Sunburnt in South Africa

Dear friends,
If you ever find yourself on the African continent, please, under any circumstances wear sunscreen. I don't care if it's raining and you intend to be inside all day, or if it's super cloudy and threatening hail storms in the morning. Just put it on. After a day at the beach, then a day hiking around Cape Point my arms and shoulders are fried. Now I can't lift my arms above my head easily, and we did 2 sets of group shoulder massages... which leads me into what I've been doing for the last few days.

So the day of exploring Cape Town ended up being grocery shopping at Pick n Pay for lots of fruits and veggies for me and Kathryn, and sandwich meat and juice for the boys. Oh and Brent bought 18 eggs, apparently he's a big egg fan. Then we walked the 10 or so blocks back to Perspectives (our apartments) which was the worst and longest walk of my life possibly. Our new grocery shopping plan is little trips a few times a week, because we can't afford to carry heavy groceries. So after a delicious lunch we made ourselves, we decided to go to the beach! Clifton Bay #4 to be exact... although we did venture down to #3 1/2.

The beach was beautiful. The water was FREEZING. Like toes went numb after just walking in it for a few minutes. So Kathryn and I parked it in the sand while the boys got pummeled by the frigid waves, occasionally coming back to reapply sunscreen or get the feeling back in their appendages.

The next day was the beginning of our University of Cape Town Study Abroad student orientation, however i was under the impression that it was all "freshers". So bright and early on a Sunday morning we caught a cab to catch a bus, but not just any bus... a tour bus (insert groans here). Luckily our guide was full of age appropriate jokes and interesting information. So for a while we drove around Cape Town, and then headed to Boulder Nature Reserve.

Now you probably don't know the exact significance of Boulder, but to put it simply:
PENGUINS!

We stayed for maybe 45 minutes, but by that point we had watched them flick sand at each other, seen the little ugly fuzzy babies, and watch them walk and swim, so we were pretty much done. I mean no one spends that long at the penguin exhibit at the zoo, do they? (although this was infinitely cooler than a zoo)

Next up we headed to Ocean View, Simon's Town's version of District 6 (apartheid era segregated townships). We ate lunch in their community center and watched some amazing performances by their local children/volunteers. For pictures see Eric's facebook (my camera died at Boulder). Oh and Brent's mom, sorry, he forgot his camera this day so mine and Eric's pictures will have to suffice!

Alright, next up was the scenic Chapman's drive, through most of which i slept. Being on a coach bus with very little shoulder/anything on either side of you is unbelievably terrifying. Sleeping was definitely my best option.

Then we went to the lovely Cape Point. The most southwestern point in Africa (not the most southern) and NOT where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. We hiked up and down some ridiculous hills for a few hours and got VERY sunburnt (as mentioned earlier). After our adventures hiking we took a 90 minute bus ride back to the University and tried to figure out our way home, which wasn't easy.

The next few days will come in a new post later about weird things in South Africa, particularly pertaining to their education system. But, until then I'm off! We got some delicious food from the local "Fruit and Veg" market for extremely cheap so it's dinner time!!