"Top 5" by Jeanna Courter

Cape Town has been one of the best experiences of my life. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do some of the things we have gotten to do and meet some of the people we have had the chance to meet. Since there is so much to tell, I decided to make a Top 5 of experiences of Cape Town so far:

Cooking Dinner for my Family- This past week we were given the opportunity to cook dinner for our families. My group decided that we were going to turn our dinner into a celebration of the time we have spent together. We bought balloons, masks and noise makers and had the family wait outside while we got the house ready. We then made them close their eyes and walked them into the house. The family immediately started crying and told us that they had never experienced a celebration like that before even for a birthday. It meant so much to me to be able to provide a surprise like that to them.

Cape Point, Boulders Beach, and Cape of Good Hope- Today we took a trip to three well known places in Cape Town. Our first stop was to Boulders Beach where we got to see African Penguins. The second stop of the day was at Cape of Good Hope. The views here were absolutely stunning, and there were rocks and boulders that we were able to climb. Our last stop of today was visiting Cape Point. Cape Point is the point where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet. We took about a 15 minute walk up to a lighthouse where we were able to see this point. The view from the top was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.

Wine Tour- Last weekend we took a trip to a vineyard about an hour outside of Cape Town. While there, we learned about the different grapes grown there, how to taste wine properly, and finally taste three different types of wine. We enjoyed the wine tour so much that tonight we are heading to Stellenbosch to have another wine tasting tomorrow. We are planning on heading to three different vineyards.

Bungee Jumping- Before coming to Cape Town, I had decided I would not be participating in bungee jumping. I am scared of heights, and also my mom begged me to not do it. After arriving at Bloukrans Bridge however, I decided I would regret this if I did not jump (not to mention everyone else was doing it to, so I could not really back out). Walking on the bridge to the bungee jumps was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. We all stood on the bridge and cheered each other on as one by one we jumped off. I am so glad I ended up jumping.

Sunset Champagne Cruise- The first Sunday after our adventure week, we went on a sunset champagne cruise where we got to see Cape Town from a water perspective. Since there had been two different groups throughout this trip, one who went on adventure week the first week and one that went the third week, it was a great time for us to get to know other people on the trip we had not met yet. We drank champagne and cruised around while enjoying the beautiful city of Cape Town for an hour and a half.

"Live with Passion" by Kathleen Block

My Top 10 Favorite Things We Have Done in Cape Town

• Our farewell dance party was by far our most exciting time in Sir Lowry’s Pass! We watched tons of songs and dances from both American students and African kids. Although it was so sad to leave the people we have come to know so well, the dance party was a great send of!
• Riding elephants on adventure week was one of the coolest things I have ever done.
• Eating my birthday dinner at Buena Vista—some of the best nachos I have ever had!
• Our trip to Robben Island, including a tour by Ahmed Kathrada, Nelson Mandela’s cellmate.
• I definitely underestimated climbing Table Mountain. It was no stroll in the park, but the view from the top was absolutely breath taking.
• The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens were beautiful and a great place to walk around on a nice day or to eat lunch
• Charly’s Bakery was such a treat for my birthday. The hot pink cup cake was to die for!
• The Neighbourgoods market at the Old Biscuit Mill open on Saturdays had the best fresh food I have ever seen. I am a huge junk food eater and this place actually made me want to eat healthy.
• Cape Point was such a cool experience. Especially seeing a baboon crawl into a cracked car window into the lap of a napping man.
• Mama Africa was a great atmosphere with great music. It was the perfect place to get an ostrich steak.

“Always be Curious” by Preston Shurley

Curious George was always one of my favorite series growing up. George was fascinated by the world and all it had to offer. He went through life with an unending, and often mischievous, thirst for knowledge and understanding. I learned many things from that monkey, but most importantly, George instilled in me at a young age an incredible astonishment with the world. This curiosity has been my guide for my life, especially in my time here in Cape Town. It has driven me to do things I never thought I would (jump off bridges and out of planes, swim with sharks, and free climb on the cliffs of Cape Point), it has helped me give to the point of exhaustion (painting inside the pre-school, throwing the kids of the township in the air, and spinning them around and around until we all felt like we were walking home from a long night at Tiger Tiger), and it has given me the energy to try to do everything, even when only averaging about 4 hours of sleep per night.

