love at first sight

No lie, I have fallen in love with South Africa.  It has been the most amazing overall port that I’ve been to on this trip… I know I usually say something like this after each port I go to, but hands down there is no question that South Africa is the best.  It’s just so gorgeous here and so rich in culture. I knew from the second we were pulling into Cape Town, viewing the sun rising over Table Mountain, that my next 5 days in South Africa were gonna be unforgettable.  I absolutely will come back to this country if given the opportunity again in the future, no hesitation.  I just learned and experienced so much and on all ends of the spectrum.

 

The port area, where our ship was docked, was just breathtaking.  It reminded me a lot of San Francisco for some reason though… Fisherman’s Wharf. Probably because it was touristy, but none the less, it was gorgeous. Just walking around the area was an adventure and good time within itself. Walking around with a beer or bottle of wine window shopping and floating from one street performance to the next became a favorite.  Did this both the first and last days in port. So the first day in the afternoon I went on a SAS trip to the Khayelitsha township, the biggest township in all of South Africa. If I hadn’t been prepared for what I was gonna see prior to going here I would have been so shocked.  I don’t think it is as bad as what I saw in India, but it was still pretty bad.  Just miles upon miles of tin shacks… beyond where the eyes can see actually.  These areas are where the black people, or at least most of them live.  It just completely baffled me of how the scenery changed so dramatically from where I had been in the heart of Cape Town, which was almost luxurious. Although apartheid has been over for almost 20 years there is still a lot of separation among whites and blacks. Granted things have changed for the better 10 fold, there is still a lot of recovering to be done, which was obvious in these townships. Pretty much all of them have running, clean water and electricity now, but their living situation overall isn’t the greatest or safest way to live.  When we were in the township we got to visit a couple B&Bs and play with kids on the streets. It just amazed me… everything about it.  Everyone just appeared so happy although with how poor they were living, just keeps adding on to my vow of never taking anything for granted in my life ever again.

 

I got to visit another township on the second day, where the Amy Biehl Foundation is located.  Not sure if you’ve heard of this, so I’ll give a little background.  This young woman, Amy Biehl, was murdered in Cape Town during the end of apartheid.  She was an American student with a passion for Black South African rights and had spent a great deal of time in the country fighting for what she believed in. After Amy’s murder her parents set out to Cape Town to finish what Amy had started.  They established the Amy Biehl Foundation which now provides facilities and activities for over thousands of street children in the townships. It’s absolutely incredible and Amy’s story is just so heart wrenching and moving.  It’s also very powerful and controversial because a couple of Amy’s killers were released from jail, with the help of Amy’s parents actually, to give them a second chance and turn their lives around.  Two of Amy’s killers, to this day actually work for the Amy Biehl Foundation. It’s a story about not only forgiveness, but reconciliation, something that was very difficult for me to grasp, because honestly why would you want to help the killers of your own daughter? It’s twisted, but is considered one of South Africa’s love stories, because it made a difference and forever changed South Africa for the better. I got to meet the killers too… it’s something I’ll never forget.

 

Later that night a group of girlfriends and I set out to Stellenbosch, where all the fun began!!! :) I seriously had such a great time here and it was also one of the most quaint, but lively towns I’ve ever been to in my life! We stayed at this hostel called Stumble Inn and let me just say that we kinda “stumbled in” the nights we were there haha if you know what I mean, just SO much fun, no really other way to say it. The nightlife was great, the people were great, everything about it was just GREAT! Oh yeah and by the way, Stellenbosch is wine country… we really wanted to do this tour through all the vineyards and just go wine tasting all day but the day we were gonna do it was Good Friday. Obviously this didn’t appear to us, because I honestly forget what day it even is on this trip haha, so pretty much everything was closed except for this one place called Spier.  It did have some wine tasting there as well as cheetahs! It was pretty neat. We all got our faces painted and just had a relaxing afternoon, drinking wine and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. No complaints!! Our second night there we met Chantelle who was our age and our waitress at this restaurant we ate at.  She met up with us after her shift got off and came out to party with us… we had such a fun time, she was really cool! Now I’ll definitely have a place to crash if (actually WHEN) I ever come back lol.

 

Fourth day in South Africa we spent traveling along the coast to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point in the inhabited world!!! How cool is that!? I got to go here! This is also where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet which was cool to see, because the current just completely changes. It’s nuts and there’s actually a law that ships need to be at least 10 miles off the coast to pass it because it’s so dangerous.  This area was prone to tons of shipwrecks back in the days of exploring. Along the way we got to witness some of the most breathtaking views and ran into penguins at Boulder Beach and baboons running across the street haha! No lie. It was crazy. You literally go not even a mile down the road from where penguins live to wild baboons roaming the streets and beaches lol, I was absolutely loving it!! So like I said before we got to go to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope which were both in Table Mountain National Park and at the southern most point you can walk up to this giant lighthouse the sits on this cliff overlooking the ocean.  We obviously hiked up this and words just can’t describe what I saw, it was just THAT unbelievable.  Such an amazing experience! By the way this whole time we had hired this taxi driver Hangif (I think that’s how you spell it) who drove us around all day… he was a peach and we had a fun time with him, he definitely hooked us up!! We went to the Jazz Festival later that night when we arrived back in Cape Town which was incredible!! So glad I had gotten tickets. Don’t know if I’m necessarily that much into jazz, but I had a lot of fun. Lots of dancing, great music and just great company.

 

Woke up early this morning to use internet and Skype the boy which I pretty much did for a good deal of the day lol. It was great.  I was such a bum all day, but didn’t really care because I been on the go for a few days. I was planning on hiking Table Mountain, which was definitely one of my goals to accomplish in South Africa but actually didn’t end up doing it, because no one was interested in doing it with me and hiking alone would have been stupid, because I know better than to do that especially Table Mountain not being an easy climb.  Thought about taking the cable car up at least, because there are shops and restaurants and what not at the top, but because it was so windy, it was shut down.  Such a bummer. Table Mountain, just from looking at it from a distance is just remarkable, especially with its “tablecloth” of clouds that hovers over it (which you can see in the picture I posted).  Actually was introduced to my new favorite beer today too… this cider beer called Hunter’s Dry. Seriously the greatest tasting beer I’ve ever had. I was told it can also be found in the states which just made me so happy, especially with my 21^st birthday coming up and all when I get back in May!!! So if any of you happen to come across any Hunter’s Dry at any point… (hint, hint, cough, cough) you should probably get it haha.

 

Today was a really good day, but so were all the others here in South Africa. Like I said, I have completely fallen in love and am dying to come back and I barely just left!!! Now we’re cooped back up on the ship for 6 days then we’ll be in Ghana.  Looking forward to Ghana though, but am hoping it’s fairly inexpensive because I spent a lot of money in South Africa, definitely more than I had budgeted. No regrets though!

 

Oh and 1 more month until I’m finally home… man has the time flown!! Hope you all enjoyed the pics!