Fear of Heights? Nah...

Let me start this posting by telling all of you that I think I can officially say that I've started to conquer my fear of heights these past few days.We've been so busy around Cape Town that I haven't had time to post. Well that...and I keep losing my Internet vouchers.


Remember when I said we were going out to dinner for the first time on Wednesday? Well we did...and I had an OSTRICH burger. And guess what?! It was actually really good. We decided that it tasted just like beef, but wasn't as juicy as an American burger.


Anyway, on Thursday, Kalie and I took a full day tour of the Cape Peninsula. This included a tour of the Cape Point National Reserve, Boulders Beach, a Marina and several other mountainous overlooks. Nothing too exciting happened at the marina or at any of the over looks, but we did decide that we're adding the word "dodgy" (South African term for sketchy) into our every day vocabulary. The best things happened after we reached Boulder's Beach. This is home to the African penguins...an animal that Kalie and I have come to absolutely love. (Little known fact: the African penguin was once called the Jackass because of the obnoxious braying sound that it makes during its mating season.)We had a great time watching the little guys jump in and out of the water and run around on the sandy beaches. We really wanted to steal one and bring him home with us. But, no such luck.


After the beach, we traveled onward to the National Reserve. Here we were given the opportunity to take a 12 km (no idea how much that is in miles) bike ride around the reserve before we stopped for lunch...and it was absolutely amazing. We were surrounded by the most beautiful scenery at every turn and we couldn't have been more relaxed. After the bike ride we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the reserve before heading to Cape Point.


At Cape Point, we had the chance to hike up to the original lighthouse once used for European travelers sailing to the Cape. It was once lit using 20,000 (I think...either that or 2,000) candles...but unfortunately it was always hidden by clouds and caused too many shipwrecks, so they eventually built another one at a lower altitude. When we reached the peak, there was a sign that pointed to all different places in the world and gave the exact distance between where we were and that place...it was pretty cool. On the way down, we had our second wildlife encounter of the day. As we rounded the corner of the lighthouse, a dassi (a small muskrat looking ugly thing) was staring up at us...I was definitely startled. The dassi proceeded to jump up on to the ledge and run around the lighthouse, which certainly caused some commotion. When we reached the bottom, we decided that we would also take the hike across from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope. It was a pretty decent hike, but we were very exposed, so it made me quite nervous. The worst part was when we reach the peak at the Cape of Good Hope. The entire way up...and I mean WAYYY up...we were somewhat led by a barbed wire fence..however, we could not find any indication that there was a way down. Problem. We frantically climbed around the peak...screaming at our tour guide who was waiting for us at the bottom. Wishing that a helicopter would just come and rescue us. And freaking out because the sun was just starting to set and we knew that we had to leave the Reserve before dark! Lucky we found the "stairs" (haha, what a joke...these weren't stairs. They were rocks wishing they were stairs) and safely made it to the ground! On the way out of the park, we saw wild ostrich AND baboons...something we had been hoping for ALL day. We finished the evening at a Mexican restaurant with friends that we've made at the hostel. At the table I think we had Americans, South Africans, a few Aussies, a Scot, a Belgian, and maybe a few others...we were quite the culturally diverse group!!


And that was just Thursday.


On Friday, we took a tour of the wine country. Wow what a day. Our first wine tasting was at 9:30 am. Yup, that's right NINE THIRTY AM! And there were 5 tastings. Let's just leave Friday with this: the wine country is beautiful. Fish and chips are good. And "day drinking" should be abolished. I don't think I can look at wine the same for quite some time.We finished the night on Long Street (aka the Bourbon Street of Cape Town)...what a crazy day. 


Today, however, we chose to just relax and take it easy.We started the morning by catching a cab to the Old Biscuit Mill. Wow, what an experience. The Mill is a grouping of warehouses that has been converted in to an open air market/farm stand of sorts. There were foods from all over the world and culture at every corner. It was truly incredible. While we were there, one of the power lines outside the Mill seemingly caught on fire and so they had to shut down all the electricity in the booths...which meant that all the vendors that used electricity to prepare their food had to temporarily shut down. So, we settled on crepes from the sweetest Belgian vendors and went on our merry way. 


After the Mill, we came back to the hostel and took a nap before heading out the the Greenmarket Square where we did a little gift shopping. Once we came back from that, we jumped right in to another taxi and caught a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain. We had been hoping to hike it every day this week, but unfortunately it has been so foggy at the peak that it hasn't been safe. So today when we saw a clear opening we took it! We were bummer we didn't have the opportunity to hike to the top, but the view was the same (spectacular) regardless of the mode of transportation. I wish that me telling you or sharing pictures of what I could see from the top did it any sort of justice...but it just doesn't. Hopefully I will be able to upload a few picture when we reach Bloemfontein tomorrow. 


So there you have it: in the last three days, I've gotten stranded on the peak of the Cape of Good Hope and taken a CABLE CAR to the top of Table Mountain. All in all, I'd say that this height frightened girl has done pretty well this week. 


To end our stay in Cape Town, we are going out to dinner tonight with a few friends and then turning in early. We have to catch a cab at 6:15 am to make our flight on time tomorrow. We are sad to leave Cape Town behind, but excited to see what Bloemfontein has to offer. I hope their ready...because I don't know if they are prepared for what's coming.