Endless Summer Tiny World

So St. Patty’s day for me was spent on long street – the party street in cape town- with about 10 other people from my hostel. We had a ton of fun, danced and then just hung out on the balcony of some bar/hostel and watched everyone out on the street! It was absolutely crazy out, with people everywhere and long long lines to get into some bars/clubs. I gave myself a 2 am curfew as I had to be up at 7 am the next day and some older guy, juan, that I had chatted with all week, he is from spain but lives in SA, walked me back to the hostel.

The next morning I got on the BazBus (backpackers bus) and started the journey I thought was gonna be very short but ended up all day to Storms River. The bus in great because you make tons of friends and even find people going to your same hostel. I met a guy named Jan (pronounced yawn cause he’s dutch) going to my hostel. So when we got in we headed to the only restaurant in town…a 50s diner where they had tons of Elvis photos and Marilyn Monroe! The next day I got up and headed to the TsiTsiKamma National Park. I hiked 4 k with a German man, Uwe, to a waterfall that was falling over a cliff and into the ocean, but there was a pool you could swim in as well! We had a swim and a nice hike and it was nice to be out in some nature. The hike was actually more like rock jumping and scrambling over rocks! It was really great! We then shared some lunch and then went on a much shorter hike over a couple suspension bridges. The park was really amazing! I had only booked one night in the hostel and they were booked full for the next night to I went to Jeffrey’s Bay with Jan.

Jeffrey’s Bay is a huge surf town and has a huge beach and all kinds of discount Billabong and Quiksilver shops. The hostel is perched at the top of a hill at one end of the beach, it is pretty cool and it seems many people end up staying for a very long time! I have been here for three nights, mostly just hanging on the beach all day! But today I need to go on a search for more sunscreen!! The first night because I was friends with a Dutch guy we attracted more dutch (they are everywhere here!! ) and I now have a new love of the dutch. I spent two days hanging out with 3 to 5 dutch and even though I am the only one who speaks english they all still speak english, even if I am not in the conversation, but just so I can understand! The first day I hung out with Jan, Emeile (we call him email) and Robert. These guys were hilarious! They spent probably a half hour in the billabong shop trying on hats… so funny! They also let me convince them to get in a huge boulder throwing contest on the beach. I was very sad to see them leave. Tonight I am off to Port Elizabeth for two nights, where I hope to go to an elephant  park. I also already know two british girls at my hostel so I have friends already!!

Robben Island is the island that has a prison, and is famous because it is the prison Nelson Mandela was kept at. I headed out there today and was sadly a little disappointed. The coolest part was having an old prison inmate as your tour guide, seeing Table Mountain with it’s Table Cloth (when a huge cloud sits right on top of the mountain and also flows down the front of the mountain) from the ocean and seeing penguins. I was disappointed because they seemed very disorganized with an entire busload of us confused as to where to go and with no guide, and then you got on the bus to drive around the island and it was super hot with no airconditioning and they would stop the bus all the time to talk to you so there was no breeze!!!

I’m just happy I got to see the famous South African Penguins though!! Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone! it is my farewell night for Cape Town as I have an early bus out in the morning to Storm’s River, which is about an hour from the city on the coast! Time for new friends and new adventures, but not before one last send off night on the town!

Last night ended up well, a bunch of us were hanging out on the hostel terrace and decided to head down to the waterfront for dinner. It was fun, there were 9 of us who went so it was a ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Yesterday after doing some essential stuff, I wandered down to the Q & A Waterfront. It is adorable, very touristy and super busy since it was the weekend, but a very ... [Continue reading this entry]

hey everyone! I made it! I am in Cape Town, South Africa! The flights were both super long, 7 hours and 11 hours. But I was happy to get a window seat on the 11 hour flight so it was ... [Continue reading this entry]

I am about five days out from leaving!!! I just got back to Appleton to September's house (where all my stuff is) so that I can repack and pack for my trip! It is kinda crazy and overwhelming how much ... [Continue reading this entry]