she gave us
a 50% discount. It was an astrology night in the middle of the park.
Our guide Matthew picked us up at 6. Almost all of the girls on our
safari were "accidentally" taking pictures of him. I'm pretty sure he
picked up on it. We got to the Astrology event, and got to look at
Saturn (you could see the rings!), the jewelry box (under the southern
cross), the moon, and Venus. It was pretty cool and on the way back to
our campsite we saw a hyena pup and a few hippos.

Mandela's cell

When we got to the
campsite Gavin had cooked up dinner for us and there was a hyena
outside of the fence enclosing the campsite. It was only 5 feet from us
while we ate. I felt so much better that the fence was electric. We all
slept outside that night.



The nest day we headed out to see a few scenic views. On the way there
we stopped and saw some crocodiles! We stopped first at Rouindovials,
it is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It's this deep canyon
and everything, except for the cliff faces are covered in a dark green
foliage. There's a crystal turquoise river winding its way through the
canyon. I felt taking a picture of this naturally majestic area would
be violating. We went next to Lisbon Falls a set of three waterfalls
falling in the same area but are still separate. They drop for hundreds
of feet. I felt even smaller, if that's possible. The last place we
went to was God's window. It looked like a window and was also very
pretty. Then we began the 6 ½ hour drive back to Joburg. I sat next to
Jessi on the way back and we had a few amazing conversations, I do
believe I've found another amazingly good friend.



That night Jessi and I went out and wandered around Capetown when we
got back. We were fooling around and then walking back to the ship when
the police stopped and asked us if we were ok. We said thanks but we
were just heading back to the ship. A few minutes we had taken a wrong
turn and had just turned around to back track, when the police showed
up again.

Wildebeest

They asked where we were going, and we said back to the ship.
"You guys are really far away." Then Jessi told them to just give us a
ride back. They hesitated and then made room in the cab! After awhile
they asked if we wanted to go on patrol with them, we said ok! But we
wanted to sit in the back (it was like a pick up truck with a partially
covered cage in the back). So they locked us up and took off.
Apparently Norman, one of the policemen, was trying to show off because
he turned on the siren and went super fast around corners and stopped
really quick. In the end they wanted us to hangout with them until 5am
and then spend the day with them. We told them we were really tired and
they should take us back to the ship. So we climbed out of the back of
a police car in front of the ship. Everyone thought we had been
arrested. Quite amusing but looking back on it, it was also very
stupid. The police aren't the same in South Africa, we could have
easily gotten into trouble. Oh well, nothing happened.



The nest morning Jessi, Sami and I hiked Table Mountain. Unfortunately
our taxi driver wasn't feeling helpful and pointed out only the hardest
trail. So halfway up the mountain we realized we were on the rock
climbing trail. However we'd already climbed up a few 6 to 8 foot cliff
faces and getting down would prove much more difficult, we continued
forward. It took much longer than it was supposed to, mostly because we
lost the path halfway through, lucky for us a guy and his wife were
hiking the same trail and showed us the way up.

Elephant

The farther up you go
the windier it gets. It was so windy that day that table mountain had
its table cloth. And the cable car wasn't running so we had to hike
back down along the "easy" way back down. It took another few hours and
we were hiking for a total of 6 hours! My body hated me. That night a
few of us went out to dinner but I went back early because I was so
tired. Of course this was after I had help consume a "Fish Bowl" or 1
gallon of mixed alcohol. They serve it in a mixing bowl. My body really
hated me. Also I had a Wineland tour at 8:30.



