Capetonians Part 1

After a quick flight, we landed in Cape Town! We knew we had picked a good hostel by their lovely choice in cab drivers. We were picked up by Jeff, a very friendly and open man. He proceeded to tell us all about his life and his lovely family. he was thrilled to be picking up Cheryl and Chase and proceeded to wax poetic about married life. But, when he started talking about Cheryl birthing their first child and her changing body, things got a bit weird; as the token single friend, I sat quietly in the back and tried not to laugh. We soon pulled up to our hostel, which at around 9 PM, was completed packed. Little did we know, there was an adjoining bar- which was bumpin. I rolled my suitcase through the drunken crowds to check in. We got into our room with two bunk beds (cozy!) and quickly went to sleep. Read More...

One of the best parts of landing in Cape Town was that our friend Terrey was there waiting for us. She had come straight to Cape Town from Doha so she had already gotten the lay of the land for us. We met her in the Community Gardens at a small restaurant for breakfast. After eating, we walked around and even found ourselves some nests!

and some more friends!

Before coming to South Africa, we were warned very strongly about the safety. South Africa has a very long history of race relations and they are still continuing today, which results in quite a lot of crime. Everyone warned us of various safety precautions. When we rented our car, we were informed that every time you park, you have to take the cover off the trunk and open both the glove compartment and center console. You have to show people that there is nothing in the car, or you are opening yourself up to someone smashing your car. We were also warned of the regular precautions such as keeping your purse in front of you at all times and zipping all compartments. As you walk around, it was always in the front of your mind. We pondered whether people were overly cautious and it only seemed so apparent because it is talked about so much, or whether all of the hype is accurate. It was strange coming from the states, where people do not like to talk about how much crime is happening, so it seems much less prevalent. In Doha, there really is no petty crime, so it is also not talked about a lot. There were even people from Cape Town that said they were more scared of New Orleans than Cape Town, which was very surprising to Cheryl and Chase, who are from Louisiana. Regardless, the threat was apparent everywhere, especially by the overuse of barbed wire fencing.

On our first day in Cape Town, we also picked up our rental car! The company screwed up our booking, so we were left with the only automatic they had left, which was the lovely and (not so) roomy Hyundai i10. I felt as if I was driving a Smart Car. The lack of room coupled with the fact that they drive on the opposite side of the road in South Africa made for quite a fun time.

Cheryl even had to help me reverse.

The four of us checked into an AirBnB in Sea Point then quickly headed back out to the V&A Waterfront to catch our ferry to Robben Island.

Robben Island (Dutch for "Seal Island") is famous for being the site in which Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. Robben Island tours are incredibly popular as they are guided by former political prisoners of the Robben Island prison. 

In 1995, a reunion was held on the fifth anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from Robben Island. Thousands of prisoners from all over South Africa attended. This pile of rocks was dropped one by one in the lime quarry where the Robben Island prisoners had worked. Over a thousand rocks are still there to represent all the different types of people that make up South Africa and what kind of country South Africa can be.

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There are a lot of penguins that live on Robben Island. As we walked around, you could randomly spot one hanging out.

We had our tour given by a man who had spent many years as a political prisoner on Robben Island. He walked us through the cell blocks and explained how the different races were treated while imprisoned, including the difference in nutrition they were allowed.

We headed back to our apartment and made dinner, and then after sharing quite a few bottles of wine, went to sleep. When we woke up, it was Christmas! Unfortunately, we had the worst weather of the whole trip on Christmas. We decided to drive down to Cape Point. On the way, we stopped at Boulders Beach, where the penguins live! Cheryl and I braved the pouring rain to meet with the wet penguins. Walking to Boulders Beach is awesome because you walk along a pathway above the cliffs and there are penguins hanging out right beside you as you walk.

There was even a quite intelligent penguin shielding himself from the rain in a storm drain.

We continued our drive down the coast and finally arrived at the Cape. It was quite overcast at this point and we were wondering whether we would be able to see anything.

We quickly spotted some ostriches! Saudi Claus (Chase) disappeared into the bushes to take some photographs.

When we arrived, drenched, to the Cape of Good Hope we found it quite empty (surprising!). Although these guys were having a grand time having a dance party on the rocks. Once they moved on, we took advantage of the lack of people and took some pictures.

I was clearly not prepared for the weather.

On our way out, we had a sighting of some very sad looking, very wet baboons.

We drove back to our apartment and Chase cooked a delicious Christmas dinner. I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures, whoops! Overall, I would say an incredibly successful first couple days in Cape Town!