Cape Town

Cape Town was absolutely incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been too. There was a mix of so many cultures. I had never seen a country of people so accepting of the differences between people. The diversity there was probably its most beautiful feature. As we were coming into Cape Town, we woke up very early in the morning to see the view. I think we got up just before 5, and stayed out on the deck taking pictures of Table Mountain and the other smaller mountains that are spread out through Cape Town. It was absolutely freezing outside though and I could only stay out for about an hour before going back to bed. We left the ship at about 10, which was the earliest we could get off because of the speeches we received from two U.S. ambassadors. They told us of all the places to go and things to do in Cape Town and you could feel the excitement of the kids growing in the room. Everyone immediately headed off to various activities once we left the ship. Ashley and I had a township visit planned thru SAS at 2 o’clock so we decided to take it easy and just look around for awhile until our township tour. We went to the mall they had at the port and got some food at this tequila bar that was the most popular restaurant the entire week for the SAS kids. They sold fish bowls here. Fish bowls are basically buckets filled with so many different types of liquor and juices, and are made for about 5-6 people to drink. A lot of kids got sick from not splitting fish bowls with enough people. I never really got one but took a straw too several throughout our stay in CT. Our township tour was a lot of fun that day and we came away learning a lot. Before we got to the actual township we took a visit to the district six museum. District six was an area in Cape Town where Apartheid had been very active. The museum was small but had some very interesting stuff to see. At the township we actually only got out of the bus for 20 minutes. We drove around in our bus for the remaining hour of the visit. When we got out of the bus and walked to edge of the township, all of the little children ran out of their little shacks and gave us hugs. They then began to model for pictures and we starting snapping away. They were making very unique poses for us and we were able to get some really funny photos. The places in which they lived are almost indescribable. They are so tiny that you can’t believe a family could even fit inside. The majority of the shacks were made up of tin on all sides, even the roof. Almost every single “home” had no running water, no bathroom. Plus, each of the shacks is piled on top of another one. So many people were squeezed into these areas; you couldn’t believe people were able to live there. That night we took it easy because of the day’s activities and we went to this place called Morton’s for dinner. It wasn’t like the Morton’s in the states but it was an American restaurant. I got the best steak I’ve had yet since being at sea. The food was so good and really cheap. In the morning I had planned to go cage-diving but the weather was horrible and it rained just about all day long. So instead of cage diving I went with a bunch of people to go eat and hang out at the mall. I just picked up little things for the room and some postcards. That night a bunch of us decided to go to Long Street. Long Street is where the night life happens in Cape Town. Long Street is filled with bars, clubs and restaurants. That night we went out we got lucky. It was the night of Long Street’s world renowned music festival. They shut down the entire street and had 5 different tents spread out through the street with really good DJ’s at each tent. It was still drizzling so everybody was just all out partying in the rain. We got a really good dinner at this pub called the Dubliner and watched the Chelsea game on TV. We spent the rest of the night hopping from one club to another, one tent to another and then spent the rest of the night at this cool techno, reggae bar called Cool Runnings. I went home early with one of my friends from the Univ. of Arizona because we both had safari trips in the morning. I had to wake up at 8 for mine and he had to be up at 5. I got up in plenty of time for my safari because I was so excited. I even went and had breakfast in the dining room before we left. I went to the Student Union to meet our leaders at around 8:30. We left the ship for the airport at around 9. Pretty much all the kids in my group I hadn’t met before and only some I recognized by their face. There were only 19 of us. We had one Professor as our leader of the group, his name was Giles Wayland-Smith and he was awesome. Once we got off the ship and headed for our luxurious motor coach to the airport we met our guide for the entire safari, his name was Graham. You are about to hear a lot about Graham. He made our safari probably the best experience that I have ever had. When we got to the airport Graham took care of all our passports and tickets and just handed us our boarding passes. Security took two seconds and we had about 45 minutes at the gate until we boarded. Everyone went off to get food and magazines and I pretty much just waited at our gate. Our plane was TINY. It was one of the smallest planes I have ever