South Africa - Cape Town & the Garden Route
Day 1
The first thing I did when we got into port in South Africa was get off the boat and make my way to Table Mountain (pictured above) to hike it. I had been told by a friend of mine on the boat who was from South Africa that the hike was extremely strenuous so I was somewhat mentally prepared for the hike. There was originally five people in my hiking group, ten minutes in we had one person turn back, thirty minutes in we had two more people turn back and take an easier trail then me and one other girl finished the hike. It ended up taking two and a half hours and it was more of a vertical boulder climb then a hike but making it to the top and seeing the view made it all worth it. We then took the cable car the runs up and down the mountain back down to the base and made our way to the V&A Waterfront for lunch/dinner. then spent the night on the boat.
Day 2
I had no set plans for this day so a friend and I went back to the V&A Waterfront and did some shopping. When then got a taxi and had him drop us off on Long Street which is a popular street in South Africa with restaurants for lunch. Just down the street from Long Street is also a popular market where we did some more shopping. This port is definitely where I spent the most amount of money. Both us had no idea what else to do so we found a taxi driver and told him to take us somewhere interesting. He ended up taking us on a 30 minute seeing drive to a small bay where we hopped on the last tour boat out to a seal island which is where I saw the man in the photo above feeding a wild seal (yes, the seal is not a trained pet) food from his mouth. After the boat we took the same drive back along the coast and made it to the boat for sunset.
Day 3
This was the last day before I left for my safari and again I had no plans, except for a morning university exchange that SAS had set up with the University of the Western Cape. I ended up sitting down for breakfast with a group of kids that I sort of knew and they mentioned that they were going to pet cheetahs. The safari that I had signed up for originally was going to allow us to pet and walk with some of the cheetahs they had on the game reserve but a few days before we got to Cape Town they informed us that the cheetahs had been rehabilitated and released back on to the reserve so we were not going to interact with them. When I heard that this group was going I joined in and met up with them after the university exchange. The Cheetah Outreach we went to ended up being about an hours drive away so we all go to know out taxi driver very well who had some interesting perspectives on everything happening in South Africa. Once we got to the outreach it ended up being a very long wait to pet the cats because if the cats aren't in a resting mood then they have to wait for them to lay down. Once they calmed down I was able to pet Joseph (the cheetah pictured above). He was 12 years old and the oldest cat they had at the outreach. After that I made my way back to Cape Town, stopped at the boat for ten minutes then went out and hiked Lions Head Mountain for sunset which was the most breathtaking view ever.
Day 4
This was the first day of my three day safari. Our safari was on the Garden Route Game Reserve which was about a four hour drive from the ship in Cape Town. Once we got there we had a few hours to unpack before we headed out on our first game drive. We saw all kinds of animals from wildebeests, zebras, many wild birds and other game. We then went back to the lodge for one of the most amazing meals I've ever had and had an star gazing session where I was able to see the southern cross.
Day 5
The second day of the safari we had two game drives, one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon. In the morning we were able to go view the lions who are known for being a little bit temperamental and ended up charging on of the cars so we had to leave them. We went and found the two hippos that are on the reserve and witnessed a blue crane, South Africa's national bird, teaching its baby how to fly which was amazing to witness. On the sunset drive we set out to find the cheetahs on the reserve but were unsuccessful. The sunset was beautiful and we had another amazing meal.
Day 6
The was the last day of the safari and the last day in South Africa. On our last game drive that morning we set out to find the cheetahs and we ended up just missing it kill an ostrich by just ten minutes. We spent the rest of the time looking for the cheetah and seeing the last of the game. We ended up finding one of the cheetahs on our way out of the reserve (pictured above). We packed up our stuff and made our way back to Cape Town. The immigration set up ended up being insanely complicated and we made it back on the boat about three hours after we were supposed to. I hated leaving South Africa and this is one country that I will definitely have to come back to.
Day 1
The first thing I did when we got into port in South Africa was get off the boat and make my way to Table Mountain (pictured above) to hike it. I had been told by a friend of mine on the boat who was from South Africa that the hike was extremely strenuous so I was somewhat mentally prepared for the hike. There was originally five people in my hiking group, ten minutes in we had one person turn back, thirty minutes in we had two more people turn back and take an easier trail then me and one other girl finished the hike. It ended up taking two and a half hours and it was more of a vertical boulder climb then a hike but making it to the top and seeing the view made it all worth it. We then took the cable car the runs up and down the mountain back down to the base and made our way to the V&A Waterfront for lunch/dinner. then spent the night on the boat.
Day 2
I had no set plans for this day so a friend and I went back to the V&A Waterfront and did some shopping. When then got a taxi and had him drop us off on Long Street which is a popular street in South Africa with restaurants for lunch. Just down the street from Long Street is also a popular market where we did some more shopping. This port is definitely where I spent the most amount of money. Both us had no idea what else to do so we found a taxi driver and told him to take us somewhere interesting. He ended up taking us on a 30 minute seeing drive to a small bay where we hopped on the last tour boat out to a seal island which is where I saw the man in the photo above feeding a wild seal (yes, the seal is not a trained pet) food from his mouth. After the boat we took the same drive back along the coast and made it to the boat for sunset.
Day 3This was the last day before I left for my safari and again I had no plans, except for a morning university exchange that SAS had set up with the University of the Western Cape. I ended up sitting down for breakfast with a group of kids that I sort of knew and they mentioned that they were going to pet cheetahs. The safari that I had signed up for originally was going to allow us to pet and walk with some of the cheetahs they had on the game reserve but a few days before we got to Cape Town they informed us that the cheetahs had been rehabilitated and released back on to the reserve so we were not going to interact with them. When I heard that this group was going I joined in and met up with them after the university exchange. The Cheetah Outreach we went to ended up being about an hours drive away so we all go to know out taxi driver very well who had some interesting perspectives on everything happening in South Africa. Once we got to the outreach it ended up being a very long wait to pet the cats because if the cats aren't in a resting mood then they have to wait for them to lay down. Once they calmed down I was able to pet Joseph (the cheetah pictured above). He was 12 years old and the oldest cat they had at the outreach. After that I made my way back to Cape Town, stopped at the boat for ten minutes then went out and hiked Lions Head Mountain for sunset which was the most breathtaking view ever.
Day 4This was the first day of my three day safari. Our safari was on the Garden Route Game Reserve which was about a four hour drive from the ship in Cape Town. Once we got there we had a few hours to unpack before we headed out on our first game drive. We saw all kinds of animals from wildebeests, zebras, many wild birds and other game. We then went back to the lodge for one of the most amazing meals I've ever had and had an star gazing session where I was able to see the southern cross.
Day 5The second day of the safari we had two game drives, one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon. In the morning we were able to go view the lions who are known for being a little bit temperamental and ended up charging on of the cars so we had to leave them. We went and found the two hippos that are on the reserve and witnessed a blue crane, South Africa's national bird, teaching its baby how to fly which was amazing to witness. On the sunset drive we set out to find the cheetahs on the reserve but were unsuccessful. The sunset was beautiful and we had another amazing meal.
Day 6The was the last day of the safari and the last day in South Africa. On our last game drive that morning we set out to find the cheetahs and we ended up just missing it kill an ostrich by just ten minutes. We spent the rest of the time looking for the cheetah and seeing the last of the game. We ended up finding one of the cheetahs on our way out of the reserve (pictured above). We packed up our stuff and made our way back to Cape Town. The immigration set up ended up being insanely complicated and we made it back on the boat about three hours after we were supposed to. I hated leaving South Africa and this is one country that I will definitely have to come back to.
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