Mossel Bay

Thursday our group drove to Mossel Bay where we planned on doing shark cage diving. But the outfit was honest with us and said they hadn’t seen a shark in almost two weeks and advised us not to pay the large amount of money to go. We’re going to try and go back in a couple weeks, when “shark season” will pick up. Instead a couple of us went scuba diving and the rest of the group went snorkeling. It was cool, the water was clearer than in PE and there was more underwater life. Our guide brought food down with us and so we were surrounded by fish and even some small, and harmless, sharks came. They were swimming between my legs and stuff, it was cool. We only had to keep our hands in a fist so that they wouldn’t think our fingers were pieces of food. After scuba diving we went out on a jet boat, which I can honestly say I don’t think most readers of this blog who I am related to would have enjoyed (unless your Dad or Mac). It was just a really wild boat ride that went flying over huge swells. We weren’t buckled in at all, just holding on to a metal bar. Yes, I thought I was going to fly out. You had to stay standing because if you were seated when the boat came down on the water you probably would’ve had the wind knocked out of you. It was crazy. We did slow down once though to see a large pack/herd/family? of dolphins that were surfacing. So that was really cool. Afterward we went out to dinner again and then dancing!

Swellendam

Wednesday we woke up early and drove to Swellendam. We stayed at backpackers there that was very large with a lot of people staying there. We were in a room with ten people, so there was us 9 girls and then Nick from Germany. I think he had a good time because we included him in everything that we did. There was also a large family of baboons that lived at this hostel, or in the woods right by it. So we had fun watching them. About half of us went on a hike during the day to see a waterfall, only to find out that there was a drought and the waterfall was no longer existent! It was still a good hike though. Then we went on what was my favorite part of spring break! We went on a “Sundowners Cruise” (sundowner=happy hour drinks). It was a little drive away but in a lake formed from a dam. It was a huge, homemade, double-decker pontoon that took us on a cruise around the lake and down a stream through some cliffs. It was only us and Nick on the boat. We had a great time just going around on the boat and when we got to the cliffs, we took out kayaks and went deep into the cliffs to see a waterfall that was still running! Some people went cliff jumping, but I didn’t. The water was black from the roots of the trees that grow there or something like that. On the way back, the driver stopped and we jumped off the top deck of the boat. It was fun to swim in fresh water (although some people’s doctors warned not to swim in fresh water in South Africa) and of course to jump off from up high. Some girls were scared, but I helped them all jump! We went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant with Nick too. When we got back home we had a fire and made s’mores with weird crackers and strawberry flavored marshmallows, but it was good!

Franschoek

Tuesday morning we rented bikes from the info center in Stellenbosch and biked around the town. It is a very beautiful town and the second oldest in South Africa. It has very old fashioned gutters that line every street with a small cement bridge that goes over the gutter to get into someone’s driveway. While we were biking, we saw our jazz music professor walking around with her family, they were on holiday too. We then biked to another vineyard. The bike ride was beautiful because it is fall here and the leaves were all changing colors in the mountains and around the gorgeous vineyards. Some people returned their bikes then and drove around town for lunch and then to more vineyards. But me and two other girls kept our bikes and biked to another vineyard and had wine and chocolates. Tuesday night we drove to Franshoek (where we had visited two vineyards on the wine tour on Monday) to stay at another backpackers. It was a big house in a vineyard with beautiful mountains on all sides. This was a new backpackers and they said that our group was the first large group that they had ever had. So they made this huge South African stew for us with lamb and it was so good! We only paid $3 for it too! We just sat around after dinner talking and then we went camping! But the camping wasn’t actual camping, because there were mattresses with sheets and a comforter in there and tons of room for our bags and such. But it was still fun to sleep outside with the nice scenery and stars.

