The day I arrived to Cape Town the weather was
gloomy. The rain was falling and the sky was dense with clouds and fog. When I
landed I was told that you usually could see the mountains once you walk out of
the airport doors, but I was only able to see gray. Despite the clouds Cape
Town still look beautiful.
While driving from the airport to the Sacred
Mountain Lodge there was a point where we were close enough to the mountains
that the clouds lifted and I was able to finally see an outline of mountains.
They were large and looming. As we got closer and closer the mountains became
more visible, and so did their beauty. These mountains are plush with green
vegetation and trees, trees that reminded me of the tree from the opening scene
of the Lion King. Don’t know if it’s the same tree or if i am just too excited
about being in Africa.
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| Picture of the mountains featuring trees. |
In order to get to the hotel we had to drive
through the mountains. The view of the city below was obstructed by the fog but
at that moment I didn’t mind because the rain had caused many intricate fast
moving waterfalls to form on the side of the mountains. Luckily for us this was
the only rainy day in Cape Town that we’ve had so far!
Before we left the lodge we all went
to go see the beach that was a short walk away. We came at the perfect time,
the sun was just about to set and the day was clear. Once we got to the edge of
the beach some of us stayed taking photographs, some went on the beach and
others geocahced. The view was so spectacular that I don’t think the
photographs any of us took do it any justice.
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| Sunset at Noordehoek beach. |
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| On the way back to the hotel. |
Mountains are going to be rather prominent feature during our stay seeing as how we are not only surrounded by them but we are taking classes on them! The University of Cape Town is set right in the middle of the mountains. The campus is utterly gorgeous between the classic ivy league architecture and it’s sky high placement. No matter where you turn on the campus there is a breathtaking view awaiting you.
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| University of Cape Town Campus |
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| View Outside of a classroom at UCT |
I have never been one to prioritize outdoor
activities but Cape Town forces you too! Everyone here plans on doing at least
one outdoor oriented activity. Whether it's hiking Table Mountain, tandem
paragliding or shark cage diving you can bet a large group of us are going. One
of the first nature outings that some of us did was going to Kirstenbosch
National Botanical Garden. I don’t think anyone was prepared for what greeted
us the moment we passed the turnstiles and the trees cleared. The view was
simply astonishing. We were greeted by not only the mountains but lush green
lawns, trees, bright exotic flowers and birds. As we walked through the garden
we saw runners, hiking trails and people gathered on the lawns enjoying the
afternoon and having a picnics. The area almost looked like Jurassic Park and
the park must have caught on because they had dinosaur statues scattered
around. As we continued through the garden we walked up one of the paths and
onto the tree canopy walkway. The beginning of the walkway obstructs your view
with trees and plants and you feel as though you’re in a jungle. As we kept
walking it cleared and we had a view of not only the gardens and mountains that
greeted us but of a large part of the city! You bet we all stayed there for a
long time taking pictures and soaking in the sights!
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