June 22 – Returning Home

I am officially back in the states, which was 25 hours of flight time, plus more time with the layovers. It feels good and weird being back home. My semester abroad in South Africa was some of the best time of my life. The sights I got to see, the new friends I made, and the culture I got immersed in have helped me grow as a person. I am so happy I got to have had this experience, and I can’t wait to go back someday soon!

 

June 21 – Departing From Cape Town!

I went on a hike to Woodstock cave, hoping to tire myself out a bit before sitting in the plane for hours on end. My flight is at 7:30 p.m. and goes to London, then L.A., then arriving at 6 p.m. in Sacramento the next day.

June 20 – Seeing Mareli and Jan Again

Mareli and Jan came and visited me for the day. They left the baby twins with their grandparents and took me out to lunch at a nice restaurant on the waterfront. We had sushi on the upstairs porch and then had a bigger meal downstairs. We were right on the water and it was lovely.

I am really lucky to have had this second family away from home. They truly made me feel welcome.

June 19 – A Day on My Own in Cape Town

I went into town for the day. I walked around Company Gardens and read a book for a while. The weather was sunny and pleasant. I bought a tapestry for Kat in Greenmarket Square because she had wanted one but had not gotten one, and I also had a nice cappuccino in a cool coffee cafe and read some more. Hoping my checked luggage is not going to be too heavy with this and all the other gifts I have bought here!

June 18 – Flying Back to Cape Town

I had a very early morning flight from Durban to Cape Town, and then I hung out in the airport with Chandler and Kat for a few hours until their flight departed South Africa. I had such a great time showing them around this country I have grown to love, taking them around places in Cape Town I knew and then exploring new territory in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal These were two provinces I had not been to yet.

They got a mixture of touristy and local experiences, and we had so much fun together and made great memories. I have a few more days in Cape Town alone until I fly home on the 22nd. Staying alone at the house feels a little strange, but it is nice too.

June 17 – Day in Durban!

We started off the day by going to Victoria Street Market, an Indian market. Durban has a large Indian population from when they were brought in for labor when colonialists were exasperated with trying to enslave the indigenous people. The indoor market had a lot of interesting stalls, from trinkets to clothing to spices. Chandler got the hottest spice mix from one of the stalls, going to be interesting to see if anyone can survive eating it!

Next we went in search of bunny chow for lunch. Bunny chow is curry inside a loaf of bread with the inside of the bread scooped out. You can get 1/4 loaf, 1/2 loaf, or a full loaf. Even a 1/4 loaf is super filling. We tried finding one of the famous spots, but it was not where our GPS said it should be. So we ended up getting it from somewhere else. We took it to the beach to eat. The stretch of beach in Durban that attracts a lot of people is referred to as the Golden Mile, a long stretch of nice beach and walkway.

Then we went surfing! The Indian Ocean was very warm. I could have surfed without a wet suit like Chandler did, but Kat and I did not want to get all scuffed up on the surf board because we did not have rash guards either. The waves were great, and it was fun surfing by some people who were really good.

Afterwards, Kat and I went on a run along the beach. Then we read for a while until the sun set behind the skyscrapers. We went back to the hostel, showered, and then went to Umhalanga for dinner to a restaurant called Fish. They have fresh caught fish and you can pick out which piece you want cooked. Kat and I each got muscle cracker, super tasty, and Chandler got barracuda. It was a great restaurant with a nice vibe. Then Chandler just had to try Nandos because he hadn’t yet. They use peri peri sauce on their chicken. For dessert, we got some ice cream from Pick N Pay and slices of cake from a cute bakery. We had to celebrate Kat and Chandlers last night in South Africa!

June 16 – Long Day of Traveling

It was a long day in the car. We drove all the way from Graskop to Durban, which took about nine hours. There was one section of a highway that was being reconstructed, so we had to drive on a dirt road alongside the roadwork for about 30 kilometers. Other than that, and a little trouble finding our hostel, the drive was fine. We stayed at On The Beach Hostel in Durban North, and it was literally right next to the ocean. We tried to find a certain waterfront area for dinner, but failed, and ended up at a rather interesting spot for dinner. It was fine, however, because we got sushi.

June 15 – Loerie Trail

Slept in this morning, first time whole trip and much needed. We got stuffed pancakes for brunch at Harrie’s, which is famous for Graskop. We did some tourist shopping and got more biltong. Then we drove to Sabie because we needed gas, and the only gas station in Graskop was under construction.

Once we arrived in Sabie, we got hiking permits to hike the Loerie Trail. It is about 7 kilometers long and passes four waterfalls. The trail was a very nice short hike. I bought a tapestry with the Big 5 on them, which is something I just had to do since I actually saw them all! Then we picked up meat and veggies to braai that evening.

