A quick recap of my 2nd week in Cape Town…
Monday – 3 pet birds (Lorenzo, Dubs, and J Cole) and 4 noise complaints later… and we’re still allowed to stay at the hotel.
Tuesday – Snowboarding… on sand dunes. We made ramps, slid down on our butts, and just had one heck of a good time out there with some friends. Our guide, Christo, decided to show off for us by jumping off this huge drop he had never done before and probably getting about 3 or 4 meters in the air. Unfortunately, he ate it... hard. Next was Groves, a first time sandboarder who landed the same jump to perfection.
Wednesday – WOW. We started the day off at 6:30am with a brisk hike up Table Mountain – much more difficult than many of us anticipated, but it made us appreciate the unbelievable views much more once we reached the top. We hiked above the clouds to create our bucket lists that had no limits.
Thursday – A dozen of us did something we never thought we would do today – we jumped out of a plane! I felt like a little kid again and was laughing uncontrollably the whole 30 seconds that I was free falling before the parachute deployed. The best duo to go up in the plane together had to have been Katy and Graham. Katy was extremely scared before going, so Graham was inevitably the best partner to calm her down on the 10,000 ft. flight up. They both got videos, and Katy’s showed her fear since she was holding on to her harness for dear life the entire descent until she touched solid ground. But she did it! Graham’s video is priceless as well, and everyone on Global LEAD should watch it sometime before leaving the country. Put it on the bucket list.
Friday – This is the day we visited Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and we were showed around by his cell mate, Ahmed Kathrada. He educated us on what it was like to live in that jail for 18 years and described Robben Island as a microcosm of apartheid in South Africa. Kathrada is an Indian whereas Mandela is a colored man, and they received differential treatment, even in jail. Ahmed Kathrada would get ¼ loaf of bread a day. Mandela would get none. Kathrada was allowed to wear pants whereas Mandela was required to wear shorts. Hearing Kathrada talk really hit home and showed me how prevalent and real apartheid was, even in the isolation of Robben Island.
Saturday – The majority of the Springboks traveled to Cape Point yesterday, the destination where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans collide. This was an extremely rugged and beautiful place with gorgeous views of mountains butting up against the edges of the water. One of the highlights of this trip occurred as we were leaving the Cape of Good Hope to go up to the lighthouse for some better views of the area. We saw a baboon that came close to us and decided to take some pictures. The baboon zoomed right past us, heading straight for an unsuspecting van where he jumped through the driver side window. The best part is that the baboon invaded the car right over a sleeping Asian man who bolted out of the door as soon as he awoke and realized that a baboon was in his van eating his food! The Asian fellow opened up all the doors and tried to beat the baboon out with a jacket – an effective way to piss off a wild monkey and encourage him to eat the rest of the food in your car. This went on for a good 5 minutes, and much of the madness was captured in pictures by the 50 of us surrounding the car.
It has been a fairly fun week to say the least…
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