As I write this I am sitting at the coolest coffee shop in Cape Town on my last day in Africa, only hours before leaving for the airport to head to Istanbul. I have neglected updating the blog for some time now because my time in South Africa has been such a whirlwind.
A couple of days ago we crossed over the border from Namibia into South Africa to stay at our first campsite on the Orange River. The border crossing was a breeze. We didn't even have to show our yellow fever vaccination certificates, even though we were told that it was absolutely essential to have one in order to cross into South Africa. A lot of us were very sad to be leaving Namibia and it's beautiful landscapes, but I quickly learned that South Africa's beauty easily compares and may even exceed that of Namibia's. While Namibia had the stunning rock formations and striking diversity in the color and texture of each region, South Africa has a softer appearance with its green rolling hills and looming mountains.
The drive on our first day in South Africa was nothing compared to our usual day. Once we crossed the border we turned back upwards to follow the orange river (which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia) 22 km to our campsite, which was called the Growcery. Our drive was filled with viewing farms from the truck windows, and we even saw a couple of funny signs as we neared our campsite warning drivers to slow down or else they would kill the cucumbers that were growing. Our campsite was great. The owners had 4 dogs that ran around the site wanting to play and get belly rubs, and the river was beautiful. The camp staff offered different activities, but we were all very keen to take it slowly. My cold was pretty terrible that day, so I was extremely content to get some rest. One of the other funny things about this campsite was the structure of the showers - each one had a big window to the outside cut out of the wall at head height. The men's showers were facing the river, so all of the people walking past could see them showering! I almost died when someone came back to our campsite and showed me a picture of one of our fellow travelers who had been showering, with a head full of shampoo and a beer in hand when they had passed and snapped the pic.
That evening the camp staff cooked for us and we had a great game meal of Oryx stew, peas and mash. We were also celebrating Gary's birthday, one of the Austrians on our trip, and he and Eva were kind enough to buy wine and beer for the table. Apparently in Germany and Austria the custom is to buy drinks for all of the others who have come to celebrate with you for your birthday. I think it's a nice custom, but it is completely opposite how we do it at home! Because we had cause to celebrate, it was the first night any of us drank more than one or two drinks, and we decided to prank. There was another G truck at our campsite that was traveling the opposite way (Cape Town to Nairobi), and since they were so fresh on the road we decided to mess with them. While they were all at dinner four or five of us ran into their camp site and unsnapped all of their tents and collapsed all of their chairs around the campfire. It was a harmless prank, but it made them laugh and try to get revenge on us. Due to one of my friends fast talking they decided to only get back at one guy in our group, and wrapped his entire tent up in plastic wrap.
The night was a good one, with pretty stars and good company, and we left early the next morning as per usual. That next day we drove through some beautiful country side as we made our way to a midway point between the border and Cape Town for the night. We stopped at a campsite called Highlanders Backpackers which may have been located in paradise. The site had a pool that overlooked a river and endless fields of grape vines below it. The property owners were on of 40 properties that contributed their grapes to a wine cellar that produced the full spectrum of wines. That evening we had the opportunity to do a tasting of their wines and enjoy a cheese board for 70 rand. Instead of a normal camp dinner, we did a snack dinner that night along side the tasting and had ourselves a nice affair. We learned about the pilotage grape, which is only grown in South Africa and was produced by grafting two grape plants together, and tried their famous desert wines. Purchasing a bottle of wine came in at about $8.50, so after the tasting ended we ordered a couple of bottles to accompany the rest of the snacks we had. One of the coolest things about the night was meeting a group from Whole Foods that was also staying at the property while they did volunteer work in the community. 2 of the people were from Austin, and it gave me such joy to have a little piece of home there. One woman worked at miracle foundation, which is a great Austin charity that finances orphanages across India and is one that I have given to in the past. The other was a recent UT grad who is working in PR and has a pretty incredible role at Whole Foods. She also marked my 9th UT grad to run into while in Africa - Hook 'Em. The conversation that night turned towards business and charity and the interface between them, as well as the complications behind searching for profitability while creating social good. It was fascinating to hear all of the perspectives. The best thing about the night, however, was seeing 15 shooting stars on my last night of camping in South Africa. I went to bed later than normal and woke up earlier than normal, but it was so worth it. We left for our final leg of driving at 7:30 after an amazing full breakfast prepared by my tent mate Sara, and arrived in Cape Town around 2 p.m.
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| The original six on our final day on the truck. From left to right: me, Michael and Elysia (from Canada), Mayumi and Saori (from Japan), and Sara (from New Zealand). |
What a city Cape Town is! I'm just in love with the style and culture, and I do believe you would be hard pressed to find another place with such a dynamic and diverse history. We checked into our hotel and then promptly departed for a quick stroll around the company gardens before returning to meet up with everyone for our final farewell dinner. The Company Gardens were planted by the Dutch to feed and restock all of their ships as they travelled around the cape towards India in pursuit of the spice trade. The gardens are full of exotic flowers, big grey squirrels that are better fed than a king, and a ton of different species of birds. At the end of the gardens we happened upon the beginning of the parliament buildings, as well as the Jewish history museum and the oldest synagogue in the city. It was cool seeing how compact everything is, and how walkable of a city it is. We decided that we were starving and could wait for dinner (somehow we hadn't been given lunch even though we were supposed to), so Saskia took us to one of her favorite places that she had explored when she was here for school before joining us in Livingstone - it was called The Great Eastern Food Bizarre, and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. That's an exaggeration, but it was amazing. I ordered a hummus for 15 rand ($1.50), and I got a full to-go box full of a huge serving of hummus, salads, sauces and more with a big piece of naan to go with it. You could order Chinese food, Turkish food or Indian food and everything was extremely inexpensive, served in large portions, and tasted awesome. Apparently during lunch time the bazaar feeds thousands of locals each day. It was a place that blended locals, travelers and people from all different economic backgrounds. It was perfect.
