After our first trip to Capetown we drove four hours to De Hoop Nature Center in a region called Potburg.Here we stayed in a large house where we all shared one large room.We were surrounded by mountains which meant hikes whenever we wanted.There was also a large lawn out front and lots of big trees to climb.We played lots of volleyball, croquet, and Frisbee.This was a very work intensive part of the course so we spent a lot of time writing papers and studying for an exam.There was time to relax and explore the wilderness surrounding us.On a few days off we drove about 45 minutes to a beach with large sand dunes that we ran around on.The beach was beautiful and untouched by humans, most of the time we were the only ones there.I spend most of my time lying in the sand dunes and rolling down them and of course laying out with my friends watching our group play in the waves.Before our exam we had a day off where we took a field trip to the southern most point of Africa, Cape Aghulas.We ran into the South African navy and some of us took pictures with them.We also took pictures in front of the ocean.Our director made us form our bodies into the words " HI MOM" (so mom when you see the picture I hope you appreciate it because it took us a solid 10 minutes to line up).We had lunch at a seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean, it was serene.De Hoop was a nice play to explore and have some alone time (in a group of 20 that doesn't happen very often).At night we would light a campfire and play guitar and drums around the fire.My friend Carly turned 21 while we were at De Hoop so we had a party where everyone had to dress up as an aspect of her personality.I coincidentally picked hippie and spent the whole night as a hippie (it wasn't too big of stretch).Our final night in Potburg the staff made us lamb for dinner with grilled vegetables and CHEESECAKE for dessert, it was phenomenal.The next morning we packed up and drove to Capetown.On our drive to Capetown we stopped at brewery and got to do a "beer tasting".I have to say i'm not really a fan of beer, or drinking at 9 am but it was actually a really good time.Then we piled back in the car and drove to a town where we stopped for lunch.We all rushed and spent most of the time shopping for clothes and gifts.Then we drove for another hour or two until we got to a winery.We then spent 30 minutes wine tasting which was a blast.We all bought some nice wine from local spots and still are enjoying the nice wines we found.Our last stop was at our director's house where his mom had coffee and bisquits (cookies) waiting for us.We saw where he grew up and got to chat with her a bit.After this we jumped back in car and arrived at our hostile in Capetown for the second time.

The second time in Capetown we saw more of the touristy spots.When we arrived there we quickly got ready and walked to long street for some dinner.Here I found the familiar face of Bonnie!IT was amazing to see such a good friend from home in Capetown.Needless to say we had an amazing time drinking and socializing with each other's friends and catching up on the last 3 months of our lives.It was quite refreshing to see her and I definitely had to holdback tears when we first reunited.Our night ended around 3 am when we had to say goodbye for another month (but we will meet again in May at Stellenbosch).The next morning we woke up early for a look at some touristy spots.We went to Cape Point where we walked up to the top of a mountain where there was a lighthouse and a breathtaking view of the coast.We then went to see the tropical penguins!Naturally it was my favourite stop that day.We also had a chance to go shopping in town for a bit.After that we headed to a restaurant right on the ocean where we had a few drinks and I had the best calamri ever.The next day we hung out on long street and went shopping at the market near by.I bought some new clothes and lots of cool things for family and friends.After shopping we went to my friends mom's shop who sells African art.We had coffee and listened to a local play guitar. We then headed back to the hostile to get ready for our last night.My friend Carly and I went with Nick and his friends to Cliffton's 2nd (a beach) where we drank whine had a picnic and played guitar.Nick and his friend Matt fired danced (a common thing here in south Africa) and we got a chance to mingle with all of his friends from Varsity (college).After the beach we went back to the hostile to hang out for a bit before taking a quick nap and beginning our travels back to the park.