All About Cape Town

For those of you who didn’t know, I took a trip to Cape Town with some of my friends from April 18-27. It was a pretty amazing trip, and I did some incredible things!

Day 1: Uneventful day. Our transport from Mbabane, Swaziland to the airport in Johannesburg was running slower than expected and we almost missed our flight. I made an aggressive (line cutting) counter run and we got though security quickly. Once we landed, we took a train to downtown and walked to our hostel. The view of Table Mountain was awesome, but seeing what an urban slum looks like was sobering and disquieting. It’s quite different from the rural poverty I see here. We grabbed Mexican food and went to bed early.

View of Long Street from the Backpackers

Long Street and Table Mountain on our first night

Day 2: Our day started before early risers wake up. My friends were running the Two Oceans Half Marathon, and I had big plans to drink coffee and cheer loudly. The race started at 6am, so that was fun. They were done by 9am and each got a medal for finishing in under 3 hours. I was so proud. We then went to Table Mountain and took the cable cars to the top (climbing after running was no sane option!). The beauty was breathtaking. You could see far over the ocean and the entirety of Cape Town. The top was very big, and walking around for hours was so easy to do. Even though I’ve been to the cenotes of Mexico and the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand, this was easily the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

Race day morning!

View of Cape Town from Table Mountain

View from Table Mountain

Clouds over Table Mountain

Day 3: Easter Sunday. We started the day off by going to Victoria Wharf to catch a ferry to Robben Island, which is where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years. We saw dolphins playing in the wake of the ferry. We then got a bus tour around the island, where people actually live now. We saw a leper cemetery, some guns form WWII, and the quarry where prisoners worked. We learned a lot about the history of the island. I heard from their accents that the people sitting behind me were American. I struck up a conversation, where I quickly learned that they are from Bloomington, IN and know my parents. Small world!

The view of Cape Town from the ferry

We then got a tour of the prison, which was guided by an ex-prisoner. We saw Nelson Mandela’s cell, as well as some of the other rooms in the prison. I expected it to be a sobering and sad experience, but it was more like walking through a memory. This prison held people who changed the world, and the prisoners I talked to were proud of that.

Nelson Mandela's cell

Nelson Mandela's cell

Nelson Mandela slept on that mat on the floor in that cell for 22 years

This is what the prisoners slept on until the UN intervened

We then walked around the wharf and headed back. It was a PCV’s birthday, so we made her a Peace Corps appropriate birthday “cake.”

Table Mountain from the Wharf

The clock tower

Colorful painted steps

Oreos and peanut butter - a great birthday cake!

Day 4: We started this day off right! We went to a SUBWAY for breakfast and to grab a lunch for a picnic on Boulders Beach. I got a delicious sandwich and a fountain Coke. It was the best Coke I’ve ever had.

Subway!

Boulders Beach was located in a cute little beach town called Simon’s Town. It was beautiful. We took a train to get out there, and I enjoyed a Second Breakfast of McDonald’s hashbrowns because there was one there and I was happy. While on the train, we met some UConn study abroad students, which made Janae (UConn grad) quite happy. That was cool. The beach was a lengthy walk from the train station.

It's a train!

At first, the beach was a letdown. We saw penguins from a distance behind a barricade. I mean, they were still penguins and it was still awesome, but not so exciting. Further walking allowed us to get on the beach, picnic, and get up close and personal with some penguins. That was cool. 

Simon's Town

Loved this penguin! Also love the classic Peace Corps Chaco's tan lines on my feet.

Day 5: We shopped at Green Market, which is an open air market where locals sell crafts, clothing, jewelry, and assorted other things. It was nuts, and it was fun to negotiate and find cool things.

We then hit up the District 6 museum. It was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a tribute to the former residents of District 6 who were forced from their homes which were then demolished when the area was declared a “whites only” zone. Instead, it was full of nice stories from the white people who settled there, as well as some from the people who fondly remembered living there before they were removed. The whole thing was confusing, as the plaque on the front was so serious and the inside was so light.

The sign outside the museum

A bench inside the museum - a remnant of apartheid

We then went to a neighborhood called Bo-Kaap. It was so cool. I’ll let those pictures speak for themselves. This was our last day in Cape Town.

