I Ordered “Adventure” for Christmas

This Christmas was unlike any other for many reasons: (1) its hot; (2) I have seen 0 real Christmas trees, 1 fake Chrismon tree, and 3 fake Christmas trees; (3) I’m not with my family for the holidays; and (4) there’s no such thing as eggnog in South Africa. So instead of rushing around trying to buy presents and sitting in traffic on I-26 heading West this holiday season, I decided to have an adventurous Christmas—one that I would never forget.

Determined not to return to the States until my year in Cape Town was over (June 2011), I asked one of my friends who currently lives in South Korea to come over for the holidays. Reid had a few days of vacation to take, a pocket full of money, and a desire to be adventurous with me, so he flew over on Christmas Eve. I had decided not to tell him exactly what our adventures were until he was safely in South Africa because I think he would’ve “missed” his flight had he known. Jetlagged and semi-conscious, Reid arrived and we decided the best thing to do was recover with a drink at the beach (pictured). We spent several hours lying on the gorgeous beaches of Cape Town where I first spotted Santa (pictured). The waters of Cape Town are a frigid 14 degrees Celsius (about 58 Fahrenheit), so there was no swimming, but there was plenty of resting.

After Reid was rested, I took him to Lion’s Head (pictured) where we hiked to the top (in 90 degree weather) and looked out on the city and beaches of Cape Town. Drenched with sweat, I explained to him that we were going to cool down by running off a cliff while trusting in complete strangers, the paragliding instructors, to land us safely on the ground. Like a deer caught in headlights, Reid just looked at me and nodded. The instructors’ specific directions were, “Whatever you do, just run. Don’t jump. Don’t sit. Don’t decide at the last second you don’t want to run because if that happens, we both will plummet to our death. And that just doesn’t look good for the company.” Wanting to please my instructor, I did as he said—I ran off the cliff into the sky and trusted in the glider and wind. It was an amazing experience to see Cape Town from so high up. We flew in the air for approximately 25 minutes while my instructor took pictures of us flying (pictured). While he was filming and taking shots he made comments such as, “This is my first time doing this” (not true of course), “Do you know how to fly this thing?”, and my favorite “I hope the wind doesn’t just all of a sudden stop”. As we landed, he decided to swing us back and forth a few times just to make sure that I got my money’s worth. Once safely on the ground, we watched Reid’s rough landing which resulted in a cloud of dust and dirt. Note to self—don’t stick your feet straight out when landing.

After paragliding, we went to view penguins at Boulders Beach (30 minutes outside of Cape Town). The “Jackass” penguins (named for the sound they make) are located in a protected area. No one is allowed to touch or be near them (pictured). So viewing from a boardwalk, we took some pictures and then headed onto our next activity—harbor cruise at sunset. The harbor cruise aboard Sea Princess was absolutely stunning. We boarded the boat from the Waterfront area at 7pm. The cruise served us free champagne and gave us plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the harbor, mountains, and scenery of Cape Town. The sun set at 8pm (pictured) and then we headed back to the dock. What a day!

At exactly 3:30am the following morning we woke up to start our next adventure—shark diving! I had wanted to go great white shark diving for a long time and now the time had come. Droopy-eyed and tired, we got into the rental car and drove to Kleinbaai (just over 2 hours outside of Cape Town). We arrived at 6:30am and received our instructions for the dive with a group of 40 other people. The boat that we took into the bay (pictured) had a cage attached to the side—perfect for checking out the sharks—and trailed fish oils to attract the animals. On board everyone put on their wetsuits, booties, masks, and weight belts. Then seven people at a time got their chance to view the sharks up close. To do this, one entered the cage, scooted down to the end of the cage and waited until the “shark spotters” (pictured) yelled to get down, “shark in front” or “shark on the right/left”. Between shark sightings, you could bob your head at the surface and breathe. Then during the sighting, you would hold your breath, and lower yourself in the cage to get a good view. Several times, the sharks came right up to the cage and bit it. There were at least 4 different sharks and the viewing was spectacular (pictured). The sharks were big, but not scary. I felt completely safe and protected the entire time. I highly recommend this experience to everyone!

After enjoying such a thrilling experience, we drove to Cape Agulhas which is the southernmost tip of Africa. On our way to the Cape, we passed Mount Pleasant (which of course reminded us both of Mt. Pleasant, SC) and many other cute towns. Cape Agulhas is a rocky point where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet (pictured). We stayed there for about ½ an hour, contemplated the meaning of life, and then made the 3 hour journey back to Cape Town.

My adventurous Christmas ends there, but hopefully there will be another in the future waiting!

To view more pictures, please facebook me at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720378814

Church in Cape Town

Churches in Cape Town are unlike any I’ve ever attended in the US. While I’ve been here in Cape Town I have visited two Anglican churches, one downtown and one in Sea Point. This morning I went to St. James Anglican Church in Sea Point. The service this morning went a little something like this:

10:45- I arrived at the church for the 11am service
10:46- I noticed I was the only one there
10:48- Some other visitors from the UK came into church
10:50- All of us wondered where the bulletins were… we were told that they don’t print any. The church uses a big screen that pops down during the service.
10:55- I was welcomed by a man in the church who asked me to write down my name because he wanted to properly introduce me during the service.
11:03- Other people arrived for church (African Time is a reality... nothing starts "on time")
11:05- That same man who wanted my name walked up to the front, fiddled with a microphone, and asked who was leading church today. The preacher, who was sitting with the congregation in the pews, told him that he thought he (meaning the man with the microphone) was going to lead. 11:10- The man with the mic said, “Sure, I’d be happy to do it. Who’s going to read today?” A woman in the first pew said she would.
11:12- That man with the mic introduced me and told everyone I was from the States... they all clapped.
11:15- The man with the mic asked for testimonies… Several people stood up, took the mic and spoke about a recent event in their lives that made them grateful, happy, etc. Some spoke in English, some in Afrikaans.
11:30- Testimonies ceased and the piano player began playing church music. Someone controlled the screen so we could all see the words.
11:40- A woman felt moved and wanted to tell us all about her recent encounter with a rude waiter at a restaurant in Cape Town. During her meal there with her bible study group, this waiter was apparently rude and obnoxious. The woman felt as though she needed to talk with him and tell him that the Lord loved him… end of story was the man became incredibly nice.
11:45- The preacher got up from the 3rd pew in the congregation and preached.
11:53- People that needed to be prayed for went up front while the preacher prayed for them.
11:55- Peace time. Everyone got out of their pew, walked in the aisle of the church and held hands. Then people proceeded to hug and kiss everyone saying “Peace Be with You”. I met everyone.
12:05- Communion (pretty standard)
12:13- Prayers were said—The Lord’s Prayer and some other general prayers
12:15- We sang the last hymn Joy to the World (because someone requested it right then)

As you can probably tell, this service was unstructured and probably violated a few codes of the Anglican Church; however, I have to say that I never felt more welcomed by a group of people whom I had never met. I find it fascinating and refreshing that the churches here are mixed race… black, white, colored… everyone. No one worries about the color skin when you’re under God’s roof… just like it should be. Church here is an experience that you must have here in Cape Town!