Visitors!

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately; it is because I have been so lucky to receive so many visitors!

On March 24^th Danny arrived! We shared an unbelievable week together which I will briefly touch on. We toured the city, including the Central Business District, Long Street, and Greenmarket Square, climbed Table Mountain, ate at the famous Bombay Bicycle Club, explored Old Biscuit Mill (where he bought a beautiful wooden watch!), toured the township Langa, and partied at Shimmy’s Beach Club. That was just the first two days! We also went horseback riding on the beach, ate at (also) the famous Mzoli’s, rode a champagne sunset cruise, toured a vineyard with wine tasting, slept at the incredible Drakenstein Lion Sanctuary, went kloofing, took a cooking class in Bo-Kaap, wandered through Kirstenbosch Gardens, and saw the Of Monsters and Men concert! At Drakenstein Lion Sanctuary we slept amongst 32 extraordinary lions, hearing them roar all night and forming such unique connection with each dominating beast. Kloofing is South African canyoning so we abseiled (repelled) down canyons and waterfalls, it was awesome! I am so unbelievably happy that he had the opportunity to not only see me here, but to get to experience with me how life-changing this country can be.

Next, my parents visited! We also went to Old Biscuit Mill and hiked Table Mountain but then enjoyed the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, very lovely. We spent the entire next day driving along the coast to Cape Point, reaching the Cape of Good Hope. Starting in the 1600’s, in order for traders to travel between Europe and Asia, they sailed ships around the entire continent of Africa. The Cape of Good Hope served as an approximate halfway point for their journey, providing them a venue to restock resources and gain “good hope” for the rest of their venture. It was quite a scenic drive there, filled with beautiful views, playing with penguins, eating along the harbor, and great conversation. We ended the day at the famous Nobu, which I believe exceeded Daddy’s previous experience at the Nobu in Las Vegas. We also enjoyed wine tasting at three different vineyards amongst the winelands in Stellenbosch, toured Robben Island and the V&A Waterfront, and took all my friends out to dinner to shmooze and bond. The next highlight was the shark cage diving! I have been counting down for months to get to dive into this with daddy and it was even more exciting when mommy spontaneously decided to too! It was riveting getting to witness great white sharks so close up. I then got to show them around my gorgeous University of Cape Town campus as well as Kirstenbosch Gardens, where we shared a tree climbing-filled picnic. Lastly, the safari!!! During our three-day safari, we saw the Big Five within the first hour! The Big Five acquired their label because they used to be the five most hunted animals in South Africa: elephants, lions, leopards, rhino, water buffalo. We also saw giraffes, monkeys, impalas, nyalas, warthogs, hyenas, various birds and bugs, and more. Going on a safari was absolutely entrancing and I highly recommend it to every person I know. Clearly, it was an astonishing seventeen days straight with visitors and I am so ecstatic to have enough memories (and pictures!) to last a lifetime.