South Africa

     Day One- I woke up early for breakfast and the ships arrival to Cape Town! This Table Mountain everyone had been talking about was right in front of my eyes and absolutely breath taking (see picture below). The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. I couldn’t wait to get off the ship and explore. In the previous countries the ports were very industrial and required a 10-15 minute shuttle to get out, but not Cape Town! The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront had hotels, restaurants, entertainment and a large shopping mall. I was going on a semester at sea trip about wine production and management in the afternoon, so I scurried off the ship to explore the waterfront first thing. I wandered through souvenir shops and went to a craft market that was full of original art and jewelry before I had to get back for my trip. The trip was loaded with fun people and it turned out that all we would be doing was wine tasting! We visited the Backsberg Wine Estate first. It was in the original plan to walk through and learn about the production but the power was out, instead we were lead down a dark hallway where a 50 foot table was set up for a wine tasting by candle light. We were all obviously new to wine tasting so the guide directed us through the selection one by one. It ended with our guide showing us how to taste brandy. He informed us to warm the brandy by wrapping the palm of your hand around the bottom of the glass, waft the smell from afar, take the liquor in to your mouth and swish it around until it has touched each corner of your mouth (including your gums), breath in and then swallow. We all would have done it completely wrong if he hadn’t showed us. At our next stop, the Nelson Estate, we were given a tour of the facility starting with the actual vines. There was so much knowledge behind picking and pairing the grapes to make specific wines it was very interesting. We concluded our stay at the Nelson Estate with another wine tasting.
My friend Gretchen from Eckerd, who is studying abroad in Cape Town this semester, met me when we got back from the winelands.  She, Matt and I went out to eat at a restaurant that was something like a Native American themed Chili's, and I poorly chose a bacon cheeseburger. I can't remember the last time I had a greasy burger with cheese and bacon, but later my stomach was not happy about my decision. It was a Saturday night so after dinner we went out to Long Street to meet up with some of Gretchen's friends. I was having a great time until my stomach finally started reacting to my burger. At this point Gretchen and her friends were ready to take us to a music venue/bar called Mercury. The band there was a drum and bass band, which was misleading. It was actually a combination of techno/screamo music turned up so loud that the bass vibrations beat your heart for you. I didn't mind the music, but my stomach was so upset that I didn't want to see food or alcohol. I stood for a long time in the crowd trying to forget about my stomach issues. I ended up sitting down after a while and that’s when I realized that I would be better off if I just threw up and got it out of my stomach so I asked if we could leave. Matt got a pizza at a street vendor while we waited then brought it into the cab with us. The combination of its smell and the movement of the car immediately made me more nauseous. I asked Gretchen to get out of the cab at the next stoplight and as soon as I got out I projectile vomited in the street! Blah! I thought I was feeling better, but I ended up waking up in the middle of the night to motion of the ship rocking, but I was at Gretchen's apartment and not on the ship! I went back to sleep thinking that it would just go away, but that didn’t do it. I woke up at 6am, sat up in my bed, tried to fight the "land sickness" feeling and projectile vomited again on Gretchen's carpet! Gretchen and Maria woke up instantly. I was so embarrassed. I cleaned up my throw up and took some Pepto, then we all went back to sleep.

     Day two- Our original plan was to go to a Braai, which is a traditional South African barbeque, but my stomach wasn’t feeling strong enough to buy a bucket of meat and drink all day. Instead, we decided to take the train to Simons Town to see the penguins! It was an adventure trying to get there because Gretchen had never used the train before,  but when we finally got there the penguins were a rewarding treat.  In the evening I went out with Maria and two other girls from the ship to Cape to Cuba, a Cuban restaurant. Then we Salsa danced until 3am. It was the first night I spent in a port where other SAS kids didn’t show up at the same place. We had a blast.

    Day three- Maria and I cycled through the winelands! What an awesome experience. I had perfect weather and beautiful scenery while CYCLING! :D It was definitely a workout. It should have clicked that winelands are often in the mountains and that I would be cycling in the mountains, but it didn’t. I guess am just used to flat Florida. We rode two different rides and had two wine tastings in between. There was a couple on our trip that have been together for a while now, and at our first wine tasting, the boy dropped a ring in her wine glass and proposed! None of us knew had a clue what was going on, but it was pretty exciting when we realized what had happened.

     Day four- Gretchen came to get me after her classes to climb Table Mountain, but the weather was too cloudy. In Cape Town the clouds are called the tablecloth, and when its on the mountain it is not safe to climb. Instead she took me to the township (ghetto) that she volunteers at weekly.  We taught a group of children in a foster home math. She has the same class of 13 year olds every week.  I'm glad I went to the township because got to see the living situation of the people in SA. In comparison with other poor places I've seen, Mexico, Morocco, Ghana, the worst by far is South Africa. If you only stayed in the waterfront/touristy areas you would never guess that the living situation for these people was so terrible. The waterfront made me feel like I was in Europe, but as you drove on the highway you saw wooden and tin shacks stacked on top of each other where people lived without electricity. In the evening we went to a charity concert for the organization that Gretchen and I volunteered with at the townships. The band was the Weekend Warriors who are American and actually really good. After the show we called it an early night compared to the rest of the ship.

    Day five- I used the internet to upload photos on facebook which I believe you have all seen, picked up some essential items from the grocery store (oreos and shampoo), and spent my time relaxing at the beautiful waterfront before heading out in the evening.

ps. Sorry this was so late. I promise I'll catch up.