We've been waiting for this moment since we arrived in Cape Town months ago. Semester at Sea was here and we had contacted an alumni-relations coordinator who had agreed (or rather encouraged) to let us greet the students as they set foot on South African soil (concrete). We were so excited we made signs: "ask an alum!" and "welcome to Cape Town". We shook hands, have advice, got to know some fantastic students and generally did our best to counteract all the fear-mongering the state department does to all American visitors to Africa.
Our chants of "ask us... Alumnus" seemed quite effective, and our first day on the dock, mingling with taxi drivers and tour operators, was a great one. I didn't stop laughing the whole way through, too giddy at the idea that here, next to us, was our ship.
That evening we were taken out to a fantastic seafood restaurant called Blowfish in Bloubergstrand by one of our lifelong learners from F10 who had just arrived on the ship with F13.
Having been on seven SAS voyages, she had a network of friends and fellow travelers, and we were fortunate enough to be introduced to two at dinner. A philosophy professor on the current voyage, as well as a fellow Cape Townian SAS alum. Marichen, a medical student at U of Stellenbosch, was a mine of information, and we happily queried her about a whole number of things - from her OBGYN rotation and maternal care of pregnant teens to how I might go about becoming a medical student here after all, citizen or not.
The night was fantastic, and we came away from it both full of great food, but with new connections to build upon in our new home.
The next round of SAS fueled adventures started early the next morning -Mandy and I met up with 5 students who had expressed interest in exploring the city with some crazy locals. We scooped them up at the dock and headed straight for Mitchell's plain - not exactly the typical tourist route. With my South African joining our party, we zipped across the southern suburbs and to kirstenbosch - where we set out our improvised South African picnic. Kudu and beef biltong, BOS tea and South African wine? Plus some ciabatta? Of course. We had some great conversation and Mandy and I heard the latest from the ship while we swapped at-sea stories. Finally, with time running short we cruised around the back side of the mountain and up past Llandudno and camps bay back to the waterfront. After a beer or two we said our goodbyes while we went off to prepare for Namibia. Since we were slated to leave at 4 am. After running into them again on long street and taking them to Rafikis for my traditional last hurrah, Mandy, my South African and I all passed out, awoken 3 hours later by dogs barking.
And off to Namibia!
- Rh
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