now, a little fun.

Wednesday, July 25.

I'm just gonna throw this out there.... cape town, south africa is my new favorite place on earth. seriously this place is. unexplainable. the energy here is so clean and renewing and THE FOOD IS AMAZING TOO... my mom would be so proud. i even eat everyone's leftovers off their plates [that's a big accomplishment for a skinny boy].

today, i awoke to the ringing of my alarm clock and sprung into the shower. after some maple granola [bear naked, i brought it from the states, my favorite granola] and a south african soap opera, the rest of the team walked through the door after being picked up by our driver, mr. ford, from their host families. we all shared a few words and broke back into the van and began another journey. today was a lot of things... sunny, our last day in cape town, and our fun day!

St. James beach

we started off at st. james beach. it's a beautiful, and small, beach with bright and bubbly changing shacks lining the water and a large, concrete-walled pool that's protected from the ocean. when each wave hits the wall, water splashes up and ripples across the pool. i just couldn't resist the opportunity [since i am a mermaid] to change into my trunks and enjoy the sea! leah snapped a few pics of me ariel-style and then we headed to get lunch. everyone had to fulfill their craving of fish and chips, so that was the dish of choice. we scrambled to the nearest seafood eatery and were quickly back on the road with fresh seafood.

What else needs to be said?

photo by leah.

next stop, the market.

yes, a real [touristy] market. one where you bargain and everything. well, they don't sell animals, but it's still a pretty cool african experience. and with help of our loyal driver, we set off to buy some souvenirs. the purchases range from tapestries to flip flops to bottle openers [for the adults back home of course]. i would go to one stand and tell them i'm from the states, to get a response like, "oohhhhh, i give you goooood price, yes" or, "oh, feel free to touch, yes it is all yours". many polite "no thank you"s were given. some stands i would say i'm from cape town, and they would say, "ohhhh, really?! i give you local price!" or "my prices for locals are much lower than those tourist prices, tsk." hmmm... i think i'll go as a local!

African masks sold in the local markets

then at about four o' clock, we arrived at the hout bay harbor for a little devotional/recharge time with kay. she is such a great leader for us teenagers and is a really fun person too. we soon got a call from gershwin for us to meet him on the other side of the harbor for a boat ride.

Seal Island

when you think of boat ride, i'm sure 99% of you think of a relaxing evening boat ride, maybe some hors d'oeuvres... well our boat was one of those crazy tourist thrill high-speed roller coaster boats, complete with jockey seats and surprisingly no barf bags. yes, we were part of that 1%. so we whooshed out of the harbor and into the deep sea waves. in the midst of the airtime and splashing, we approached an island completely covered in seals! from afar it looked like brown rock, but it was just a plethora of seals making awkward noises and being cute. they would even repeat our noises that we made at them like parrots! amazing.

we all were exhausted and ready for our last night in with our host families. we were all dropped off by mr. ford and savored the last night in cape town.

The view from the front of the boat

this place has a place in my heart and i never want to leave. nonetheless i cannot wait for what we encounter in Johannesburg, Soweto, and Maputo. hopefully I'll fall in love with another place yet again. god has shown himself in every single thing here so far and this is a place where you truly see the beauty of his creation. now, off to Joberg!

Eric

photos by eric.