Stellenbosch

Monday we picked up our rental cars, early in the morning and drove to Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is in the heart of wineland country and about 45 minutes away from Cape Town. There is also a university there, so we fit right in! We checked into our backpackers and hopped on a minibus to go on our wine tour from 10-5 (almost a full-time job I know!) We went to 4 vineyards and out to lunch. My favorite wine was a Chenin Blanc (dry white). We saw how wine was made, tasted wines, tasted cheeses and homemade breads, and just had a great time. I feel like an expert on wine now, so this summer I’ll help pick out some good ones for us to taste around the fire. I bought a couple of bottles, but I haven’t decided yet if I’ll be able to bring them home with me or not. After the wine tour we went out to eat at Cubana and had some more Mexican food (something that we all miss). Something scary happened on this night. I guess around 3am some girls who were staying in the hostel decided to make pizza. Somehow, they left the gas stove on and went to sleep. Luckily, my roommate Alison woke up around 5am or so and smelled the gas and immediately went and switched it off. She then checked on all of us and made sure we were still awake because the gas smell was so strong in our room. We told the hostel owners about the problem, but nothing was ever really done. Thankfully, we were only staying there one night.

And on the Seventh Day...

On Sunday everyone else took the bus back to PE while myself and the 8 girls I planned my spring break with stayed one more night in Cape Town at the same backpackers. We took the day easy because we knew we had a big week ahead of us! I went shopping with a few of the girls at some African markets and to a very fancy mall. My only and best purchase was a belly button ring that has the South African flag on it that I probably will never take off again I love it so much! Then the 9 of us started our bonding by going out to dinner in a ritzy suburb of Cape Town called Camps Bay. We sat at a table outside right by the beach and had some great seafood. It was a cold night though, so the restaurant gave us all a fleece blanket to warm up in! I think restaurants in MN should start to give out blankets to cold customers!

Jazz Festival

Friday night and Saturday night we went to the International Jazz Festival. This was THE event in Cape Town, the whole city was trying to get tickets to attend this event. Luckily, we were all planned out and taken care of. There were 5 different stages in the Civic Center, some indoor and some outdoor and we were able to just walk around and listen to all the artists as they overlapped. It was a great time and we heard some great South African artists. Not every band played jazz, some were a lot more contemporary and even rap, so we stuck to those ones. We were way, way the minority and everyone was very friendly toward us so we met a lot of people too. Actually everywhere we go we meet a lot of people. Everyone here is so friendly and as soon as they hear our accents, they want to talk to us, take pictures with us and make plans with us. After the jazz festival, our whole group went out to Long Street, the main spot in Cape Town that had a New Orleans feel to it, for dancing.

Parliament, Robben Island and Lions Head

On Friday we took a tour of Parliament. South Africa has two capitals, Pretoria is the capital for the president and Cape Town is the capital for legislature. I think that’s right, Kate? The tour was interesting and educational, however Parliament was not in session so we just saw a bunch of empty buildings! After this we went to see Robben Island! This is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 17 years (an additional 10 years were spent at other prisons). We got a tour of the whole island, which is only a couple miles off the coast of Cape Town. The island is now home to a village of people, all who work at the museum that was built out of the former prison. We took a bus tour of the whole island and then had a tour of the cell blocks, including the cell where Mandela lived. Our tour guide was a former political prisoner and gave us tons of stories of his personal experiences. This tour was so interesting and educational and when I left I was feeling very sad.

Saturday was a free day, so I spent the morning relaxing and reading. I started reading the popular Twilight series (the one about the vampire love affair you probably have heard about or seen the movie previews). I am caught up in the series and that is distracting me from my school work now haha. Anyway after I read half of my book, I hiked Lions Head with my friend Kirby. Its a mountain that looks like a Lions Head from the profile view. I wanted to do Table Mountain but no one else who didn’t go the other day wanted to and Kirby had already done Table Mountain. So we hiked the mountain that is half its size and right next to it. It was still a great hike and we got to see the beautiful city and a nice view of Table Mountain. Kirby decided for us that we would take the more rigorous trail that required us to use ladders and chains to climb up. So that was an experience! I’ll put up a funny picture of me trying to get up the chains.