Saturday has finally come, which means it is a time for all of us Northeastern and TSiBA students in Cape Town to relax. Maybe not, actually! We got up early to catch a bus to Table Mountain to potentially hike it. It’s funny how none of us actually realized what we were getting ourselves into. Half of us weren’t dressed properly – we were wearing shorts and a top. Let me remind you that it’s winter here. However, to give us some credit, we’ve enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather since we’ve arrived in Cape Town almost a week ago – I’m talking about shorts and t-shirt weather. The top of the mountain was invisible to us; the dark clouds blanketed the top half and sent down a cold, shivery breeze. And although a few of us were feeling adventurous, it was suggested as a group to make other plans that wouldn’t put us in potential risk of hypothermia. So we decided to hike across the mountain from Canstantia to Kirstenbosh – about 90 minutes of dirt trails, woodsy paths and stream crossing, to the beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Once we collectively crossed the mountain, we hopped on a bus that took us to District 6, specifically into the Bo-Kaap district, where we had lunch at one of Cape Town’s most famous Cape Malay restaurants called Biesmiellah. I didn’t identify most of the food that was served, aside from the chicken marinated in curry sauce and the rice, however, it was delicious and well deserved after a shin splinting hike.
Once again, it was a pleasure to spend time with the TSiBA students and bond. Call it what you will; a teambuilding exercise, but it was nice to see everybody share stories and laugh in happiness or in hopelessness over a long, tiring hike. In between the discussions along the hike, some of the students, including myself, would just stop and look around to enjoy our environment, listen to the creatures of the wild, and fully take in the beautiful Cape Town, South Africa.
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