South Africa

(sorry about the delay with this post!)

I have fallen in love with the country of South Africa. We arrived in Cape Town on February 19th at dawn. I woke up at 5am to watch us pull into the port as the sun rose over the famous Table Mountain and skyline of Cape Town. We got off the ship as quickly as possible so that we could have a full day of exploring and discovering this land that once was so foreign to us. We walked around the port area then headed down to the middle of the city where we visited the local market called Green Market and Long Street. That night 6 of my closest friends and I decided to go on a sunset cruise around the bay. Although many of them were reluctant to spend a mere 180 Rand or $25, we ended up having a great time drinking free champagne and sailing on a catamaran for 2 hours as the sun set over the bay while the clouds slowly rolled off of Table Mountain. It was so much fun to do something I love to do so much (sail) with my new friends. After the sunset cruise we went out to dinner on the docks then headed back to the ship for a goodnights sleep and to prepare for what would become one of the best days of my life the next day.

Exhilarating, Inspiring, and Beautiful: 3 words to describe my second day in Cape Town. I woke up a nervous wreck at 6:45am to unsuccessfully mentally prepare myself to jump out of an airplane. YES I was about to go skydiving. My friend Leila and I met up with a group of 8 other people where we took a shuttle to the site 20 minutes outside the city. We were quickly split into groups of two and three, harnessed and sent to the tiny airplane where we squeezed into the cabin. Sitting between my instructors legs as the plane slowly ascended to 9,000 ft my heart was pounding as I realized that there was no turning back. The 15 minute ride up felt like hours. As I tried to take in the beauty of the city from the air I couldn’t help but keep asking my instructor if he was absolutely 100% positive I was hooked onto him extra strong. He assured me I would be ok and before I knew it the door was open and my friend Jeff fell out of the plane. I was next. I slid my legs outside, tilted my head back and held on for dear life as I free fell for over 30 seconds through the South African sky. After these exhilarating 30 seconds the parachute safely opened (thank god) and we floated down to the ground for the next 4 minutes. At one point my instructor let me take the reigns as I steered us towards our landing spot. With only about 500 feet left I was instructed to lift my feet as we headed towards the safe haven of land. We landed, I stood up, the parachute fell to the ground, I was unhooked from my instructor and I felt the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever felt. The 5 minutes it took for me to jump out of the plane, freefall and then float down to land was by far one of the craziest, most fun and breathtaking experiences of my life. Surprisingly, skydiving was not my favorite part of this amazing day.
I got back to the ship by noon and spontaneously decided to join a group of people going to visit a township outside Cape Town. Townships are villages filled with shacks made out of tin cans and people living off of literally nothing. During apartheid the South African government moved the black people to these overcrowded villages where segregation and racism grew. Although apartheid was abolished in the early 90s many aspects of it are still very much alive in South Africa and especially in these townships where black people still live. Words can’t describe the experience I had in this township.

We arrived at the Khayelitsha township during the afternoon when all of the kids were being let out of school. We then proceeded to walk through the township to an after school program called “Lifelines” held in a shack made out of cardboard, metal and scraps. When we entered this shack 30 kids ages 5-20 greeted us by singing a song and welcoming us into their “family”. They introduced themselves by giving us all hugs and we were told to stand next to two people we didn’t know. Both the poorest of poor black children and the richest of rich white kids were standing in a single circle together…all with smiles on their faces. We then played some games, talked to the kids and hung out for about an hour. After this hour the kids then continued to welcome us into their family by singing a few songs. They sang about faith and about how thankful they are for what they have. This was one of the most powerful moments of my life when I realized that these children are so happy, and so grateful for what they have…and what they have we consider to be absolutely nothing. They then put on a play about getting tested for TB (something becoming very prominent in their community). These children are some of the best singers and actors I have ever seen and the passion they put into what they do is incredible. At the end of the play we had a few minutes to talk to the kids and say goodbye. I brought with me a Polaroid camera because I heard from past SASers that children in these poor countries love seeing pictures of themselves. As I started taking pictures with children they all gathered around me and each wanted a picture. I felt bad because I didn’t have time to give each one of them individual polaroid’s but was also overcome by so many other indescribable emotions. That afternoon was one of the most eye-opening, happy but heartbreaking and inspiring afternoons of my life. I will always remember the faces of those children and remind myself about how truly lucky I am to have what I have and be able to have these experiences. (I could go on forever about the people in this township and the experience I had that afternoon, but I will stop here and tell you all more in person when I get home in May).