June 14 – Horseback Riding and Elephants

Today we went horseback trail riding with an elephant encounter! We had an hour long horse trail ride. Chandler rode a horse for the first time in his life, and he did pretty well for a semi-technical trail. 

 Then we got to the elephant place and were awed. They had six elephants that they had saved from overpopulated private reserves. Five of them were a bit younger, and one huge older one was from Kruger Park called Tembo.

The handlers had the elephants put on a cool show for us just by listening to verbal commands. They train them on a command reward basis, not by poking them with sharp sticks like they do for Asian elephants. They taught us all about the elephants’ anatomy, diet, behavior, etc. We learned a lot of interesting things such as how their ears serve as a cooling system by having blood pumped through them, how they have hormone secretion holes above their eyes that display their emotion, and how their molars determine their lifespan. We all got to take turns feeding one of them, touching them as they lay down, and standing between their front legs.

Then we got to ride them! Chandler, Kat and I got to ride the biggest one, Tembo! It felt so wonky with our legs spread so far! And we were so high up off the ground! Then we rode the horses back. 

 In the afternoon we explored the Panorama route by Blyde River Canyon, stopped at God’s Window, Berlin Falls, Bourke’s Potholes, and the Three Rondavels, the last of which was my favorite. The views of the canyon were stunning.

We had another authentic South African dinner of venison stew with pap (smooth corn meal, South African staple) and samb (a chunkier sweet corn meal). A Dutch guy sleeping in the same hostel room as us joined us for dinner. We are staying in Graskop for two nights.

June 13 – Kruger National Park

We woke up bright and early to drive through Kruger National Park! We entered through the Crocodile Gate and exited through a gate by Hazyview where we were staying that night. Kruger was awesome, so much beautiful open land teeming with game. I saw water buffalo, hippos, crocodile and rhinos for the first time! Seeing rhinos was really lucky.

 Thus I completed seeing the Big 5: lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino! (I had seen lion and leopard in the Kalahari). We also saw lots of giraffes, zebra, elephant, baboons, monkeys, kudu, impala, warthog, wildebeest, ostrich, a bushbok, eagles, and all sorts of other gorgeous birds.

Driving along the Sabie River was really cool because we got to see a bunch of hippos and elephant. At our lunch picnic stop, the monkeys were not shy at all and were experts at stealing people’s food. They swiped two apples from us, and when Kat tried to scare one away, it almost jumped on her. Unfortunately, we did not see any big cats today.

That night we stayed at an awesome hostel in Hazyview called the Gecko Backpackers with a really nice host and a fun vibe. We all got game meat for dinner. I got an ostrich burger, Chandler a Kudu steak, and Katerina got springbok. After dinner we enjoyed sitting at the backpackers bar watching the rugby game of the Stormers versus the Sharks and talking to the host about rugby.

June 12 – More Rock Climbing

We slept a solid ten hours which felt glorious. Then we headed on to the crags, tried a new area and then finished at the same wall as yesterday. We really pushed ourselves today by trying a 21, but we couldn’t quite make it all the way. I did my first full crack route too!

In the afternoon, we took off towards Komatipoort, a town just south of Kruger National Park. The accommodation I had booked, Kruger Inn backpackers, was through a scam that someone had set up. The backpackers had been having a lot of trouble with this certain guy who set up the scam. Luckily they had room for us for the night, and they were very accommodating. It was a really cool place. We had our own little braai that night.

June 11 – Beginning of a Road Trip

Today was the start of a week-long road trip with my brother and cousin! We woke up at 3 a.m. to catch our flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. We arrived safe and sound, and then hit the road for Waterval Boven, which is about halfway between Joburg and Kruger and one of the best rock climbing places in Africa. We took a roundabout way getting to Waterval Boven and also tried taking a slightly longer route to avoid the toll road, but it put us on this long dirt road. Hoping the rental car is ok!

The Roc n’ Rope Adventure center where we checked in for the hostel for the night was very helpful. They lent us a guide of the routes for the two days we were there and had a pretty cool rock climbing shop. We picked up some bread, peanut butter, jelly, apples and rusks, and we were on our way to the rocks.

We got some awesome climbing routes in the afternoon, which were some of the best routes I have ever climbed in my whole life. I climbed a South African grade 20, which is an American grade 5.10c and the hardest I have ever done! The rock is red sandstone, which was beautiful and nice on the hands.

The concentration of routes was amazing! I have never seen so many awesome routes in one location, and we were only at one of the walls, the Hallucinogen Wall. We climbed until we could not see anymore, then went to the Aloe Restaurant and had some awesome fresh trout, which they prepared for us in the midst of load shedding.

