Speechless

The harbor

Today was by far the best day I’ve had in Africa. We drove along the coastline of the peninsula of Cape Town, and it was probably the prettiest drive I’ve ever taken. The road was cut into a mountain, and it paralleled a lovely blue ocean. We began the morning with a cruise to Seal Island. Not only were the hundreds of seals adorable, the view of the cliffs meeting the ocean at the harbor in early morning light was beautiful.

Next, we made our way to The Cape of Good Hope, the most southern point of the African continent. It’s also where the cold Benguela current from the west meets the warm Agulhas current on from the east. Therefore, most deem it the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. However, the oceans geographically meet at Cape Agulhas. Just a few minutes drive away was Cape Point, with a lighthouse and huge cliffs rising out of the sea. We rode a tram, apparently called a funicular, up to the top. The view was breathtaking. You could see forever into the distance, and the sea was so blue. I was happy to see this area so well preserved and unaltered by humans. I really have no words to describe it. It left me speechless and awestruck. It was one of those moments where one feels so very small and insignificant compared to the beauty and glory of nature that demands such wonder.

View of Cape of Good Hope from the lighthouse

The lighthouse

Cliffs

The penguins

After that, we made our way to Boulders cove to see a colony of African penguins. They were so cute! I wanted to keep one as a pet, but we found out that they’re actually quite mean. Our guide told us once that it kicked a man and broke his wrist, and that their bite could break your finger. No thanks.

Cable car up to the top!

The weather was gorgeous today, so we were lucky enough to go up to Table Mountain. You ride a circular cable car up to the top of the mountain at 1,085 meters above sea level. The cable car was actually really cool, because the floor rotated so everyone could take a look from every angle. Once we stepped out of the car, we realized we were so high that we were above all of the clouds! From one side, we overlooked the entire city of Cape Town. We were even able to point out a few landmarks that we had become familiar with in the past few days.  From the other side, you could see a mountain range called the Twelve Apostles and endless ocean. I could have sat and watched forever—it really felt like time had stopped. It was the most surreal thing I’ve seen. It looked like the clouds were floating on the sea in the horizon. It was impossible almost to distinguish between water, sky, and cloud. I’m sure others have tried to explain its beauty in words, but I don’t know that words would ever be sufficient, and mine certainly would not be. So, since a picture’s worth a thousand words, I’ll just show you a few of my favorites.

The day left me exhausted! Tomorrow we tour several vineyards and are going to a few wine tastings. Then Saturday, Margo and I are going cage diving to see great white sharks! Finally, Sunday we will fly to Bloemfontein and convert from tourist into student. I’m so excited and can’t believe how fast the days are passing.