We went canoeing today! The UCT canoe club met on campus and people with cars gave lifts to Muizenberg vlei, where the club stores all their boats and there is a club house they share with the UCT yacht club and other people who store their boats there. In South Africa, ‘canoe’ and ‘kayak’ mean pretty much the same thing.
I had never been on a boat so skinny and unstable before! They take a lot of balance and core strength to not tip over, and in order to stay up right, you need to keep momentum. Most of the boats were doubles, but there were a few singles and one triple. The front person has foot pedals to steer the rudder, so both people on the boat keep the same steady stroke and the rudder turns the boat.
The experienced guys took the novices out in doubles. I got to try steering, which was a lot of fun I also tried getting in a single, but I could not even get one paddle stroke in before tipping over... need some more practice on the doubles! There was a braai and music playing, and everyone there was very friendly. Everyone was South African except for one girl from Montana. There is a race next Saturday which I might do. I will see how training goes this week.
Some other South African slang to share…they say ‘keen’ a lot. For example, “I’d be keen to do that.” They also say ‘sure’ in place of when Americans would say ‘yeah’. Joining clubs and interacting with new people is a blast!
I am excited for tomorrow... playing in a beach volleyball tournament at Camps Bay with the UCT volleyball club! Can’t wait!
