So I am in love. With
South Africa. This port is my favorite on the trip so far.
We got into Cape Town on Tuesday, and I loved it the second we stepped out. The first morning, one of my friends and I went shopping. Yeah, I know, it probably sounds dumb BUT we discovered that no matter what you do, as long as you say “in Africa” after, you’re good to go. So… we went shopping in Africa. Oddly, it was SO nice because it felt super comfortable and safe the whole time we were there. It’s weird to think that I’ve been gone a month, but it’s nice to do things you don’t necessarily miss but remind you and offer the same comforts as home. So we shopped and had lunch. That afternoon, one of my other friends and I were bored because everyone else went on a school trip so we were like gah what should we do?? We started walking down the street and someone asked, “Do you want to go on a helicopter ride?” Yessss. The helicopter was like an army one (whatever they are called) so it didn’t have sides or doors or anything. The pilot would take us REALLY close to the water or when we are flying towards a hill he would pull up at the very last second. It was a lot of fun, and the view was amazing. Cape Town is a beautiful city because there is the ocean and also Table Mountain on the other side. That night we had a girls’ night (the first one ever!) and went out to a Mexican restaurant where I had the best quesadillas and nachos ever. Yes. Went out for a little bit then came back to pack for my safari.
We left for Kruger National park at 3:15 am. (after one hour of sleep) on a bus that someone had organized. My trip wasn’t through SAS but an incredibly organized pair of students. There were about sixty of us total. Two of my good friends randomly were on the same trip so it worked out really well. We took a two hour flight then a six hour bus ride. I slept before the plane took off basically right until we arrived at Kruger. It was grand. Once we got there, we went out on our first drive. We were in nine passenger Land rover jeep vehicles. South Africa is a lot more mountainous than I had realized- it’s beautiful. We went out for about 2 hours I think then came back and had a delicious meal at our camp. We kind of just sat around and played cards (what else is new). Mom and Dad- I played the best nil hand in spades, you would be so proud! Hahaha. The next day, we went on an early morning drive and an evening drive again. In between, we went to the gift shop and walked around and fun things like that. The next morning, we went out on our final drive with our guide, Johnny, who was awesome. He knew a lot of information and told us some great stories. Animals I saw on my safari: a million impala, warthogs, wildebeest, elephants, lions, antelope, crocodile, hippo, rhinos, water buffalo, giraffes, zebra, a baby turtle! ... I don’t know what else. My favorite animal is now the elephant because we saw so many, and they got super close to us which made it exciting and a lot of fun. I had a great time on my safari which is lucky because some people didn’t even see elephants ever. I would have been really disappointed had that been the case. So I’m lucky. On the way back, I got bumped off my flight. Which was not so lucky. Haha. Six of us from my trip were bumped so it wasn’t too bad. Except that the flight we got onto was then delayed. But all in all it didn’t really bother me because at least I wasn’t alone and it’s not like I was going to do anything else that night anyway. And I met a couple really cool South Africans waiting for that flight. So it was all good.
The next day, I went to the market, did lunch, shopped… I tried to go to Robben Island but it was closed for the day because of rough seas. I was disappointed obviously, but I did get to look around the exhibit at the little museum right there so I feel good about that at least. That night, a group of us went to Moyo, a restaurant supposedly in a tree. So we get there, and they didn’t have our reservations written down. We were like oh no we’re going to have to eat at the bar or something. We ended up with the most amazing dinner table ever on a platform landing amongst the tree. So we had our all you can eat buffet in a tree house. We got our faces painted, and men came around and did a singing welcome. It was the best place I’ve gone to for a meal although the Brazilian steakhouse was better food. It was a good choice. Later we went out and explored Cape Town, it was SO much fun.
Then the last day we just hung out and enjoyed our final hours in Cape Town. I’m reallyyyyyyyyyyy disappointed about not going shark diving but I could convince none of my friends to go since it was a full day event. But oh well… next time I’m here. Because there WILL be a next time, for sure.
I finally made it to an internet café while I was in Cape Town, so I got to put up a few pictures. An elephant I saw during my safari! The sunrise over San Juan, Puerto Rico! My friends and I swimming under a waterfall in el Yunque (PR)! My friends and I with some locals our last day in Brazil!
The next few days are supposedly the roughest waters of our trip as we head to Mauritius (more-ish-is). It’s… rocky. I’m ridiculously tired right now… I got 15 hours of sleep + my six hour traveling nap in five days. So I need to rest up for Mauritius! Which is basically the African Bahamas. Hope everyone is doing well! Love and miss<3
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