Cape Town, South Afrca (April 30-May 9) ONE of my Favourite Places - by Lucas

We landed in Johannesburg after a long flight to Doha from Colombo, staying the night in Doha airport, and another long flight to Johanasberg where we landed late at night. To top it all off we had to wait in the Johanasberg airport for an hour so we could catch one last 1-hour flight to Cape Town. Once we arrived in Cape Town, we had no problem picking up our Datsun go+  rental car for the week. The final problem for this journey was finding our place which was actually about half an hour from the airport in a suburb called Muizenberg. After an hour of driving around and trying to connect with the owner of our beach house, we finally found it. Wayne, the owner was there waiting for us to show us the ropes. He showed us around and showed us the pool and where everything was even though it was like 11:00 PM. He was really nice. I was in love with the beach house at first sight. There was an Apple TV, all the pots pans and oven I needed to make rice pudding, Netflix, super comfortable beds, an electric heater, a big backyard, and a barbecue (braai). Amazing, I know. And to top it all off it was in walking distance of the beach in a safe compound.

our cool little beach house and our cool little car!

Funky changerooms on the beach near our house

My Favourite place by far. Now that it was 30 minutes until May 1st, my birthday, my parents wanted me to go to bed so that I wasn't awake for that. I'm not sure if I was awake for it or not, but it didn't matter because the next morning I got a pancake breakfast with whipped cream, syrup, and fruit. That day I literally did nothing but read until about 12:00. At this time, we drove about 45 minutes to Boulder Beach where there was a huge colony of African penguins! Ever since the beginning of our trip, I knew that this was what I wanted to do on my birthday. So that was what we did. We saw them as soon as we drove into the parking lot. They were under bushes, on rocks and even waddling along the cement barrier that surrounded the parking lot!

One of the first penguins we saw with her baby

We started by walking down to a beach. There were penguins in the water,

on the beach,

in the bushes,

and sunning on the rocks.

There were also people swimming, but it was so cold that I thought I would need a wetsuit. After that we walked on a trail to the main attraction of penguins. Even on the trail, there were penguins in the bushes and in nests, and artificial burrows!

The penguins burrows!

Once we got to the end of the path, there was a boardwalk zigzagging down to the ocean. At the end of this board walk, there was a huge colony of penguins with all different shapes and sizes. Adults, babies, swimmers, and molting young adults.

After we got our fill of watching them swim in the crystal clear water, we wandered back up to our car. I wanted to try to swim, so Maya came with me. The moment I stepped in, I thought that I would probably die because it was sooooooooooo cold, but after a while I dunked all the way under. After checking to make sure there were no penguins under our car, we drove to a restaurant for my b-day dinner. I had a delicious sea food pasta, my Sister had a salad, my mom had hake, and my dad had steak. All was delicious. After dinner, we drove back in the dark and had cake with Netflix. After the movie was over I had a great sleep. Not a Super exciting day, but a fun one. 

      
Other things we did in Cape Town were Cape point and Robben  Island. 

Cape point is the most south-western point of Africa, and the previously believed most southern point in Africa. This was believed because it was so hard for ships from the Americas to get around this point. Lots and lots of shipwrecks have happened there and many people have died. The Indian and Atlantic currents clash there and, if you get too close,  the waves will smash you into the rocky coast line. There have been 5 different lighthouses built here,  as well as a secret radar for World War Two. It was impressive and very beautiful.

A very nice sunrise that we got up very early for

Me on a rock :/

After the light house we walked to the actual point and went to a cool beach

Us at the point

Maya at Diaz beach

  Next we drove around the park in search for animals. We saw 4 ostridges in a field of grass. One actually ran!

We were so excited to see our first African wildlife. Next we went to one of the two shipwrecks that you can see without diving. It was a mess with pieces strewn everywhere.

There were also a couple ostridges here along with antelopes we forgot to identify. There was a 
massive whale bone just sitting on the beach as well! This was way before we knew how many zebras we would see, and we had heard there were zebras in the area, so the whole time we were looking for one. At the very end of the day, on our way out, my dad spotted one. He warned us we would see 100s, but we doubted him and took pictures of it.

And the pictures weren't even good!

Turns out we would see about 1000 in Namibia and Botswana. Finally, after a long day, we got back to our place and did barbecue chicken on coals. Nothing beats it (except barbecue steak). 

        Our final attraction in South Africa, was Robben island. Robben Island was a prison for black men during apartheid. Apartheid was when the Dutch South Africans kept the black people separated with everything. School, medical, living, rights, work, and travel. The blacks were not allowed to leave their village without a an ID that whites could ask for anytime. If they didn't have it, then they would get arrested. The other cool thing about Robben Island was that it was Nelson Mandela's prison. This prison held criminals and also political protesters like Mandela. The criminals were treated better than the political prisoners with things like work and food. Political prisoners (P.P) had to work in the quarry, while the criminals sewed clothes and cleaned floors. Anyways, we got a tour of the island by bus, then got a tour of the maximum security prison by a former inmate.

the African man in the middle was our former inmate guide

He showed us the group cells, the sports fields,

Me on the prison soccer field

Mandela's cell,

Mandelas cell

and the work yard. It was interesting, but I found it a little boring because it was just listening and reading. Nothing interactive or fun.

Me and my mom under arrest

     

I wouldn't want to have to escape this island

Overall. Those three things, add the barbecues (they are called braais in Africa) at night, and the good vibe of Cape Town made Cape Town my favourite city yet.