After the township visit we went straight to the bottom of Table Mountain where I met up with a couple of my friends and took a cable car up to the top. It was a perfect night to go up to the top of the mountain- not too hot, not too windy, perfectly clear without a cloud in the sky. We walked around for a while then ended up sitting on the edge of the mountain to watch the sunset. At one point I could turn my head to the right and see the sunset over the ocean then turn my head to the left to see the moon rising in the pink sky over Cape Town. It was absolutely beautiful and a perfect ending to an unbelievable day.

I got back to the ship late that night. As I sat in bed I was speechless and shocked by what I had experienced that day. From the EXHILIRATING experience of skydiving to the INSPIRING performances and interactions with the children in the township to watching the BEAUTIFUL sunset on the top of Table Mountain I can truly call my second day in South Africa one of the best days of my life.

On the third day in South Africa I woke up early to head out on a safari. We took a 2 hour plane ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg then quickly got on a bus for a two hour bus ride to the Ivory Tree Game Lodge in Pilanesburg, SA. When we arrived we immediately ate lunch then headed out for our first game drive. 10 of us piled into a custom made landrover with Hayley- our ranger for the next 3 days. On our first game drive we got right into the wilderness where we saw zebras, wildebeests, white rhinos, and elephants. At one point during our first drive we got stuck on the road between two elephants blocking our way. We were in a stand-off with these two elephants for about 15 minutes then they finally left the middle of the road so we could drive around them and move on. It was so cool to see these wild animals so up close. We got back to the lodge at around 8pm where we ate dinner outside by a bonfire. The food at the lodge was absolutely delicious- so much better than the shipboard food! After dinner we were all exhausted from the day of traveling and the excitement of our first drive so we went to bed early knowing that we would have to wake up at 5am to go on our first early morning game drive.

The next morning we woke up at 5am to head out on another drive. This was one of the most exciting drives of the trip. As we headed through the national park we came across a male elephant known as “steroid”. You can imagine why- he is huge and is known for having a bad temper. We stopped our car pretty close to him and as word spread that Steroid was in the road more landrover’s arrived. This must have angered him because he turned his head towards our car walked towards us then began running after us…we were being charged by a 2.5 ton elephant! Luckily I had my video camera out when this happened so I have proof on tape! After our morning game drive we went back to the lodge to arrange a trip to the Predator Park about 20 minutes away from the lodge.

That afternoon we went to the Predator Park where we saw many animals. I had mixed feelings about this place because the animals are all kept in captivity. After seeing how free many of these same animals are in the wild it was hard to enjoy seeing the lions, tigers and cheetahs in captivity. The one reason we came to the park; however, was to pet and play with baby lion cubs! We went into the cage and were able to pet them and play with them for about 15 minutes. There were three 4.5 month old males and they were so adorable! After leaving the predator park we went back to the lodge where we rested and prepared for our afternoon game drive. On our afternoon drive we saw lions! One of them even walked right next to our landrover.

The next day I slept in and relaxed then headed out for another game drive in the afternoon where we saw giraffes up close, more elephants and went searching for leopards and cheetahs. We didn’t see a leopard or cheetah but ended up seeing a lion who had just made a kill. After watching the lion eat his dinner we headed back to the lodge for our dinner. We ate outside next to the bonfire again while an African band played music throughout dinnertime. After dinner I showered in our outdoor shower overlooking the valley of Pilanesburg and got to bed to prepare to wake up again at 5am for our last early morning drive.

During our last drive we went back to where the lion had made his kill the day before and saw him and a couple other lions eating. We also saw more zebras (and baby zebras), giraffes, warthogs, birds, wildebeests, and many other animals. We wrapped up the drive by singing songs from the Lion King and headed back to the lodge where we got our bags and made our two hour bus ride, two hour plane ride back to Cape Town.

We arrived back in Cape Town around 4pm and had a few hours to go shopping and take in every last bit of culture before finally boarding the ship at 8pm. We ended up leaving the port the next morning because it was too foggy to leave the night before and we are now on our way to Mauritius (a small island off of the coast of Madagascar).

Everything about South Africa was absolutely amazing. From the markets in Cape Town to skydiving, the township, Table Mountain and the safari I couldn’t have wished for a better experience here. I only wish I had more time! If anyone feels the need or want to travel back to South Africa I would be more than happy to join you (maybe in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup?).