Part 1 South Africa

I attempted to write my whole blog in a few days, but it just wasn't happening.  I've been extremely busy preparing for mid-terms and catching up on class work and trying to catch up on sleep.  Therefore, my writing had to take a seat on the back-burner for a little while.  I did manage to get to day 5 of South Africa, so I've decided to post day 1-4 for you to read.  It will be easier this way for you and for me.  I hope you all enjoy! 

 

-Amanda

 

         

            For the past twenty-four hours, I have been thinking to myself "when will I find enough time to sit down and write about South Africa?"  I know it is going to take multiple hours to write about everything I did, everything I saw, and everything I felt.  Therefore, I decided to stop wondering when I'd start...and I started. 

            I find myself amazed at how many of you are actually reading my blog entries.  Yes, I was expecting to have my close friends and my family as readers...but there are so many of you who I don't even know.  Some of my fondest comments have been from strangers, and I greatly appreciate that.  This trip has really showed me that complete strangers aren't really all that distant.  We're all interconnected in ways that you can't see from the outside.  You need to put the time and effort, even if it's as small as a smile and a brief hello, into getting to know new people.  Semester at Sea has guided me in this feat.

            As many of you know, South Africa was the port I was looking forward to most.  I was afraid to have such high expectations, because, like most people, I don't like to be let down.  I put months of planning and hours upon hours of my time into fine-tuning the trips I was planning.  I had over fifty different people relying on me for four separate trips.  These trips were: sky diving, shark cage diving, a Stellenbosch Wine Tour, and an overnight Aquila Safari.  I never realized how intense or time-consuming this task would become.  Thankfully, I had Excel spreadsheets with every ones name, emails, room number, and what activities they were doing.  The tour company that I used was extremely accommodating and they replied to every one of my emails in a timely fashion. 

            Every one of my trips went off without a glitch and I thank everyone who was a part of them for being on time, cooperating, and dealing with me being slightly stressed out.  We did shark cage diving on the second day, sky diving and a wine tour on the third day, and the overnight Aquila safari on the fifth and sixth days.  I had a Khayelitsha township visit through SAS the first afternoon and I had both the fourth and seventh days free to roam around Cape Town.

 

Day 1- September 26th- We arrived in Cape Town harbor at approximately 7am to cool, foggy weather.  We were allowed to disembark around 10am, after the failure of the US Embassy to arrive on time.  Immediately upon disembarkation, I met a group of students who signed up for my shark cage diving trip for the following morning.  We needed to put a deposit down in advance to reserve spots on the boat.  I had organized 4 separate groups at 10am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm to go to the tour office to pay.  I couldn't make the 12pm or 4pm groups because of my township tour, so I was slightly afraid that some people wouldn't make the deposits.  Thankfully, when I took the 7pm group to go sign up everyone who was on my list had paid their deposit.  The following morning at 5:30am, we all met in Tymitz Square and we were on the vans by 6:15am.  All the tours that I booked included round trip transportation so we never had to rely on public taxis to get us where we needed to go.  Also, because I had so many people booked in each trip, we were able to get great group prices. 

 

Day 2- September 27th- Shark Cage Diving:  Like I said above, we were all ready to go at 5:30 and we were on the vans by 6:15.  It was a cool, dreary morning so I was afraid that shark cage diving wouldn't be enjoyable but as we started driving through the mountains my spirit perked up a bit.  I was astounded by how beautiful the scenery was.  I was completely wrong in my assumption that South Africa would be mostly arid, with sand dunes piled high far and wide similarly to Namibia.  I don't know why I thought such things; most likely it was my ignorance of South Africa in general.  I have heard that the farther North you go, towards Namibia, the landscape changes drastically; however, in the Cape Town region, there are beautiful mountains, some reaching thousands of feet high.  Some mountain peaks were even snow covered!  I couldn't believe that it snows in Africa!  Again, my ignorance showed.  Granted, there was very little snow left figuring it's now the beginning of their spring, but still!  Snow...? In Africa!

            I wish I could show you all the videos that I took of my shark cage diving adventure, but sadly, our ship can't handle the bandwidth usage that it would take to do this.  I had over 40 minutes of video clips that I edited down to fit into a 23 minute window.  Yes, that's a long time, but not too long when you figure SCDiving lasted from 9-2ish.  The price for shark cage diving, including round trip transportation 2 hours there and back, was 160$USD

            I have a newfound respect for Great Whites.  There is part of me that sides with the environmentalists in that shark cage diving has a negative effect on the Great White population, figuring that it promotes slight dependency on food from the boats and potential habitat degradation.  Nevertheless, at the same time, I can see the eco-tourism industries view in that there are only a few boats that are licensed to give shark cage diving tours and all the captains have many years experience with Great Whites.  Several of these captains are also staunch pro-conservationists, working with the environmentalists to conserve the Great Whites natural aquatic habitats.