Cape Town is such an astonishing city, and there is so much to experience here that you never cease to be amazed. The city is gorgeous, the culture is wonderful, and the excitement of the approaching World Cup is enough to inspire anyone with a youthful enthusiasm for life. It is because of this that I am always curious. As the program comes to a close, and the reality of the flight back to America becomes all too real, my curiosity has turned into a fire to see and do everything I can before I get back to “real life.” These are the times when I wish George was on this trip. He would be a great travel companion and provide more inspiration than necessary to attempt to accomplish everything we want to do. But the potential for George is in all of us. As long as we wake each morning with a youthful curiosity for life, we carry the spirit of George in us and will be inspired to reach the full potential of life.

Always be curious. Never cease to be astonished. Love wholly. And give fully.

"Top 10" by Alli Frank

The Top 10 of Cape Town

• Skydiving
• Visiting the Wine lands
• Going to Robben Island
• Serving in the Township
• Jaw dropping scenery
• Sunrise hike up Lions Head
• Adventure week.
• Cape Point
• Stellenbosch
• Making wonderful new friends.

"Live it Up" by Amy Bisger

The Top 10 Things that Surprised Me the Most About South Africa

• KFC is everywhere. South Africans adore KFC. In fact, the ratio of KFC’s to McDonald’s that we have seen is about 10 to 1, and South Africans call KFC “Kentucky.”
• South Africans refer to stoplights as “robots” and flashlights as “torches.” This was fairly confusing at first, but something that we picked up on pretty quickly.
• South African ketchup is not the same as American ketchup. However, we have discovered that adding large amounts of salt to South African ketchup can help.
• There is quite possibly more sushi available in South Africa than in some areas of Japan. If you want good sushi, you don’t need to go all the way to Asia, go to Africa instead.
• Animals such as Springbok and Ostrich are readily available on the menu. Don’t be afraid of the names, they are actually delicious.
• The tallest bungee jump in the world is in South Africa.

• The restaurant service in South Africa is a lot more relaxed. Even if you are only going to breakfast, you should allot at least 45 minutes to an hour.
• Table Mountain alone contains more different types of plant species than all of the United Kingdom, over 1,500.
• South Africa has a penguin colony. The penguins are able to survive due to the cold Antarctic currents on the West Coast near the Cape.
• It is very rare to be pulled over for speeding in South Africa. This became apparent after Adventure Week when we reached ridiculously high speeds on both highways and main roads, without a second glance from a cop.

"Life is Adventure" by Andrew Meaney

A quick recap of my 2^nd week in Cape Town…

Monday – 3 pet birds (Lorenzo, Dubs, and J Cole) and 4 noise complaints later… and we’re still allowed to stay at the hotel.

Tuesday – Snowboarding… on sand dunes. We made ramps, slid down on our butts, and just had one heck of a good time out there with some friends. Our guide, Christo, decided to show off for us by jumping off this huge drop he had never done before and probably getting about 3 or 4 meters in the air. Unfortunately, he ate it... hard. Next was Groves, a first time sandboarder who landed the same jump to perfection.

Wednesday – WOW. We started the day off at 6:30am with a brisk hike up Table Mountain – much more difficult than many of us anticipated, but it made us appreciate the unbelievable views much more once we reached the top. We hiked above the clouds to create our bucket lists that had no limits.

Thursday – A dozen of us did something we never thought we would do today – we jumped out of a plane! I felt like a little kid again and was laughing uncontrollably the whole 30 seconds that I was free falling before the parachute deployed. The best duo to go up in the plane together had to have been Katy and Graham. Katy was extremely scared before going, so Graham was inevitably the best partner to calm her down on the 10,000 ft. flight up. They both got videos, and Katy’s showed her fear since she was holding on to her harness for dear life the entire descent until she touched solid ground. But she did it! Graham’s video is priceless as well, and everyone on Global LEAD should watch it sometime before leaving the country. Put it on the bucket list.

