hey
so our time here in Cape Town has come to an end - tomorrow we leave to go to Edeni, a private game reserve, along with a day in Kruger National park- South Africa's largest! SUPER excited for that, but it will def be sad to leave cape town. we've gotten to do all the major things on my list, but as always, more time would have been better!
i guess i left you in some suspense about the shark diving, but it was AWESOME! after bringing new meaning to the phrases "butt crack of dawn" and "if the trip getting there didnt kill you then nothing will" we got into the lodge for some breakfast and briefing on the boat/cages/sharks/etc. i wasnt really scared at that point (a bit too groggy) but i didnt actually freak out at all- the boat ride out to "shark alley" was beautiful! it was super overcast and the water SUPER rocky (we had to change our schedule for the weather - it was rainy/stormy from about thurs-wed! ewww!)but as soon as we saw the first shark i couldnt wait to get in! i had some trouble getting my bearings in the cage, but the sharks came around several times, VERY close to us so everything worked out! no, i didnt get sick- was feeling really gross when i first got out of the cage, but it all worked out! incredible day!
we had to change up our plans for the weekend because of all the rain, but we got to check out cape town's museums downtown anyway! (and of course restaurants- had some AMAZING indian food; o club mcat memories! <3)
a miscommunication kept our trip to the District Six Museum a bit too short, but it was one of the more passionate ones i've ever seen. People living in District Six, a thriving multicultural community, were forced to move to the racially separate Cape Flats and watch their houses be bulldozed in the 1960s. On the floor was a map of the district, and people (including our driver for these weeks, al)had come and written their name where they lived. Incredible. For dinner that night we went out to Africa Cafe where each course (10+ or so) came from a different part of Africa- very cool, although the Ghanaian dish was NOT my favorite....oops?
The trip to Robben Island also got postponed because of weather, but we decided to go to the CT aquarium instead! Robben Island has some work to do- the tour itself was interesting and very good, but it wasnt a museum like it said; i guess things are still coming together! seeing nelson mandela's cell (during his 18 yrs on the island) was cool but reminded me why i dont really care about visiting famous sites- it looked exactly like the others, except it still had original furniture in it!
Since the weather cleared up today, we were able to do some more hiking- this time up to lion's head, visible between table mountain and the ocean. we didnt make it all the way to the top bc the sun was setting (we were told to go to watch the sun set, but also to be back before it got dark!) but it was an amazing hike/rock climb to the top! i'll try to post some pictures of it, but the last couple hundred feet are just almost vertical rock- VERY cool, but not conducive to hurrying up OR down! BEAUTIFUL!
So its time to say goodbye to cape town :( but its been SO awesome! sorry for the ramblings, im not proofreading heh-
i wont have any contact with the outside world for the next week but i <3 u all!!!! <3
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Week 2 - adventures!
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Week 1
Hey everyone,
so i've been keeping track of things in a small journal and intending to just type that into here, but thats really not going to happen so here's the highlights-!
Yes, i'm here, i got here safely, and without any problems. The plus side of more than 23 hours on planes and almost 9 in JFK is that i got a TON of reading done. Its been really nice to not have it on my mind this week! its been strange to be the one who is on top of things and actually know something on the subject (yay evans!)
Cape Townians claim that Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world- im not prepared to affirm or refute that statement quite yet, but it IS amazing. Wherever you go, no matter if you're at the touristy waterfront, on campus, or in the township, the gorgeous mountains are always visible! its AMAZING, i almost miss the ocean slightly less....;)
Campus is also very cool - by a mistake, we're staying in in Upper campus, the oldest part- they were even filming a movie next to our dorm set in the 1600s when we got here (very cool costumes!). This means we're closest to the prettiest parts of campus, and you its high up enough that our windows look out over all of the townships surrounding Cape Town, and up at Table Mountain and others!
In other news, i actually did find at least one person on my program who will be staying in SA after the program- i'm SUPER stoked (and sorry to all of you who said that this would happen and i told you that you were crazy!) and not even tripping about it much at the moment! woot!
We havent been out to do tooooo much fun stuff yet, cept that we got an overview of cape town and were able to go to a township today- i think that alone will warrant an entire blog, but for now, i'll leave you in suspense.....anyway, since we've had a lot of free time on our hands we've gotten to know each other really well- VERY cool! There are 21 of us so its a bit difficult to travel as a "herd" (as our prof calls us, gr) but there's always someone to hang and talk with - believe it or not, i dont talk nearly as much as some people lol....
O and i've eaten pumba.... as in lion king..... his ribs- they were quite tasty! but really havent seen much crazy animal life yet- just some weird birds haha
Anyway, sorry for the long post and almost sorry that its been a while since i've been in contact with most of you- we are having trouble getting UCT (university of cape town) to let us on the computers and its not open very often (UCT is on vacation right now) so it takes a bit more effort to get off campus....
Anyway, hope everything is going well and i havent bored you with all my blabbing!
much <3,
anita
so i've been keeping track of things in a small journal and intending to just type that into here, but thats really not going to happen so here's the highlights-!
Yes, i'm here, i got here safely, and without any problems. The plus side of more than 23 hours on planes and almost 9 in JFK is that i got a TON of reading done. Its been really nice to not have it on my mind this week! its been strange to be the one who is on top of things and actually know something on the subject (yay evans!)
Cape Townians claim that Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world- im not prepared to affirm or refute that statement quite yet, but it IS amazing. Wherever you go, no matter if you're at the touristy waterfront, on campus, or in the township, the gorgeous mountains are always visible! its AMAZING, i almost miss the ocean slightly less....;)
Campus is also very cool - by a mistake, we're staying in in Upper campus, the oldest part- they were even filming a movie next to our dorm set in the 1600s when we got here (very cool costumes!). This means we're closest to the prettiest parts of campus, and you its high up enough that our windows look out over all of the townships surrounding Cape Town, and up at Table Mountain and others!
In other news, i actually did find at least one person on my program who will be staying in SA after the program- i'm SUPER stoked (and sorry to all of you who said that this would happen and i told you that you were crazy!) and not even tripping about it much at the moment! woot!
We havent been out to do tooooo much fun stuff yet, cept that we got an overview of cape town and were able to go to a township today- i think that alone will warrant an entire blog, but for now, i'll leave you in suspense.....anyway, since we've had a lot of free time on our hands we've gotten to know each other really well- VERY cool! There are 21 of us so its a bit difficult to travel as a "herd" (as our prof calls us, gr) but there's always someone to hang and talk with - believe it or not, i dont talk nearly as much as some people lol....
O and i've eaten pumba.... as in lion king..... his ribs- they were quite tasty! but really havent seen much crazy animal life yet- just some weird birds haha
Anyway, sorry for the long post and almost sorry that its been a while since i've been in contact with most of you- we are having trouble getting UCT (university of cape town) to let us on the computers and its not open very often (UCT is on vacation right now) so it takes a bit more effort to get off campus....
Anyway, hope everything is going well and i havent bored you with all my blabbing!
much <3,
anita
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