The hostel we stayed at was awesome. It was a great hangout place for climbers, and we were some of the few people there.

June 10 – Last Final Exam

I woke up early to study and then took my surveying final in the afternoon. It was a three-hour exam, but I finished in about two hours. It was not too difficult, and it felt so good to be done! Daniel took Chandler and Katerina to Muizenberg to go surfing for the day, which was very nice of him.

I then packed in the afternoon for our Kruger trip and went out to dinner for sushi with Daniel for our last night in Cape Town.

June 9 – Hiking Up Table Mountain

We hiked Table Mountain via the Skeleton Gorge route which starts in Kirstenbosch Gardens. From Skeleton Gorge, we hiked to Maclears Beacon, which is the tallest point on Table Mountain. We had some lunch and lemon creams (standard snack of Christow road for hiking). 

Then we hiked onwards to the Cable Car and then down Platteklip Gorge. Daniel and Skyler joined us. We hiked very quickly, which was fun, and the weather was perfect. In the evening, I studied more for my last final exam the following day.

June 8 – Sunrise Hike Up Lions Head!

We went on a sunrise hike up Lions Head this morning! We got up there with plenty of time to spare and enjoyed watching the sun rise. That view is forever going to be special to me. Then we went to Camps Bay and had a delicious breakfast before hanging out on the beach for a bit. We had a fun time making Chandler into a sand merman.

Next, we drove to Hout Bay, got some fish and chips, and relaxed on the beach. I had only driven by Hout Bay once and had dinner there once too (when Carr came to visit), but it was dark then. So overall, it was nice to check it out.

Then we returned the rental car and I studied the rest of the day. Chandler and Katerina braaied ostrich and sweet potatoes since there was load shedding.

June 7 – Continuing Our Visit With Jan and Mareli

Today I slept in. Katerina and I then went on a run in the orchards, and then we all went on a walk together with the twins in a stroller. Chandler had a blast with their two dogs, a bull terrier and a great dane. Jan braaied chicken and some cheese sandwiches for lunch, and Mareli made some yummy veggies. It was sad to say goodbye since it feels like family whenever I see Jan and Mareli, and Mareli really enjoyed getting to see Chandler again for the first time since he was three.

We tried to get sushi by Greenpoint, but we got lost trying to find the place. So instead we went to a South African themed restaurant at the waterfront and we all ordered local dishes.

June 6 – Visiting Jan and Mareli

We drove out for the weekend to visit Jan and Mareli (my old South African au pair) at their farm with their baby twins, Luah and Gabriella, who were adorable. The drive out to Ceres and onward to their farm is gorgeous!

We had a nice lunch of ostrich burgers, and then we went to their neighbor’s place which has a bunch of bolted rock climbing routes. It is becoming a new hotspot destination for climbers. Overall, we had a great afternoon climbing with a bunch of baboons keeping us company. They were climbing up on the rocks we were climbing! The baby baboons were especially cute.

That evening, Jan did a spectacular braai for us with all kinds of South African meat, including lamb liver (which only Jan really enjoyed), bacon wrapped around cherries, standard boerwors, and lamb chops. It was really nice chatting away at the fire altogether.

June 5 - Shark Cage Diving!

Today we drove to Gansbaai to go shark cage diving and Daniel joined us. It was super epic! We were very lucky and saw five great white sharks! The cage fit six to seven people, and the boat held about 22 people. When Katerina was in the cage, a shark even tried to bite it! The whole experience was awesome.

We then drove back on a little longer route along the coast. It was very beautiful and we stopped at a lovely beach for a bit and got to see Cape Town as the sun set. That night we went in Claremont to Tiger Tiger and Boogie.

June 4 – Final Exam for Water Resource Management and More Exploring

I had the final for my water resource management class, which was the honors level EGS course I was in. It was three hours of writing two essays. We had been given the prompts ahead of time so that we could prepare, as we needed to cite at least eight papers for each essay. We were allowed to bring in a reference sheet to jog our memory, but that was it. I felt alright about it and glad it is over

Afterwards, Chandler, Katerina and I picked up our rental car for the weekend. It took us a bit of a roundabout way to get there, as the company didn’t update their address online, but we eventually got our car. We got a manual car, and it was fun driving stick shift with my left hand! I have never done it before! 

 We went rock climbing at Lakeside Pinnacles, a place I had been to a few times before so I knew how to get there. There are great views of the mountains and Muizenberg. We climbed until it got too dark to see the rock anymore.

Then we went into town for Ethiopian food. We were seated up in a treehouse loft, which was a super fun setting. Then cruised around First Thursday festivities a bit and got some huge milk shakes. It was fun showing them how alive Long Street becomes at night.