            The water was cold, probably about 55 degrees, but we had thick wetsuits to wear when in the cages.  The water was a little murky because the waves were big in the morning, but as the afternoon rolled around, the water cleared up and the sharks were more visible.  Our boat, captained by Steve McFarlane (sp?), was the only one that saw sharks that day.  We saw 8 in total and there were upwards of 30 sightings.  Quite a few people got sea sick...the waves were probably 8-10 feet high and we were in a 30-foot boat.  Knock on wood, besides the night we left Cape Town, I haven't felt an ounce of sea sickness.

 

Day 3- September 28th- Sky Diving:

            Let me preface this part of my blog by saying that I am not only deathly afraid of heights, but I have terrible anxiety over flying.  You're probably wondering to yourself, "then why in your right mind did you think you'd enjoy skydiving?".  Well, I never really thought I'd "enjoy" it, per se, but I did know that it was something I should do.  Hell, I went shark cage diving!  Why not go sky diving, right?  Right...

            So any who...the group of us, about 27, met in Tymitz Square at 6:30am-ish and were at Sky Dive Cape Town around 8am-ish.  The price for sky diving per person was 190$USD and that included round trip transportation, a half hour away from the ship.  Not a shabby deal at all.  My roommate Jen and I volunteered to go first...Yeah...first.  Yikes.  What was I thinking?  I'm going to jump out of a plane...first?!  I figured that I might as well get it over with, because if I didn't go soon, I wasn't going to go at all...

            Surprisingly, the minute I put the harness on, my nerves calmed down and my anxiety lessened.  The planes were pretty much the size of the Great Whites I saw the day before...so I wasn't too happy about that, but I didn't let myself think too much of it.  Jen and I had the option of having a cameraman, but I brought my video camera with me so I didn't opt to be filmed.  Looking back on it now, I probably should have gotten the tape...next time J

            As Jen and I approached the plane with our two tandem guides, I felt my anxiety stir again but I quickly squashed it.  There was no turning back the minute I stuck my foot in the plane.  There was something surprisingly calming about having John, my guide, strapped to my back.  Maybe it was the fact he's jumped a few hundred times?  Or that he had a parachute?  Yeah, probably that...

            The view from the plane was absolutely magnificent.  We flew to 9,000 feet and I saw clear over Table Mountain.  The blue bay was in front of me, the wine lands in the back of me, and the wide open sky was all around me.  I have a few videos of our ascent that shows the beautiful scenery.  When it came time to jump, my heart sank, but only briefly.  The captain opened the door and I felt the wind rush into the cabin.  "I'm insane!" I remember thinking to myself as I swung my legs out of the plane.  There was probably only 2 seconds where I had my feet dangling out of the plane before we jumped, but it felt like an eternity.  I don't even remember John pushing us out of the plane, but before I knew it, I was freefalling with a South African guy strapped to my back!  I closed my eyes for the first few seconds, but I felt that we were doing flips in the air.  When I realized that all I saw was the back of my eyelids, I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful sights I've seen in my entire life.  There is something magnificent about flying over the earth.  You feel like you're invincible.  Looking out over Table Mountain, and Stellenbosch, and the Atlantic Ocean is something that I will never forget.

            I was sad when the parachute deployed...I felt like I could fly forever.  Except, I have a strong hold on gravity, so I was relieved when I realized we weren't going to crash into the ground.  When John told me I could fly the parachute, I let out a very audible "What?!" like he said something absolutely ridiculous.  I actually have it on film!  Granted, he never took his hands off the straps, but I was the one pulling down on them to make the chute go left and right.  We were nearly parallel with the ground a few times as we spun around in circles (also on film).  I do have to say that the landing was the funniest part of the whole thing.  I had to put my legs up as if I were sitting in a chair for the landing.  Right as we were about to touch down, John goes "Okay, now try to stand."  So, I tried, and I failed, and I ended up face planting into the sand with John sitting on top of me.  Yes, also on film!  I couldn't stop laughing.  It was quite amusing trying to get back up on two feet.

