Me and Jamie at sunset
Me and Adi
The boys
Ben, Jojo, and Will.
Hey all! I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog recently, it's pretty hectic on the ship right now. I have to write about India, Mauritius, and Singapore, and to be quite honest I'm a bit sick of writing about India right now! I'll get to it eventually though! So with all the things going on in Japan right now, they have decided to take us to Taiwan instead. I would have loved to go to Japan and do some relief work, but with the nuclear power plants, it's just too dangerous. We have three more ports before reaching the states! Vietnam tomorrow, China next, and then Taiwan. I'm meeting a friend in each of these places, and I'm SO excited! I'll write about India soon, and then a short bit about Mauritius and Singapore (we were only in each place for about 8 hours). Thanks for being so patient!
Today, Jamie, Kayla, and I went to the aquarium at the waterfront. It was pretty much like any other aquarium, with a few different species. I don’t know anything about fish, so it’s not like I could tell the difference between an African fish and an American fish! They had these GIANT crabs though, and I have never been so freaked out in my life. I don’t get grossed out or freaked out by things like that, but for some reason I saw these things and my heart dropped. I looked for one split second and then couldn’t look again. They were so huge that they stood more than a foot off the ground. I’m getting chills thinking about them. I’m not a squeamish girl, but these things were insane.
After the aquarium, the three of us headed to the Market. I felt like I was back in Ghana with all the bargaining I had to do! I found a few gifts for my friends and family, as did Jamie and Kayla. We had lunch at a little restaurant near the market, and then headed back to the waterfront. I had a ticket to go to Robben Island at 3, so I caught the ferry as soon as we got back. I met up with my friends Greg, Gabby, and Erin on the ferry, so I wasn’t alone! When we got to Robben Island, we were put onto busses and met our tour guide Craig. I had heard from previous students that he was the best one, and to request him if we could. He was probably about 25, and very well spoken. When you visit Robben Island, you have two tour guides: One on the bus, and one in the actual prison. Craig told us a lot of amazing stuff, and I have a lot of is on video.
He told us that the greatest weapon of apartheid wasn’t bullets, but propaganda. They taught children at a young age to think negative things about the other race. These kids have grown up with the wrong idea about other races, and even taught their kids that way. It is passed down from generation to generation. “What will happen in that society, is that it will happen for so long that the people of that nation won’t even realize that it’s there any longer. It’s the norm, it’s the way of life for those people.” He say’s that even 17 years after apartheid ended, they still do racists things. He tells us a few stories giving examples of this. He tells us a story about how whenever he walks into a store, being a colored man, the security guard will follow him until he leaves. He says that rather than getting angry (because then he’d be angry ALL the time) he pretends that the security guard is his secret admirer and gets on with his life. He also says that racism isn’t just one race vs. another. It happens within racial categories as well. He tells a story about going to a party where everyone is white except for himself and another colored man. When his cell phone goes missing, he automatically assumes that the other colored man stole it. He says that now, racism is a subconscious thing that Apartheid instilled in all South African citizens. It is amazing how far this country has come… but they still have a long way to go.
Craig dropped us off at the prison, where we met our second tour guide. This tour guide was a former prisoner on Robben Island. He was there for 5 years, arrested when he was only 18. He showed us the room that he was held in, and then took us to Nelson Mandela’s cell. (Random fun fact: There is a guy in one of my classes named Mandela. What a sick name! haha) Nelson Mandela’s cell was a lot smaller than the normal cells, because they kept the leaders and important people separate from everyone else.
The tour guide told us an awesome story. Someone asked him if he ever met up with any of the guards when he was released and Apartheid ended, and he said yes. A few of them apologized, but a few just don’t really care. He said that two of the guards actually work there now, which is really cool. The best story though, was of a very young guard. He was 18, and had no idea what was going on in the world… he was just doing his job. He made a connection with Nelson Mandela though, like a father son type bond. Mandel was this older wise man that would advise him about education, sports, and life in general. So one day, the young guard had the task of driving Mandela to a hospital. It was just Mandela and the guard in the van, and the guard decided he wanted to introduce him to his parents! He didn’t even think that this was a bad idea… taking a prisoner to his home. Of course Mandela did nothing bad, but his parents were so freaked out! The guard didn’t get in a lot of trouble (I don’t think) because it was really out of sheer ignorance. He just wasn’t thinking. Mandela and that guard are still close today!
After Robben Island, I headed back to the ship and got ready. Jojo and I went to a sushi place to get dinner, and then met up with all our other friends. This was our last night in Cape Town, and everyone was super sad! We all went to this club called Mercury, and danced to dubstep all night. I have never been to a dubstep club… it was SO much fun! Some people hated it, but most people loved it. Depends on your taste in music, I guess! We got back to the ship early in the morning, and I got to sleep in until about 10 (Luxury!)
