February 17-22, 2011

Watching South Africa diminish into the night sky made me realize that this country is definitely one I will visit again.  My time in South Africa was to say the least superior, and I can’t wait to do more there sometime in the near future. 

Day 1: Waking up, stumbling to breakfast to realize that we cannot reach the port because the winds are too strong to fit the ship into the small port opening.  All day long we had to stay on the ship in the middle of South African’s rough waters.  Not a good start to a ports stay. 

Day 2: We finally port the ship right around lunchtime, and once we cleared all of the immigration and customs things, we toured the city and planned for the rest of our time in South Africa.  Later on, we headed up to Signal Hill, where we could watch the U2 concert from a far/overhead distance, the full moon, see Table Mountain in the nighttime, and see a aerial view of the entire city of Cape Town.  Afterwards, we headed out onto Long Street that night and seeing the incredibly diverse group of people that inhabit the area.  Great start to our time here. 

Day 3: Went on a wine tour from 8:00 until 6:00 in the afternoon.  I had no clue how many vineyards were in South Africa, but I now know how to taste wine like a pro.  We visited 4 different wineries, got to taste an abundance of wine at each one, had a complete tour of the first one, had a delicious brandy tasting at the second winery, ate an incredible lunch after that, enjoyed an immense cheese tasting at the third, and simply listened to live music while gazing upon the vast mountain ranges at the fourth winery.  Definitely had a great day, followed by a great night of having a South African dinner with some faculty from the ship. 

Day 4: Took a taxi from Cape Point to Camps Bay Beach, where I relaxed on the beautiful, national-geographic-like beach all day long.  We ate lunch at a local Pizza joint, and had a few brews while watching the waves crash onto the massive rocks by the shore.  The water was too cold to surf, which kind of bummed me out, but the day was awesome to say the least. 

Day 5: Started the day off sand boarding in these bright white sand dunes, which were about an hour away from the port.  We boarded for about 4 hours, and then decided to go Kloofing in the Kogelburg Biosphere Reserve, which absolutely blew my mind.  We followed our tour guide, hiking about an hour into the mountain range, to come upon these beautiful gorges, where we swam, mountain climbed barefoot, and jumped from high distances into the gorges.  It was a long day, and very tiring, but definitely worth the incredible scenery and great times. 

Day 6: Woke up at 4:45 in the morning, and headed off the ship to hike Devil’s Peak, which was definitely worth the early rise.  It took us about an hour and a half to hike and climb the rigorous mountainside, but the view was worth the calf burning and quad-stimulating climb.  After descending from the peak, we headed downtown Cape Town and relaxed until we had to board the ship to leave the country. 

All in all, South Africa was incredible, and much different from Ghana.  Now, It’s back to class time and we’re headed off to Mauritius.  Wish me luck!