Day 1:
Everyone in my hallway woke up for the sunrise as we pulled into Cape Town on the first day. The sunrise was incredible and Cape Town looked nothing like I expected it to. Tall buildings of the city lay ion the waterfront with Table Top Mountain behind them. We pulled into Duncan dock, a very fishy smelling fishing harbor right next to V & A Waterfront. The weather was incredible in South Africa, especially after coming from muggy Ghana. After we got off the ship, we walked to the post office to send some letters quickly. Katie, Lizzy and I then wanted to check out the waterfront so we jumped in a sailboat and sailed around Cape Town for a couple hours to get a good view of the waterfront. The sea life is similar to California so we saw some seals and dolphins around the kelp beds. The whole time we were out there I couldn't help but think about all the huge Great Whites that were below the surface. There is a ton of fresh seafood in Cape Town so we grabbed a seafood basket of calamari and fish on the waterfront for lunch. After lunch, we explored the "Two Seas" aquarium, which had the local fish of South Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet. At night we explored "Long Street," a street in Cape Town known for its lively restaurants and nightlife. My first impression of South Africa was that it is way cooler than I expected it to be and I was extremely excited to see what cool things I would see and do in the next week.
Day 2:
The second day we decided to walk around Cape Town and get a feel for the city. We started off by checking out the World Cup Stadium. It was awesome to see the stadium and hear from the locals what it was like in Cape Town during the World Cup in 2010. After the stadium, we went towards the center of Cape Town and checked out some shops. Cape town is lively and very developed; and there are many shops and malls similar to the states. The weather could not have been any better and we ended up walking around the town for many miles. We decided to go to see a local soccer game at the stadium at night and also wanted to stay at a hotel in the city. We grabbed tickets for the game and booked two rooms for six of us at "The Cape Town Lodge" in downtown Cape Town. We were exhausted from walking so we grabbed some chicken sandwiches at a restaurant on Long Street and relaxed there for a while. For some weird reason, shops started to close around 1pm which seemed weird for a Saturday but the locals said it was normal and that they would open up on Monday. Since everything was closing up, we headed back to the ship to pack a bag for the night, shower up, and then head back to the hotel to hang out before the soccer game. We hung out at the rooftop pool of our hotel before grabbing dinner downstairs and heading to the soccer game at the World Cup Stadium.
The Game was awesome! Vuvuzelas were buzzing and humming the whole entire game and the stadium wasn't even crowded. I can only imagine how loud the vuvuzelas were during the World Cup in 2010. We were rooting for the local Cape Town team, "Ajax." We had good tickets in the 8th row and they were anly about $10 a piece. After the game, we taxied over to Long Street and hung out at a lively Reggae Restaurant on the 2nd floor balcony watching the crowds of Long Street move below us.
Day 3:
Every day we are in port, we get up as early as possible to get the most out of our day. Sticking to the norm, we got up around 6:30 and had a delicious breakfast at our hotel. Our plan for the day was to get out of Cape Town and check out the beach cities farther south. Katie, Will, Emily, Adri, Cody, and I all hopped in a train in downtown Cape Town and ventured 45 minutes south to Muizenberg. Katie is deathly afraid of trains and had never ridden one in her life so this was quite an experience for her. Muizenberg was incredible! It is a huge beach with plenty of surfing to be done. Will, Cody, and I grabbed 3 surfboards and headed out to surf while the girls relaxed on the beach. The surf was so much fun! The waves were playful, slowly breaking, and would go forever. The water was warm and only had an occasional jellyfish and the sun was in full force. You would kick out of the wave well before it was finished just so you wouldn't have to paddle back out. We kept hearing sirens from the beach but took no caution to them. We realized after we were back on the shore that those sirens were to warn swimmers and surfers that there was a shark sighting and do immediately evacuate the water, whoops.
