Last minute planning in Cape Town

Bummer news came yesterday when there was a misunderstanding with my hostel involving my tour for today. Long story short... I had nothing planned for today since the tour I was originally going to do was no longer an option... 

I walked down the waterfront with a friend (first time to the waterfront since I've been here) and the walk was way better/easier than I thought. She left to do a tour, but thankfully I found a 3 hour bike tour that I was able to join. *I even found a new friend who has been to 80ish countries and all 7 continents!!! Needless to say we had plenty to talk about. :)

Walked around for the waterfront for a bit and to kill some time I took a ride on the Ferris wheel. :)

Today stressed me out because I didn't have a plan... I didn't know where I was going... I didn't know what I was going to do... I didn't know a lot of things. Those kinds of things always cause anxiety for me, but that's part of why I travel. Time and time again it has been proven that there was never been anything to worry about. There was nothing to lose sleep over. There was nothing to fear. To be able to look back and say, "yeah! I did that!" is such an amazing feeling. 

And!! Best news of the day was that I found my South African magnet to add my collection! :)

City tour!

Before I start on today... I forgot to mention something exciting from yesterday! On our drive back from the shark diving, we drove past the president of South Africa!!! Literally!! He was on the other side of the highway with his motorcade or whatever you want to call it...How awesome is that?!?? 

Today I took a city tour. It was a nice day, but super windy!!!!! 

We saw the colorful beach huts...

PENGUINS...

This just made me laugh...we were in the parking lot at Cape Point and there were baboons running around. 

Cape Point... It was so windy that when we ran up to see the lighthouse we almost blew away.

And hey! I made it to the most south western point of the African continent!! 

And met really good people :)

Jaws theme song

Woke up before 6 this morning so I could do this:

One of the coolest experiences of my life!!! I went through White Shark Projects  (highly recommend them!!) It was a couple hours outside of Cape Town, but so worth the drive!!

Basically how it works is they send you down in the cage in the water with an air hole at the top. We clung to the top of the cage until they screamed "down!" And we would all hold our breath and go down. There was a yellow bar on the inside of the cage that was our safety to hold on to (it was further in than the rest of the cage) so our hands didn't get eaten. :) They had bait for the Sharks and in no time at all we saw so many up close! 

I was worried about the water because, as most people know, I hate the cold!!! But it was so incredible I didn't notice it that much... I even stayed in longer than most people!

At one point they had yelled, "down!" so I went down, but didn't see anything... And all of a sudden Devon (my name for him) aka Jaws was in my face ! He hit the cage at one point swimming by and I could have touched him. It was INCREDIBLE!! Everyone should add this to their bucket list!! 

It is Michelle approved !!

Why I started crying in Cape Town

Blessing #1: arriving safe and sound and having smooth flights to South Africa 

Blessing #2: the flights being (basically) empty which meant stretching out and having a decent shot at sleeping

Blessing #3: having a heightened sense of paranoia. Upon arrival I was unable to locate my ride. There were a couple of guys (taxi drivers) that had come up to me, slightly pestering, offering to give me a ride. They had official looking vests on and if I hadn't known any better, I might have gone with them. I've been warned by so many people about taking taxis and I would rather play it safe than risk it. Yay for doing research in advance!

Blessing #4: my actual ride was playing Christian music in the car... So I asked the driver about Hillsong church and how to get there on Sunday. He in turn offered me a ride because it's his home church!

Blessing #5: (the title of this entry) Traveling makes me a little emotional anyway, especially after flying for 24 hours... But when I saw my first African sunset from the plane and saw the lights of Cape Town from the sky, I started tearing up. How many people have the opportunity to get to do what they want to do in life?! The fact that I'm visiting my 5th continent and am able to experience this and have this opportunity is AMAZING. And it makes me cry. 

1st day in Cape Town: 

I was going to do a half day city tour, but that got messed up... And I also got lost trying to get down to the waterfront for a hop on/hop off easy tour so I started getting a little upset with myself... And thankfully...

Blessing #6: the European guys I ran into earlier this morning (at my hostel) found me walking around and invited me to join them on a free walking tour. Yay for travel mates! 

We took a walking tour of District 6 where 60,000 inhabitants were removed from their homes during the apartheid to make it a white area. This artwork shows  what it was like in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's and the struggles that they faced. 

and I finally got my classic Cape Town pic: (the three to my left and one behind me are my new European friends!)

German sister #2 suggested going on a sunset hike and that's exactly what we did!! Lions Head (pictured below) is what we climbed up...it's a peak situated at 669 meters above sea level and takes about 90 minutes to climb at a moderate pace. It's 5.5. km 

Literally (mom, don't look!)

