Exploring The Mother City

After traveling for 41 hours (which included a 9-hour flight delay) I was nothing but relieved to land in Cape Town bright and early on June 17th. The beautiful sunrise on my first day was a warm welcome to The Mother City. So far, I have NOT been disappointed in the sunrises or the sunsets here in Cape Town. Sunsets are my favorite part of the day and they come quite early since it is winter. 

On one of our first days venturing out, we explored the V&A Waterfront. It quickly became one of our favorite spots to shop or eat a nice meal. We even were able to barter with one of the boat tour companies (Thanks Dennis!) for an inexpensive sunset boat ride that provided an amazing view of Cape Town with a gorgeous backdrop of Table Mountain.

My only complaint so far is the weather, since it is winter here. I refuse to let the weather rain on my parade! CIEE organized a trip for us to take the cable car up to the top of table mountain. Since the weather was unpredictable, they decided to give us our tickets and allow us to choose when to go up. We waited for a break in the rain and took the first chance we got. The views from the cable car were cool, but the views at the top of Table Mountain were unbeatable. It was SO windy and SO cold, we were inside of “The Table Cloth” after all. Truthfully my hands have truthfully never been so cold and my hair has never been so tangled, but it was amazing. Afterward, we defrosted at the cafe with a hot coffee before heading back down the mountain.

We then ventured to another area within Table Mountain National Park: Lion’s Head. Lion’s head is a fun yet challenging hike that provides amazing views at every angle. It started off with about 20 minutes of a steep incline, which worried us a bit, but we soon reached a different type of climbing. A majority of the climb is “rock climbing”, which included using chains and ladders to scramble up the side of the mountain. I absolutely love hikes like this, so I was in heaven. Lion’s Head is definitely one of the best hikes I have ever done.

So far, I am loving my time in Cape Town. I have made some great friends who are willing to do some pretty adventurous things with me! We are halfway done with our internships and we are making the most of our time here in The Mother City!