This much-needed surf re energized us all and we decided to hop on the train again and continue south to a fishing village called Simon's Town. Simon's town was very cool and peaceful and there were many sailboats and fishing boats cruising around in the bay. We grabbed lunch on the water in Simon's town then walked to a place called Boulder Beach, where there is a penguin colony. Boulder Beach was awesome! There are hundreds of little penguins running around the beach and you are allowed to hang out on the beach and swim with them. We all had a blast chasing and swimming with the penguins. There was only an occasional peck from a penguin, but otherwise they were friendly. (I have funny videos to show when I get home)
We had our fair share of sun for the day so Katie, Will, and I hopped back on the train and headed back to Muizenberg to look for a hostel or hotel to crash at for the night. The train got crowded and we were lost in the commotion so we almost missed our stop. The train began to take off in Muizenberg and we were still on the train! Will opened the doors of the moving train and jumped off it at a slow jog, I jumped off second and by then it was a fast run, Katie was last and (I was barely still hanging on to her hand when she) jumped off at a full sprint! Keep in mind Katie is deathly afraid of trains and practically threw up from this adrenaline pumping experience. We walked around Muzenberg surprised to see that there were no shops open, and no hotels to be seen. This town became a ghost town in the few hours that we left it. We decided it was best to hop back on the last train (Katie, reluctantly) and head back to Cape Town to the ship. The sun set as we took the train back to Cape Town and we arrived by nighttime. The three of us took a mini city bus to a cool burger restaurant where we got a plate of ostrich sliders accompanied by a local beer, Castle. This was a great way to end an exhausting day.
Day 4:
Lets see what you've got, Table Moutain. Katie, Will and I got up at the crack of dawn to conquer the hike up Table Mountain. We ate breakfast on the ship, filled up our water bottles, packed some snacks, and then took a taxi to the base of the mountain. The hike was basically like using the Stairmaster for 2 hours straight, as the incline was very steep. We charged up the trail like mountain goat taking only a couple water breaks to hydrate and enjoy the beautiful view behind us. By the time we got the top, we could see for miles in any direction. You could see all of Cape Town and the harbor, as well as see as far south as the tip of Cape Point. It was incredible. We soaked up the view for a bit, and then grabbed drinks at the Table Mountain shop before taking the gondola down to the bottom.
A quick shower at the ship to rinse off the sweat from Table Mountain was all we needed before we taxied to wine country to do some winery tours and tastings for the afternoon. The wine area is called Stellenbosch and it is packed with many different family wineries. Before the wine tours, we stopped at the cheetah reserve to pet and play with some cheetahs! The first winery we went to after the cheetah reserve was called Spier. The winery grounds were pleasant and beautiful. The wine tasting at Spier was really fun and I felt sophisticated even though I had little clue what to look for in the different flavors of wine. We were given 5 different tastings of wines produced at this winery as well as some cheese and crackers. After Spier, we went to another Winery called Meerlust, which the Lonely Planet guide spoke highly of. Meerlust was much smaller and less touristy. We did a wine tasting at Meerlust as well as bought our favorite bottle to have later that night at dinner. Feeling full on wine, cheese, and crackers, we taxied back to the V&A waterfront in Cape Town for dinner. Will, Katie, and I grabbed a few plates of delicious sushi on the waterfront. The sushi was some of the best sushi I've ever had and I'm really excited to see how Japan compares to it. We hung out after dinner on the waterfront until about 10, when we decided to head back and get a good night sleep for a big day tomorrow.