            I will most definitely sky dive again at some point in my life...the adrenaline rush was unbelievable.  I also think I might start bringing a parachute with me when I fly on commercial airliners...it does wonders for my anxiety J

           

Day 3 Continued- Stellenbosch Wine Tour-

            Right after everyone finished sky diving, we hurried back to Cape Town so the group of us going to Stellenbosch for the wine tour could leave relatively on time.  Unfortunately, we were running behind schedule so we could only make it to 3 out of 5 stops, but none of us complained.  The first estate we went to was called "Neethlingshof" and we tasted 5 wines: a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Pinotage, a Cabernet, and a late harvest Riesling which was way too sweet for my liking.  I enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc...it had good floral aroma, with peach and apple undertones.  I also enjoyed the Pinotage, not only at this estate, but also at the other two.  I noticed that at all the estates, the Pinotage had fruity undertones, but there was also a hint of either cedar or oak to balance out the fruit.

            After our Neethlingshof tour, we went to Asara Wine Estate and tasted another 5 wines: an Ivory (a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc), a Chardonnay Reserve, a Pinotage, a Cape Fusion (a blend of Pinotage, Syrah, Merlot, and Cab), and a White Port.  I don't prefer white wine normally, but I did find that I liked their Chardonnay Reserve best.  Supposedly their '03 has won all types of awards.  I could taste why.

            Our last stop on our wine tour was to Spier Wine Estate.  Spier is pretty well known because they have a Cheetah Rescue/Reserve and also a restaurant called Moyo.  After we tasted the last of our wines, a Merlot, Pinotage, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Rosé, we walked over to the Cheetah Reserve.  Some people paid extra to pet the adult cheetah, but I was happy just looking through the fence.  I took a bunch of pictures of the baby cheetahs...they were so playful.  After our cheetah escapades, our group walked over to Moyo and made reservations for dinner later that night.  I was amazed at how unique the restaurant was.  It was completely outside...some areas were in the trees (where we later sat that night) and other areas were under large canopy tents.  It was even more beautiful when we went back later that night.  There were oil lamps and fire pits and heavy wool blankets were given to you to keep you warm.  Entertainers would come around every 20 minutes or so and perform right in front of you.  The food was buffet style, and the whole thing was approximately 25$ USD.  For the quality of food and entertainment, something similar in the states would easily run 150$ per person, if not more.

            I ventured out on a limb that night food-wise.  In South Africa, and Namibia too, they eat beef like we do, but they also eat zebra, springbok (an antelope type animal), ostrich and other "exotic" game animals.  I figured I'd try all three I mentioned above at least once, but I didn't care for any of them.  I don't prefer gamey meat back home, so I should have known I wouldn't like gamey meat here.  At least I tried something unique...

 

Day 4- September 29th- Free Day

            Jen and I intended to hike Table Mountain this morning, but unfortunately, the weather was less than ideal.  Table Mountain is notorious for having a "table cloth" of clouds over it and that it did.  We could hardly see halfway up the mountain.  For both enjoyment and safety reasons, we decided to postpone our hike and explore the city instead.

            We attempted to make it to Robben Island (Nelson Mandela was imprisoned here for many, many years) but again the weather prevented the ferry's from crossing the harbor to the island.  We walked around the Victoria and Arthur waterfront for a little while longer until we decided to take a taxi from the waterfront to Century City.  Readers Digest version of Century City...it's an area about 15 minutes outside of the waterfront area of Cape Town which is brand new (construction began in '03 I believe) and it houses the largest mall in South Africa called Canal Walk.  There are a series of manmade canals which encircle the entire mall area and the canals drain into a natural estuary.  The entire "city" is built on top of a watershed so they had to be extremely cautious when building so as to not disturb the natural environment as much as possible.  If you Google Century City, Cape Town, you'll learn much more than what I just told you.

            Jen and I decided to break down and grab a Big Mac from the McDonalds in the mall.  We split it, so it's half as bad, right?  I know, I know...I'm just adding to McDonalds capitalistic hold on the world.  Anywho, this isn't the point I'm trying to get to.  So, we're standing in line, and all of a sudden Jen goes "hey, is that John?"  Here I'm thinking she's talking about a guy named John from our ship, so I turn around and voila...it's my guide from sky diving yesterday!  I don't know what got into me, but I locked up and I refused to believe that was him.  How in the world, out of a million people in the mall right now, was my skydiving guide in line next to me at McDonalds?  Jen and I grabbed our food and left quickly, all the while trying to decide whether or not it was him.  Finally, as we were unwrapping our food, John walks over to us and was like "You guys went sky diving yesterday didn't you?  Your American accents gave it away!"  The story is probably more amusing to me than it is to you, but I still think it's crazy that I ran into him.