3 Peak Challenge

 

On Saturday, I woke up at 4:30 to leave to attempt the 3 Peak Challenge, which involves climbing Devil's Peak (3,281 feet), Table Mountain (3,558 feet) and Lion's Head (2,195 feet) all in one day. Despite the prediction for rain and cold temperatures, we began our first climb in the dark and reached the top of Devil's Peak in time for a foggy sunrise. From there, we continued on to Table Mountain, and Emma and I reached the top by 10 am! After taking a break for lunch, we climbed down Table and took the Contour Path across the side of the mountain to connect with the road leading up to Lion's Head. Around 2 we were met by a few other hikers from our house who joined us for our final climb up and down Lion's Head. By 4:30 we were home in time for dinner before I headed out to join some friends for the Champions League Final. Unfortunately, Bayern Munich did not have the success that I had with my day but it was certainly a nice cap off to a great day.

Devil's Peak with Kelsey. Very cold!

Contour Path with Lion's Head in the background, our final destination. With Emma, my hiking partner

 

View of Devil's Peak (far left) and Table Mountain from the top of Lion's Head. Our previous two climbs.

Bo Kaap and Company Gardens

On Wednesday, Lauren, Corinne, Molly and I set out to cross off more things from our bucket list. Our first stop was the Company Gardens, which are the large gardens in downtown Cape Town. After walking around and taking in the flowers and the view, we headed to Bo Kaap, the brightly colored Muslim neighborhood in the Malay quarter. After walking around and admiring the houses, we stopped for the most delicious lunch at Africa Cafe before heading to Green Market Square to buy souvenirs and presents for friends.

Table Mountain!

Bo Kaap

Stellenbosch

On Saturday morning, most of our group got early to head to Stellenbosch, the oldest town in South Africa known for its wineries. We spent the day (which was absolutely beautiful considering its technically winter here) touring 4 different wine estates with between 5-7 wines at each tasting. It was fun to learn more about wines as well as South African history although it was certainly a long day.

Our lunch stop

Kirstenbosch

 

As our time is winding down, we've been creating bucket lists of things we have yet to do and see. One of mine was Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, which a lot of people visited early in the semester but I never got around to doing. Bridget, Molly, Kevin and I somehow picked the perfect day to have a pizza picnic lunch and wander the gardens for a few hours for a beautiful Sunday

Wildflowers

The "Enchanted Forest"

The past weeks since Easter have been pretty standard, between school, working at the shelter and hanging out in Obs (see Where The Wild Things Are birthday party). This week was especially nice because we have public holidays, one was Friday and the next is tomorrow. On Friday, after sleeping in and taking the day to hang out, several of us headed downtown to watch Ajax Cape Town play the Orlando Pirates. We had seen Ajax play before (tickets are only 40 rand, which is about $5, and take place in the Greenpoint stadium where some of the World Cup games were played), but this game was especially packed. When we got to the stadium, there were lines about 50 people deep. In classic Africa fashion, one of the gates was broken in and fans ran in for at least 15 minutes before the guards were finally able to shut the doors. The game was very high energy, with lots of singing and dancing, and ended in a 1-1 tie (both goals came early on in the first half)

 

Namibia

Claire and I, permanent paddle partners

For Easter break the majority of the group plus a few additions from Arcadia and Northwestern headed to the Orange River in Namibia for a rafting trip. We spent three (intense!) days paddling down rapids as well as calm water and sleeping under the stars with no tents or covering. Everything we ate and used during the trip was tied down to our boats, and we built fires at every overnight site to cook dinner (the food was surprisingly delicious). On the final day, we were also able to climb out after one of the rapids and hike back up to swim down the rapids.

Canyoning

The Saturday after returning from spring break, a group of us left bright and early to go abseiling, which is essentially rappelling down waterfalls. Although it was cold, with the help wetsuits we were eager to climb down the waterfalls and go cliff jumping (although I opted out of the highest jump, too intense!) All in all we scaled down 11 waterfalls and jumped off two cliffs for a full 12 hours (including the drive) and a very full (and wet and cold) day!