south africa : day one, wednesday

18 february 2009

the morning began far too early, as we hoped to see the sunrise over table mountain. a 545 alarm found mckendree, kelsey, ren and me trudging upstairs with sweats on to get a glimpse of our next port. halfway up the stairs we met other girls who told us not to bother-- the fog was too thick. we had suspected this when we'd looked out the window but tried to give it a shot anyways. the decision was made to go back to bed for an hour and then to grab some breakfast.

i had trouble going back to sleep -- i've been taking malarone as my anti-malarial medication and it causes strange dreams. i rarely remember my dreams but i slept so poorly because i kept having dreams that woke me up. it was still good to have another hour to lay in bed and to watch cnn. i've really felt out of the loop with the outside world, it's like we are in our own bubble.

breakfast was good, as usual. it is most definitely my favorite meal because it is always good. its hard not to like the fresh fruit and cereal. the fog was SO thick outside the ship and the fog horn was blasting every two minutes or so. word quickly spread that we would not be arriving on time and it was apparent when looking out the window.

everyone sort of lazed around until after 0900, until we were called up for the diplomatic briefing. we heard from the consulate general (i think that was her title) who talked about obama. she was a great woman and was able to connect to us. her security officer gave us advice about atm machines, pick pocketers and a stern recommendation to stay out of the townships unless on a tour. there was also a taxi strike going on, so we were not advised to take the large, van-style taxis. apparently the drivers are protesting the bus system that will be implemented for the 2010 world cup, fearing they will lose money and that the government is out to get them.

we finally saw cape town as we hurried to get off the ship. the majority of table mountain was enveloped in clouds, making it hard to get an idea of the emormity of the big rock. the v&a waterfront, where we docked was incredible. there were two large malls, too many restaurants, cafes and bars, lots of small shops and plenty of tour guides begging for some business. there were cargo ships and fishing boats, though not nearly as industrial as casablanca or walvis bay where we climbed around forklifts, cargo containers, cranes, etc. also prevalent were some veryyy nice yachts and sail boats. i hear this is the place where rich people come to play, though it is not an accurate reflection of the entire country.

after assembling a large group (mckendree, our neighbors kelsey &ren, danielle, andrea, caitlin, whitney &myself) we headed to an atm and then took a taxi up to table mountain. we climbed the platteklip (pronounced platt-eh-kliph, i think..) gorge route. it was estimated that it would take approximately 2 hours to climb.

there was a cloud cover while we were climbing which was nice, we didn't get as hot. the group soon split into climbing ability and i am happy to report that i was not the last, as i had expected. our more serious climbers (and soccer players), mckendree, caitlin, whitney, ren &kelsey took off and made it to the top after about an hour and a half. i kept a steady pace up the stairs -- the entire route were rocks arranged into stairs -- and made it to the top i just about 2 hours. i was alone for small stretches, though i could see my group ahead and behind me. i met up with some girls who i'd met on the train to marrakech and it was nice to climb with them, too.

there was a brief clearing in the cloud cover and i got some great photos, it was a BEAUTIFUL view. cape town is situated in the bowl below the mountain and i could see the mv explorer the entire time. once at the top, it was completely flat. also, very foggy. i took my time and enjoyed the feeling of being in the clouds. i'm sad i didn't get to take photos of the view from the absolute top but i did eventually find a postcard &i can pretend i took it.

once at the top, there is a restaurant! yes, a real one! they should put restaurants on the top of all mountains. its great incentive. upon finding the fast climbers, i checked out the buffet. i had a great burger with a sweet, sloppy-joe type sauce on it. the perfect meal. we also had some wine, which was great. after meeting up with the slower climbers, who arrived shortly after me, we checked out the gift shoppe and purchased tickets to take the cable car down. we had toyed with the idea of repelling down but we met other sas-ers who had done it and they ended up having to climb back up because the route did not go all the way down.

the cable car turned out to be the way to go. it was a circular car with a 360 degree view. once we started moving, the floor of the car began to rotate, so that you did not have to move around the cabin and could see everything from your spot. it was fun to come out of the clouds and to see cape town again.

we took a large taxi back and enjoyed the stereo system &music videos played on the television. and for 10R (1 USD), the price was perfect. we got back to port and were told by security officers to never take the big cabs, because of the strike. we were with an older semester at sea gentleman and had filled our bus, so we didn't think it would have been a problem. we learned our lesson, i suppose, and stayed away from the big cabs from there out.

the girls: ren, kels, mckendree and i decided to shower up, change and head to dinner on the ship. the girls were going on a jazz safari though semester at sea and they were going to tour musician's homes and listen to music. i had plans to meet up with a bunch of girls and go out for the night. i think they purposely make the food in port better than when cruising.. it was delicious!

i met up with a few girls (cassie, maria, andrea, and danielle) and headed out in on the waterfront. we went to mitchell's pub where a glass of amazing red wine was 2 USD and a shared plate of nachos were about 3.50 USD. (we are very classy.. wine &nachos?). it was a great time and we were the only americans there. there were rugby and cricket games on the flatscreens and a bachelor party at the next table. the bachelor had a huge cement block attatched to his leg.. it was very funny. we also checked out some of the fancier restaurants along the water and picked out the next night's hang out.

we then made our way to long street where all the restaurants and clubs are. we ran into lots of semester at sea kids, it was the place to be. there is a link between all the carnival cities (south africa celebrates in january..) and so there were several bars and clubs with cuban influences. my favorite stop was 'che bar,' as in che guevara. there were pictures of him on campbells soup cans and it was a great spot with fun (american) pop music. i could have stayed there all night. after bar hopping for a little while we went to the bang bang club and met lots of south african boys. at the club they played a lot of techno/house music so i didn't know how to dance! it was crowded, though, so there wasn't much room for dancing. it was a great time and then we piled into cabs and made it back to the ship.. far too late for my liking, but you only live once. :)