Friday – This is the day we visited Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and we were showed around by his cell mate, Ahmed Kathrada. He educated us on what it was like to live in that jail for 18 years and described Robben Island as a microcosm of apartheid in South Africa. Kathrada is an Indian whereas Mandela is a colored man, and they received differential treatment, even in jail. Ahmed Kathrada would get ¼ loaf of bread a day. Mandela would get none. Kathrada was allowed to wear pants whereas Mandela was required to wear shorts. Hearing Kathrada talk really hit home and showed me how prevalent and real apartheid was, even in the isolation of Robben Island.

Saturday – The majority of the Springboks traveled to Cape Point yesterday, the destination where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans collide. This was an extremely rugged and beautiful place with gorgeous views of mountains butting up against the edges of the water. One of the highlights of this trip occurred as we were leaving the Cape of Good Hope to go up to the lighthouse for some better views of the area. We saw a baboon that came close to us and decided to take some pictures. The baboon zoomed right past us, heading straight for an unsuspecting van where he jumped through the driver side window. The best part is that the baboon invaded the car right over a sleeping Asian man who bolted out of the door as soon as he awoke and realized that a baboon was in his van eating his food! The Asian fellow opened up all the doors and tried to beat the baboon out with a jacket – an effective way to piss off a wild monkey and encourage him to eat the rest of the food in your car. This went on for a good 5 minutes, and much of the madness was captured in pictures by the 50 of us surrounding the car.

It has been a fairly fun week to say the least…

"Into the Wild" by Will Badcock

We have just finished our second full week here in Cape Town and the adventures never end. My two newest adventures came this past weekend and they did not disappoint. First, we made the trek to Cape Point on Saturday to witness what happens when two oceans collide. Let me tell you, the sight was….. not a Fantasia moment. There were no giant collisions of differing tides or huge walls of water that came crashing down around us, but it was an extremely beautiful view. I took loads of pictures of the scenery but no picture will ever do the sight justice.

But, the view and standing at the Cape of Good Hope was not the adventure.

No, the adventure began when we were heading back to the bus and I saw a baboon running across the parking lot. I watched it run up to a white van then jump into the driver seat via the open window. The snoozing Asian man in the driver seat looked as if he would jump out of his skin when he realized what had happened and flung himself out of the car as fast as he could. The baboon didn’t care that he had disturbed the man’s nap; he had smelled food and he was hungry. The baboon climbed into the backseat where he began to open bags of chips and other assorted foods and then proceeded to chow down. It took about 10 minutes to get the baboon out of the van and when he finally did get out, he took a pack of crackers for the road.

My most recent adventure occurred Sunday when 43 of us woke up before dawn to drive 2 hours all so we could get in the freezing Indian Ocean with countless Great White Sharks. These animals are enormous. They exude power and efficiency; and being less than 5 feet from them underwater is quite an experience.

“Live Out Loud” By: Melissa Guidry

My three-word shout out “Live Out Loud” has been my theme this entire trip, to do everything possible with not regrets. Well today was no exception on our visit to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. I kept pushing my boundaries and took risk, like scaling the side of a cliff to get to a point I wanted to go, and I wouldn’t have enjoyed the moment as much if I hadn’t.
The view was indescribable. My camera could never truly capture the beauty of this land. So instead of focusing on what my camera couldn’t do, I did what I could: enjoy the moment and the beauty surrounding me.

We even saw penguins today and had a close encounter with an ostrich! But the real treats were the baboons! Our first encounter, several baboons took the leisure of relaxing… on the middle of the road! My second encounter was at Cape Point when I was returning to the bus. I had just bought a can of soda, and the cashier told me to hide my can because the baboons love soda. I thought nothing of it until I saw a baboon grab on to Samantha as she walked by! They were so entertaining.

So, in my every attempt to live out loud, I try to live out what I think would be fun… fyi they really are fun. I try to not focus on what’s to be put on facebook but what’s right in front of me. And I try to make the best of every situation by exploring all the possibilities that can exist.
I have no regrets of “I wish I would have done that”, and I can only hope the other people on this trip are doing the same because this—being in amazing Cape Town, South Africa with 100 other students—we will never experience again. I almost can’t believe this experience is real and already half way done.

So thanks Global LEAD for the amazing time so far, I look forward to the next half being just as incredible.