Before you begin...

Instructions:
1. This blog begins with the most recent entry first. Therefore, to read about my trip from the beginning, you need to scroll to the very bottom of page and read up.
2. There are links within each blog to more pictures. They are underlined. When you click on them, they will take you to another page to view the picture. To return to my blog, simply click the 'back' button.
3. There is at comment button at the end of each entry. Please use it!
4. To see more pictures from my trip, click here.

Disclaimers:
1. I do not claim to be an English major, so there are most likely typos and grammatical errors throughout this blog. If you catch any typos, feel free to let me know.
2. Any informational errors are mine and mine alone. (But if you catch one, again, feel free to let me know.)

Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank my parents for allowing me to travel to Africa this interim and most of all, I would like to thank my grandmother for provided the financial means to make this trip a reality. This truly was the trip of a lifetime and I will cherish these memories forever. I hope that you will be able to experience part of Africa through this blog.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Day 3--Capetown


Table Mountain

Today was a free day so we slept in until 7:15. Blakely, Stephanie, and I went down to the beach and bought tickets for the City Sight Seeing Capetown bus. It rode us around to several noteworthy spots while narrating the history and interesting facts through headphones. We had the opportunity to get off at each spot and pick up where we left off in 20 minute intervals.
Our first stop was the crafts market. It was a very clean, nice shopping center. Blakely got some cute Christmas ornaments, and Stephanie got a super cool ostrich egg with a globe on it. I found some really nice wooden figurines of Africa's Big 5: the cape buffalo, the elephant, the lion, the rhinoceros, and the leopard.
After that, we rode on the bus and learned some cool facts. Part of Capetown actually used to be underwater, but dirt was brought in to increase the land area. We saw where Nelson Mandela first addressed the public after being released from prison and the slave castle that now houses a military museum.
Our next stop was Table Mountain National Park. When we visited it on our first day in Capetown, we were only at the bottom of the mountain, but today, we went to the top! To get there, we rode in a really neat cable car that rotated in a circle as it went up. This way, I could appreciate the view from all vantage points without taking a step!
When we got to the top, the view was spectacular! Table Mountain is unique because it literally has a flat top--just like a table. Because of this, we were able to look all over the top very comfortably. We saw a dassie and several lizards while we were up there.
After spending several hours on Table Mountain, we took the bus to Camps Bay, a gorgeous beach! Our bus tour informed up that the water in Camps Bay is colder in the summer than in the winter because the winds sweep the warm water off the top, leaving only cool water to rise to the surface. I found that this was very true when I dipped my feet in the water--it was like ice!! We didn't stay at the beach very long because it was sweltering hot and we were already a little sunburned.
We were going to hop on the bus and go to another market, but since it's Sunday, the market had closed at 4:00 and we were too late. So we just rode the bus back to our hostel and took a much-needed shower. I'm kind of curious as to what our showers are going to be like after today. Tomorrow morning we leave for the desert and I don't know what our facilities will be like...
For dinner, we had a delicious Italian meal at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.
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