A New Continent

After a solid 36 hours of travelling, spanning 3 days, I have finally arrived in Cape Town. The city is absolutely beautiful, and kind of reminiscient of Nerja in the way it is nestled between the ocean and the mountains. Upon arrival, Karin (my in-country coordinator) met me at the airport and took me around the city to get me a new sim card for my phone, groceries, and settled into my house. As if this wasn't enough activity fresh off a 12 hour flight, Karin also took me up Signal Hill with is one of the smaller hills outside the city, but with beautiful views of the ocean, Table Mountain, and Lion's Head. My poor, Scandinavian, winterized skin already started to burn after 15 minutes of enjoying the view. I have a feeling that the South African sunscreen companies are going to make quite a bit of money off of me.

My roommates thus far have been really wonderful and have taken me out around the city a little bit, including to a bar on the 31st floor of a bank building with views of the harbor. It was beautiful, and an interesting introduction to the nightlife in Cape Town, which is quite vibrant. This morning, Tineke, the Dutch girl I am sharing a room with, took me to a really wonderful market called the Old Biscuit Mill. A number of gourmet restaurants in town have set up stalls there, and sell small dishes as a way of promoting their restaurants, and there are also a number of other small organic vendors selling all sorts of spreads, sweets, and drinks. It was a similar atmosphere to the Boqueria in Barcelona, except all gourmet prepared foods. Basically a foodie heaven.

My internship does not start until a week from Monday, so I have this week to be on vacation and explore the city a little bit, which I am planning to start tomorrow with a trip to the waterfront, and perhaps some of the museums. I need to take a slightly different approach with exploring Cape Town than I took while in Europe. Simply grabbing a map and wandering around alone just doesn't fly here in the same way.

View of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain from Signal Hill