After recovering from two days in airports, today was our first real day in the beautiful country of South Africa. To start off the day, KG (our trip guide) lead us down to the Castle of Good Hope. Built in 1672, the Castle of Good Hope was the Dutch headquarters at the time of their control. Our tour guide, who kept us engaged with his fast pace and jokes, showed us all corners of the Castle ranging from the Governor’s balcony to the torture chamber.
Following that adventure, we went to lunch at a very unique location. It’s hard to describe, but in an attempt to relate to America, it felt like a food strip in New York. This one was tucked under some buildings and consisted of numerous food choices on the right with table and chairs on the left. When eating it felt different. In America, there’s the frequent comment about food sizes and unhealthy options or even how expensive something could be, but this place was none of those. These portions were healthy amounts that tasted rich in local flavors and left you feeling great afterwards. Many of us were shocked by was how comparatively inexpensive it was. When ordering we split up into groups of four, each allocated 125 rand. If you do this conversion, that’s about $7 US. We were shocked, though, because all of us had change leftover, meaning we all used only about $4-5 US for a wonderful, healthy, flavorful meal. We were all appreciative and found it surprising as well.
Moving onwards, we all hopped back into the van and were off to Table Mountain. Being more of a sightseeing day, we were excited to go see the city from a different angle. But … the weather had other plans. As we climbed the hillside in the cable car, some of us fighting our fear of heights, the fog began to engulf us. Once we reached the top, after debriefing, the pack leaders and students split up to go adventure. As this is a written copy of experienced events, I am only available to be in one place at a time. Therefore, I can only account for my group’s actions. Here it is.
As we continued to walk further, the fog continued to thicken, resulting in roughly 50 feet visibility, which was good for us because it left more freedom ‘cause no one could really see us. Also, the fog created an awesome environment for some photography. As we explored further along the “table” we found rock ledges here and there that made great locations for photos. Seniors, sophomores, friend groups and new friends all mixed and matched and worked with each other to find new angles and new ideas along the way, and of course, we took a couple of pictures … well, maybe more than a couple. Incidentally, I think I summed it up pretty well when I said, “It was so nice to naturally have fun and make new close friends and memories along the way ‘cause that’s why I’m here. It was so touching.” That moment is also when I assigned tonight’s blog.
Later in the evening, we went to a cooking class. A wonderful woman let us into her home and showed us how to cook some local recipes with simple and healthy ingredients. With that, many new flavors, combos, and foods and drinks were tried. Overall, it was a very welcoming, warming and delicious experience.
When back at our hotel, we reflected on the hilarious bus rides, memories made, and new experiences along with things we were surprised about. After discussing tomorrow’s plan to start work with the kids and leaders here in Cape Town, we went back to our room to shower, clean up, and, of course, write the blog, and this blog doesn’t do it justice.
Today was a great day. In closing, I wanted to leave y’all with the quote of the day: “I don’t care if you die, I just don’t want to see it.” Sam Hall
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