Sunday night we finally got to our hotel for the next three nights. We were to stay at a place called Saasveld Lodge. It was kind of like a 2 star hotel. We all stayed in rooms with one other person. Since they placed us in alphabetical order, my roommate ended up being Emily Hamilton! We lucked out and had room 116, all the way on the end, with no one to bother us on the other side. We basically took up two whole floors since there were so many of us. The lodge was located on Kloof Street and just down the road from Long Street, which is one of the most happening streets in Cape Town. There are bars, clubs and restaurants all the way up and down Long Street.
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| My roommate Emily sleeping in our room. So cute! :) |
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| Cable car girls doing muscle poses. We are so tough! |
In the morning we got a complimentary breakfast, which was very important considering what we had up against us for the day. It was time for Table Mountain! Mike, Trevor and some of their friends supplied us with sandwiches, fruit, granola bars and PowerAde for the day. On the way there we had to decide if we would take the cable car up the mountain or do the rigorous 90 minute hike. For a week or so I had been sick with a cold, along with some other girls, so we chose to take the cable car.
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| Cable car going up to the top of Table Mountain! |
The cable car was really cool. It was much larger than I thought and could fit a good number of people. The floor revolved too so you could see everything. It was a steep way up. It was an amazing view from the top. The side we started on was a view looking down to the ocean. You could also see Lion’s Head, which was a rock formation connected to Table Mountain. It was very cold and windy up there, so we headed inside for some refreshments. They had a restaurant and souvenir shop at the top.
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| View from top of Table Mountain. Lion's Head is on the right. |
By that time the hiking group had just made it up the mountain. They were all sweating and looked exhausted. We ate lunch outside and talked for awhile. Then we went to the other side of the mountain where you could see basically the whole main city of Cape Town. It was about time to begin the hike down the mountain. We could not go the same way as the group went up, because it was much too steep. The other option going down would take about 3-4 hours. Gulp. But I was excited for it anyway.
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| Cape Town! From the top of Table Mountain. Note the white circle on left is World Cup Stadium. |
When we began, it was very cold, windy and foggy as well. I was having fun though. Someone took out his speaker and started playing music. Nothing could bring us down. Except maybe what was about to happen next…what started off as a light drizzle turned into full on rain. It never got to the point of pouring, but we were on the middle of a gigantic mountain with no shelter and about 30 minutes away from the cable car. The rain was fun at first, until my pants got soaked. Mike asked us if we wanted to go back or not. We all agreed to keep on going and finish that very long hike down the mountain.
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| Back side of Table Mountain, just as we were about to climb. See the fog over some of the paths we were about to be taking. |
It started becoming more difficult, though. It was fairly steep on the way down and we had many rocks to climb over. We had to use our hands a lot to steady ourselves. It didn’t help that the ground and rocks were all wet from the rain. When I look back on it, I realize it was actually quite dangerous. That was all part of the adventure though I guess. After an hour or so, it stopped raining and we came upon an area of the mountain that was completely different from the rest. There was white sand everywhere. I literally thought we were on the beach. Then as we kept walking, from far away it looked like snow in the mountains! Very cool.
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| All of us hiking down Table Mountain! |
We continued walking for awhile and then I thought I saw a mirage. A cement path. And it was all level ground! Don’t get me wrong, I loved walking down the mountain with all of the rocks and what not, but my knees, ankles and feet were all sore. It was about time for a break. With a new burst of energy everyone was in good spirits again. We were cracking jokes and laughing up a storm. The very last part of the hike was a giant spiral gravel road. I was sick of going downhill, but the view was fantastic. We could see the city on the way down.
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| View just before we were at the bottom. The sun came out for a little - it was gorgeous. |
Just 15 minutes left on the hike and we heard news that Taylor sprained her ankle. She was in the back of the line, so a bunch of boys ran back and they all took turns carrying her down the rest of the way. Seeing our buses at the bottom of the mountain was a wonderful feeling. I was finally going to be able to rest my feet and take a nice hot shower when we got back. I was proud of myself though. And our group. We could have taken the easy way out when the weather was bad, but we stuck it out. Total hike time: 3 ½ hours. Now it was time to celebrate.
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| Table Mountain at night - amazing! |
After everyone showered and napped, we went out to eat on Long Street at this place called The Royale Eatery. It was a really unique restaurant. There was music note wallpaper and they had actual musical instruments hung on the wall. There were also bird cages hanging down from the ceilings. My mom and all her sisters would probably have loved the decor. The menus were also very neat. They were made to look like a published novel with hard covers and everything. They read like one too. By the time we ordered, it was already 8:15! We did get our food before 9 though.