Day 6: The road trip home begins! We drove a little way to Stellenbosch, which is South Africa’s winelands. It was quite the day. We did tasting at 6 wineries. Rico, who doesn’t enjoy wine, was our designated driver. The first winery had a huge variety of wines to taste, you got to keep your glass, and the gentleman serving us was awesome. All subsequent wineries did not let you keep your glass and they only had dry wines.

My favorite winery, Simonsig

Jordan

We picnicked at Jordan with this view

Driving in Stellenbosch

This winery was on the top of a mountain

It had quite the view!

Our final winery

Day 7: Early start! We had a long drive to get to our shark diving adventure. Our boat left at 7:30am and we were staying 2 hours from our destination. The water was 50 degrees and taking photos was nearly impossible. The cage was tied to the boat. Five people would get in the cage at a time and their heads were above the water. When the guides had lured a shark, they would shout at the divers to go down. The divers would duck their heads under water and look through their snorkel masks at the passing Great White. We were each in the water about 45 minutes. It was cold but so cool! They even fed us a meal before and a lunch afterwards.

The small town where the diving is

The boats with cages loaded

Our company

 

Following diving, we drove about 7 hours to our hostel in the Crags. The passing countryside was beautiful. The hostel was the most hippy-dippy place I’ve ever stayed. They had guitars for the guests to play, and we were asked to catch our shower water in a bucket to water the garden. It was absolutely beautiful where we stayed, but goodness.

Incredible views

Beautiful backpackers

Day 8: Animal day! We started the day off by going to an elephant sanctuary. They had 5 African elephants, but we spent the day with 3. We went on a walk, and each of us got a turn walking trunk-in-hand with an elephant. They kindly left “elephant blessings” (snot) in our hands. We were then led through a touching. We felt their trunks, front of ears, back of ears (velvet soft), stomach skin (hard and hairy), bottoms of feet, tufted tails (hair like plastic), and a peek into their mouths. At the very end, we fed them melon. Some of them were more demanding than others, and one repeatedly stole food I was trying to give another. Rude.

He told her to shake, and so she shook

I got to feel her tusks

Walking with an elephant was an incredible, though slightly snotty, experience

Feeding

Next up was Monkeyland! Our guide was a university student from England who knew each monkey by name. She had gossip on each one. She was so funny, and I wish Butler had had an internship program like this! We walked through the forest and did not touch or interact with the monkeys. We saw treetop lemurs, ringtailed lemurs, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, vervets, capuchins, and a gibbon. It was pretty cool, but the vervets liked to steal flip-flops.

Squirrel monkey

Sunbathing lemurs

Treetop lemur

Vervet

Young vervet

Third was Birds of Eden. This was a self-guided tour of a rainforest enclosure where you looked at birds. One bird was attracted to the sunglasses a lady was wearing and hopped right onto her shoulder! It was cool but dimly lighted, so few pictures turned out well. Another was a parrot that talked right back to us, which was interesting.

Very pretty birds

Very social birds

I've always wanted to see a scarlet ibis

Finally was a cat rescue center. They featured Siberian tigers, Bengal tigers, lions, white lions, mountain lions (one named Indiana!), jackals, black panthers, African wild dogs, hyenas, a honey badger, and, best of all, 23 raccoons. My group of American friends and I laughed so hard as our African guide was trying to talk about the lives of raccoons. It was funny. My camera died, so I’m missing some of these photos. I promise to get them soon!

Signs with humor

Siberian tiger

White Bengal tiger

Lion

Day 9: Driving day. We literally just drove all day until we found ourselves at a very nice but very remote hostel in Coffee Bay. We drank no coffee. 

Rural South Africa

Rainbow

Day 10: Further driving. We ended the trip with a night in Durban, which is a modern city along the coast of the Indian Ocean. I ate Italian food and froyo.

Day 11: We took public transport from Durban to Swaziland. Although the trip was amazing, there’s nothing quite like sleeping in one’s own bed. This trip was incredible, and I’m so ready to go again! For the full collection of photos, check Facebook. The group photos, all my photos, and the photos I didn’t get after my camera died are all on there.

My favorite part of Peace Corps is traveling. I’ll never be so young with no house/apartment/car/real job again, and I’m making the most of it. It’s been 10 months here in Swaziland. 16 more to go!