South African Bliss...

So in all this time I have learned one thing about myself for certain. I am not a good traveler. I love it, but I am no good. Traveler’s go to a place, they experience it and then they leave. I go to a place, experience it and leave with a little less of my heart than what I arrived with. South Africa has stolen another piece of my heart. To be a traveler your journey must always come to an end, but I could stay here forever.

Cape Town has taught me more lessons, shown be so much beauty and changed me in such a special way. My time here is hard to describe, but I will give a play by play to let you all into my time here.

First let me tell you about our port. All our other ports have been industrial, they are full of machinery and cranes, the water is brown and you have to take a shuttle to get into the city. Here we are on the Victoria & Abbey Wharf, the water is turquoise and we walk off the ship literally onto a strip of restaurants and shops. The first day we decided to hike Table Mountain. After six days on the ship we needed to stretch our legs and be outside, so we did just that. We hiked, two hours straight up. I thought I was going to die about four times, but I didn’t! The view from the top was unbelievable. I wrote an e-mail to my dad saying the water glittered so magnificently it looked as if God had dropped diamonds in it. It was incredible to see all of Cape Town covered in beaches and mountains. After taking pictures and enjoying a giant cheeseburger, a group of us opted to ride the cable car down. That night we ventured out for our first real dinner off the ship in a week. Let me just say the food on the ship is edible, but I have reached a point where I would almost rather not eat than eat on ship, as many of you may know it takes a lot to get me to the point where I don’t want to eat! Anyways, we had a wonderful dinner, great conversation and then ventured into the South African night. Thanks to Chelsea’s suggestion we went to Mama Africa on Long Street, but after walking around the crowded streets and being swarmed by mass amounts of Semester at Sea students all celebrating their first night of freedom from the ship we decided to head back.

The next day was Sunday, our first Sunday in port, which meant our first opportunity to go to a real church and worship and that we did. I went to the Hillsong Church in Cape Town with three other girls, Charis, Olivia and Kate. Just walking through the doors gave new life to my soul. I was in tears for the whole service, it’s amazing how moving it is to be with the body of Christ worshipping when you have been away from that for so long. That started off the most wonderful day. We then went to Green Point Market for a little shopping. After that we stopped in a café for wine, cheese and incredible conversation. The girls I have met here are amazing and its brilliant to know people for such a short time who you connect with so deeply and are so challenged by. That night we had high hopes to go to a salsa club, but somehow ended up at this random club in Camps Bay dancing with German men who spoke barely any English. It actually turned out perfect though because we were able to meet some American brothers, one of whom was doing an internship in Cape Town and knew the city well. We ended our Sunday with a two-hour dancing session in a restaurant called Cubana before we headed back to the ship.

Monday, Olivia and I set off to do Robben’s Island. We managed to squeeze our way onto a tour. This island many of you might be familiar with. It was the prison used during the apartheid to house political and criminal prisoners. It was the home of Nelson Mandella for his 27-year imprisonment. The amazing thing about South Africa is that its history is a very recent one. The apartheid ended only a little over a decade ago, which is incredible to think about as it was debilitating for so many. It is obvious to see the effects when you venture away from the ritzy tourist areas and into the townships. The tour guides of the Robbens Island prisons are actually prisoners from the apartheid era and served sentences on Robben’s Island, but now live in the village there with their families and lead tours. Once our tour had commenced we gathered some more troops and headed for a relaxing dinner and then turned in early.

Tuesday morning I woke up to do a field trip with SAS to a service group called Operation Hunger. We were able to play with the children and get a glimpse of the poverty in South Africa. There is something so amazing about poverty and a trip like Semester at Sea gives such a new spin on it. We are able to see in such a short time how differently it looks in so many countries. In Ghana it was dust and mud-huts. Women carried baskets on their heads and they sold anything they could in the streets for money. In South Africa poverty is desolation. It is the dumps, full of trash, square room like homes covered in tin roofs. It was interesting to step away from our ritzy dock and see how so many live in South Africa. That night led us to a quick dinner and a meeting with our new friends from America, Tom and Greg. They introduced us to some of their friends Jack, Toms flat-mate and George from London. A group of about seven of us then ventured out into the South African night, ended up at a club with about 30 SAS kids, but nonetheless we managed to have ourselves a good time!

Wednesday morning I woke up bright and early to hop on my bus for my one-day safari at the Inverdoorn Game Reserve. It was a beautiful two-hour drive through lush green mountains and hillsides covered with fresh spring water and baboons! The safari was freezing, but it was so nice to have a taste of the fall Kentucky weather I am missing out on this season. We were able to see giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, and an assortment of other animals. Inverdoorn is not home to the all of the Big 5, but I think we saw at least one out of five. It made for some great pictures and an enjoyable day. Wednesday night I had intended to spend my night with two dear friends in Stollenboesch enjoying the South African wine country, but my body had other plans and I ended up having to stay on the ship because I was too sick to leave. My last night and day in South Africa I spent in my room on the ship, except for the two hours I left to find myself some soup and enjoy one last glimpse at the beautiful Cape Town landscape.

South Africa left me with wonderfully fond memories and an incredible glimpse of the glory of God’s creation. I have found myself at a point where I miss home and the simplicity of being around everyone, but I know there is still so much to learn here. It is so hard to believe all I have experienced so far and look ahead to realize there is still SO much left. We are on our way to Mauritius now for three days of relaxation on the beautiful beaches! I miss everyone, know that I think of you all very often and love you all!