MY TRIP - South Africa

Day 1: Well today is my first day in Africa after a long trip. I went to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport at around 1:00 and boarded the plane for Dakar, Senegal. That flight was for 8 hours I was happy because the had those new seats that i love with the touch screen that has movies, shows of different genres, games and some HBO stuff. I was watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall, then the movie froze for some reason so then I slept. Later on I woke up and listened to music until I we arrived in Senegal. I got on a Bus from the Plane to the Terminal got my luggage and got back on the same Bus and got on my connecting flight to CapeTown, South Africa. That trip was a long excruciating trip, I hated it there was no touch screen on the back of the seat, the bathroom stunk because people kept going to the bathroom. There was also some very large man behind me kept on coughing; I think he had TB or pneumonia and he coughed and it hit my ear. Later on I got of my flight and I got picked up by Desmond Tutu's daughter, along with my mom and her friend; she then dropped us off at our bed and breakfast/hotel thing "Atlantic Brezze" and we went down to her mother's house. We(my mom, her friend, and I) got dropped off at the bed and breakfast after and that was my first day South Africa.

Day 2: On Saturday after breakfast at my bed and breakfast I got picked up at around 11:30 and headed to a 75th birthday party for Desmond Tutu's wife Leah Tutu. The celebration was held at a local resturuant called Marco's Afrikan Place, the party was for about 3 or 4 hours but it was not a boring party. The party started of with an opening prayer by the Anglican Bishop of South Africa; the MC was her daughter Mphlo(Mphlo's daughter sat Nyaniso sat with me at the party-she is a middle schooler in Alexandria Virginia). Leah Tutu turining 75 is a big thing here; the party was very big! There was about 250 people!(the place wasn't like a big diner) the party was recorded by the local news and television station. The food at the party was very good they had different meats like goat beef chicken and fish, aswell as potatoes(pop) rice and simple beans(beans).There was a live band. They sang songs like "One Love" and some African songs. After the party we stopped by at the bed and breakfast to change and rest and then we headed back to the Tutu's home to finish the celebration off with gift giving, more food, and different conversations about Africa itself and African and United States politics. The day ended at almost mid-night.

Day 3: The day started off early with a 7:30 church service with the Tutu's at the local Anglican Church, it was for about an hour(someones phone rang during the service while the priest was giving his sermon and he acted like he picked up a phone and said ''Yes God!" that was funny.).The church was made up of Black and White South Africans and another group of africans called Afrikaans(Afri-kons) they are Dutch descendants and Coloureds(color-ed-s) that is any mixed or other dark skinned races other than blacks. We then had breakfast at a place called Mug & Beans(Coffee shop and Resturant);their food sizes are big! After returning to the bed and breakfast stop we stopped by at the Tutu's Home to join them for a tour of "The Cape" and we stopped at a Wharf to eat fish and chips(fish and fries) at Fish on the Rocks. This day ended at around 6:00 pm and then I did school work.

Day 4: Today we bought a 2-day pass for an on and off bus named "CitySightseeing CapeTown" (allowed to leave and get back on later). We took the "Red Route Pass" and this pass started us at the Two Oceans Aquarium(the name is because the Atlantic and Indian Ocean borders Cape Town) at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront(a dry dock where boats from around the world come to be repaired; it is suronded by shops, resturants and nightly live entertainment). Some of the sights included the ClockTower Shopping area(connected with the Waterfront), CTICC(Cape Town International Convention Center), St.George's Catherdral(Anglican(Episcopalian) Church where Archbishop Desmond Tutu worked before going in to semi-retirement), St.George's Street-Market, TableMountain and Camps Bay. We got off at St. George's Cathedral and looked inside then walked to the street market where vendors where selling crafts paintings and other souvenir items for purchase. We then reboarded the bus for a trip to Table Mountain to possibly ride its cable cars to the top.But like we were told before "if there is "a tablecloth" (clouds covering the mountain)we can't ride up. Next we went to Camps Bay beach; and ate at Wang Thai which is a Thai Restaurant. We then got back on the bus and rode back to the Waterfront and took a cab back to Atlantic Brezze.

