Blazing a Trail in Cape Town

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow (Saturday), we will have been here a week. Coming from someone who is used to sleeping well past noon when I am back at home, it actually feels good to wake up at 7:30 every morning and get so much done in a single day. The last thing you want to do when you’re in a place like Cape Town South Africa is sleep the day away.

The great thing about the trip so far is that each day we’ve been here has been unique in it’s own way. To name what we’ve done on a few of the days, there was the city tour on day one, which was incredible in every way, an eye-opening and thought-provoking trip to the townships on Thursday, and our group hike up Table Mountain earlier today.

Since it’s the most fresh in my mind, I think I’ll take this opportunity to talk about the hike up Table Mountain. For starters, there is good chance I might not be able to walk by tomorrow morning. I won’t dwell on the fact that the mountain’s pretty steep grade took a toll on my knees as well every muscle in my legs, because all of that was overshadowed by the incredible beauty that we all witnessed on our hike up the trail. Every few minutes I found myself turning around to take in a view that was unlike any I had ever seen before. The combination of the mountain, the city below us, and the ocean stretching out on the horizon was a sight that is hard to put into words. It was a really neat experience for every single person in our group to accomplish something that was by no means an easy task.

If the views on the way up the trail weren’t enough, the view from the top of the mountain was nothing short of breathtaking, and that view was supplemented by the delicious grilled ostrich sandwich that I got at the restaurant at the top of Table Mountain.

After only one week in the program, it has been become very evident that our group here in Cape Town is really going to come together and unite through the experiences that we share. The first week has set such a high precedent for the remainder of the trip, but I have absolutely no doubt that each week from here on out will be better than the last.

To all of our family and friends back at home in the U.S., it really means so much to us to be able to share this experience with all of you. So on behalf of the rest of the students here, whether Springbok or Bafana Bafana, I say “Thank you.”

“You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give.”

-Sir Winston Churchill

--Ryan Bayersdorfer