South Africa Day 1

                On the first day in South Africa I spent the day with my friends Andrea, Hannah, and Kaitlin. We spent the day on the peninsula doing many outdoor activities. On the way to the peninsula our taxi driver stopped and showed us all these great places to get awesome views and pictures! We took pictures all around the peninsula, and got to see many different cultures and lifestyles that occur around South Africa.

 Our first official stop we made was to Boulders Beach which is where the African Penguins live. Yes there are Penguins in Africa, and they are too cute! We walked up this beautiful walkway where the penguins would walk right up to the walkway. My roommate Hannah was taking a picture and stuck the very tip of her camera in the fence, and as she snapped the picture one of the penguins jumped at her camera and pecked the lens! It was hilarious only because her camera was fine. Once we arrived to the beach we saw tons of Penguins sun bathing, sitting on top of rocks, and swimming in the ocean. Although the penguins were wild they are very used to human interaction. I was actually able to sit a few feet away from them and take a picture. At some point during this trip every one of us was close enough to touch a penguin. I had no idea what a penguin would feel like and they kind of feel like a rubbery leather feeling when they are wet.  While we were all walking ankle deep in the ocean gazing at the penguins I noticed this very strange looking thing in the water. Oh my goodness it was a wild octopus! Hannah was telling me how rare it is to see a wild octopus and especially one so close to the shore. This octopus was magnificent; it was a deep red color with almost grey suction cups. As we all stood there in awe of this gorgeous creature he swam right up to Andrea and started sucking on her foot. She thought it was the coolest thing, while I was totally grossed out by it J. As we were leaving the beach we showered off our feet from the sand. While we all put our shoes back on Andrea says “Oh my gosh he sucked my skin off”. The octopus had sucked some of her skin loose. Boulders Beach was awesome! The penguins were adorable and the octopus was a once in a lifetime moment.  

On the way out of the beach we stopped and got some gelato. It was the best! I had caramel (which was a little sweet for my taste) and dark chocolate which was to die for. It made for a great mid-day snack.

After we left the beach we started our short ride to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. All of a sudden our taxi driver pulled over. There on the side of the road were wild baboons! We got to see the Alpha male of the group and then all of these baby baboons with their mothers. It was so cool! Baboons are the strangest animal I have ever seen. Their faces look like dog muzzles with eyes. We sat there in the car and watched them for about ten minutes. I was so intrigued watching how they interact with one another, but we had to leave and head to our next stop.

Cape Point is incredible! Our taxi driver dropped us off at the middle point. So we took the cable car up to the top which is where you could see for miles around us. I mean most of it was ocean, but you could see some islands in the distance. We also hiked up the 150 or so stairs to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was a tall bland structure on this majestic hilltop. It stood there sturdy and proud like it had for many years. Next to the lighthouse was a pole that had many major city names and how far away I was to that city at that specific point. I was over 12,000 kilometers away from the Ohio area! I knew I was far away, but to see an actual number was crazy to me! Once we climbed back down the stairs and took the cable car down it was time to start our hike.

  We decided to hike down The Cape of Good Hope. The trail sign said it would take an hour and a half to hike down. So, we started hiking and oh my was it beautiful. The hike was incredible! It only took us 45 minutes to hike down and we stopped a lot to look at the scenery. The hike was very easy. There were many areas that were worn out dirt paths, and when it needed stairs there were wooden plank stairs so that any degree of hiker could enjoy this trail. On the trail there was a small beach I could walk down to, a look out ledge, and many trails to smaller look out ledges that I could have taken. We stayed on the straight path because it was getting a little late in the day; almost 5 and we were getting hungry. The views from the mountain were beautiful though! I could not believe that places like this existed! It is incredible to think that created all of this magnificent land. When we finally reached the top and very tip of the Cape of Good Hope the view was breath taking. I could see for miles around. There was a gentle breeze from the ocean, the sun hitting my face, and the soft feeling of sand under my feet. I think the most interesting part of the whole journey was the fact that there could be soft white sand next to these huge marble boulders on the top of the Cape of Good Hope.  The Cape of Good Hope is significant because this is where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It is also the second most southern tip of Africa.

On the way down the Cape of Good Hope we saw these crazy weird furry animals running around. There were tons of them. They were called Hyrax locally known as Dassies. These creatures looked a lot like a cross between a hedgehog and a groundhog. The funniest part about this animal is that its closest relative is an Elephant biologically. They were adorable. They followed us all the way down the cape. Once we reached the bottom we took a picture to show what we conquered and then had to be on our way.

The way back was beautiful as the sun was setting off to the side of our journey “home”. We were all starving and Andrea noticed a KFC. She has been craving fried chicken for weeks now. So somehow she convinced all of us to have KFC for dinner. Let me tell you it tasted NOTHING like KFC in America! It was still good, but it was different. Instead of fountain drinks I had a can of pop, the French fries were seasoned with a variety of seasons (they were so good), all the sauces were different, and even the menu was different.  

That evening once we got back Andrea left for a field trip she had signed up for, the three of us who were left went to the Waterfront Mall ( just a 5 minute walk from the ship) and rode a Ferris Wheel. This Ferris Wheel was so cool! All the cars had sliding doors, they were air conditioned, and had a TV that played music in it. The Ferris Wheel was 40 meters high, and I could see the whole city from the top. It was a beautiful sight to see the city and the closest island lit up in the night sky. We then hung out just for a little while and listened to some local music and then headed back to the ship.

What a great first day! I enjoyed every second of it, and it made me even more excited to see what was going to happen next!