COS: Cape Town

My Close of Service Trip has officially begun! We did it. I am an RPCV. We had a few nights in gabs, many tearful goodbyes, including my host sibs at the airport <3 tears in passport control, tears on the plane….First stop, South Africa. I traveled here with Joiwyn, and we made quite a few friends along the way. Thank you to Joiwyn who put up with my grieving mess of a soul for days on end. Here are some highlights!

Port Elizabeth
We flew into cold and  rainy PE in t-shirts. We were not prepared for the weather! But we were able to spend the afternoon exploring the boardwalk and started our food tour of the garden route with sushi. We just spent one night and we're picked up by the baz bus (a hop on, hop off bus) in the early morning.

The Crags
We stayed in a beautiful hostel up in the hills and deep in the forest. This hippie collective-esque location had beautiful views and nice little hikes through the forest. On our second day we went zip-lining through the forest! We made new friends and played a lot of cards while being surrounded by the owners cats and dogs. The meals were fresh, healthy, and delicious. With a lot of delicious ice cream. It was so nice to see all of the green!

Mossel Bay
We hit the accommodation jackpot once again staying in an actual train right on the beach! We spent one day going out to Oudtshorn to see the caves, but other than that, we spent most of this stretch of the trip playing cards and eating. It was nice to relax and just enjoy each other's company, while making new friends.

Cape Town
What a city. It was so nice to be in a city. The hustle and bustle of hundreds of thousands of people going about their daily lives. The mixture of culture and language. The food! The shopping! Exquisite. We went on a tour to the Cape of Good Hope with an incredible guide, shopped till we dropped, and ate everything we could manage. We laughed hard at the Cape Town comedy club, treated ourselves to mini massages. I also got to see the grand opening of the spectacular Zeitz Museum of Modern Africa Art. We met up with friends and made new friends. As I type this I'm finishing dinner at The Crypt, a well known jazz bar, waiting for a jam session to start.

Joiwyn left today, so I'm on my own for the next ten days or so. Next stop, Malawi.

What a trip. What a world.