South Africa Days 1-3

South Africa: This place is paradise. Right now I’m on the beach is Mossel Bay nursing my ego after trying to show Nate how great of a surer I am. While he flounders through the waves on our rented board I have a moment to reflect on the past three spectacular days.

With the blizzard pummeling Madison and Detroit, I was forced to leave 8 hours early- which was very lucky because all flights after mine were canceled. I believe I am now considered a resident at the KLM lounge in Amsterdam- which I didn’t mind because it was so nice! After two smooth flights I made it to Cape Town and was greeted by a very tan Nate! While driving to the hostel, I was shocked by how similar this place is to any US city- quite a change from Tanzania. We checked into the Long Street Backpackers and I surprisingly (okay, not THAT surprising) fell right asleep.

The next day I felt no jet lag so we hiked up Lion’s Head Mountain and enjoyed beautiful views of nearby Table Mountain, the beaches, and the city of Cape Town. It got quite hot out so we then spent the afternoon at the beach, practicing our tumbling skills on the shoreline. After a beautiful afternoon there we got our hiking gear back on and proceeded with our mission to watch the sunset on the top of Table Mountain.

We wanted to make sure we got to the top in time for sunset, so we killed the 2.5 hour hike to the top in about an hour, which exhausted us both! It was well worth it. Words and photos cannot describe how amazing the views were up there. To top it off we popped open a bottle of wine and enjoyed that along with some handstanding at sunset. After the sun went down we had a spectacular view of the lights of Cape Town. We took the cable car down and got to enjoy that view all the way down the mountain. We then decided that even if the rest of the trip sucked, day 1 was worth the visit.

After a bit of exploring the nearby markets on Day 2, we then set off to swim with the African (Jackass) Penguins at Boulder’s Beach in Simon’s Town. When we first arrived at the beach, we saw maybe one or two penguins and spent quite a bit of time watching and photographing them. After some hiking around on the rocks, we soon found other areas with hundreds of penguins. The entire experience was unreal. The water was as blue as the Caribbean, the temperature in the 80s, views of beautiful mountains, and hundreds of penguins were hanging around us like we weren’t even there. I got to swim along side them, listen to their donkey-like noises, and of course, watch them mate. Naughty! Quote of the day was from a little British boy watching the penguins mate saying “Today I learned about Penguin Sex!”

After tearing me away from the Penguins, Nate finally talked me into getting in the car for our 5 hour drive to Mossel Bay. When we arrived it was past 10pm, and little did we know, most of the city shuts down at 6pm. The hostel we had planned on staying at was closed, so we visited another one from our guidebook. The lady working there was just leaving and we were able to snag a room. Not only that, but there were three adorable kitties living there and the most beautiful one, Hyena, spent the night with me in bed. That also meant Nate had to sleep in a different bed… hehe. The beauty of this hostel cannot be put into words. It is a beautiful sandstone manor with a Victorian design. There is a beautiful garden with Koi swimming in all of the ponds. And did I mention the super cute cats? Everything happens for a reason!

Today we got up and explored town for a bit. I’ve been dying to surf for the last few days, so we rented a board at the local surf shop and hit the beginner’s beach. Our other option “The Point” gets some of the best waves in the world and is only ideal for professionals. It was a very windy day and the waves were closing out, so needless to say surfing didn’t go as well as planned. We did have some fun riding the whitewash for awhile. And again, the views made everything worthwhile! We spent a bit too much time at the beach to make it to Oudtschoorn to ride the Ostriches, so we just poked around town again in the afternoon. I’m now finally getting a chance to sit down and upload some photos and blog! We found this great little pub next to our hostel and I’m quickly making many friends. I’ve been trying to explain log rolling to them for the last hour and they didn’t believe me until I was able to pull up a YouTube video. Nate is now making dinner back at the Hostel so, time to eat!
Tomorrow: riding Ostriches and the Bungee to Beat HD.