been on. I had a seat all to myself though which was nice and I passed out for the whole 2 hour flight. When we got into Kruger we couldn’t believe the airport. It was basically a really big straw hut. It was so cool. We got some food there really quickly and then got into a van for an hour ride to our lodge. We stayed at the Pestana Kruger Lodge. It was the nicest 5-star lodge that I could have imagined. When we got there I found out that I had a room all to myself and was the only one in the group who did not have a roommate. I was so happy about that. My hut was gorgeous with an amazing view over the entire park. I took a bunch of pictures and unpacked my stuff into my drawers and closets. We only had about 15 minutes in our room because we had a game drive from 4-6 that night. On our drive the first animal we came upon was a leopard. Unfortunately, it was behind a bush and after about 20 minutes of trying to spot it we came away with only a glimpse of its tail. We ended up seeing a bunch of rhino, giraffes, zebras, impalas and warthogs on that drive but no cats. We did see some water buffalo then too. After that safari we headed back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. This is when we got a huge surprise. As a group of 4 of us were walking back we saw a couple other students in the distance. They weren’t in our group but we recognized them from the ship. The Kruger 4-day group was also staying in the huts next to us and we had no idea. There were about 40 of them so we were really excited to know we had some other friends on the trip. We got to eat every meal with them throughout our trip and only split up from them when we went on safari. The dinner that night was absolutely incredible. Some of the best and most tender meat I have ever had. It was buffet style and it included chicken kabobs, lamb chops, beef, all types of cheeses, potatoes, peppers, rice and amazing desserts. There was a bar there too so we got a couple of beers. We all had dinner in this place called a boma. I’m not sure what it means in Afrikaans but it reminded me so much of the television show Survivor, it was surrounded by lit torches, which made up the only light and had a bunch of really big picnic tables. After eating there some headed to the pool for a night swim but most of us went to the bar to get some drinks and share what we had seen on the safari that day. I took it pretty easy that night and was in bed by 11. We had a drive in the morning at 4 30. This next day was intense. We were on safari for just more than 14 hours. We saw absolutely everything and even more during the night safari. The ONLY animals we didn’t see were lions. It was definitely disappointing but the two leopards we saw made up for it. I have some really good pictures and video footage of the animals. During our night safari, we turned the corner with our SUV and there was a leopard walking right in front of us. Everyone was quick to shine their lights on the leopard. It wasn’t affected by the beams of light as the other animals we had seen earlier that night were. It just walked slowly and carefully, it seemed as if it was hunting but that was probably just our wishful thinking. We were able to watch it for about 10 minutes before it disappeared. It was the most beautiful animal that we saw during the trip. That night we also saw hippos, cudu (a deer like animal with really curvy and long horns), baboons, monkeys, and some mongoose. The safari was so cool. I definitely recommend you readers go on one. Oh we also saw a crocodile that scared the hell out of me; it was right next to me. We looked to our left and there was a puddle that it was just hanging out in. It was the closest animal to our vehicle, the entire time. When we got back to the lodge that night most of the kids had already ate. We shoved the food in our mouths which was just as good as the night before and then enjoyed a show from a local African tribe. It was a very nice show by some of the teenage girls in the tribe. After that we all went to the bar with Graham and started to get drinks. We had no safari in the morning and had to be up at 10 30, so everyone decided to just hang out at the lodge and pool all night. It was a CRAZY night. By far my favorite night since setting sail from Nassau. The best pictures I have from the safari, in my opinion, are from that night. The next morning we were right on time for our flight, although a lot of us were feeling dead. When we got back to the ship, it was about 6 at night. I went out to one of the nicest sushi restaurants close to the ship and went to town on the sushi. I got soooo much. It was so good. Then I went straight back to the ship to find Ashley and Katey. They were both getting ready to go out. I walked into their room and heard some pretty crazy stories they had from their safari. They went pretty nuts the whole time. A huge group of us went out that night to a bar and watched the Liverpool and Chelsea games. I didn’t get anything to eat because I was still full from all the sushi, so I just got a couple beers. We went to a bar later that night but took it pretty easy. The next morning we had to be up early to go sky diving. We got up at 8 and a huge group of us were picked up by a bus and taken about 35 minutes away to