Cape Town, South Africa

February 17, 2011 (Day 1)

We finally made it to Cape Town after a 7 day trip on the ocean. Unfortunately we cannot get off of the ship due to the high winds. We are unable to dock, so we’ll be sailing around wasting time until the next morning. This sucks because we’ll lose an entire day in South Africa but once I get on land I’m going to make the most of it.


February 18, 2011 (Day 2)

We finally were able to get off of the ship! We caught a cab into green market square where the infamous Long Street is. We went around to some shops, through a Botanical Garden, and searched for an MTN (Mobile Talking Network, a cell phone company) SIM card for my phone. Later on that night we ended up going back to Long Street. We went to one bar/club initially that had good music but not many people were there. We then went outside and a local approached me to ask the group that I was with if we wanted to go to the club that his brother from the UK had just opened. Aley and I went to check it out first, and it was cool so we ended up brining a group of about 16 SASers with us inside for FREE!

February 19, 2011 (Day 3)

Today we got to experience wine tasting while on our wineland tour. Originally we were supposed to go on a wineland tour on day 2 but we found out that you have to book the tour one day in advance. We went to four different wineries which consisted of a wine tour/tasting. At one vineyard, there was also a cheese tasting, and a Brandi tasting at another. In between the mid-winery tour, we at lunch which was served with wine :-O I had more wine today than I’ve had collectively in life thus far! I enjoyed the tastings and learned a lot about the making of wine and how to decipher “fine wine”, champagne, and even Rose’.

One thing that I noticed was that at each of the wineries, I was the only black person. As the interport lecturer Rhoda explained to us in my African Politics class, there isn’t much of a middle class, so the rich are rich and the poor are extremely poor. Though Apartheid has ended, it has definitely left South Africa with some scars that are clearly visible. Hopefully they will clear up sooner than later. I find it disheartening how whites could come into South Africa, which is made up predominately of blacks followed by “coloureds” (a term used to describe other ethnic groups that clearly aren’t black and/or blacks that are light/fair in complexion), and have the most wealth, being the minority. There are blacks at the top, but they don’t want to give up what they have in order to bridge the gap of socioeconomic classes. Because Cape Town is very developed and westernized, it’s easy to visit and not see the huge poverty like I observed in Ghana. South Africa has the highest HIV rates in the WORLD and that also didn’t seem apparent.
This is a problem that can be solved, but someone has to take the initiative to change things, which will hopefully be soon before its too late!

February 20, 2011 (Day 4)

Today I went on my safari which I booked through SAS at the Aquila Game Reserve. The bus ride was about 2.5 hours away from Cape Town. This reserve in particular is private, so there weren’t many animals but definitely enough for good pictures :) I was able to spot zebras, lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants, which are all a part of the big five.

February 21, 2011 (Day 5)

Today a few of us went back to green market square to do some shopping/bargaining. By now, I’ve learned how to bargain extremely well, which is necessary so that you don’t get ripped off by locals in any of the countries that we are visiting. I was able to walk away with some gifts, along with some things for myself.

Later on today I’m going to meet up with Sandra, a former Gates Scholar that is studying abroad at The University of Cape Town (UCT). She attends UC Berkeley. We first met at the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program (GMSP) Conference during my freshman year in college. We’re going to a rugby match which should be interesting.