Cape Town, South Africa

Family and Friends,
Wow. That is pretty much my experience in Cape Town summed up in one word. It seemed like everyday at some point I would see or experience something unbelievable and I would have to take a step back and say “wow” to myself. In the interest of space, time and the continuum that binds them (a little idea I thought up with my colleague Mr. Hawking) I will just give a description of my best moment from each of my six days in South Africa.
The morning we arrived in Cape Town I left the ship immediately with a group of 15 other students to go and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. We went by bus to one of the townships, which is a sprawl of shacks and tiny houses on the outskirts of Cape Town where the poorest people live. Mfuleni, the township I visited was part of Cape Flats, the largest township in South Africa that houses more than 500,000 people. Most of the homes were built of scrap medal and pieces of lumber. The roofs were either made of tin scraps or garbage bags to keep out the rain, and in most cases families have to put rocks on the edges of the roof so that it doesn’t blow off in the strong winds. There is no grass, only sand and dirt and there were cows and stray dogs walking around. The woman we were building the house for was Ethel. I am continuing to try and add pictures to the blog so you all can see her and her granddaughter Caroline. Ethel had been living in the shack next door to her new house for 15 years and she was very appreciative of the work that we were doing. The foundation for the home was already set up when we got their so we essentially spent the day building the walls, inserting door and window frames, and mixing “daga” which is an inexpensive recipe for the mortar between the bricks. We had a lunch break in the middle of the day and we got to play with some of the neighborhood kids, which was great. Even though we didn’t speak the same language (most of them speak Khosa) we had a great time interacting and playing games. We got everything we needed to done before our time was up so we went on a short drive around the community. The one thing I will always remember is the extreme gratitude that all of them showed to me and the other workers for taking even just one day out of ours lives to come and help their community. It was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done in my life.
The second day I left for my safari in Kwazulu Natal at 4:45 AM. It was a long journey to get there but it was well worth it. That afternoon I went on a short game drive around the property and saw some great wildlife. The most special moment of the day was seeing the beautiful sunset over the African countryside. The area was much more lush and green than I had ever imagined and the sunset was fabulous. I stayed in a tree lodge, essentially a hut on stilts, and I loved it because it was very serene and quiet.
The next day was my full day safari. The Kwazulu Natal game reserve was huge and we drive around all day and didn’t see the same place twice. The entire day was just spectacular. I saw zebras, giraffes, warthogs, impalas, kudus, baboons, water buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, and a black mamba. The only animal I really wanted to see that I didn’t was a lion. I suppose it was just Murphy’s Law because every time another safari vehicle would see a lion we would race over to find it but by the time we did it was gone. I have plenty of great pictures from the day of both the scenery and the animals. It was a surreal experience to see some of those animals in the wild, at one point a rhino even charged our car because he thought we were getting too close. It was definitely a day I will never forget.
After returning to Cape Town on the fourth day I went out to dinner with my friends Mark, Justin, Sydney, Meg, Mary, Sarah, Eliza and Connor. It was Connor’s birthday so we went to a classy African restaurant. I decided to check my picky eating at the door and order the Serengeti Platter. The platter consisted of chicken, warthog, ostrich, and crocodile (with a side of fries of course). I must say the ostrich meat impressed me, it was very tender and tasted more like beef than a bird. The crocodile had an interesting texture and taste, as both came off as a perfect mixture of chicken and fish. The warthog wasn’t anything to write home about, but here I am doing it anyways. There was a traditional African band playing all night and at one point everyone in the restaurant was on the dance floor. The lead singer spoke Khosa, so she sang happy birthday to Connor in her native language.
The next morning I visited Khayelitsha, another section of the Cape Flats Township. The experience was great once again and I am just amazed at how friendly everyone is throughout the community. It seems like everyone knows everybody else and has no problem sharing their homes and their lives with their neighbors. We played a lot with the kids and I brought a lot of toys and gifts which all of them loved. They get so excited when people come and visit their community because it doesn’t happen all that often. I had an amazing conversation with a 15 year-old boy named Che. He was learning how to speak English and I was helping him practice, he was very interested in the ship and how I got to go all around the world. When I told him that I had been to a different state in his country he started bombarding me with questions about which place was better and why and what did the other part of South Africa look like. It took a little time for me to realize it, but he was so excited because he has never left the Cape Town area and hadn’t met many people that had. It was definitely a gut check to realize that I had seen more of his country in 5 days than he had in 15 years. It once again made me appreciate the amazing opportunities that I have as a student in the U.S.
On my final morning in Cape Town I climbed Table Mountain, which is directly behind the city skyline. I met two fellow students at the trailhead and we hiked up an area called Platteklip Gorge. Even thought it said it was the easiest was up it took me a little over two hours to get to the top, and the hike was just a giant natural staircase. We had the most beautiful weather and the views from the top of the city and the Cape of Good Hope were fabulous. After walking around the top for a bit I decided to take the cable car down but before I made it over to the ticket office I noticed two people on a ledge about ten feet from where all the tourists were standing on the top. I realized after awhile that they were planning on base-jumping off of the mountain. I watched the first one jump off but I missed her by just a second with my camera. Then about a minute later the man jumped off and I got an incredible picture of him mid-flight jumping off the side of the mountain. Someday down the road when I am and old, fat, wildly successful professional photographer the press will say that this was the shot that started it all.
Well I hope everyone enjoyed reading about my African adventures. It was my favorite place so far and I would love to go back again someday if I get the chance, maybe for the World Cup in 2010. I will keeping trying to get my photos on the blog, but in the meantime I will be posting them on Facebook so anyone can check them out. I miss everyone at home and hopefully I will talk to all of you soon.

Conor