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Hi everybody!
Sorry I am terrible at updating this thing…
Cape Town, South Africa was easily one of the best weeks of my life. I did things that I would have never imagined myself actually doing. Lets just say I crossed off many things on my bucket list and my parents won't be very happy with everything I did. It was so action and adrenaline packed I can't even describe how amazing my time was.
The first day I had an FDP (Faculty directed practica) with my Marine Biology teacher. These are like field trips you could say. We made a few stops. The first was a bird reserve which was actually very boring. I took some pictures of the birds for Andria…thought she would enjoy that! Then we made a beautiful 45 minute drive along the coastline to where we had lunch. On our way we were driving super high up and looking down at the water and saw a ton of Southern right whales. We ate lunch (I tried sea bass) and it was so delicious. Then we went and saw the PENGUINS!!! I am weirdly obsessed with penguins so this was a big treat for me. They were South African penguins that live on Boulders beach…found that ironic! After that we were able to go swimming in the water, which was freezing so I only put my feet in. A few brave people went all the way in and guess what? There was a shark attack in that same spot the very next day….HOW SCARY!! We then headed to our last destination, which was the Cape of Good Hope. This was really cool cause it is the southern most tip of Africa and we got to see the Indian and Atlantic Ocean collide. After that we headed back to the ship. Later that night Ashley, Jackie and I went to a place for dinner and had a relaxing night because we all had early stuff the next morning.
Day 2
This was the start of the greatest day of my life…(little over exaggerating but it was an incredible day to say the least). Got up super early to catch a 5am bus where the members of extreme scene greeted us. They were our guides for my "Shark Jumper tour". As many of you know this is what I had been looking forward to since I first got accepted to SAS. We took a super long drive to where we would be bungee jumping. You could imagine how I felt when I first saw the bridge we were jumping off of. It is the worlds highest bridge bungee jump so I literally freaked out. I love all this adrenalin stuff but I could not believe I was actually about to do this. Side note: I have this all on film for those of you who are interested in seeing it. We got settled in our little cabins (6 of us stayed in each one) and went to watch the first group of people to go. Our group was so large they had to split us up into two…I was in the second group. We watch some of the first people go and it is absolutely insane how big the drop is! It was about a 216 meter free fall I believe. After we got our harness on it was our time to go. We took a very scary walk out (this was probably the scariest part) to the middle of the bridge. We were walking on a smaller wire bridge so all we could see under us were the trees and rocks that we would be plunging towards. I was the 4th person to go and was so pumped up because they had a DJ blasting music. It helped calm the nerves, that's for sure. They strapped me and I asked if I was all set to go and they said yes so I was putting all my trust in them. They counted down 3…2...1...and I jumped. I didn't even think about it I just went for it. It was the greatest rush EVER! After the first 2 seconds when that rollercoaster feeling was gone I was able to enjoy it. Just me, by myself, free falling with the most spectacular view. Believe it or not but it was very peaceful. All I could feel was wind blowing against me, not the scary feeling of a rollercoaster you are all thinking about. Once I had gone I wanted to instantly go again. I almost did….along with a few other people. But you had to pay again and figured I may as well do the other bungee jump in Hong Kong. So that is next on my list!
Day 3
Today we got up at the crack of dawn to start our drive to Gansbaai where we would be diving with great whites. A couple fun facts for you…70% of the footage you see on Shark week is filmed in Cape Town and much of it is close to where we went cage diving. Also, you have a better chance of being killed by a coconut hitting you on the head than you do being killed by a shark...thought those were interesting!
We got to Gansbaai and had a short briefing on what to do and what would be happening then we got in the boat and headed out for the sharks! They warned us that anchoring a boat in the ocean is a lot different than what we would expect and many people would get sick. I did not think this would happen to me but I was WAY wrong. I got extremely seasick and was hanging over the side of the boat for a good amount of time. At least I had a good show...the shark would circle the boat so while I was getting sick I could see the shark swim under me. Anyways, We got to go in the cage 2 times and we saw 3 great whites. It was incredible and super safe. The shark had no interest in us but wanted the bait that was a foot from our face. Luckily I had my Gopro and was able to film everything under water! We were out there for a few hours then headed back to the ship.
Day 4
The action just keeps on continuing! Jackie and I and a few others hiked Table Mountain today. It took us about an hour and 40 minutes to reach the top. The hike was extremely difficult for some people but I thought it was a much nicer hike than some I have done in Colorado because we did not have that dry heat we have in CO. It was not easy though that's for sure. When we got to the top we had lunch in the clouds…literally. The clouds would come so fast we would have a view of the ocean one second then the next all we could see is white cloud.
After lunch we went "Abseiling" Which is just their way of saying repelling down the side of Table Mountain. This was something that my parents told me I was not allowed to do. OOPS! Sorry mom and dad. Jackie and I were able to go next to each other. It took about 5 minutes to get down but I could have booked it down in 30 seconds cause I loved it so much. I wanted to savor the moment though and make it last as long as possible so Jackie and I took our time down. I did a few jumps off the rock and it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. We got to the bottom and hiked our way back up to the top and had to take the cable car down.
Day 5 & 6
These last two days were not as action packed as my last 3. I woke up and got breakfast with some friends then hit the mall with my friend Marta for the day. That night we went out to a nice dinner with a few friends then made our way up the mountain to a villa overlooking Cape Town. Don't ask me how we ended up here because I am still confused. I guess people on my ship had been staying there with a guy they knew who lives there, I don't know, but we spent a few hours there and met a bunch of locals. Then we went to a yacht party. This was a great way to spend our last night in Cape Town because not that many Semester at sea students were there. It was about half SAS kid and half locals. I met a bunch of cool local girls who now I'm facebook friends with!
Our last day in port I had an FDP which took us on a wine tour. South Africa is one of the leading wine producers in the world so a wine tour is apparently a "must" when you visit. We went to two wineries and tasted a few different wines and were taught about the production and management. It was really cool and I enjoyed it a lot.
Once everyone was on the ship we were very lucky to have Desmond Tutu speak to us. He was the first black South African Archbishop of Cape Town and a religious leader. He had made a huge impact in South Africa and it was amazing hearing him speak. He was very inspirational and had the funniest laugh!
Saying goodbye to Cape Town was extremely hard for me. I had fallen in love with this country and honestly never wanted to leave. I don't think anybody did…. there was still so much more to do. Everyone was saying how we wish we had more time there.
If any of you are still awake reading this entry thank you! I had so much to say about my incredible time in Cape Town that I wanted to share with you.
3 ports down…next stop MAURITIUS!!
Alex
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