Day 5:
Katie, Will, and I got up at 4am in hopes of getting on a Great White Cage diving tour. There were a few tours going out this morning and we were hoping that people would miss their alarms since we didn't have any bookings. Luckily, there were a few people who slept in, so we hopped in a van and made our way 2 hours to the Boat launch. I was giddy with excitement the whole drive in anticipation of seeing one of the creatures I most respect and am in awe about. We arrived at the boat launch at sunrise, signed our lives away on a waiver, hopped in the boat, and made our way to Seal Island. Of the 14 people on the boat, about 4 of them "chummed the water" from seasickness in the big swells. We anchored the boat about 20 minutes out and began chumming the water with a soup of tuna chunks and blood. After about 20 minutes of this, all of a sudden…Sharkk!!! I practically fell over at the first glimpse of this immense creature. We threw some tuna heads on rope out in the water to get even more sharks to stop by and soon enough there were 3 huge Great whites swimming around our boat. I could barely mentally process the sight of these massive, strong, incredible creatures that I have always been so curious about. People started hopping in the cage in groups of 5, and the crew would lure the sharks right up next to (and sometimes ramming) the cage by dragging a tuna head past it. Everyone put on thick wetsuits, booties, and hoods, except me…who just wore my swim trunks. The water wasn't all that bad and I wanted to really be in the water with the sharks. Because the visibility wasn't too great, there was a huge element of surprise when out of nowhere, there was a shark right in front of you! We stayed on the water watching the sharks for a few hours before heading back to shore for warm soup and warm drinks.
The ride back to Cape Town was cool in the light. We saw baboons and also passed by some Townships. The severity of poverty in the townships is pretty heavy to see, especially since many of them border affluent communities. I got a chance to learn about Apartheid from the driver and it is an incredibly dark and interesting time in South Africa's history.
Back in Cape Town, the driver dropped us off in Camps Bay, where we grabbed lunch in the cool beach town and walked around the beach for a bit. From Camps Bay, we hopped in a mini city bus called a "cockroach" and for a couple bucks, made it to Hout Bay, a small fishing village. Out of nowhere, clouds covered us and it began to drizzle, so we sought shelter in a teashop and grabbed some tea. After the rain stopped, we walked around the Hout Bay along the beach and by all the fishing boats. The smell of fish here is even more overwhelming than any fishy smell we had experienced yet. Katie, Will, and I grabbed coffee at a restaurant on the water when I noticed 2 teens and an older man putting on wetsuits and hopping in a boat with a tow rope. I kenw exactly where they were going…Dungeons. Dungeons is a world-class surf spot in Hout Bay with waves up to 60 feet. I had been checking the surf report over the past few days and knew that Dungeons was over 20 foot right now. The only problem is that you cannot see it from shore or walk there, but you have to take a boat. I planned on coming back tomorrow to check it out. As Hout Bay quieted down, we headed back to the Ship to clean up. We got fish and chips on the waterfront for dinner then met up with tons of Semester at Sea Students at a Club in Camps Bay to celebrate our last night in South Africa.
Day 6:
With hardly any sleep in me, I got Cody at 4 am and convinced him that we should go to Hout Bay to watch Dungeons break. He was stoked on the idea so we packed a few things in a bag and jumped in a taxi at about 4:45 to go to Hout Bay. We got to the quiet fishing village well before sunrise and started asking around with the fishermen to see if one of them would be willing to take us out to dungeons. We finally found someone with a rubber dingy boat willing to take us so he ran back to his house to grab his boat and trailer. We got in the boat just after sunrise and rolled our way over the swells itching with anticipation to see what monster waves were breaking on the other side. We finally got out to the break and were blown away by these waves. They were absolutely huge! It was a bit scary being out in these waves in a tiny dingy knowing that we could flip easily and that there were huge sharks swimming below the surface. We got our fix of seeing the waves after 30 minutes so headed back in to the fishing harbor and taxied back to the Ship. I was thrilled that we got the chance to see Dungeons.
My last few hours in South Africa were spent on a Marketing class Fieldtrip at a winery. We learned about wine production and had a few samples of the different wines. Once I got back to the Ship, we all shared our stories of South Africa, and then I went to bed as we pulled out of Cape Town for a MUCH needed sleep.
Pictures:
Lovin your blog! I feel like a vicarious voyager. Keep LTD!
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