My experience of a lifetime Semester at Sea: Spring 2012: Cape Town

February 24, 2012

I woke up early to see if I could see my parents and Jennifer and Chris coming into Cape Town, but I could not because the port was behind some building and in an industrial area. We could not get off the ship until around 9am because of clearing immigration. Once I was off the ship and saw my family, it was a great feeling. They brought me so much food. (Thanks so much!!) I gave them a short tour of the ship, and then we dropped my stuff off at the hotel.

We then went shopping and had lunch before our tour of Robben Island. We had been sitting there for a little bit and my family asked me about Jordan. While talking, Chris pointed out that the umbrella we were eating under had JORDAN on it... This was a funny coincidence. (Missing you so much Jordan!!)

We then had a tour to Rodden Island. This was the jail for the apartheid rulers regarded as political troublemakers or social outcasts of society. (For those who don't know about the apartheid, sadly this was me before learning in global studies, Apartheid was the legal separation of race to preserve white identity and supremacy in South Africa). The most famous inmate was Nelson Mandela and he was released from prison in 1990. He became president of South Africa in 1994. I learned about most of the history of this island and South Africa (thanks to global studies!), but learned more about the treatment of the prisoners and how depending on race, the prisoners would get fed, dressed, and treated differently. Seeing the prison was sad to think about how recent these events were. Our guide in the prison was an actual inmate of the prison which made the experience even better.

Nelson Mandela's cell.

A view of Table Mountain from the Island.

That night we went to The African Cafe. This was an authentic restaurant, where we learned that they come around to wash your hands before dinner. We also enjoyed getting our faces painted!

Mom getting her hands washed.

Jennifer getting her face painted.

February 25, 2012

Today we had a tour all around the southern point of South Africa. We got to see some amazing views driving around the cliffs and mountainous areas. We made a stop where there are seals that were rescued and got to feed them.

The man who rescued them.

We made our way to the Cape of Good Hope which is the place where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet.

We went to Boulder Beach in Simon's Town. It is famous for the African Penguins. A few fasts about them: They are an endangered species. They have a donkey-like braying call so they were previously called the Jackass Penguin.