Tina F.
Semester At Sea
Journal #10

November 16, 2003

Well, we just left Cape Town and I already miss it.
We arrived at 1200 hrs. and got off the ship by about 1500 hrs. My friend Sarah has a close family friend that lives in Cape Town so she met us at the ship when we arrived. She had to work so we made plans to meet her for dinner and drinks at 5:00. So when we got off the ship we did not have enough time to go into the city so we just stayed in the port area where we had wonderful seafood appetizers and drinks. That night we met Sarah's friend (Sally) and some other people for Mexican food, then went to a few bars before going back to the ship for the night.

The next day we went to the aquarium in the morning. This was pretty cool because we got to see all of the sea life that is in both the Indian and Atlantic oceans. We had some pizza for lunch, and then went into the city to a market to do some shopping. There were good markets, but they were definitely more expensive than most of the other countries we have been to. After this, we went to Table Mountain for the sunset, and it was amazing up there! We drank wine and had good conversation before we headed back to the ship to get ready to go out. We met everyone in a bar in the city where we ate and drank. After a while we headed back to the port area for a while and went to bed.

On Thursday we went to Robben Island in the morning on a Semester at Sea field trip. We got to see where Nelson Mandela was held and talk to an ex-prisoner. The ferry ride to the island was awesome, which made the trip just that much better. We got back around 1:00 and had lunch, then did the internet café thing and more shopping in the afternoon. Katie, Sarah and I went out to a very elegant restaurant for dinner, then met up with a bunch of other people at a reggae bar in the city. We went to a few other places before the night was over, and then went to bed.

Our last day was spent with Sally, Sarah's friend and by far was the best day here. She first took us on a walk down the beach and lunch at the harbor. We then went to Simon's town where we shopped and had some nice South African tea. Next was Boulder's Beach which was so much fun! We swam with penguins! It was freezing, but we loved it anyway. The last place we went to was Cape Point which is where the two oceans, the Indian and the Atlantic, meet. This was beautiful and worth the climb up! We went out to dinner and then got back on the ship to leave.

I had so much fun here. It was a lot like home so maybe that is why I liked it so much. After being in the last few countries it was nice to be able to speak to people in English and just hang out and do the kinds of things we do at home. Well, 6 days until Brazil, and only a month until I am back home!

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