June 2 – Simon’s Town & Boulder Beach

We had wanted to go hiking today, but it was raining, so instead we went to Simon’s Town where the forecast said it was supposed to be partly cloudy. In reality, it was pouring!

We walked from the train station to Simon’s Town and then to Boulder Beach to see the African penguins and got absolutely soaked. Seeing the penguins was great, but we were so wet we did not feel like staying and getting fish and chips in Kalks Bay as planned. All we wanted was to get back to shower!

For dinner, we got roti from Sunrise Chip n’ Ranch - I just had to have Chandler and Kat experience roti.

June 1 – Chandler and Katerina Visit Me!

I went for breakfast at Cocoa WahWah, which was the first little introduction to South Africa for my brother, Chandler, and cousin, Katerina. Then we went grocery shopping, running, and into town in the afternoon. I showed them Company’s Garden, Green Market Square to buy a few gifts, and Bo-Kaap (the colorful house neighborhood).

Then we walked to the Waterfront where we checked out the shop market and the food market and got some delicious Hungarian flatbread. We also went to Mitchell’s, a kind of full circle moment for me as it was one of the first places my housemates went to as a group. It was a cool new experience for Chandler and Katerina.

May 31- Family Arrives!

I studied in the morning and went indoor rock climbing in the afternoon. Then in the evening, I picked up Chandler and Katerina from the airport!! I can’t believe they are already here! I have been waiting all semester for them to come!

May 30 – Splurging at Neighborgoods

I went to Neighborgoods market again, and I splurged. I got a nice leather bag by the brand Rowdy. Real durable leather bags are pretty expensive in the states, but they are much cheaper here ($50!). I have always wanted a good one, so I went for it. I will have it for the rest of my life and be reminded of Cape Town whenever I use it.

I also splurged on food. I got a yummy poached egg with bacon on a potato fritter, and then a waffle with speculose.

In addition, I went on one of my favorite really long runs through Newlands, up to the Contour path and down the blockhouse trail and Rhodes Memorial. It had been raining, so all the streams were bursting and the waterfalls were full.

May 29 – Last Event With Housemates!

Today was our last event with all of our housemates. We got dinner at Addis in Cape, an Ethiopian restaurant on Long Street. It was super fun eating really good meat with their version of flatbread with your hands.

It is very sad that our time here is coming close to an end. I have another three weeks, but a few people leave on Monday! Half the crew headed back after the dinner, and the rest of us went to the Waiting Room.

May 28 – Camps Bay

We went on a hike along the Pipetrack, a trail along the base of the 12 Apostles that overlooks Camps Bay and starts at the crossroads for Lions Head and the Cable Car. We were going to try to do a more strenuous hike up the 12 Apostles called Kasteelspoort, which starts in Camps Bay, but there was road construction and we couldn’t get to the trailhead. This ended up being a nice alternative.

It was cloudy, but on our way back some of the fog burned off and we got to see the view of Camps Bay and the ocean.

.

May 27 – Woodstock Exchange

I went with Olivia, Evan and Skyler to Woodstock Exchange, a hip set of buildings with various cafes and stores, to get nice tea from a tea shop. I got some rooibois and honeybush (both unique to South Africa) flavored tea to give as a gift to my mom. She is a true tea lover.

Later in the afternoon, a group of us went to Seapoint to walk along the promenade. It was a nice walkway along the ocean with a grassy park lining the other side with interesting features such as a ginormous pair of sunglasses. We walked on the beach a bit too, which was really nice. We timed it so that we would be able to watch the sunset and it was gorgeous.

The walk goes from Seapoint to the Waterfront, where we had dinner - I had a seafood pizza. I am trying to do some things we have not done here yet before we all leave, and I can’t believe it took us until the end of the semester to do this lovely walk!

 

May 24 – A “Very Christow Christmas”

Since our house feels so much like a family, we decided we needed to have our own little variation of Christmas. Everyone made food, which was a hodgepodge of different things, but everything was delicious. Sara and I made goat cheese and mashed potatoes.

Load shedding happened from 6-8:30, so we got all the food prepared ahead of time, and then enjoyed each other’s company in the candlelight. We lit a fire and listened to some Christmas music. It was a really nice evening, and we had so much extra food we all ate leftovers together the next night.

I am studying for final exams a lot this week to get ahead, as my brother, Chandler, and my cousin, Katerina, come in a week! I am so excited for them to come! I have two finals while they are here which is a bit of a bummer, but when I am done, we are going on a trip to Kruger!

My Water Resource Management final requires a lot of prep work. We have to write two essays in three hours, with 10 papers referenced in each, but we are not allowed to have any notes, so we need to memorize! It is time to start reading some papers.