"Life is Adventure" by Andrew Meaney

A quick recap of my 2^nd 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…

"In the Moment" By: Meg Diamond

I have been non-stop since this trip began. Between the township service project, classes, cape extreme adventure activities and all the other things I want to do with my free time, I have hardly had a chance to sleep. On Monday I had the opportunity to go sand boarding and 4 wheeling. I was with a small group of seven and Christo, one of the cape extreme leaders took us to the second smallest dessert in the world. The four wheeling was great and sand boarding came pretty natural to me but what I didn’t expect to experience that day was the most incredible part. The group of seven was split into a group of four and a group of three. I was in the group of four and we went four wheeling first. During the bumpy ride we saw beautiful rolling sand hills but the beauty of the land was taken over by the loud humming of the motor and my focus on gripping the handles. When we came to a stop and switched activities and the group of three zoomed away I finally got to hear the silence of the dessert. We climbed to the top of a steep sand hill and look out to see an amazing view of Table Mountain. Even though I was standing there with three other people I felt alone. There wasn’t a single moving object around us and the beautiful sight of the white sand against the blue sky took my breath away. After sand boarding for a while we went back to the top of the hill for a rest and noticed some eerie clouds in the distance. These clouds were coming towards us pretty fast and the four of us sat and watched the clouds roll in and suddenly consume us. Before we knew it the view we had experienced only minutes before was gone and we could hardly see the hill next to us let alone Table Mountain. My roommate immediately said, “I wish I had my camera.” And in that moment I realized how cool the moment really was. No one had a camera because of all the sand and there was no way to capture what we experienced. That moment will be shared only between the four of us and as much as I ever try to explain it in this blog or to anyone else at home or on this trip it won’t ever to that moment justice. It made me think further about no matter how much I write in my journal or how many pictures I take there is no way I could ever describe this trip and this experience in South Africa. This month will be shared with the 104 students on this trip. No matter how hard I try to make my friends and family understand what I have learned and seen, they won’t understand unless they come and do this themselves.
Obviously I don’t have a picture of this moment or any pictures from this day but since I am required to attach a picture to this blog I will try to show you another amazing moment that I have experienced in Cape Town. This picture is of the Water Front as we came back from the sunset cruise on Sunday night. Most people were inside and did not get to see how amazing the Waterfront is light up at night but luckily I got to see this and capture in this photo.
As much fun as it is to take pictures to bring home sometimes it is important to put the camera down and be where you are. So my three words are: in the moment.

"Seize Life Today" By: Jenna Hoglund

How can I describe my time here in South Africa? In one word, it would have to be, amazing. From the people I’ve met to the experiences I’ve had, every minute has been unforgettable. Although I’ve had a hundred incredible experiences, I’ll narrow it down to my top ten all time favorites, simply because I don’t think that there is enough space on this blog to record them all.
10. Learning to sandboard down giant dunes in the world’s second smallest desert just outside of Cape Town (4 square kilometers).
9. Dancing the night away at the Dubliner to classics such as Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane.”
8. Bargaining in the Green Market for souvenirs.
7. Visiting a vineyard in the South African wine lands and participating in a private wine tasting with the owner of the vineyard.
6. Going to see the Stormers (one of the South African rugby teams) in action.
5. Hiking to the top of Table Mountain at sunrise.
4. Spending a night in the township with some of the most generous people that I have ever had the privilege of meeting.
3. Swimming in the ocean for the very first time along with learning to surf.
2. Painting the finger nails of a dozen little girls in Sir Lowry’s Pass, and then having them ask to paint mine; I asked them what color they thought would look best and apparently hot pink with silver sparkles is my color (and I must say that I have to agree).
And my number one experience was more of a change in state of mind than an actual experience.
1. I gained a new perspective on what it means to be poor and what is truly important in life. While visiting the township known as Sir Lowry’s Pass, I learned that being monetarily rich does not necessarily make one’s life rich. Although the people of Sir Lowry’s Pass did not have much in the way of material possessions, they were rich in spirit. The extraordinary strong bonds that existed between the friends and family members of the people in Sir Lowry’s Pass is what makes them rich. Even if one were to have all of the money in the world, it would be impossible to buy what they posses.