hellooooo!
Essay # 2 was due today, so i have a bit of time to catch up on all thats up, way down here! We've all been pretty busy- i think yesterday was the first day of the whole trip that we didnt go out and do something!
So a bit of orientation- UCT is actually in Rondebosch, to the east of Cape Town. There are mountains and Water everywhere from Cape Town (its actually in a little bowl haha) down to cape point- aka cape of good hope (btw, its NOT Where the atlantic and indian oceans meet, so i probably wont get to see the indian ocean:(- its pretty far away!). its been great for people like me who love climbing mountains and also the ocean (o and it says hi, btw ;))
class hasnt been too amazing, but we're done by noon every day so its nice to be done and have the rest of the day to ourselves- o wait, jk, bc there's usually something planned already!!! haha
last thursday a couple of us decided to go on a hike up. literally, just climb as much as we could from our dorm on campus - we ran into the rhodes memorial (who knew that the former country Rhodesia was named after a white guy who has several memorials around here?) and then found actual trails! although table mountain via cable car a few days later gave a much larger view, we got up high enough on our own power to for some incredible views!- i went kinda picture-happy but it was SUPER fun just to be quirky w/ the new friends.....!
cape point was probably my favorite day so far- its obviously winter here and the weather is pretty unpredictable :(. when we started driving it was raining and really gross- one of the roads was closed bc of the rain and by the time we got to the entrance of the reserve, it was so foggy we could barely see BUT in the process of our ecology lesson (and stopping for pictures of steenbok (antelope) and ostriches, but unfortunately only a single passing baboon) and driving more, it was completely clear by the time we got to the actual point! we didnt have time to go allllll the way out to the tip as far as you can go, but we were so lucky with the weather that it was amazing anyway! on our way back up, we stopped near simonstown to Boulders Beach to see the PENGUINS!!!!! there were SOOOOO many! the "jackass penguins" (you should hear them!) formally known as the African Penguins were incredibly cute and i think we all took more pictures than really should be allowed! heh, SUPER fun!
we spent a day doing the stellenbosch wineries - some good, some not so much, but we all splurged at the last one for a gigantic buffet- very touristy/cliche but we got to EAT ostrich, kudu (antelope), more warthog, zulu cabbage, anything with curry, and our favorite wine(s) from the day's tasting! woot!
Table mountain SO did not disapoint me other than we kinda rushed across it- wasnt too much of a fan of the cable car going so quickly up the hill and turning at the same time (aka you cant hold on to anything but you're moving in every direction! aaaaaah! gonna crash into the side of the mountain!!!!!! aaaaaah!!!) but the view was incredible and again we lucked out to get VERY clear weather! at one point i did an entire 360 video view of everything around me- AND since its a TABLE, i didnt have to get too close to the edge of the almost vertical cliffs to get a good view-phew!
kirstenbosch garden is a gigantic botanical garden- i wish i knew more about biology/ecology/plants/birds bc it would have been MUCH cooler if i did, but it was the nicest weather day we've had on our trip - o and there was a medicinal plant area w/ signs as to what the plants could be/were used for- along with LARGE signs telling us not to self-medicate......heh.....maybe they should have told our guide that.....jk......almost....
Anyway, i guess thats a lot of blabbing for now but tomorrow is our SHARK cage-diving trip!!!! scary. not gonna lie, i'm scared, esp since its so stormy today..... :( we actually had to reschedule it for the morning instead of the afternoon bc of the storm :( no woot for 4:30am bus times! we also have the rest of the weekend free so we're gonna hit up the museums of cape town and do some longer hiking!!! woohoo!!! and only one more week here in CT until we go to the game reserve to see all the super-cool animals! woot!
anyway, hope all is well! sorry for the long post! much <3!
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2 comments:
Um, so this is almost creepy - literally 2 days ago I screened an episode of "The Victory Garden" at work where they were in South Africa (it's this awful boring gardening show that PBS is re-airing random episodes of). Here's the episode description:
"Guest correspondent and renowned English horticulturist Adrian Bloom journeys to the heart of South Africa's famous wine-growing valley,
Stellenbosch, to visit the Vergelegen Estate. Framed by the majestic Hottentot Mountains, this famous estate features long garden vistas that
include 50-foot perennial borders, 300-year old camphor trees from Japan and a breathtaking white garden. Then, Bloom visits Kirstenbosch, one
of the world's great botanical gardens. Situated on the slopes of Cape Town's Table Mountain, the garden contains a unique collection of native
southern Africa plants, as well as miles of trails that showcase a variety of ecosystems."
Um... DUDE! So I actually, weirdly enough, can picture pretty exactly a bunch of the things you were describing!! I remember the mountains were just beyond beautiful, and the botanical garden place seemed pretty neat too. I'm glad you're getting to see such awesome stuff and are having a good time!
- Liz
Hey DUDE!!!!
What in the world does "woot" mean?
Sounds like you are having a good time and seeing alot of interesting things.
Talk to you later, DUDE!!
Bob, Alice & Ann
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