When I woke up, I got ready and went to meet Gabby and Elias… we were going skydiving! Gabby had set up this trip before, so we had a driver waiting for us and took us (and a few other people) to the drop zone. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous at all! When we got there, they had us sign a paper and then strapped harnesses on us. They didn’t give us any instruction or safety talks, just strapped us up, walked us to the plane, and flew away. We flew up for about 25 minutes in the tiniest, ricketiest plane I’ve ever seen. Still though, I wasn’t nervous. About 23 minutes into the flight, the guys we were jumping with strapped themselves onto us, and opened the side of the plane. I still wasn’t nervous. (I was getting worried that I wasn’t getting worried… I felt like I should be SO scared! Hahah) Elias went first… he just scooted to the edge of the plane… and then he was gone. Ok, now I was getting a bit nervous. Something clicked when Elias jumped out… he was just… GONE. Gabby was next, and then Jessie (the guy I was jumping with) and I scooted to the edge of the plane and OUT we went! It was the most amazing feeling in the world! For the first few seconds, I had no idea which was up or which way down. We were free falling for about 30 seconds because Jessie pulled the shoot. He then said “You’re going to feel a click, but don’t worry” and then he detached the bottom part of our harnesses! I was only attached to him from the shoulders! He let me steer the parachute for a while, before he took over for the landing. The view of Cape Town was spectacular! I was in the air for probably three or four minutes, and it was incredible! The landing was a lot easier than I thought, Jessie steered us straight for the sand and then I just put my feet down!
A little backstory here: Before SAS, I planned this big trip in South Africa with a man named Gav to go bungee jumping and shark cage diving. A lot of SAS kids have gone through him before, so I knew his business was pretty reputable. When I got on the ship, I was told that planning such trips was not aloud, and I would not be allowed to go. A lot of people still went, but I had already found other things to do. So when Gav found out I was skydiving, (all the extreme sports in Cape Town pretty much go through Gav’s company… so they are all his drivers and everything) he was on the phone with the driver that took us to the drop zone, and asked to speak to me. He thanked me for planning such an awesome trip, and said that he was on a film shoot all day but maybe he’d stop by the drop zone to say hello in person. So when I landed from skydiving, Gav was there! It was so nice of him to come say hello and thank you! I put a lot of effort into planning that trip, only to en up not even going! This is just one example of how amazing and kind South African people are. Seriously, the people are a huge part of why I fell so in love with that country.
After skydiving, we had to go right back and get to the ship for on-ship time. Leaving Cape Town was extremely emotional for me. I felt embaressed until I looked around and noticed that I wasn’t the only one tearing up. In fact, there were quite a few people. Something about that city captured my heart and I can’t WAIT to go back. Later that night, Gina and I were in our room talking and sharing pictures/videos when Idin came in. He said he had a present for us! He took out two jars of nutella, each with our names on it. He said “Remember when you girls told me that when a girl breaks up with her boyfriend and their heart is hurting so they just sit infront of the tv with chocolate all day? Well this is because you both left a piece of your heart in South Africa.” Hahahah most thoughtful gift ever! Of course, nutella is a luxury on this ship, so the whole world found out we had it and it’s pretty much gone now!
We’re on to Mauritius for a day- we’re calling it “Spring Break.” I’ll update you all after!!
Today, I slept in for a little while (only until about 9am, but that’s considered sleeping in while in port!) and Kayla and I went to the mall to find some internet. We sat outside and got online for a while, and decided what we were going to do that day. I got to skype with my dad for a few minutes (and then my computer died! Sad.) which was nice! It was only 4am at home, but he works super early, so I can always catch him up! After about an hour, Kayla and I decided that we were going to hike Table Mountain. I am not an avid hiker, but I can always be up for a challenge. Our friends did it the day before and said it was hard, but so worth it, so we decided “why not?”
We took a cab to the second starting point. There are two points you can start from. One is the “4 hour hike” and one is the “2 hour hike.” Naturally, we chose the easy one. We started in, and after about 15 minutes stopped for a break and looked down. “Oh we have hike a pretty long ways! Maybe this will be easy after all!” ….YEAH RIGHT. After about another 20 minutes, we stopped and talked to this American guy who asked us how far until he got to the bottom. We said about 30 minutes if you don’t stop, but that was just to the road. He said he didn’t care where it went, he just wanted to get a cab and go to sleep. He was hurting! So that scared us a bit… we had no idea what was to come. After that, this man in a big white hat passed us going pretty fast. We lost site of him after a few minutes, but went the way we thought he went. We got to a point where the ground leveled off, it didn’t really go up or down. After about 15 minutes of walking along that trail, we starting questioning whether or not we were going the right way. We decided that it didn’t matter… either way we would get somewhere, whether it be to the cable car and then we would take that up instead of hike… or maybe we were going the right way and we’d make it to the top, we didn’t care. 15 more minutes went by when we met this two guys our age. They asked us if we were going up or down, and we said up. They said “Well… then turn around. You are going the wrong way.” It turns out we had just hiked all the way back to the first starting point! Of course we didn’t want to seem like wimps in front of these guys (Sebastian and Felix, who happen to live very near to my sister in Germany, small world!) so we decided to hike up with them.
