Woke up at 4:30. Three cheers for 3.5 hours of sleep!!! I think I might die today. Getting into the port early is not easy on me, especially since I am crazy and have to watch us pilot and then dock. But it was totally worth it because how many times in you life do you get to watch yourself dock at Cape Town on Semester at Sea..... only ONCE!!! We piloted around 5 am and docked at 6. The entrance to the dock was quite small and we barely made it through. The dock was so much closer to the city than the last two ports (Casablanca and Takoradi). And the best part, the entire port is like a huge mall: V&A Waterfront. The sunrise was also outstanding, as we saw the colors explode and Table Mountain go from a large dark object to an awe-striking body of rock and stone. The city looked so nice and I was ready to get out and experience South Africa. Breakfast consisted of cereal as per usual (4 boxes), and some juice from Mezrim. I was really tired, and I did not know how I would survive the day (the Table Mountain hike). So many people were up early, many of whom had to leave immediately for multiple-day safaris. Before we could get our passports and be able to leave the ship, we had to have a mini interview from South African immigration staff who got on the ship. The interview itself was pretty simple; it was just a nusance to have to get it done. I was able to beat the crowd, because when I left, the line went from the Faculty Lounge on Deck 7, down the stairs to Timytz Square on Deck 5. We then had a diplomatic briefing, where one of the diplomats talked about safety in South Africa in such a way that it freaked us all out and made South Africa sound like a violence zone. I mean I heard that South Africa was dangerous, but this guy made it sound really bad (as if it was hell for safety). Once we all had our passports, we made a rally point and time and got ready. Our hiking group consisted of me, Ben, Nick, Dino, Chris, Natalie, Michaella, Jenn, and Krystal. We got off the ship and were welcomed to some beautiful weather and a gorgeous port/mall. The V&A was big and packed with tourists/travelers and locals (some shopping [the more rich], others performing [the not-so-rich]). There was this vibe to the atmosphere, it really reminded me of shopping malls back in California (except for the singing and instrument playing performers). The entrance to the mall was only a 5 minute walk from our dock, which felt good after the 20 minute walking in Casablanca's port and 10-15 minute walking in Takoradi's port. At the entrance, we met two guards who helped us get some taxis to Table Mountain and gave us some tips about travel and safety in Cape Town. Table Mountain was about a 10 minute drive from the V&A. The city itself was quite beautiful, and I could not believe that such a city was so dangerous. After leaving the taxis at the base of the mountain, we had to hike some 20 minutes on the road to reach the base of the easy-hike trail. During this time, we saw an Audi R8 (it was pretty sweet) and I was hit (lightly) by the mirror of a passing car. When we reached the trail, we saw a sign that said the hike was 1.5 miles or so, and that it would take 2.5 hours to hike. I was taken aback by this, because of all the hiking I did in the Himalayas during the summer, and highly doubted it would take that long since it was the easy hike. Of course I did not take into account that some of the others in the group were not so physically fit, and after we started the hike we realized that this so-called "easy" trail was not so easy at all; it was actually quite difficult and strenuous. It was alright, but two of the others were having a tough time, and we kept pushing them on, and taking a bunch of breaks so that they could catch their breath. Nevertheless, the view from the hike was stupendous, and as we got higher it just got better and better. In the beginning of the hike, we were the only SAS people on the trail. However after some time, there were a lot of other SASers. The weather was also quite pleasant: not hot but not too chilly at the same time. Natalie and Crystal started loosing motivation as they got more burned out. Natalie eventually went back down and just took the cable car, but the others kept pushing Krystal on. This meant that we were going very slowly, which I was perfectly ok with. It allowed me to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the environment and view. Chris and Michaella, however, went on at their own pace. After some 1.5-2 hours, we reached the end of the trail, were it just zig-zagged up (like crooked street in San Francisco). At this point we were hiking in clouds (at least whenever they rolled in over the mountain like a white blanket). And this is when a thrilling thing happened. We were about to reach a turn when there was a crack, then a loud thud sound, and then someone yelled, "WATCH OUT!" I looked up the trail and saw a boulder falling down the trail straight towards us. You know how people say that when you feel like your life is being threatened, that everything suddenly seems to go in slow motion. They are completely RIGHT! When I saw that rock crashing down, I immediately felt tunnel-visions as things went slow. Since I already had momentum going forward (to the right), I stuck with my path toward the turn even though the rock was on course in front of me. Right as it almost reached me, it hit a rock in the ground and bounced to the left, missing me by about half a foot. I felt relieved, but then looked back and tensed up again. Nick (who was behind me) was