The End.
Just kidding, I have so much to say about what we have done, it's just a pity that it requires me to sit here and jog my memory to put it all in words! So here we go. First, we packed up the cute little VW Fox with high hopes that everyone was wrong when they said "that car is NOT going to make it to Cape Town.." It was a nice ride on the way there, about 5 hours and we were in Knysna (pronounced Nice-Na.) It was very nice. It's a quiet waterfront town with a beautiful docking area filled with restaurants, shops, and cafes. It's also completely safe to walk around there at night because it's such a vacation spot, and very touristy. I didn't mind though, because it was comforting to be somewhere that didn't require me to be constantly on guard at night like I am in PE sometimes. We stayed in a hostel that was brand new, just opened up in January, and had the whole upstairs dorm to ourselves. It was suuuper comfortable, and there was even a cute little doggy that we met the second day. We got up really early to see the sunrise and also went on the Elephant Walk hike during the day we were there. We were hoping to see the last remaining elephant in the forest, but didn't have any luck. Although we did see a 600 year old tree. Pretttty cool.
We were on our way to Cape Town after that. This week was a good chance to be full on tourists and not feel too ashamed about it. We tried to everything you're supposed to do when you're in Cape Town. The first day there we explored Long Street, a really fun place both in the daytime and nighttime. It's filled with people, bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, everything! I also discovered my new favorite restaurant there - the Royale Eatery. Best milkshake and best veggie burger w. sweet potato fries I have ever had. Long St. was an awesome place to be, and I can see how people are easily sucked into it for weeks on end. There are so many places to go, people to meet, and it seems like each night is different. It does get a bit iffy at night though. There are lots of people who seem to be homeless, and unlike what I'm used to in the states, they follow you until you give them something. It was very different than what you see at home - people sitting on the street and asking passerbys for change. At first I was so uncomfortable with this and surprised myself because I actually became really impatient with this one person. They were incessantly asking for change or food, explaining that they were just hungry and needed to get to the local shelter. They kept talking to me as we walked down the street.. I gave them just a little money and then they were thanking me, but this was definitely a test of my empathy at this point. How are you supposed to help every single person who asks you for money? I also was thinking of the sign that was in our hostel that said "Don't give food or money to street children, it only helps them to stay in their situation." It was a bit overwhelming, but a reality of Cape Town.
Our other activities during the week consisted of visiting Simon's Town, where we saw a bunch of little penguins on the beach, the Cape of Good Hope, a beautiful reserve on the edge of the cape where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet AND where a ton of babboons are located, a beach day at Dolphin's Bay with the full view of Table Mountain in the distance, a hike up Table Mountain and a visit to Robben Island. The hike and the island visit were in the same day, so we were a bit crammed for time, but were very proud of ourselves when we made it on time to the ferry departure!
It was incredible to be in the prison where Nelson Mandela was located for 18 years. A man who used to be in the prison for about 12 years gave us a tour. It made it a lot more interesting to hear about it from his perspective as he told us about how the meals were made with sea water and there were different regulations for "Bantu" or "Colored" people. The Island is also a really strange place. It's mostly a tourist destination now, with only about 200 people still living on the island. Those who live on the Island are either people who once were in the prison or who worked for the prison. At one point there were a lot of Irish people inhabiting the island because they worked with the people who suffered from leprosy. People with leprosy were sent to live on the island because the government believed that it was a communicable disease and were afraid of it spreading on the mainland. The primary school has been closed down, so any children who live on the island must go to the mainland for school, about a 12km boat ride away. It's a really dry place with only a little bit of wildlife, but we were lucky enough to see a springbok hop out into the road when we were on the tour.
Now that I'm back in PE I'm just enjoying the couple of weeks I have before I leave for Mozambique! Lara, Silja and I are in the process of getting our scuba diving licenses so we will be able to use them when we go away for the long weekend. It's so much fun, and such a strange experience to breathe under water for so long. I love the sound of just hearing everyone's bubbles from their breathe. Right now we are still learning in the pool, but I'm hoping to see some crazy sea creatures when we dive in a few weeks!
Thanks for reading :)