After traveling with them for about an hour, Kayla and I decided to tell them to go ahead of us and we’d meet them at the top. We knew we were going to be stopping about every 10 seconds, so we didn’t want to hold them up! Haha The hike got harder and steeper, and we only brought one water bottle for the both of us, so we were struggling! After hiking for about 2.5 hours, we reached this point that looked like the stairway to heaven. The top of the mountain was finally in our reach! Now, I know you are all thinking I’m crazy for dying on a 2.5 hour hike, but let me tell you… it was pretty treacherous (but I still suggest you add it to your bucketlist!). We finally made it to the top, went straight for the little restaurant and bought water and strawberry slushies! I felt like I just conquered the world. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking. You can see all of Cape Town! We could even see our ship! We met up with Sebastian and Felix again, and got our amazing pictures. I brought up a huge South African flag to take pictures with, so we all took turns standing out on a ledge taking amazing photos overlooking Cape Town. It was like we were on top of the world.
Something pretty funny happened next. Kayla, Sebastian, Felix and I were getting ready to say goodbye and exchanging contact info, when this blonde lady yelled something to us in German. Now, German sounds angry to me all the time, so I couldn’t tell if she was mad or if she was just speaking German. Felix looked shocked, and then yelled back “Say it in English so they can understand you!” but the lady just kept yelling. He kept telling her to “say it in English” but she just kept yelling at him. The husband or boyfriend of the women then yelled over “We just want you guys to be quiet. This is a nice viewing place and we are having a moment!” Felix then started saying something back at them in German, and Sebastian chimed in. I know a few German swears, and I heard them a few times. This was not a nice conversation! I was embarrassed and confused, but it was also quite comical. Finally they stopped, and Felix and Sebastian contemplated whether or not they should tell us what the women had said. They finally told us: “Tell your fat American girls to shut up, this place is too beautiful for loud voices.” (mind you, were speaking in regular voice, not loud ones.) Kayla goes “FAT? And WHO just climbed this mountain?!” hahahaha
Kayla and I took in the view for a while longer, then headed down the mountain on the cable car. Hiking down not only seemed to be too strenuous after the hike up, but it looked way too scary! It’s a steep hike and a long way to tumble if you fall! At the bottom of the mountain, we got a cab to the huge mall called Century City. We wanted to get some shopping done and grab a bite to eat. I bought my roommate a pillow pet, because she left hers at home and says how much she misses it all the time! I couldn’t pass up buying one when I saw it! I got a few dresses and shoes at this store called Mr. Price (pretty much like Kohl’s only cheaper). I love what I bought, and I love that I can say I bought it in South Africa! When we went to the food court, I got California rolls. If you know me at all, you know that I’m addicted. It’s been tough not having them, and I was SO excited to see them in the mall! I could have had 50, but sadly settled for 8. Hahah
We got a cab back to the waterfront, got ready really quickly (I got REALLY good at getting ready to go out in under 20 minutes, let me tell you!) and met up with all our other friends at Mitchell’s. We hung out there for a while, and then got a cab to Camps Bay. Camps Bay is this strip a long the coast with beautiful beaches and awesome nightlife. The place to be that night was St. Eves, but when we got there, there was a 100 rand cover charge and we didn’t feel like paying it. We went tot his cute beach bar called Sapphire instead. It was a ton of fun, and there were still a ton of SAS kids there! After a few hours, we headed back to the ship and called it a night!
Today was our wine tasting day! There were 6 of us: Kayla, Jojo, Katelyn, Melissa, Roland, and myself. Kayla studied abroad in Cape Town before, so she had a contact that was going to meet us and drive us around for the day. His name was Al, and he had a friend named Mike with him. They were both older men that lived in a colored township. I loved talking to them about growing up in district 6, and being forced to leave. District 6 was a township that the government (during apartheid) pretty much bulldozed in order to build a white neighborhood. They never actually got around to building, so they destroyed thousands of homes for nothing. Today, the government is re-building houses and allowing the people that lived there before to move back, but Al and Mike both said that a lot of people won’t go back. “Too much hurt,” they said. I got a lot of our talk on video, and I still get chills when I watch it.
