I have fallen in love!!!

Big news!! I have fallen in love… with South Africa! I have been here only two short days and I am in awe of this beautiful country. Yesterday we pulled into port around 0630 but pretty much everyone on the ship was up and out on deck by 0500 to watch the sunrise over Cape Town – it was absolutely beautiful and sadly none of the hundreds of pictures I took could do it justice. Before we disembarked, we had a diplomatic briefing for all the SAS participants. It was so interesting and it really got me thinking about possible future career paths. J After we got off the ship we headed toward the waterfront and started our exploration of Cape Town. I talked to some local guys on a sail boat (funny story that, if you really are that interested, you should ask me when I get home) and they welcomed me to Cape Town. After a few more hours we headed back to the ship for our FDP to Robben Island. I cannot even begin to tell you about the experience of Robben Island. When we got off the ferry it just hit me of everything that went on there. Not only was I stepping where hundreds of innocent prisoners walked but it really hit me that this happened during my lifetime. Its not like Hiroshima or Vietnam where no matter how many times I will go, visiting those places will not have the same impact on me as it will as someone who lived through them. The Apartheid is still “fresh” history and being at Robben Island and speaking to past political prisoners was amazing! I learned so much and feel much more of a connection for South Africa and the apartheid period. If you ever have any free time definitely look up a man by the name of Robert Sebuque (I think that’s how his last name is spelled). Most South Africans don’t know his name at all, but he played such a vital part of the Apartheid movement… his story is very powerful and worth looking into. From Robben Island my friends and I went back to the ship and got some dinner (or tried to straighten out an ATM situation with their bank… goodness!!) We then had plans to head up to Table Mountain. We caught a cab for the 10 minute drive up to the cable car only to find out that it was closed for the day due to high winds. Talk about a major downer – we ended up just taking pictures from the view we were at and then headed back to the waterfront to get a second dinner of sorts. After our long day we decided to call it a night after our late dinner and headed back home, aka: the ship!
Today (Wednesday) I went on an SAS trip to Cape Point. The views we saw were absolutely amazing! For those of you who don’t know, Cape Point is said to be the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet – it is also the most south-western point in Africa. We also went to see a colony of penguins (Jackass penguins, if you want to be specific) that are indigenous to this area. They are so cute! Oh, and a little side note – the restaurant we went to had to shut their windows because there was a troop of baboons that were just outside… no big deal! HA! Once we returned to the ship I went out to dinner with some people I had just met the day before which was so much fun! We went to this restaurant called Moyo where customers have the opportunity to eat in a tree house! We didn’t because we had too many people in our party. We still had a great seat though – right by the center stage. Every so often they would have dancers and singers come out and do a traditional African dance for us! It was a great time! The dinner was an all you can eat buffet with many different types of meat – traditional steak, , ox tail, antelope, and of course chicken. Talk about a mouth watering meal… YUMM! These past 2 days have been amazing and I can’t wait to see what the next few days have in store for me!
I am so excited I get to share this with you! Hope you enjoy!
Love love love Cherie