We made it back to the hotel in time and met up with everyone for our big farewell dinner. I was a little too exhausted by the time I got there, so I struggled to stay awake towards the end but it was still a nice affair. The next morning I moved my stuff out of my room and left it in Tim's while he, Saskia, Nikki, Ben and I went on our Robben Island tour. Robben Island was where Nelson Mandela and other South African and Namibian political prisoners were imprisoned. Mandela had spent 18 years on the island. The tour consisted of a prison tour that was guided by an ex-political prisoner, and a bus tour of the island that showed us the bird conservancy, the WWII weapons bunker, and the quarry where the prisoners had to mine the blue rock that built all of the buildings on the island - but also was a powerful place where ideas of freedom were exchanged between the different leaders. Some people call the island "The University," because of the political education gained by its inhabitants from their interactions with one another during their terms of imprisonment. In fact, the University of London helped to make degree plans available to inmates while they were there so that they could still pursue studies.
On the tour I also saw seals, whales, and a penguin! When we got back to the waterfront we grabbed a bite to eat and then caught a cab to our hotel where we strapped on our hiking boots then immediately turned back around to head to table mountain. We arrived at the base at 3 pm, and had to make it back down before the sun set at 5:30. Wow. That hike was INTENSE. It was extremely steep, and consisted almost entirely of rock steps that advanced ever upward.
The climb burned, and we couldn't take too many breaks in order to ensure that we wouldn't get stuck on the mountain side in the dark, but the views and nature that we walked through were just gorgeous. We made it to the top in 2 hours, and walked along the path at the top to see the sea and the city views. After a few pictures and some deep breaths we turned back down, and captured a beautiful sunset on the way down. Our legs were shaking, and our ankles felt weak, but we stepped off of the trail just before the light disappeared from the sky, at 6:20 p.m. Needless to say, I didn't have an active night after that, but the day was one to remember. The biggest bummer, however, was receiving an email that evening telling us that our shark diving trip for the following morning had been cancelled due to weather. I was so excited to dive with the sharks, but since it didn't happen I was able to save some money, sleep a little more, and prevent pneumonia by not jumping into ice cold water in the middle of winter with my cold... I guess it was a good thing it was cancelled, but I'll have to come back.
Instead of shark cage diving we took a train out to Stellenbosch for wine tastings. I met up with Courtney, a friend from UT and one of my travel mates from the Euro-tour in 2012. She's in town for an internship with a social enterprise, and still has another 5 weeks to go. I am so jealous. The wine tastings were a little bit of a fail, since we started our day too late we missed all of the scheduled tours, but one winery gave us wine while we browsed the shop and let us sample some of the others. We grabbed lunch in town before catching the return train at 3:45 in order to avoid being on it at dark. That night Courtney and I decided to go out, and we got to explore Long Street, which felt like a cross between Bourbon Street and Sixth in Austin. It was a good time, and I made it home decently early.
The next day (yesterday) Saskia left. We walked around time one last time before her taxi whisked her away, but everything was closed in town because it was Sunday. Since nothing was really open I decided to do the mini-peninsula tour on the hop-on hop-off bus, and got to see the wider region around Cape Town and a couple of other vineyards. It was a rainy day so I didn't do much, but I enjoyed myself nevertheless. It was the first time I was alone in 6 weeks. Tim is still in town, so we decided the day before to meet up for dinner last night, and we explored a good Italian restaurant on Kloof street, an extremely trendy and cosmopolitan street. The meal was incredible. I went to bed early, packed up my bag this morning, and came here for coffee and some reflection. I'll miss Africa. I'll miss Cape Town. I'll miss G Adventures. However, I am SO excited to get back to Austin. I feel so blessed to have a home that I can't wait to return to after traveling to some of the coolest places in the world. It's amazing to see how globalized the world is, and how much travel allows for interaction between different cultures to find the similarities we share across the world, and how it allows for us to learn from others and to admire the differences. My tour consisted of Germans, New Zealanders, Austrians, English, Americans, Japanese, South Africans, and Kenyans. Across the table from me right now are guys from Israel. There are some people that are easier to relate to than others because of cultural or stylistic similarities, or because of language commonalities. Yet, there's always a conversation to be had, and something to agree about. Often there are disagreements and opinions about politics and lifestyle that differ from one to another. Yet I find the best experiences to be when we can look towards the future and share hope and passion about creating a world that will embrace and love it's citizens, that will create value and will grow beyond the hardships that it has. The best conversations are hearing how others want to take action to make the world more beautiful. Everyone has a dream, and travel brings it out of people. Travel places things into perspective for people, and allows them to see what is essential to joy and happiness of the individual and for the community. It gives people courage to break the norm that they have set for themselves, and allows them to see the flexibility with which they can craft their own route through the world. For me, it has taught me a new appreciation of how I interact with the things I own. I have a better understanding of the meaning of utility, a stronger willingness to share with others and to understand needs apart from wants, and a confidence that I can lose things in my life and still find a way to rebuild, no matter where in the world I am. I have learned resiliency in a way that I would have never imagined. I know that I have the power to be happy no matter what the circumstances are around me, just by changing my perspective. I know that I have the strength to be unmoored and alien in a new land and still find peace. I know that I have the heart to be able to connect with any human in some way, despite language, background or religion. For these things I thank travel, and I thank my family for supporting me through it. I still have Istanbul and Peru left this summer, but I am ready for Dallas and the next stage of life after such a wonderful summer of touring.