I went on the tour with "Pretty-haired" Sarah (she really does have
amazingly pretty hair). We toured Stellenbosch, Fairview, and
Seidelburg. Fairview had a wine called Goat Do Roam, which is a twist
on a French wine. The French wine company actually sued them for using
that name. They didn't win. They had amazing cheese too. We had a great
time at Seidelburg too, they had a glass blowing shop which was really
fun to watch. After Stellenbosch we went to a restaurant called Moyo.
It's a buffet under tall tents and you eat dinner or lunch in tree
houses. They also paint your face during your meal and have people who
come and entertain you. I ate Ostrich, Kudu, and Waterbuck. After that
there was also a cheetah park so we saw them real quick. That night
Jessi, Kevin and I went out to Long Street, that's the area where they
have all the clubs. We hung out with a lot of people from Semester at
Sea.

cliff we climbed

Later we went to Cool Runnings, a bar down the street, and made
friends with the owners Mercy and Sean. They'd been married for 8
months and were going to France in August so Sean could finish his
degree. Mercy was quite possibly the most animated person I've ever
met. Then we met four guys who took us back to a yacht, they were
learning how to sail. One poor guy was named Egbert (Egg-Bert). We hung
out talking until morning and then Jessi and I got to go to the top of
the mast and watch the sunrise. It's quite a complicated process and
involves three guys pulling you up (I've never felt so heavy) and a
harness seat thing. The mast was forty feet in the air and sunrise was
beautiful. We headed back to the ship, took a two hour nap and then
headed back out for our last day in Capetown.



I met up with Jessica, she and I used to live behind each other when we
were two! We went to Robben Island, the place where they held Nelson
Mandela for 18 years. It was very sad. Any political prisoners went
there and the most harmful were forced to mine Limestone. Limestone
causes a lot of eye damage because it's so bright and also a lot of
respiratory problems. Robben Island actually has a village that lives
on it too. We visited the quarry where Mandela and other had to work
for years. They were always rebelling against the system though, by
teaching the other inmates who had little or no education. Our tour
guide had actually been imprisoned on the island. Other tour guides
consisted of other inmates or even guards! I really think South Africa,
is a great example of how a country heal itself. Quick History insert:



South Africa finally got rid of their apartheid in 1994 with the help
of their president at the time. It was surprising because a new country
that had experienced such hostility usually erupts. However that's
where Mandela and Desmond Tutu came in. They created the Truth and
Reconciliation Committee that granted amnesty to people who admitted
the atrocities they had committed during apartheid. Everyone said it
was pretty foolish and it didn't work, but it did. Dessi (as we call
Desmond Tutu on the ship) is really remarkable. He spoke in my class
and to the whole school last week. He's so interesting to listen to and
when he laughs he reminds me of Rafeki (you know from the Lion King).
He sat next to me one night during a meeting, and he was showing me how
to chair dance. He's really very cool.



However just because South Africa has beautiful landscapes and friendly
people doesn't mean that everything is randy dandy there (yes I just
said randy dandy). They have a very high poverty rate. A lot of people
still live in Townships (houses made of cardboard, tin, or whatever is
available). Also South Africa's government is still learning and
growing.



The saddest part of South Africa is President Mbeki has refused to
accept AIDS prevention vaccinations into the country. This has caused
many people who could have been saved dying or even prevented them from
contracting the disease. Eventually the people sued the government in
order to be able to get necessary medications. It was hard because
people saw Mbeki as a hero, due to the fact that he helped so much
during apartheid and worked directly with Mandela.



All right it wasn't quick, sorry. Well if they really have the World
Cup in South Africa (I've heard people who think both ways on it) in
2010, I'm here. South Africa is defiantly something you need a couple
months to completely see. And even then I'm sure you'll miss out on
something. It's a beautifully sad country, sometimes just sad. But the
people are amazing. Everyone will talk to you no matter what you look
like and be genuinely interested in you.



Funny story: This guy approached me: "Beautiful lady, please talk to me
I'm the only single guy in Capetown." "Sorry, I have a boyfriend,"
"Well I have a girlfriend...but you know..." "I thought you were single..."
"Oh." Wendy: 1 Strange guy: 0

Also we were memorizing the Africa map and the waiters, at a restaurant
we were at, challenged us to see who knew more. THANK YOU NIGERIA!
Wendy & Jessi: 1 Waiters (Chris and Dino): 0 (they insisted our map
was wrong, it was really a lot of fun).



Well guys South Africa is something I would suggest EVERYBODY do at
some point, you don't have to climb the cliffs of Table Mountain and
severely bruise and scratch your legs to appreciate it either.

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