Spring 2015 - Day 78: South Africa
I woke up around 8:00. I rolled over to go back to sleep and nothing happened. I rolled over again and felt a little sleepy but then I came to a realization. I had a breakthrough.
I realized that I had spent the entire voyage with my fun in some one else hands. I had followed Jessi around thinking that she was my world and I needed to be with her to have fun. Of course this is untrue, and I spent plenty of time apart from her and had a wonderful time. But it was ingrained in me somewhere.
But now she was off doing her own thing. I was left behind. But being left behind didn't mean that it was hopeless. I needed to change my perspective and I needed to take my fun into my own hands.
I had woken up in enough time to make it to the penguin program that left at 8:45. So I got up, got ready, and went.
I didn't have a ticket, which meant that I would have to chance that there was space on the program. When I got to the Union the liaison told me that he knew of a few people that weren't coming so he was sure that I would make it. He also said that only if I had come a few minutes earlier and he would have had a free ticket for me. Oh well.
I sat for a while as others gathered until I decided that I needed a rain jacket. So I went to my room to get one and when I got back there was Sophia with an extra ticket. She said I could have it, another random girl had just given it to her.
Free ticket in hand I already felt good about my decision.
On the way off the ship we were held up at the gangway because they were taking the lifeboats off of the ship. It was strange to see the side of the ship so naked and empty. And seeing the lifeboats off the ship made them look so much bigger. They were doing a full ship inspection while we were docked in South Africa so they had been cleaning the ship for days.
When it was finally clear we made our way down the gangway and onto the bus. We were not only going to see the penguins, we were also going to see the seals. But first we had to get there.
The bus ride itself was worth the trip.
We drove right along the ocean the entire way. The road wound through the mountains and were treated to some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The sky was the most incredible color blue while the ocean was a completely different color blue. Everything was green, green, green.
I decided that South Africa was the most beautiful place on earth.
Once we arrived at the dock where we would catch the boat to see the seals we were released for about 45 minutes to do some shopping. We were going to walk along the outdoor market but when we went inside to use a restaurant's bathroom we realized there were some cool stores in the same building.
It was there that I found a bunch of souvenirs that I had purchased the last time I was there. There was a coffee mug and a shirt, and the postcards my mom had bought and had framed for me.
It was weird to see and made me feel like I'd been there not all that long ago.
When we had finished our shopping we gathered at the correct dock and received our ticket from the tour guide.
The boat was small, it probably fit no more than 30 people. Brianne and I grabbed a seat on a bench in the middle of the front of the ship.
Although it was short, it was a pretty rocky ride. My anxiety kicked in a little and I breathed through it and then the seals came into view and they completely distracted me from any nervousness that I was feeling.
Seal island was less of an island and more of a bunch of rocks right off the coast that were covered in seals.
I mean hundreds of seals. So, so many seals. I have never seen so many seals in my entire life. They were all just laying on the rocks, some were playing in the water. They were all making their weird seal barking noises and seemed to not care at all that we were there.
We floated around and took some pictures for a while and then took the boat back to the dock. I survived a boat ride! Yay!
We all got back on the bus and drove along the coast some more. We passed this huge beach. Our tour guide said that it had a really strong undertow so people can't swim in it. But it has really good waves so people surf there all the time and people have died. There has also been a really high percentage of shark attacks.
When we arrived at the beach where the penguins are we were all given a box lunch. We took them to a small stretch of beach and spread out to eat. They weren't ship box lunches, they were provided by the tour company so they were pretty good. There was a sandwich, a little bag of nuts, a banana, and a weird little chocolate bar that was basically a square of chocolate mousse.
While the beach that we were on was not technically the penguin beach there were some penguins there that had found their way there. They were pretty adorable. And how amazing to see penguins in Africa! Yes, they are native there.
When we were finished eating we actually walked down to the beach where the penguins were. It is set up as a national park so entry is regulated and there is a boardwalk set up so that you are not actually walking on the beach with penguins. We didn't have all that much time so we walked all the way down the boardwalk to the end where the largest group of penguins was hanging out.
They were just hanging out on the beach. A lot of them seemed to be nesting and some others were just waddling around. They were cute little black and white penguins. They were pretty tiny and were just adorable.
Penguins are awesome and are even cooler on a sandy beach in Africa!!
I saw Mom Shelley at the penguin beach. She was with the parents trip. We talked a little and made plans to get together in the two days between here and Namibia.
On the way back from the penguins it was really hard not to stop and shop. We weren't supposed to but I cheated and did. I just couldn't help getting a penguin souvenir.
On the way back into Cape Town I slept on the bus. We also drove along the coast on the way back, I have no idea how that worked out. The ocean was on the same side of the bus the entire time so we somehow went in a circle.
When we were dropped off the ship Brianne and two other girls and I decided to walk to V&A Waterfront since we had some time left in the day.
I didn't want to spend too much time out. I'm going shark cage diving tomorrow and we usually meet around 4am, so I wanted to go to bed early.
We walked to the mall to the makeshift apple store where Brianne had planned to meet her friend. Her friend never showed up but it gave us a chance to use the wifi.
The only thing we wanted to do in the mall was go to the grocery store, which was in the basement. There I bought some hard candies, a mango juice, and a plum. Any time I can get my hands on fresh fruit that isn't bananas or oranges I jump on it. They had an entire aisle filled with Easter candy, which reminded me that easter is coming up soon. I think it is while we are in Namibia. I almost bought some easter candy to share with my ship family but I decided against carrying all of it.
I ate my plum as we walked back outside to try and find the organic food market. It was a large building with a green metal roof and a chalk board outside that bore the message "No Hipsters. Don't be coming in here with your hairy faces, your vegan diets, your tiny feet, and your sawdust bedding. No wait. Hamsters. No Hamsters."
Brianne has a very restricted diet so she was hoping to find a good nut butter in the market. We found a nut stand and I bought some salted caramel walnuts. The little bag of nuts caused me to fall in love with both cashews and walnuts.
There was also a little grill in the market that was selling game meat including ostrich, zebra, warthog, crocodile, impala, mopane, aged rump, and wildebeest. They really like their game meat here.
After the market we split up. I wanted to go and eat dinner on the ship so two of us walked back to the ship.
There I checked my email and still didn't have one from Jazmine about the shark cage diving. She said that she wouldn't know what time to meet until the day before but this seemed like it was cutting it close. I emailed Jessi to ask her if she had heard anything but I didn't hear back from her and figured she was off the ship.
Around 7 I finally got an email. It did not bring the news that I expected. Due to high winds and rough seas our trip was canceled.
Bummer.
The biggest bummer wasn't that I was no longer going shark cage diving. It was that I no longer had plans for the next day. Also, since I was already on the ship and it seemed like no one else was I was stuck there again. I had already heard one story of someone getting mugged. There was no way I was going to travel alone. My decision last night was definitely a good one.
So I went and ate dinner alone and then I went back to my room and put on another movie. While I watched it I pulled out everything I had purchased and evaluated what was for me, what was for specific people, and if I was missing anything for anyone.
Eventually Jessi emailed me back and said that we could do things tomorrow since we both no longer had plans. So we organized a time to meet and I went to bed a little less sad than the night before but still pretty dispirited.
