First days.

I have made it safely to my house in Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa after 3 horrendously long flights and one extremely abrasive and racist man who unfortunately gave me my first impression of Cape Town. I don’t think I’ve met a more eclectic group of people than I did on my flight to Amsterdam, it was truly a who’s who of world travelers. A surprising number of them were going to Africa, including my seat mate, a Yemeni-Afghan man going home to Kenya. My window seat on my flight to Cape Town offered me a spectacular view of the entire continent. Though I slept intermittently, I got to see the coast of Algeria, sand dunes that resemble ripples in a lake from 35,000 feet that make up the Sahara desert, the coast of Ghana, and the darkness that overtook southern Africa as night fell. When you fly over the States at night you can often see the lights of towns, cities, and the interstates that connect them. Southern Africa was an ocean of darkness that didn’t let up until Cape Town. We flew directly over the city center so I was able to make out Robben Island and the sparkling new football (soccer) stadium built for the 2010 World Cup. I was confused trying to figure out what the dark patches that intersected the city were. At night I would never be able to figure out this conundrum but by the light of day the massive rock faces of Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, and Signal Hill dominate every view. I couldn’t believe that these peaks are RIGHT THERE(!!!) when I walked out of the hostel in the morning. I hope to be always be amazed by this view during my stay here.

My first day in Cape Town was extremely eventful. I was picked up at the hostel by my local director Jon who is a self-proclaimed wild boy, police reservist who despite some psychological problems, now gets to have whichever gun he wants. This might normally be a little disconcerting but I find it quite comforting. He has assured me that if I ever feel unsafe to call him and he will be on his way to come pick me up, and that if for some reason he can’t get there quick enough, he will call his cop buddies to come get me. After moving into my house and a trip to the VAC office for orientation, Jon took me to the waterfront, put me on a hop-on hop-off tour bus, and said call me when you’re done. I was driven all over the city and was able to moderately orient myself within the city. Unfortunately when I tried quizzing myself later as I passed a familiar building (Castle of Good Hope), instead of pointing to the waterfront as I expected, I was in fact pointing to Table Mountain. Hopefully I will get better at this. After the tour, Jon took me on an impromptu drive out to Hout Bay to run a work errand, thus I got to see more beautiful resort towns that line the Cape southward. On the way back, we took the inland route and drove by vineyard after vineyard making it the perfect drive, as well as introduction to Cape Town.

Later that night I met most of the other interns for dinner and drinks in the neighborhood. This group of people is pretty close-knit so by the first day I discovered that I had inherited a large number of friends who are constantly planning excursions, dinners, holidays (my Halloween and Thanksgiving are already planned), and shopping trips into the city. I definitely didn’t expect this. I will have to make sure that I am making an effort to meet South Africans. That was a problem for me in Jordan as I hung out almost exclusively with people from my program. The Jordanians that I did meet and befriend were definitely from a specific grouping and in my opinion, didn’t represent the majority of their age-group. Here, I have two South African roommates who I occasionally run into but there doesn’t seem to be the same bond as I have with the interns, granted this is only like my 3rd or 4th day. I will make more of an effort and do better, though when they have their friends over at 4 AM I can’t make any promises.

The last two days have been made up of wine tasting and adventures with the interns. Friday was wine tasting at Constantia Uitsig and Constantia Groot. Constantia is the name of the valley where these vineyards are located and are literally 20 minutes from my house. These were extremely classy tastings and if our driver hadn’t have been late, and thus forced us to pull up to these tastings, all of us piled into the bed of the program director’s truck, I might have felt like an actual grown-up. No matter what it was still a chance for me to explore the valley as well as meet the program employees. Like I said earlier, I just can’t get over the backdrop of the entire area. These vineyards lay on the slopes of Table Mountain and the other peaks that stretch down the cape. The views are absolutely amazing and worthy of a better description than I could possibly write.

The next morning my big adventure started. Several of us joined a tour led by downhill adventures which took us on a driving tour down through Hout Bay, back through the Constantia Valley, and down to False Bay via Muizenburg. If I go surfing while I’m here it will most likely be at Muizenburg. The area is experiencing its Whale Fest at the moment. From the shore we were able to see about 5 Southern Right Whales in the shallows about 300 yards out from the surfers. Amazing. From Muizenburg we drove south to Fishhoek (pronounced like a fish hook), then to Simon’s Town for some penguin watching at Boulder’s Beach, before heading to the Cape of Good Hope Park. Upon entering the park our guides set us up on some rickety mountain bikes, told us it was an easy 5k, and he’ll see us at the end. The ride was amazing… minus being stuck in 1st gear, my seat collapsing, and the huge hills. Not even those minor details could detract from the amazing views that surrounded us, yes not even the baboons that ran at me could phase me. Ok, they did. I screamed. But I kept right on going and that’s the important part! From the lighthouse at the Cape Point we could see where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic and the beautiful blues of the waves as they crashed on the rocks far below. Our next stop was at the bottom of the peak to visit the most South-Western point of Africa: The Cape of Good Hope. There we were greeted by several ostriches sun-bathing on the side of the road and lots of Korean tourists. TIA. This is Africa.

After a spot of wine tasting at Groot Constantia (they are getting to really know us there) we were headed home to celebrate my roommate’s birthday. We went to Khaya Nyama on Long St. for some game. Yes, game. While the waiter gave me a disappointing sigh for ordering the veggie lasagna (terrible, but then again who orders lasagna when zebra is on the menu?) the other interns ordered kudu, warthog, and various other game meats. I tried the kudu, it tastes like steak. Meanwhile, the heads of all of our counterparts who lent their bodies to our meals adorned the walls. I hope to be able to try the traditional Cape Malay food but so far it has been sandwiches, pizza, French toast, and lasagna for me. It is really hard to find traditional food in an area that is so cultural that American, Halaal, and French food places line the streets.

So in the span of just a few days I have been able to cross of many of the things on my to-do list for Cape Town. Before arriving I had been hoping to do a side trip to Botswana. Although there is still a chance of that, a trip to Mozambique has started to look better and better. I don’t think I’d see the side of Mozambique that Katie has seen, this would be more of a beachfront vacation with other interns, including snorkeling, sunbathing, and general bumming about. We shall see. Tomorrow is a new day. I start my internship tomorrow. I’m sure it will provide me with a lot of new opportunities and I’m sure my plans will change along with it. So here’s to tomorrow.