But it was worth it!

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Blessing #7 was not dying. It was BEAUTIFUL at sunset, but then you have to hike back down as it's getting dark and 10/10 do NOT recommend that!! 

The night before...

As with every trip, I like to post a "night before departure" post.

This Africa trip has been an interesting one to plan. I guess it's not necessarily out of the ordinary for me, but this one especially has been one of extreme nerves, total peace, extreme anxiety, complete calm... This is also the first time there has been someone back home that I'm dreading leaving behind.

I can't wait to experience all of the things on my itinerary and finally be able to blab about all the details of my trip that I can't yet spill! 

In keeping with tradition, my current "song on repeat" for the trip is: Touch The Sky

My heart beating, my soul breathing
I found my life when I laid it down
Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

There has been a lot of prayer over this trip and this song has been such a good reminder of letting go of worries and fears. Easier said than done, especially when it comes to my own life, but nonetheless it has been calming me down. :)

Next post will be from SA!!  Hello 24 hour travel day! (That's just travel... I'll be up for a lot more than 24 hours! Ick!)

Patriotism... and such

I woke up this morning and a song popped into my head:

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood

I couldn't get it out of my mind... So I listened to it a couple of times and it made me very... happy. 

After 9-11 I was the most patriotic and proud American there ever was. And then I lost that somewhere. It had come back in glimpses every now and then, but there were times it was definitely more of an annoyance to be from the U.S.

I think part of it had to do with my travels... And going overseas and seeing other people from the U.S. who were either ignorant or obnoxious or uncultured or disrespectful or a bad combination of all of the above. 

It was hearing the thoughts of locals that also turned me off ... And the biased media that gets blasted around the world about us. I kid you not-one time in New Zealand I was listening to the radio and the news story was about a girl from the U.S. going to court for throwing a furby at her boyfriend. WHY is that making news in New Zealand ? Stuff like that just makes me feel stupid. Or when the U.S. has a reputation of being lazy and fat or liking McDonald's too much. 

But I woke up this morning and couldn't get the song out of my head. And listening to it made me happy and proud. And I thought about all the fear and anxiety in preparation for both my Asia and Africa trips and I remembered how fortunate we are to be living here. We don't have to worry about the same kinds of things going on in other parts of the world. I'm not saying the U.S. is the best country in the world... We all have our issues. But the U.S. is a pretty darn good country in my opinion. 

I might still claim to be Canadian from time to time (especially when the big American tours come around with their big American flags)... But I am proud of my country. And I love my country. I don't say it enough, but I do. (And I love my other countries too!)

#oneweekcountdown 

Countdown to departure!

Less than 3 weeks away for my AFRICA trip! Not going to lie… I was in a tiny state of panic the other week when I realized I had 10 different things still needing to be booked, but I’m back on track now! J

I’m starting out in Cape Town and hitting up Plettenberg Bay along the way... then ending my time at a private game reserve. Activities will include animal sanctuaries, safaris, shark cage diving, city tours, bungy jumping, Hillsong, and more! :)

I will include references once I get  home of where I stayed, which companies I used, things I did, etc. but because I'm already a paranoid person those are staying on the DL for now.  :)

A lot of people have expressed concern for me going to Africa by myself...and I do have some worries, but the worries aren't any different than when I traveled to Europe or Australia by myself.  I've read plenty of articles,  blogs, safety concerns, etc. and I'd like to think of myself as a pretty travel savvy person.  Anything can happen anywhere at any time.  Sometimes you just have to let go of that fear (ha! easier said than done) and enjoy what's happening in the present.

I will say this though... I will never be traveling alone. I have transportation pre-arranged in all the different cities that are through RELIABLE companies, all tours are through RELIABLE companies, and I've even heard first hand reviews stating that these are all legit.

I think the best thing someone can do to ease a persons mind about solo travel is provide them with as much information as possible. Show them that you did your research. In my case I have a detailed itinerary of what I'm doing every day, where I'm staying, the address and phone number of each place.... as much detail as I can possibly put down on paper.

I'm the type of person who thinks about everything. Every little detail. Every little thing that could possibly go wrong. And I have a plan. I plan, plan, plan and I will probably still be planning things out in my head as I'm waiting in the airport! :)

Next post will be my typical "night before" post, but in the meantime please keep me in your prayers! Prayers for safety first and foremost and prayers for a good time in which I can learn and grow and have those once in a lifetime experiences !!