July 8, 2012 – Peninsula Tour

We were all supposed to be ready to leave campus today at 8am sharp according to our calendars. I woke up at 7:22am, brushed my teeth, took a shower, toasted my outfit, and then I was ready at about 8:30am. Of course Alicia came knocking at my door asking if I was ready, and I got a phone call from Theo trying to rush me. Pssht!

As expected, the van was parked downstairs waiting for my roommate, Will, and me. After about 10 minutes, we were on our way to a tour of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula.

This was our first time actually going into the city of Cape Town, where it has a more shopping area, bar going, New York City type feeling. The tour guide sat in the front seat and talked through a microphone hooked up to the bus stereo. He talked half the bus to sleep before we even got into Cape Town. When we finally got there, we saw where the Dutch started building a castle in the 1700s. It would’ve been quite lavish if the English didn’t attack them and take over South Africa. We also saw the exact same spot where Nelson Mandela made his speech after he got out of prison.  After a good history lesson, we drove down the coast of South Africa with a view of the frigid Atlantic Ocean.

We saw so many nice houses and beachside condos. I have to buy one of those in the future. Driving from Cape Town to Cape Point, we probably passed about 10 different beaches. We made a bathroom stop about halfway up the mountain. Who would’ve thought a toilet would have such a nice view? It made you want to take a pee even if you didn't have to. The water was so rough, just crashing into the rocks and creating a great sound and image. The only downside about this rest stop is that the rain was falling. I protected my camera with my sleeve and took pictures anyway.

We got back into the van and drove to Boulders National Park in Simon’s Town where we visited the African penguins! On the walk to the penguin area, vendors were selling little arts and crafts related to the penguins and to South Africa. They were beautiful. The penguins weren’t as I expected to be. I thought they’d be large and awkward and kept in a confined area. This particular species was actually the size of an adult chicken and they were roaming freely on the beach. They first arrived on the shore of South Africa in 1982 and started growing their colony. Now, the beach is only reserved for the penguins to use.

After we viewed the penguins and took hundreds of pictures, we began walking back to a restaurant that was located at the entrance of the tourist attraction. Dontranika found a small, round, yellow fruit on the floor under its tree and decided to pick up two for us. I asked one the vendors if the fruit was safe to eat and he approved. We took the fruit into the restaurant, washed them in the restroom and brought them to the table. I didn’t want to take the risk of being the only one to eat the fruit first and die so I gave a half to Theo and convinced him to try it first. It was actually good – a little sour, but good.

Oooh!!! While I was in the bathroom washing my hands and washing that fruit, one of the waitresses in the restaurant came out of a bathroom stall and didn’t wash her hands! LOL! I don’t know what she was doing in there but she should’ve washed her hands before touching people’s food. I’m glad she wasn’t our waitress. I would have probably asked her kindly to cleanse her paws.

Our waitress took our drinks orders and came back shortly with them. Mine was horrible. I ordered pineapple juice and got a tall glass of dry pulp. Does pineapple even have pulp? I felt like I was swallowing a straw hat whole. The food came shortly after. I had a big deep fried fish with fries. It was good. I traded some of my fries for some of Theo’s yellow rice – biggest mistake! That rice had no flavor whatsoever. For dessert they brought out ice cream with chocolate syrup. Why ice cream when it’s like below 0 degrees outside?

Jasmine’s ice cream came with fruit all around it because it was her birthday. We all sang her happy birthday as the waitress placed the bowl in front of her. She’s so sweet. The second best moment was looking out the window at the beautiful view of the ocean as the sun shone over it.

We left the Boulders and headed down the Cape peninsula. On the side of the street we saw a baboon acting a fool! They look just like they are in cartoons – brown fur, pink butt and curved tail. A few kilometers later we saw ostriches on the side of the street eating weeds. So random animals just wander about in Africa like the respected citizens they are!

We finally got to Cape Point, which is a breath taking view of the ocean and the mountains. We took the coolest pictures you can find in the world there. While we were taking in the spectacular view, I saw an animal resembling a deer. “What is that?” I asked the tour guide. He said something like a kudu. It’s supposed to be in the same family as deer, but a different species only found in Africa. As long as that thing doesn’t come close to me I’ll be fine. We began our 1.5-hour hike with no idea of the amount of exercise we were about to encounter.

Along the way was so much beautiful scenery. The rough waters crashed into the mountainside below us. I took a few pictures and videos to capture and remember the experience. This has been the best trip so far.