the sky diving place. No one was really nervous on the way there because it hadn’t totally hit us yet. When we got there though, we all began to get a little nervous. Still we weren’t that bad. We had to get in groups of three because the small plane could only fit three people plus their tandem partners. Ashley, Katey and I were in the 2nd group together. We took off in the plane about an hour after we got to the place and the waiting really got to us. When we first got in the plane we were a lot more excited than nervous. But when it was time to go we were all pretty scared. Ashley was set to go first, Katey second and me last. When Ashley jumped it was insane. The look on her face coupled with the air sucking her out of plane made Katey scream and I had to look away. I couldn’t watch when Katey went. After she left the plane, my guy just hurried me to the edge and we jumped. The first second was the scariest. As soon as I left the plane, my guy turned us so we could see the plane and it became a dot within like 2 seconds. Free-falling only lasted about 25 seconds and the parachute kind of hurt when it came up. It was an awesome experience; I definitely plan on doing it again. Looking at all of Cape Town while falling was absolutely gorgeous. We were all pretty stoked after the jump, our adrenaline was really pumping and we decided to get a couple beers although it was 11 in the morning. We only had one or two though each. After that we went back to the port to get food and explore Cape Town. We ate at that same sushi restaurant I had gone to the day before. After eating I was really tired and Ashley, katey and I went back to the ship to lie down for a little. Those girls had overnight township visit that night and left in the early afternoon. Once they left I decided to explore Cape Town a little on my own. I took a taxi around the city for a little and then went to a local pub to do some homework, yes homework. For my foreign policy class we have to ask locals about what they think about our government and our foreign policy. Of course, we aren’t so blatant about those questions and ease our way into what normally results in some pretty intense conversations. This is a good story by the way….So I’m sitting at the bar and I order the darkest beer they have, I can’t even pronounce it but it was absolutely delicious. Behind the bar is a plasma and it’s playing a local Cape Town cricket match. I ask the bartender to tell me a little about how cricket is played because I had honestly no idea. Well he begins explaining the game to me a little and then another bartender actually comes over to help explain the rules to me. Well after about 10 minutes I have grabbed the attention of all the locals at the bar and they are all kind of telling me how cricket is played. One guy in particular was named Andre. Big South African about 6’2 and 230, he used to play rugby in college. Well I forget what a term was and I say to Andre, “What’s a home run called again?” Dumbass American. He went nuts. He was like “Are you kidding me?!? Homerun?!? He yells at me to come take a seat next to him and says he’s going to educate me about South Africa. Well I sit and talk to him about South Africa, AIDS, the U.S., U.S. South African relations, Gonzaga, you name it we talked about it. He just starts buying my beers and ordering more for me. He, by the way, was drinking glasses upon glasses of straight scotch. He buys everything for me and takes down my email and we exchange information and headed out about 2 and half hours after I first started talking to him. I got some awesome material for my foreign policy journal and had a great time with Andre. He was the man, and although at first I thought he was a pretty mean dude, he turned out to be one of the most considerate people I have met in my life. I’ll never for get him. I was pretty drunk too! I started headed back to the ship too get some food and by now it was like 9 at night, so of course all of SAS was partying at the tequila bar. I stopped in there for about an hour and when everyone started leaving for the bars, I just went to the ship to crash. I was really tired. The next morning I had planned to go cage-diving but the weather wasn’t good and it was cancelled. I just took the next day easy…all the guys went to a casino and I went for a little. I know, I know I can do that anywhere but all my friends went and I didn’t want to hang out at the mall. It wasn’t the best weather anyways. I played some roulette and Caribbean stud…yeah pap! The casino was cool though it had a food court and full ice skating rink.. We only stayed for a little and then we went out to dinner…a big group of us. I actually had told Ashley to meet me at the ship for dinner because I wanted to take her out and we had some bad luck getting a cab and some traffic on the way back and I was an hour late. I came to her door and she had left a note she had gone to dinner with Katey….at where else but the tequila bar. I met them there and damn Ash was pissed, it was pretty funny. We all got one last fish bowl and headed to the ship to set sail for Mauritius. Mauritius is next and 120 of us have 10 beach huts for all of us every day we are there. I’m going shark diving there too. Ah I guess this trip just gets better…