Best Port Ever. South Africa.

Most definitely my favorite port thus far. Cape Town reminded me of a mixture of San Francisco and Sydney. I think that I am going to make this easier for you and for me and this is how I am going to do it:

Day 1: I was feeling sick this day with a nasty cough and a runny nose. I ended up staying around the waterfront area and explored the different craft markets. I got some really great stuff! Then I met up with Ashley and two other girls and set out for a night of theatre. We went to a little tapas restaurant near the theatre for dinner before hand and met up with other SASers at the theatre. The play was absolutely phenomenal. It was a silent play that used masks and Commedia del arte. It was so beautiful, I highly recommend looking it up! Pictures of You it is called. It’s a story of an older couple and how their life together has changed. There are frightening nightmare sequences that are paired with young love flashbacks. I think we all left the theatre absolutely blown away.

Day 2: I woke up this morning with absolutely no plans. I decided just to go to breakfast and see who I could find. Unfortunately the only people I found were the Chapman boys. Now, they are nice guys, but I have never met a group of people that are so stingy and disconnected from the world. I feel like they haven’t had too many real life experiences if that makes sense. Anyways because cabs cost money, they decided that we should walk to Long Street, one of the main streets in downtown Cape Town with lots of shopping and food and clubs. Well, named appropriately, Long Street is quite long and little did we know that most of the good stuff was at the far end. About half way through, the boys got frustrated and decided to turn back after some ice cream. Well, as they were eating ice cream, I turend to Christina and said, “I think I need to start taking a hold of my own destiny on this ship” and she said “do you want to start right now?” and I said absolutely! We hopped in a cab and had him take us to the closest beach. We ended up at Clifton Beach which is in a very Malibu-esque area with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL beach. After hanging out for a while and watching awkward guys in speedos, we decided to walk down to hill to an area called Camps Bay where there are a bunch of shops and restaurants. We got some ice cream and shopping and then went to the grocery store where we saw JADE FROM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL!!! Christina got a picture with her and I really hope it turns out!!!! Anyways so the guy at the shop we bought dresses at suggested an AMAZING restaurant to us that had these huge white couches with big blue pillows that you sat on to eat. We had a couple other people meet us there and it was by far the most enjoyable dinner I have had thus far. Good food and great company! Plus lots of fruity girly drinks…including a fish bowl drink called the Jelly Fish that was litchi flavored! YUM! Then we went back to the ship to change and then all went out dancing! It was SO much fun. The best night I have had so far, I can’t even explain.

Day 3: I found my future work place. We did a visit to the Amy Biehl Foundation. For those of you who have never heard of her, Amy Biehl was a student who came to South Africa in the 90s to help ratify apartheid. She was going to pick up her friends in a Township (shanty town where the blacks were forced to live) during a riot, when she was attacked and killed. After her death, her parents started this foundation which provides after school activities for kids in townships. The most amazing thing is that there were four killers convicted, two of which her parents have forgiven and that now work for the foundation! It just blows my mind! Anyways so we went to the main office and learned all about what they do and then they took us to a couple different schools where they have programs. A bunch of the kids performed for us and it was absolutely hard warming. Then we met up with another group of kids in a field hockey program that the Dutch national team had come to teach! They were so ecstatic and full of hope! Afterward, a group of girls and I decided to go watch the rugby game at a local sports bar, well as we were waiting, a bunch of people came by and said that tickets were still available! So somehow we ended up getting tickets and going to the game! It was a lot of fun even though I had NO idea what was going on! Haha! Afterward, we all went to a local jazz club for a drink and some live music. It was the perfect way to end the day!

Day 4: This was the day that I planned a trip all on my own! I planned my very own cycling through the wine lands tour! Little did I know how out of shape I was haha! We met up with our tour guide on Long Street and then headed to the train station where we boarded a very run down train to Stellenbosch. Throughout the course of the day, we visited 4 wine farms and cycled about 14 miles. My butt was aching! But it was a lot of fun in the end and we all definitely met our exercise quota! When we got back to the ship, a bunch of safaris had just gotten back so the line to get back on was HUGE! Butters (a Chapman guy whose real name is Andrew) and I decided that it wasn’t worth it to wait so we wandered around a little bit and got some fancy sushi for dinner…unfortunately it wasn’t very good sushi. Once we got back on the ship, I sort of decided to call it a night. But then Dalia came knocking on my door insisting I come out with her. So we went to an Iris pub on Long Street to see our resident guitar man play. Not only was it Thursday, so the pub was packed, but it was also gay night!!! It was fun and in the end I was glad I went out.

Day 5: Last day : ( Today Ashley and I were supposed to go to a township on another one of my planed tours. Unfortunately, because it is so hard to keep up communication on the ship, the tour didn’t actually get booked, so instead we just hung out around the water front.

I really love South Africa and have every intention of returning, maybe even to work here!

Until Mauritius!