moving towards the left since the rock had been heading more in my direction. He was walking slowly, but when the boulder hit that rock right before me, it change course directly to him. Seeing this he immediately freaked and floored it at sprinting pace, and the rock missed him by like 3 inches (no joke). And still I was not relaxed. Dino and Krystal were still behind Nick. They had enough time to try to hide behind a outcropping in the cliff side. The boulder fell and stopped not an inch or two from Dinos feet. We all then looked at each other, our faces in dumbstruck fear, and then started yelling. Did that really just happen? I could not believe it. We looked up the trail where the rock came from and saw a few SASers, who had apparently sat on the rock (which was not on the trail at all) and caused it to come loose. We could not believe them (and they didn't even say sorry), and spent some time reflecting on what just happened, took some pictures with the rock that could have killed us, and continued on our way up the trail. We finally reached the top. After 2.5 hours of hiking, we were tired, but awestruck and stupefied by what we saw up there. The view was absolutely stunning. We could see the entire city all the way to the horizon. We climbed to some rocks (at least the guys did) and got a bunch of pictures of the view and ourselves near the side of the cliff (don't worry, we left a good 3 feet between us and the edge). The best parts is when the clouds would roll in and cover everything. They moved really fast. You could look at the city, turn around in a circle, have the view covered by clouds, turn around again, and have everything clear again. We were starving at that point, so we got some lunch at the restaurant up there. I was excited for the pizza, but it was satisfactory; but at least my stomach was full. We took the cable car down. The ride was quite cool, as the cable car actually rotated so you could get a 360 degree view of everything as it descended. My ears popped a lot during that descent, and we got to the bottom within 3 minutes, which made our hike up seem pathetically long. When we got back to the V&A, Ben, Jenn and I wandered around for a little bit. The Waterfront is a very nice, clean, and lively which is a nice change from the last two ports (Casablanca and Takoradi). However, it also has a very touristy feel to it, which I kind of did not like. I do really like the break from a typical port (the others, with trucks and shipments, etc), but since we are on SAS and should be experiencing the real atmosphere, I didn't appreciate the facade that the waterfront made in front of "real" South Africa. Ben and I wandered around the area and found a crafts center, a bunch of restaurants and stores, a group of statues of famous South African (such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu), and a giant man statue made out of Coca-Cola bottle containers. Once back on the ship, I quickly changed into nicer clothes, and rushed back out again to attend my SAS FDP Trip: "WOZA! A Night of Theater in District Six." When we got to District Six, however, the place did not look as bad as I had expected. There were kind-of-well-kept houses, and most of the buildings were in decent condition. From what I heard, though, the district was much worse a number of years ago, until the city demolished it and rebuilt it for people who were better-off. I don't know if this is true, but as they taught us in elementary school, "Don't judge a book by its cover." The food was simple, but fresh and enjoyable. Before the play began, one of the workers taught us some basic dance moves being employed in the play. It was pretty interesting teaching about 25-30 students how to do a "clap dance" as I call it.After that interesting experience, the show began. The performance was quite entertaining. It was much better and fun to watch than I was expecting. All the performers were young adults or teenagers, who I think came from difficult backgrounds and given a chance to "live" through this theater show. The play was about issues facing South Africans: safety issues, problems and difficulties children faced, family problems, etc. One interesting thing I noticed is that the male performers played the part of the characters who had the bad experiences, while the girls mostly sung and performed dances to portray the emotions that these characters were feeling. The play was not necessarily well-done, as there were a number of times when a “mistake” was obvious. But we (or at least I) did not care, as we were enjoying the play and appreciating the work these performers had put in. When the play was finished, we all gave the performers a standing ovations. When we got back to the ship, I went back out to a local restaurant with some friends from the performance. There, I met up with Dino, and the group. I have certainly noticed that... SASers always find some way to always take over a local bar/restaurant, especially if it’s near the ship (duh!). Of course this kills your ability to meet locals at this place, and sometimes even places around it since SASers are so loud and occasionally obnoxious. After hanging out there for a few hours, I decided to call it a night around 12. I have to get up early tomorrow for my safari trip, for which I am super excited. The first day in South Africa was quite fun and am looking forward to more great experiences. I don't know how I survived today on just 3.5 hours of sleep.... but I did.
-Nimish
October 3, 2010
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