Title: Adventure Haven

Entry:

How's it?
(Like every South African will ask of the English speaking upon meeting)

South Africa is packed with things to do, places to see, and food to eat.

To start off my Cape Town experience I hiked Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the famous backdrop to Cape Town and it's one of the things that makes it so special. Like the name suggests it is flat like a table on top. There are also surrounding mountains one of which is called Lion's Head, and you guessed it, it kinda looks like a lion's head. To get anywhere in Cape Town you had to take taxi or cab. Yes, there is a difference. The cabs are the bigger, van hired transportation and the taxis are the car-sized hired transportation. It took us about 80 Rand (local currency) to get to the cable car on table mountain. That is a decent amount. It comes out to about ten to eleven U.S. dollars and it's a pretty good distance. Our cab actually had a hard time getting to the top. i think the car was just a little out of shape but when we started to go up hill the driver had to pump the gas to get any movement. After a long putter half way up the stretch of mountain to the cable car another taxi was nice enough to pull over. The second cab driver didn't even ask to be paid. When we got to the cable car we walked up a little further to the first trail that we found. The trail we hiked was called Platteklip Gorge. It was a steep narrow climb to the top. The trail ran along a water that streamed down the mountain. We just took our time going up because that first day was very sunny and hot. Luckily it was clear to because when we made it to the top roughly three hours later the view was perfect. As you walked along the flat top of the mountain you could see the chains of mountains that created a half circle around the city and beach below. The beaches led into the ever extending ocean that met the sky. The timing could not have been more perfect because by time we had cooled down and gotten a bite to eat the sun started going down. There was also a wedding going on near by too, which made for a really special first day. We sat there tired from the hike with full bellies, lounged back in our seats with the string quartet from the wedding playing as we watched the sun begin to settle behind the ocean. It was by far the best day to hike Table Mountain because the rest of the time we were in Cape Town the "table cloth" of clouds covered the table top. We didn't have much time to get down before the park closed at seven so we took the cable car down, which was a fun ride. As you descended, the cable car rotated so that everyone had a chance to catch a view out of the open window. Luckily, the whole thing was surrounded in windows but the best pictures were taken through the open window.

The next day was a much more exciting one. A group of friends and I woke up very early so that we could meet the bus just outside the ship at 5a.m. From there it was a bit of a race for time because in oder to do what we wanted we had to beat the morning tide. After picking up a few other passengers from around Cape Town we headed to Gansbaai for our great white shark dive! It was one of the best experiences I've had. After we got out to our spot nar an island we got our tutorial speech. It was hard to listen because it was very cold and we all had our eyes out for the first shark. As our guide was talking to us the boats crew was already throwing some bate into the water to attract the sharks. Just about the time our guide was finished talking (he's done this a few times before) a shark appears. My friends and I were sitting on the bow of the ship on the port side leaning against the railing to get a good view. Then, really slowly the shark floats out from under us and shows itself. Seeing it for the first time was pretty intimidating because it was much bigger then I expected. Our guide estimated that they were 3 to 4 meters long and they were about as wide as two of me standing next to each other. The best part was getting in the cage to see them up close and personal. The cage was attached to the port side of the boat near the aft. It had floatation devises at the top of the cage so that if it was to come detached we still be reasonably safe. It also had a lid that was barred like the cage itself. The cage was grated so that the spaces were one square foot so you could easily reach out of the cage, which was slightly tempting at times. Tempting only until you realized the huge animal two inches in front of you could take your arm with no struggle. We were only in the cage for about 5 to 10 minutes at a time but you got to go in as many times as you wanted. You would think that people would go in a ton but the water was so cold that most people just went a few times. I managed to go in three times but it was tough. So the way it worked was five people were in the cage at once. Then they rotated you out. The first person would get out then the next person would go in at the end. Then, the second person would get out and the next person would go in, so on and so forth until everybody was done. The boats crew was bating the shark the whole time you were in the cage. They would throw the bate out and slowly pull it in and throw it back out until the shark tried to get it. When the crew saw that the shark was close they would yell "down!" Then, all the five people in the cage would take as deep of a breath as they could and stay under as long as they could. The views were amazing from below the water. You would hook your feet under a bar at the bottom of the cage and watch the shark circle around you eyeing the bate... or you. It was hard to tell sometimes. It turned out to be a great day. After a while, the water got really clear and the sun came out. One time the shark even got a little crazy and popped the floatation devise at the top of the cage. By the way, the floatation devises were inside the cage. The lady that was next to it flipped out, as would I most likely. She saw some pretty intimidating jaws come right for her. But really it was trying to get the bate that was next to the cage. After the shark fun, we drove around and saw some other amazing animals. We saw several whales that were pretty close to the boat. We saw sea lions that did tricks for us and we even saw the penguins that Kyrie told us about! I tried to get a good picture for you guys but you can't really tell what it is because we were kind of far from them.

Day three was pretty uneventful because most of us were pretty tired from the day before. A friend of mine and I decide that we would go to Camp's Bay and have a relaxing day. At Camp's Bay they have a nice beach (The same beach that we saw from the top of Table Mountain). They also have a bunch of restaurants. Even though it was cold we spent the day on the beach and climbing the big rocks that lined part of the shore. We also had a chance to have some sushi at one of the restaurants.

The next day was pretty fun despite a bee sting that I got. We went to the wine lands and went horse back riding. There were three of us. We took a taxi driver for the day. It was also common here for the taxi driver to stay with you all day, just like in Ghana. We had to go pretty far so the only way to have a ride back was for your driver to stay. On the way out there we got pretty lost but we saw a lot of cool things that we wouldn't have scene otherwise. One of the places was a bed and breakfast with the same name as the farm we were headed to. It was kind of a magical place because the path was a narrow rock drive that led through brilliant flowers and trees. The houses on the property look liked little cottages and they ha birds, dogs, and a pig roaming around. We only stopped for a few minutes to figure out where we were but we got out to stretch our legs. Also, my friends wanted to pet the pig. It wa pretty big but when Rebecca went up to it it rolled over just like a dog for her to pet it's stomach. After we finally found our farm we mounted our horses and rode through a bit of the Paarl mountain range for about two hours. On the mountain sides we trotted through grape fields, wooded areas, and protea fields (the national flower of South Africa). This made for another fun but tiring day in South Africa.

The fifth day was the day for my safari! Kyrie and Myleiah, you two would have loved it. You two said you love animals, especially in South Africa. We got to see lions, giraffe, springbok, zebra, water buck, and oryx along with some other interesting animals. I went to a reserve called Inverdoorn where they have large pieces of land fenced off to help rehabilitate game that might eventually be let back into the wild. We spent a few hours in a Jeep-like vehicle that drove all along the property with a guide that informed us all along the way.

On the last day all I had time for was a hop on hop off bus tour of Cape Town. It was a good way to see what you wanted to see in town. They have these kind of tours everywhere like New York. I highly suggest them you are unfamiliar with the area because you can get on and off the bus at your leisure because it makes stops every twenty minutes or so. It was a nice end to my Cape Town experience.

One last thing that I wanted to mention for Jacob Neff was about things they do for fun in South Africa. One big one that everyone pays attention to is football (and I mean soccer). Next year, the world cup will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa and the town is preparing for the momentous occasion as we speak. While we were there you could see the construction of a brand new stadium that is nearing it's final stages of construction. It's huge! It has great views to because you look one direction and you see Table Mountain and then you look the other direction and you see the ocean. It doesn't get better then that while you are watching an exciting game of football with a crazy crowd.

There was lots of adventure in South Africa. I didn't even get a chance to do all that I wanted in the little time that I had but Mauritius here we come!