South Africa has taken quiet the toll on my wallet and my life but my adventures here were well worth every extreme moment. Cape Town was a vacation and very different from previous African ports we’ve visited. Rather than enriching myself in rural culture, South Africa was modern filled with clubs, shopping, tourists sights and delicious food.
Rumor held that coming into V&A (Victoria & Alfred) port would be our most luxurious arrival and so Heidi, Peter, Gaylen and I attempted to rough it out and sleep on the deck. By 3am we were pushed inside by intense winds, pea soup fog and a wet cold front. By 6am we were back outside and waited another two hours before being greeted by the waterfront.
When the ship was finally cleared, we walked right off and into copious amounts of shopping, seafood, and music. We enjoyed a nice seafood lunch and headed back to the ship to catch our city orientation. The CU girls and I took the 4 hour SAS tour visiting the Natural History Museum, Botanical Gardens, Castle of Good Hope and had tea and scones at a local restaurant under the trees. The Gardens were my favorite- we walked in and out of them standing under the arching trees and admiring all the locals sleeping on benches and under trees- here whenever someone is tired they just sleep out in the open sun. Later that night we went into Long Street- the infamous home of Cape Town nightlife. We started our night off at the top of a Cuban restaurant that had a bar inside a library. After sitting with books and comfy couches, we met our dinner reservation at Mama Africa- known where one can try any type of African cuisine. Greeted by friends from CU who are studying in SA, we enjoyed live music and a window view of the city bumping outside. When we finally ordered, I split the African Platter with Gaylen (she goes to CU and we never knew each other pre-SAS but now she has become one of my closest friends) anyway we were served crocodile, springbok, sausage, ostrich and kudu. Crocodile was my favorite but by the end of the meal, my face had turned white and somewhere in my protein overload and massive amounts of eating meat, I spent the rest of the night feeling extremely ill. (and it’s safe to say I don’t miss eating meat and won’t be eating it again…)
Somewhere between visiting with friends and enjoying our first night in Cape Town sleep became an unknown word and before I knew it I was off on my trip at 4:30am. I did an independent trip with 60 other SAS students to go bungy jumping and shark diving 8 hours away. I left the CU girls and any of my friends behind and branched out to do the extreme. We arrived at the Bloukrans Bridge by noon and went face to face with the world’s highest bungy jump at 750 feet. I was in the first group to go- we walked out over the wooden, open, wobbly bridge and looked down at a ravine filled with rocks, trees and a river leading west. One by one the 20 of us in the first group were strapped in and led over the ledge. Each time we cheered for everyone just as loud as the last and encouraged the ones who were suddenly too nervous to jump. Finally my turn arrived and my legs were shaking. I had done a bungy jump before but only from 200 feet and I was strapped to Abby. This time it was me and only me. The crew carry you up to the edge because your legs are strapped together- with my toes curled over the edge I looked down and wondered what the hell was I doing but with a countdown from five, one came quickly so I stretched out my arms, bent my legs and jumped into the open. Apparently I screamed the loudest but it wasn’t screams of fear but rather excitement. Dropping 100 feet a second planted the biggest smile on my face and adrenalin raced through my body as I bounced and dangled above the river. It was an unbelievable, indescribable feeling. We spent the rest of the day cheering on the next groups and watching from the pub below. We stayed in little cabins out at the bridge and had a fun night of homemade pizza, Hunters dry cider and playing endless games of ‘zumy zumy’- a game we taught the crew and staff of the pub.
4:30am rolled around quickly and we were up and off to our next extreme adventure: shark diving in Kleinbaai. We took the rough ride out to the open waters and yet again I was in the first group to dive. Four of us girls got in our diving gear and were immersed in a small, bar cage where we scrounged up and told do not under any circumstances touch the metal bars. There was styrofoam around some of the edges but had huge teeth marks from previous great white shark attacks. Suddenly I was petrified but it was too late now. The skipper and his crew tossed out the bait and even poured fish guts on us (disgusting!) and before we knew it a Great White was right in front of the cage, which was impressive since February is not shark diving season. We ended up seeing two different sharks each about 7 feet long- one whipped right past the right side of the cage exactly where I was. I can’t remember the last time I was that scarred but it was definitely an experience to remember.
We arrived back into Cape Town by sunset and I met up with Anna and Courtney (two girls from Theta at CU). I introduced them to my new friends and we all headed to dinner at the pier. More seafood and the famous fishbowls later, we went out downtown to Tiger Tiger where they played the American music we had been missing. Classic techno hits and the I-tunes top 10 were played throughout the club. We met locals, SAS kids and danced into the night.
Now running on just leftover adrenalin and excitement to explore, a few of my friends and I spent the next day at the pier and in town shopping and experiencing Cape Town. We went to the Green Market where we bargained for authentic jewelry and art work for souvenirs. We sat and talked to the vendors and heard their life stories- how the families all work together and how each painting, sculpture was made. I bought a beautiful zebra painting (my favorite animal!) that now hangs in my cabin but will for sure be heading back to Boulder for my new house.
By dusk, we returned to get dressed up for a nice dinner at Moyo- a famous Cape Town restaurant nuzzled in the wine lands where you can actually sit in the trees to eat, have your face painted and watch authentic African dance while you consume the all you can eat endless meat, veggies and African cuisine. With a reservation of over 20, we weren’t able to fit in a tree but we dined over local wine and made multiple trips to the buffet bar. For our last night in Cape Town, we went to another club downtown, Hemisphere- set at the 16th floor of a business building, the club over looked Cape Town and offered more techno and dancing. We met more locals and students studying abroad- even students studying from Ireland and Holland who were doing a 6 month internship in Cape Town. I don’t know if I would last 6 months in the fast paced, wild city.
For our last day, we went up to Table Mountain, the picturesque image of Cape Town. The tablecloth (or just fog cloud) wasn’t on and we could see the entire city rest below us. We went back to the Green Market, walked more around town and the pier and did a little shopping. Sadly I broke my camera but fortunately I was able to save all my pictures and buy a new one in one of the malls. Before embarking on the ship, I got my first hot dog (a food I had been craving ever since I became a vegetarian) and it was just a delicious as I remembered but yet again left me not feeling too hot. We all sat on the pier, listened to more live music and sadly boarded the ship.
Due to high winds, we were kept at port until early this morning and now will go around the Cape of Good Hope in pure daylight. We have our first big global studies exam tomorrow (yes hard to believe this is actually school…) so today we are all studying and yet still trying to get some sleep after our 5 day vacation in South Africa. Cape Town is the city that doesn’t sleep- Las Vegas, New York, Spain- they have nothing on this fabulous, ravishing city.
No comments:
Post a Comment