day 2: hike, city tour and sunset booze cruise

Spent my first full day in Cape Town in one of the best ways ever I think. I woke up at 8 and went and hiked Lion’s Head (which is a mountain next to table mountain pictured on the left) with my housemates. It was a really beautiful hike and actually pretty tough, especially at the top when it required some minor rock climbing. It took us maybe a little over 2 hours total so it was a really nice way to start the day and the trip in general with amazing views of the city. One of my housemates, Dan, had a car for the weekend (his Dad had been visiting) so it was easy for us to get over to the mountain and on the way back they dropped Liz and I off at the VAC office for orientation.

The people with VAC are incredible and it seems like a cute little family that I’m excited to get to know better throughout my time here. Everyone is extremely friendly, laidback and helpful which makes for a good experience and easy introduction into the country. One of the directors, Oliver, actually went to UO, which is why our school is so connected with VAC in Cape Town.

After a brief sit down orientation where Jon just went over safety and public transport stuff we took a drive down to the waterfront where he put us on a city tour bus ride for the afternoon. While these things are super touristy and a little cheesy, it was cool to get to see the entire city and learn a lot of little facts as we drove around and listened to the audio. As we drove along the beach it was incredible to see these amazing houses and apartment buildings and it really highlighted the terrible disparities that exist. At this point I hadn’t been in to a township yet but driving to observatory (the part of town that I live in) we passed a few townships along the highway, which were pretty disheartening to see. Only being here a couple days it is amazing to see the tremendous wealth and poverty that exist a few miles apart.

After our bus ride we met everyone from VAC at this German bar along the waterfront, drank some beer and then boarded a yacht for a champagne cruise for the evening. It was AMAZING, although I don’t really know how a champagne yacht cruise couldn’t be. It was fun to get to mingle with the other people in the program, watch the sunset and get to see an entirely different view of the city. Afterwards we went to another bar for some food and drinks (yeah, people in South Africa are big on partying ) then headed back to the house.

I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better first full day in Cape Town and while I know everyday wont be so ideal, it got me so incredibly excited to explore and live in this city