A Taste of Cape Town

Table Mountain and the view of the city of Cape Town from Signal Hill

The morning we pulled into the Port of Cape Town, I knew I was already hooked on South Africa. The scenery that welcomed our ship looked like something straight out of a postcard. I could see Table Mountain looking majestic, with a blanket of white puffy clouds hovering over the peak. It's no wonder those clouds are often referred to as Table Mountain's "table cloth"! It was beautiful.

First view I saw of Cape Town from the ship

While we were going through customs immigration at around 6 o'clock in the morning, there were some students who looked rather grumpy, passports in tow, and still in their pajamas. I assumed they were not morning people.

Leave it to Dean Eddie to try and get everyone's morning a little brighter:
"Good morning, guys! Smile! You're in South Africa!!"

I did a tour of the city on my first day in Cape Town. The bus rolled through streets lined with tall palm trees; I felt as if I were in California! The presence of buildings scattered throughout the city provided a breath of modern air. Table Mountain and Lion's Head served as breathtaking backdrops behind the city scene. I absolutely loved that juxtaposition of urban life and nature!

Here are some photos from the first day:

Entering the Castle of Good Hope,
South Africa's oldest colonial building

Just chillin' in one of the dungeon pathways

Help me I'm weird

Cape Town <3

Down by Camps Bay
(Look at those glorious clouds blanketing the mountain!)

Interesting sign I saw while on the bus

The Bo-Kaap District in Cape Town is popular for its
brightly colored houses and buildings

Colorful suburbs of Bo-Kaap

As you can see, Cape Town is a very pretty city. It's interesting how South Africa and Ghana (and Morocco) are all in the same continent, but they are worlds apart in terms of the people's societal and economic lifestyles. I even went to a mall right next to the V&A Waterfront (where we were docked), and it looked like one of the high end malls we have in the Philippines, like Podium or Rockwell! It's an amazing opportunity getting to see these differences for myself. 

Anyway, I'll be writing a separate post about the wilder side of South Africa: Safari, zip lining, and much more! I'm afraid this might get too painfully long if I try and squish all my adventures in this one post. So stay tuned!