I apologize for not writing as much as I should lately. Things in Cape Town have been quite hectic. I'm enjoying my time here and have learned a great deal, but I do miss home. Perhaps I have a case of the two month blues. I have nothing to complain about here but I still yearn for familiarity. I miss being able to get in my own car and go out with my friends spontaneously, I miss being able to hop on public transit without worrying about my safety, and most of all I miss Starbucks. If you can find a way to ship me some Starbucks coffee to Plattekloof you'll get my praise for the rest of your life! It's not even Starbucks I miss, it's the way we drink coffee back home. Here, almost everyone drinks instant coffee, regardless of socioeconomic status or size of household. At home, I rarely ever see it. When I was younger I drank decaf instant coffee to get myself to like it. Ironically, I miss the Rwandan coffee my mom buys at Costco. Who would've thought it would be so hard to get AFRICAN coffee in AFRICA?! Shame, I'm digressing...
This past weekend my host family and I went to their "holiday home", or vacation house as we say in North America. Their vacation house is located in Plettenberg Bay. It's actually not too far from where I used to live, Mossel Bay.
The first day of my long weekend started bright and early at six-thirty in the morning with my alarm clock playing John Mayer. Kinda early, ey? The five of us proceeded into our surroundings for the next seven hours--the family Land Rover. Mum and Dad sat in front, Yael and I were in the back, and Abbi sat in what I like to call the "dog bed", which is a duvet to lay on in the back. We drove through some stunning scenery just outside of Cape Town. We drove through several mountain passes and even saw some baboons chilling outside of a tunnel! Our first stop was in the bustling metropolis of Worcester. There we ate breakfast at the traditional standby of South African roadtrippers--Wimpy. The five of us enjoyed a delicious artery-clogging breakfast of coffee, eggs, toast, sausages, and chips (fries). AFS doesn't mean "Another Fat Student" for nothing. After breakfast we continued through the landscape of the Klein Karoo, which is almost indescribable. The scenery changes from a green, lush landscape to a barren, desert-like one. Our second stop was Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of South Africa. Oudtshoorn has established it's mark on the map for one reason, the KKNK, which is the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees. It's a big Afrikaans cultural festival. We missed it by a few weeks, and arrived in an empty, boring town. It was kind of a let down. In defense of Oudtshoorn, it's a charming town. Unfortunately, it happens to be located in the absolute middle of nowhere. We arrived in Plettenbergbaai around three in the afternoon. The rest of the day was spent chilling in the house and at the river. That evening I went out with my host sister and some of her friends who also have a vacation house in the same complex.
Here are some pictures of the journey to Plett.
Baboon on the side of the road.
Somewhere in the Klein Karoo, near Oudtshoorn
Host dad (Colin), host sister (Yael), and me.
Indian Ocean, as seen from the N2.
Yael, our precious cargo.
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were spent on the Kuerboom (spelling?) River where the house is located. We went boating, cliff diving, and just chilled. We went out a few times into town, which is about as exciting as your average small vacation town in a place like Michigan, but off season. That's perhaps the only thing I can equate it to. When there are people I'm sure it's a blast but April is far from high season in Plettenberg Bay. Remember, winter is coming upon us here in South Africa! It's 50 degrees now. That's cold! I'm sure all you readers back home think I'm nuts, but if you've lived in 70 and 80 degree weather for two months 50 feels freezing!
You can see what we were up to in Plett in these pics.
KuerBOOMrivier, where the holiday house is located.
My host mom, younger host sister, and their cousin's girlfriend, Justine, on the boat.
Typical South African holiday: Braai-ing on a boat.
I'm so lucky to be in such an amazing country.
Tuesday we drove home with the same odd setup in the car. We stopped at Cape Aghulas and Hermanus. Cape Aghulas is significant because it is home to the southernmost tip of Africa. You can see where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. Hermanus is known as the whale capital of South Africa. Unfortunately, we didn't see a single whale. Shame.Finally, here are the Cape Aghulas and Hermanus pics:
Just chilling at the southernmost tip of Africa.
Host siblings and me in Cape Aghulas.
Hermanus, where we didn't see a single whale. At least there was ice cream!
The drive home along False Bay.
Other than our holiday, life isn't terribly interesting here. I've been going to school, coming home, doing homework, then going to bed. It's not too different than home during the week but every weekend I've had the pleasure to see and do something different. Either tomorrow or next weekend I'm going to go up Table Mountain and visit Robben Island. Those are the two major tourist attractions I have yet to visit. Oh well, you can't do it all in one day! I sometimes think to myself I haven't done much in the past two months, but in reality I've done far more than I would have done if I stayed in Chicago.
Cheers!
Danny
No comments:
Post a Comment