We drove for about an hour to our first winery, Neethlingshof. We sat inside and tasted 6 different wines. I didn’t know anything about wine, and I still don’t. I do know, however, that I do not like red wine! Not a fan at all. My favorite wine was the first one we tried. It was fruity and nice. After we tasted all our wines, we went out and had a little photo shoot with the beautiful mountains in the back. The Stellenbosch area that we were in was absolutely beautiful. Our drivers then took us to the next place, Asara. We only had an hour because we wanted to get to the third place before it closed, so we felt a bit rushed. This place was SO beautiful! The mountains in the back and the lake and the green grass… everything about this place was amazing. We tasted only three wines here because of time, but I loved all three. We bought some chocolates here too.
Finally we made our way to the last place, where we planned on eating dinner. Our driver told us that they had an animal park here, and we could pet cheetahs! Of course we jumped on this opportunity! We got there and immediately headed to the Cheetah park. We paid a small fee and got to meet a Cheetah named Chobe (Cho-bee). He was the youngest in the park, but the largest. He was so calm, and purred when we pet him. We got some amazing pictures of us petting Chobe, then made our way over to the restaurant. On the walk over, there were these little stands selling handmade crafts. A lot of the stuff was really cool! I bought a gift for my mom (sorry mom, can’t tell you what it is yet! Hahah) that I think she will LOVE. We stopped every two seconds to take pictures… the beauty of this place is incredible.
When we finally got to the restaurant, we decided it was too expensive, so we had Al and Mike take us to this place that Kayla knew called The Africa Café. This place reminded me a little of this place that my mom and I eat at at home, called the Gypsy Café… only on a bigger scale. It had a small feel to it, but it was three stories high. It was decorated in beautiful art made with all recycled materials. The windows were just open windows that they rolled plastic canvases over when it got too windy (which it does SO often in Cape Town!) It was beautiful and nice, but in a rustic kind of way. The menu had about 15 things on it, but you didn’t order. They just brought you everything on the menu, asked what you liked, and then brought you more. We were there for probably two or three hours, trying all the food and talking about how perfect our day had been.
We finally decided it was time to walk back to the ship. We had no idea how far it was or where we were going, but we really didn’t care. It was a beautiful night, windy and a little chilly, and we were all in dresses, so the walk back was so fun. We went the wrong way for a while, took a lot of wrong turns, walked with our hands pressed to our sides so that our dresses didn’t fly away, and laughed the entire way back. There is a huge Ferris wheel at the waterfront, so we kept walking until we could see it, then turned to walk in that direction. After about an hour, we finally found the ship, got ready really fast, and headed back out to meet up with other friends. There is a bar at the end of the waterfront that was pretty popular with SAS kids called Mitchell’s. This was usually the meeting point, where everyone met and hung out and then got cabs to whatever club was popular for that night. I was exhausted though, and just went back to the ship after hanging out at Mitchell’s for a while. This was the most perfect day, and only further confirmed the fact that I was falling in love with South Africa.
We finally made it into port! It was the most beautiful day, and the port was FINALLY an amazing port! The last beautiful port we had was Dominica… so this was a nice change! We docked at about 11 am, but then had to wait for immigration to come on board. This time they needed to see us all face to face and stamp our passports. Thankfully, my sea was called first! I got off the ship around 12, and headed for the mall with Kayla and Mel. We had planned for our first day (the one that we missed) to be our relax/shop/internet/beach day, but that didn’t quite work out. I didn’t have any set plans for the second day, which was now our first, so I made that into my shopping/internet/food day. Not much to report on the first day, other than how incredible even just the waterfront was! I felt 100% safe walking around alone, and it was so refreshing not having to worry about being a girl walking around alone. The waterfront had a huge mall, lot’s of stores and restaurants, live music a lot of the time, and even a ferris wheel. The weather was absolutely perfect! Everything was perfect. My friend Will and I ate dinner on the ship and then went and got delicious strawberry daiquiris at this restaurant at the waterfront. Later that night, my entire group of friends walked to Long Street. This is the street with all the bars and clubs, and I’ve heard it is incredibly scary and dangerous at night, but I felt safe the entire time. I probably wouldn’t have walked around alone at night, but I was in a big group so we were all fine! We all got used to going to clubs in places like Dominica or Manaus, so we didn’t even think to bring our ID’s. A lot of the clubs were carding, so none of us could get in, even though we were of age! We walked around for probably an hour before we found a place that we could get into, and it wasn’t really a club. It was so much fun though! It had a balcony over looking Long Street, and it was a beautiful night, so I spent most of the time outside. I met a few South African’s, and had great conversations. It was nice to finally be able to interact with people in the country without them asking for something of you. I got a cab back to the ship with a few friends, and went straight to sleep. We had to wake up for wine tasting the next day!
