Whales and Trails, Sept 24-26

On Thursday night I hiked up Lion’s Head Mountain with Kate, Kevin, and Nora. It was recommended to do the hike on a full moon - where you hike up for sunset and then hike back down in the dark. When we went it had just rained and was a very cloudy day. It was a bit harder than I would have thought, and involved a lot of rock scrambling. Because it was so cloudy, there was no moonlight, so we were rock scrambling down the mountain in the dark, trying our best to avoid the rain puddles. Kate, who was leading the way, stepped in many big puddles. (Kevin’s small headlamp couldn’t illuminate everything…) I slipped once and fell on my butt on a rock, but besides that I made it down the hill without too much difficulty. It was a really pretty hike, and we got a 360-degree view of Cape Town and the Cape Point. I think I would like to do this hike again, but on a night where we can actually hike down by moonlight.

On Friday we woke up early to depart for our two-day Hermanus Whale Festival Trip. It was National Heritage Day, so we didn’t have any class on Friday. Liz, Kevin, Kate and I rented a car for Friday and Saturday in order to drive up to Hermanus. Our car that we rented was a bit sketchy. It was an old Toyota Corolla. When the rental man drove up to our house the hubcap fell off. He then proceeded to put it back on with a zip tie…This is when we knew that we wouldn’t be doing a ton of driving in one day. The car ended up getting us there the whole way without many problems - despite the broken hubcap and a shaky streeing wheel. It unfortunately didn’t have a CD player, so we ended up listening to the radio. The radio in South Africa is pretty bad. We often would only get three stations at a time - composing of old school hip-hop, polka, rap, soft oldies, or reggae…..not my favorites by far, but we managed. The drive there was gorgeous. It felt a lot like driving through Monterey CA combined with Washington. The traffic was a bit heavy due to the popularity of the festival and construction on the road. We ended up reaching Hermanus after 3 hours of driving.

When in Hermanus we drove around the town for a bit, and stopped to get lunch at a local café. The burgers were absolutely amazing. The town was very cute, and felt so much like California, that I almost forgot where I was. Of course, I was reminded quickly I was no longer in America when I heard people speaking in Afrikaans all around me. After eating we went down to the festival shopping tents that were set up. I bought some really cool jewelry and other souvenir type things. I have become pretty good at bargain negotiating, so I got a good deal on everything that I got. After that we went and sat by the ocean side and watched the whales off of the shore. The shore was cliffy and rocky, and the whales came very close to the shoreline. It was really fun to watch. We saw lots of whale backs, fins, and tails - but unfortunately didn’t see any breaching (which is when whales jump fully out of the water).

After watching whales for a bit we went to check in at the Hermanus Backpacker’s Hostel. It was my first hostel dorm experience. The Backpacker’s inn was really artsy and nice. It had a pool with a bar, and a huge kitchen and lounge where people could make food and hang out. There were 60 people staying in the hostel, but we didn’t really get to meet too many of them, because they were all out and about. After checking in, we went back to town and walked around and got dinner. I was wearing shorts, and once the sun set the weather dropped like 10 degrees and it was windy. I was freezing! We went back to our hostel where we played pool and met some students that were studying abroad here from England. After that we went to sleep.

On Saturday we woke up early and checked out of the hostel. We walked along the coastline for an hour and did some whale watching. Then we returned back to the festival and ate really good and greasy festival food. I ate a “cravedog” (bratwurst style) and a fried potato swirl on a stick. It was delicious. After eating we walked back to our car and headed home along the coastal route to Cape Town.

The drive was so gorgeous. It looked like a combination between New Zealand’s rocky cliffs, and the gorgeous blue of Kauai’s ocean. The contrast of the scenery was so gorgeous. It looked like I had entered into a world that had been photoshopped and the contrast enhanced. I get this feeling a lot when traveling around South Africa. The colors are so vibrant here. We stopped at some scenic outlooks and beaches. There were baboons on the beach, which was fun to see. We stopped in Gordon’s Bay around noon to get ice cream and walk around. We got huge soft serve ice cream cones at an old fashioned shop, and then went to a used bookstore and looked around. We took our ice cream to the beach shore and ate it while looking out at the ocean and the whales. It was perfect. I love the ocean, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to move somewhere that is not close to it….this could be a problem :)

After Gordon’s Bay we drove back to Cape Town. Once at home I took a nap and a much needed shower. For dinner my friends from Boston College were having a “tail-gating” party - which entailed grilling burgers and listening to the BC football game over the stream on the internet. This did not turn out well, as BC lost miserably and the internet wasn’t working very well. My friends were left feeling depressed and homesick. I personally was not very invested in the game, so wasn’t too devastated by the loss.

Today is Sunday. It is an icky rainy day. I just want to sit inside and read a good book or watch a movie, but unfortunately have a lot of reading and work to catch up on. I went to a new church this morning, which was really good. It is called “Church on Main” and is located a 5 minute walk from my house on campus. I already knew some people at the church because some of my Student Y friends go there. The worship and the preaching reminded me a lot of Upper Room. I miss UR and Flood so much, and can’t wait to come back home, and return to these communities and friends. But Church On Main was definitely very similar, and was full of students. I think I will definitely go back there next Sunday.