Day 5: Today we have plans later on to go to an old friends house who studied at Emory University for dinner; it was postponed from yesterday. So today we went on a different bus route "The Blue Route" this bus started at the same place as yesterday the waterfront and went to the St.George's Cathedral, got off and walked to the South African Slave Museum where we looked at the exhibit which had some things about the slave trade and Aparthied(which included women and human rights movement) i.e. the muesum was an old slave house and then a goverment building later on restored into a muesum it's also the 2nd oldest building in Cape Town. After that we walked 6 blocks to the Gold of Africa Museum this exhibit told about the history and artistry of african gold, it told about kings, and queens and thier artifacts that was intresting, but what intrested me was a sign that said on every step leading up to the next floor that said "Beware of Golden Pangolin" so then I saw the sign that said "Beware" so i walked up and I heard a roaring lion and i thought "this will be interesting" when I then saw wat was there i was dissapointed it was a little gold lion about the size of a Nerf football called the Guardian of the Gold & King of Africa; that last part was to me a waste of time. We had lunch ate a fastfood place called "Steers" a block down and boarded the bus and drove past the University of CapeTown, Houtbay Harbor and "Disrict 6", and our day once again ended at waterfront. Later got picked up and we ate dinner at Rev. Samson's house then got driven back to the Atlantic Brezze.

Day 6: Today was an early day as we where picked up by a tour bus group called "Zibonele Tours" for a tour of the Townships and Robben Island. Before we went to the Townships we went to the "District 6 Museum" this museum tells about a once vibrant black and colored neighborhood named District 6 which was demolished completley by white aparthied regime because the neighborhood was on prime waterfront property, it had statements and poetry from people who lived in this area, streets signs from the area, old pictures, a dipiction of a woman room of one of the houses in the neighborhood and they also had a souvenir shop which i bought some stuff from. Then we went on the tour bus that drove us to these townships: Langa-in Langa we went to Guga's Thebe. Guga's Thebe is a cultural arts center that help unemployed people get a job by learning pottery and craft making and then try to go out into the world and use there skills to start their own jobs and get a job; then we drove pass the Pass Office where Africans and Coloreds got these passes which they had to have with them at all times called "Dum passes". Next we went to the Hostels where we stopped by this local beer shop where they have a signature beer which's name I can't remember, but it had yeast and milk powder it is claimed to help if you have stomach aches; it taste very diffirent from other beers. Then we went in to the Hostels where we walked into some rooms and met some of the workers there. We then got back on the tour bus and we were going to travelto Gugulethu but there was an accident blocking our way so we went on to Khayelitsha we visited the woman named Vicky's Bed and Breakfast she has two teenagers and she is HIV positive, but like every body else that lives in the Townships; move on and try make the best of life. After that moment we then went to Philani's Nutrition Center; the room was very dim, lit by candle light and smelled of sage, we also got so smell and feel some remedies which may have been animal skin or hyde or plant roots. That was the last of the townships and then we got driven to the Waterfront so we could go to Robben Ieland/Island by ferry. This island is where Nelson Mandela nad many other political leaders/prisoners where incarcerated. I got to see the inside of his cell it was very small and just had a bucket and a towel in it; the bucket was used as a toilet and the used it and dumped it in the morning and when they would work in the lime quarry there would be no place to put the limestones because there was no intrest in it at the time, so they would just move it from one end to the other EVERYDAY. Later on our tour ended and I got a souvenir and we traveled on out ferry back to the Waterfront and we went down to the Tutu's and ate dinner talked, I met a ediatric nuero-surgeon and his wife the director of the Tutu Peace Center and then the day ended.


Day 7: Today was a very slow but mainly a short day. Today we rented car and drove down to the street market again but we were kind of late and all of the vendors were packing up but we where able to get a few thing and then we drove to the waterfront and got some last minute things. Later on we went to a GrandWest Casino & Entertainment World; this casino had multiple eateries and a "FUN ZONE" for kids which was under the age of 16 which had an ice rink, go-kart track and an arcade room, but is was closed so I just walked around until it was time to go.

DAY 8: Today was my last day in CapeTown so we drove the rental car to The Cape of Good Hope we where literally at the end of Africa it was amazing they we saw some baboons and penguins and we took alot of pictures. After that we went to two wineries and we ate lunch at one of the wineries and tasted wine the lunch spot was a next to a lake so we saw a lot of ducks and a buch of little kids fed them, but I think one kid got bit because he was crying, anyway after that we dropped of the rental and got packed and left for the airport we bought a few things in the airport like 2010 worldcup stuff and then some of us ate again and we waited to board our 18 hour flight back to Atlanta.