South Africa.

After crossing the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic, I couldn't be more excited to get off the ship.  Between 12 days at sea, the ship catching on fire, and a killer sunburn -  I was beyond ready to throw myself into shark alley (literally). Cape Town was strangely familiar, a weird hybrid of Southern California and Central Europe, which gave docking there a false sense of security. The entire trip prior to South Africa we, especially myself, could be clearly distinguished as an outsider - a tourist, but in Cape Town, the lines were were blurred, we could blend in -- but only until we opened our mouths (apparently my jersey accent gets thicker the longer I'm out of the country).  My first three days were spent in Cape Town, where in which I ran around Table Mountain, visited the Castle of Good Hope (not much of castle especially with its history), the mall, and the Cape Town Aquarium, and then less than 12 hours after going to the aquarium I got on a bus at 4am to go shark cage diving.

Shark cage diving in Shark Alley was definitely an experience. While I have no photographic evidence because my gopro is prehistoric and the March waters were not the clearest, having the bait fish fly over your head and a shark bite your corner of the cage is something I will never forget. These are two landscape shots from our drive before and after the dive.

The day following my shark adventure, I got on a bus and 6 hours later, arrived in Botlierskop Game Reserve, where for the next three days we would be going on game drives to see rhinos, lions, elephants, giraffes, and so much more. The game reserve's accommodation can only be described as 'glamping' because while we were in tents, we were no where near roughing it (our beds had heated blankets). Our first drive was just before sunset, and it was surreal to say the least. You grow up with stuffed animal giraffes and elephants and you never really think seeing one in real life would become a reality - until you're sitting in a jeep driving through the South African plains and on either side of the dirt road are a mother and baby giraffe (that, even at birth tower over me) and this out of body experience you're in only breaks when the young giraffe literally looks like it has no neck and in your mind you think "that's not right" and "as you ask your guide Bertie (shoutout to Bertie) "Is that giraffe broken?" and while you and your friends laugh at the jokes you're making you continue to wonder how exactly you got to this point in your short 19 years of life. After the existential crisis of the day and a game drive full of animals and photos and horrible jokes, Botlierskop pulls out all the stops for dinner. I'm talking all kinds of weird animal meats cooked by a personal chef and like 3 courses per meal. I ate chicken but my friend Danielle forced me to try the 'exotic' ones (it's not really exotic if its native to the continent, right?), which I do not regret so thanks Danielle for 'expanding my horizons'. We would go on between 2 and 3 game drives following this, having the rest of the time to relax or go swimming, and no matter how wild it seemed to get, it was probably the most relaxing trip I had been on in the 3 months prior. Just before heading back to Cape Town I was able to go horseback riding next to rhinos and water buffalo (truly insane). 

"Bertie, your giraffe is broken."

South Africa was also the first place where I had time to hang out with my friends, without being on a Semester At Sea trip, getting to go out to restaurants we wanted to, explore on our own, without being overly fearful of not knowing the language, or being targeted as a tourist. With this being the case, quite a bit went down in good ole Cape Town, and those memories make the city so much more wonderful. 

I could see myself living in South Africa. Granted I could really see myself living anywhere and everywhere I have ever been, South Africa had a familiar feeling that I just can't kick. But this week in South Africa was only a toe in the water compared to the full immersion experience I had in Ghana.

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx