Day 3

I woke up this morning feeling very homesick, missing my nick pretty badly. I got up at 7am to go on a tour from Cape town to the Peninsula... best day yet! There were 9 of us in the van and since I get car sick I was able to sit in the front seat, which was awesome! Our first stop was Hout Bay. It was a small fishing town surrounded by mountain range, it was beautiful. We stayed there for about 40 minutes and took pictures and then went on our way to Simon's Town where the African penguins are found. I was a little bit disappointed because just recently they put a boardwalk in with a railing which we were required to stay on instead of being able to be on the beach with the penguins. I still loved seeing them in their natural habitat but I would have liked to be down on the beach with them. We stayed there for about a half of an hour and then hopped on our bikes for a quick downhill 6km to have lunch. After lunch we hopped back on the bikes for a not as pleasant 6km uphill ride, and by uphill I mean up the side of a mountain, so steep steep! We finally got to our destination of the Peninsula. It was gorgeous! I really hope that all of my pictures capture its beauty. As our guide drive around the mountain we decided to hike through it and went to the other side of it which took about 45 minutes, where we were greeted by ostridges!! I was so excited, and then that excitement turned quickly into fear. They were huge and running all over the place. I stopped to think... "Ok, if they charge at me, do I run, fall down or just let them do what they are coming for". I was on one side of the parking lot and my van was on the other side yet the ostridges were in the middle. So when a van came driving through warning people not to get too close because they would be kicked, I decided to crouch behind the van and use it as a shield while we both went in unison to the opposite side of the parking lot. The guide and others were laughing their heads off at me, but I thought I was being very clever!

It took us about 2 hours to drive back into Cape Town and by that time it was around 5pm. We asked to be dropped off at the waterfront for a few additional scenic photos and then met up with Steven for supper. Just to put some things in perspective for you all, my tour was 600 Rand which is equivalent to about $60 and a bottle of water is 12 Rand so about $1.20. It is quite cheap but you have to be on your toes because although things are cheap, they will try to make you pay more.

The next two days are supposed to have 45km winds and 44mm of rain so we decided to change our flights to Victoria Falls and leave tomorrow morning bring and early at 5:30. I wasn't able to do my shark diving because the weather was just the shits. I won't be having internet like I do here so I have no idea when I will be able to update from here on in so I will try my best.

Nicole xo

Day 2

After skyping with Nick last night until 11:30pm my time, I was zonked. I went to bed and didn't wake up until 9:30am. I had such a great sleep and the beds here are soo comfortable. I am in an all girls room so there are only three of us so it's super quiet. 

Once I got up and had some breakfast that is provided by the hostel, we decided that we would go into town. It has been raining for the last day and a half and apparently it is the coldest spring in 50 years so I may have to come back in the summer months to experience Cape Town properly. The thing about this place is that we are situated on one side of a mountain and the main City is on the other side, so yes... we had to walk up the mountain on the way to town and then up on the way back as well. Once we walked into town we went to a market that had so many knick-knacks but I refrained to buy stuff until I get to Kenya because they will likely have the same things. The people at the market were really nice and didn't hassle you at all. 

We then walked down Long Street which is where alot of the hostels, restaurants and bars are so we saw some other travelers. We stopped for lunch at a nice spot that had different stations of different food from around the world. Steven had Indian and I stuck with what I know and had a Shawarma. We then decided we would walk down a few blocks to the gardens. It was really nice until I saw two rats and freaked out. Then as Steven was saying "wouldn't it be funny if that squirrel started running at you"...the squirrel did just that! After all that walking I was starting to get tired so we decided to head back up to our hostel. 

As we were walking the sun came out so we thought we better take advantage and continued on to the V&A Waterfront. For all of you Islanders reading this, it looked like a large version of Peake's Warf with multiple restaurants and a full size mall that was wayy out of our price range. Once we got there it started to pour rain again so we ducked into a pub and decided to have some beer. We had to leave there around 5:30 in order to get back to the hostel before it got dark because it is unsafe to be out after dark. 

We stopped at a grocery store on the walk back and got a pizza and veggies to make at the hostel. Another girl from Canada and I decided we would book a tour of Cape Town tomorrow because apparently it is supposed to be nice out. I will keep my fingers crossed!! 

Well I'm off to shower and do some reading before bed ! Good night all xo  

Nicole

We made it here safely! My flights to London went well. We had a huge layover in London so we decided that we would go in to venture for the day. As we are very glad that we did, we were also sour about all the rain and soaked feet. When we finally made it back to the airport we found a great little spot that had fake grass and a shed with bean bags, so we obviously stayed there for a bit. We didn't have any sleep from our Toronto to London flight so we were both exhausted but didn't want to sleep because we would be flying all night on our way to Cape Town.... so we both stayed awake for two days and it was excruciating. After a slight delay and a lot of sleep on a very uncomfortable plane, we made it!

We took the public bus from the airport to the hostel. The hostel is very nice. Because I didn't know that steven was coming with me, I am in an all girl room and we have our own bathroom which is nice. We are in a nice neighbourhood but away from all the party hostels. there is a BBQ at our hostel tonight so we are going to go and try to meet some people. It's currently 3:20 and we just got back from an amazing day!!

We started out by taking a taxi into Camp's Bay. The beach was soo amazing and there were guys surfing. I was just itching to get into that water and play in the waves but it was pretty chilly here today. I had to wear pants and a long sleeve and was still a bit chilly. The mountain range in Cape Town is beautiful. Where we were today I was able to see Lion's Head, Signal Hill and the twelve Apostles. I really hope that my pictures turn out from today. We walked back instead of taking a cab and walked all along the multiple beaches.

We have heard that tomorrow is going to rain so we are trying to figure out what we can do in the rain tomorrow!

Well that is all that I have for now!!

xoxo

Nicole

TODAY IS THE DAY!! I am just sitting at my friend Ellen's place after an amazing sleep! We will be heading to the airport shortly where I will head to Toronto to meet Steven. We will then fly overnight to London. It will take us another entire day before we land in the amazing Cape Town. I will try my best to give a quick update once we arrive so mama knows that I arrived safely. 

Off we go, wish me luck :) 

xo  - always thinking of you