We all got burgers and a milkshake. Mike told us the Royale was known for its peanut butter milkshakes, so I ordered a banana peanut butter chocolate one. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed in it. The peanut butter was incredibly thick and was not mixed in well enough. I couldn’t eat it very well and by the end the bottom of the cup was just pure peanut butter. Shout out to my brother Kyle who makes the best banana chocolate peanut butter shakes ever – I want one when I get home. Luckily the burgers were absolutely amazing. I got the Hawaiin Piggy, which had bacon, cheese, pineapple and guacamole – yum! I love the ingredients in South Africa. They have avocado and pineapple on everything. Went back to the hotel and crashed. It had been a long and exhausting day. I still can’t believe I spent my Easter on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. That will be one to remember.
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| All of the girls! |
Tuesday was a very busy day. It was filled with much touring around in Cape Town and stopping at a number of locations. I was very happy to have Mike join us on our bus, because along the way he gave us an incredible amount of history. It was all very interesting and we could relate it back to some of the things we have been learning in our classes. Our first stop was supposedly one of the most scenic views in all of Africa. The weather was kind of bad again, though. It was windy, cold and foggy. The view was beautiful though. It overlooked the ocean with mountains all around. Langerry had a giant photo shoot – flat pics, girls pic, boys pic, individuals, you name it, it was taken. At that lookout, there were bricks everywhere that people had signed. I was happy to find out that Laura had brought a sharpie with her, so we wrote on a brick! It said “Bennies & Johnnies, SA 2011.”
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| Leaving our mark. |
Next stop was this little place Mike is really fond of. We got coffee and pastries. I had real coffee for the first time in forever! Powder coffee is really convenient down here, so that’s all I have been drinking. Just around the corner there were a bunch of cute little “gifty shops” as my mom and Aunt Theresa would say.
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| Real coffee and a chocolate almond bar - yum. |
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| Lighthouse on the top of Cape Point. |
We continued our drive out of the city and towards the coast. Our next stop would be Cape Point, the southwestern most tip in Africa. Cape Point is very close to the Cape of Good Hope, which we drove past. Once we got to the touristy area of Cape Point we walked all the way up a steep path to get to the lighthouse.
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| Cape Point! View from lighthouse at the top. |
I was so sore from climbing Table Mountain the day before. My calves were on fire. But I made it to the top. It was super windy but had an awesome view. It was so beautiful! All we saw was ocean. I went to the souvenir shop and went a little crazy. They had a lot of good stuff. Grabbed a quick lunch and we had to be on our way again. On the way out we saw baboons everywhere. They were so cute!
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| Baboons on the side of the road! |
We made a quick stop at Boulders Bay where they have a penguin colony. There were so many penguins everywhere! They were adorable, just waddling around. But we were literally there for 15 minutes because we were already running late for our wine tasting. Hop back on the bus and away we go! Groot Constantia was the name of the vineyard we went to. It was the oldest vineyard in the southern hemisphere! Established in 1685 – very cool.
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| Wine tasting some Blanc de Noir |
We got to try five different kinds of wine. The first was a Sauvignon Blanc, which ended up being my favorite. Probably because it won 3rd best Sauvignon Blanc in the world! I bought a bottle to bring home. The next was Blanc de Noir, a white wine made with red grapes, so it looked pink in color. The third was a Shiraz, my least favorite. Then we had Cabernet, not bad and Port last. The Port was a dessert wine. It was extremely sweet, almost too sweet. Very good, but I could definitely see why it was a dessert wine. I really enjoyed wine tasting. I wish we could have had more time for a tour, though. Glancing outside, the vineyard was right in front of some mountains. It was beautiful.
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| Groot Constantia vineyards |
We went home and got ready for dinner. This time we went to a place called Davinchi’s. Mike said it was known for their pizzas. You just get three toppings of whatever you like. Sticking with the avocado and pineapple theme, I got chicken, avocado and pineapple pizza. It was honestly the best pizza I have ever had – topping wise. I think Gary’s Pizza in St. Joe wins for best crust. But besides that, I really wish avocado was used more in the United States. It’s just so delicious!
After dinner I had to go to bed right away. We would be leaving at 5 am for our flight to Durban. I packed at night so as not to wake my roommate up in the morning. I had a great time in Cape Town. It went by so fast. We packed so much in every day. I wish I could have stayed longer. One day I hope to go back to the Mother City.
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