.We jumped in the Uber (15 mins later because we dropped our pin about 5 mins from where we actually were) and a few minutes later arrived at the cutest little hostel in all of Cape Town. We got our room and settled in as the only ones in the dorm for the night. After an hour of settling in and taking advantage of free WiFi we headed to Long Street for dinner and some drinks.
After a little (or a lot) of indecision about where to eat dinner, we settled on a restaurant called Mama Africa. We enjoyed some African style chicken curry, Zimbabwean dovi, pap, salads, and more. With super full bellies, we headed out to see what the night life was like. After a drink or two we headed home to prepare for our long and super touristy weekend in Cape Town
.On Saturday, we had a super lazy morning and eventually made it to Extrablatt Cafe in Green Point. We munched on some pizza and then hailed a taxi and headed to the Nelson Mandela Gateway to spend the day on Robben Island.
For those who don’t know, Robben Island was where Nelson Mandela and countless other freedom fighters were sent for their courageous opposition to the oppressive apartheid policies of the time. We took a huge ferry to the island and once we stopped feeling woozy, hopped on a bus to see the entirety of the island. While this part was informative about the history of the island and those who have inhabited it, the best part was the tour of the actual prison itself.
Our guide was a former political prisoner of the island and it was beyond moving to hear his story and the story of so many who fought the good fight only to end up on Robben Island, treated like common criminals. At one point, I was even moved to tears. This might just be because I’m a super emotional person, but after just finishing reading the story of Nelson Mandela’s life (Long Walk to Freedom, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this book) and to see the place where so much suffering occurred all in the name of justice and freedom was so incredible.
We finished the tour of the prison and then had a few minutes before the ferry left to take us back to Cape Town, so we went to see the small colony of penguins that inhabit the islands beaches. It was truly spectacular. The juxtaposition of the amazing views of Cape Town and Table Mountain and the wonderful wild life with the buildings that help so much suffering and oppression was truly a sight to see.
After we made it back, we spent a few minutes marveling at the gigantic H&M in the mall, grabbed a quick dinner, and then headed off to the hostel. We took the time to chat with our families, watch Netflix for the first time in what felt like ages (be warned if you ever come here, South African Netflix does not have Gilmore Girls :/), and resting up for our super packed day on Sunday.
We woke up Sunday morning super early prepared for an awesome Cape Peninsula Tour on the Baz Bus. After a quick breakfast and packing, the bus picked us up and we headed off to see some of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Our journey on the bus began in Hout Bay.
A relatively small bay, it didn’t seem like much when we first arrived until we made it onto a boat that took us out to see Seal Island. The island is just a bunch of rocks that male seals hang out at while they’re waiting to be of age for breeding. It was seriously so incredible to see all the seals just hangin out with the waves crashing over the rocks even though it was a super chilly morning.
Next, we hopped back on the bus to see the incredible views from Chapman’s Peak Drive. This is a road carved into the side of a mountain that has been the location for many a Mercedes and BMW commercial. The mountains and the sea meeting as we watched the waves crashed onto the beach was so spectacular. My only regret is that I sat on the wrong side of the bus so I didn’t get to get the greatest pictures. BUT, we got to stop for a snack in a little clearing by the side of the road. I think I would’ve been content just sitting there all day, but alas we had many more activities left on our agenda before the tour was over.
After a bit of a drive and some amazing views, we made it to Simon’s Town. Anyone who heard me talk endlessly about how excited I was to see the penguins before I arrived knows that this was my ultimate shining moment. In Simon’s Town there’s a beach where the African Penguins live called Boulder’s Beach. If I thought I was happy on Chapman’s Peak Drive, it was not much compared to the happiness that came from hanging with the penguins. I was NOT ready to leave when we realized it was time to get back on the bus.
Next, we were off to our final stop of the day: Table Mountain National Park. As soon as we arrived we pulled off to the side and hopped on some mountain bikes for a pretty amazing bike ride. I was a little anxious about this part because o be honest I hadn’t been on a bike in way too long, but after I got the hang of it it was a breeze and was seriously so incredible getting to take in the scenery instead of just zooming past it on the bus. After lunch, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Cape Point. We climbed what felt like endless stairs, but when we finally made it to the lighthouse the views were way beyond worth it.
After another too short visit to one of the most beautiful places in the world, we headed to our last stop, Cape of Good Hope. I felt pretty dumb when our guide told us that we were actually not at the southernmost tip of Africa (that’s Cape Agulhas). Cape of Good Hope is actually the SOUTHWESTERN most tip of Africa, so still really stinking cool. Ellie and I climbed around in the rocks for a bit until we found some super scary African ocean bugs that we figured we should stay away from.
Finally, after a long and tiring but amazing weekend it was time to head home. Coming back to Kayamandi was definitely more of an adjustment than I expected. It was hard to throw ourselves back into a world full of poverty and hard realities after we had been in such an urban place that felt much more similar to home. But, as the week has gone on we’ve adjusted back into our normal routine and of course the precious kiddos make it more than worth it. That’s all for now…
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Follow Sammy on her journey at https://sammyinsouthafrica.wordpress.com/
Find out more about service learning projects available through the Honors College at http://honorscollege.uark.edu/current-students/service-learning.php
