Today's blog is written by group 2-Myles, Nelson, & Bryan
Today we began our journey with a LONG bus ride down the South African coast to the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way we saw the beautiful scenery and ocean views that South Africa has to offer on a route very similar to Highway 5 in California. Once our group arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, after a few quick photo ops, we began on a hike up the trail leading to Cape Point. It was a challenging hike at times, but ultimately we were rewarded when we reached the top and could see the ‘meeting of the two oceans’ (Atlantic and Indian).
After enjoying lunch, our bus began the drive out of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Preserve to Boulders Beach where African Penguins reside; however on route we hit a ‘baboon traffic jam’. To say the least, we all seemed to be quite delighted to see the baboons, especially ‘Big Daddy’ and ‘The Baby!’.
At Boulders Beach our group observed a herd of penguins in a government protected area of the beach. Boulders is one of many examples where South Africa has taken the lead on preserving their natural resources. With one of the most diverse animal and plant populations in the world, South Africa has taken great strides to protect these national treasures with nature preserves and animal protection policies. The visit to Boulders was ended with a few minutes of relaxing in the sun on the beach.
When we arrived back to the hotel, most of the group took a well-deserved nap before dinner. For dinner we went to Arnold’s, where we enjoyed traditional African game foods such as Ostrich, Warthog, Crocodile and Onyx. During the course of dinner we had several intellectually stimulating conversations about apartheid, social justice, globalization and the role that the U.S. plays in the global community. We left the conversation realizing that we all need to be agents of social change in some fashion or another. Overall, we had a productive and smooth second day transitioning to life in South Africa.
One major observation we would like to note that although we did a lot of beautiful sightseeing today, we were also able to witness the economic disparities between adjacent townships and wealthy communities. This was our first experience seeing the ‘Haves’ and ‘Haves-Nots’ that live in contiguous neighborhoods in South Africa. We are looking forward to learning more about this dynamic over the remaining 19 days.
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