Windswept was the word of the day for April 4th. Animals were the main attraction. We started out our day with a beautiful drive over and through the Silver Mine Mountains. Huge peaks rose up on either side, and valleys stretched below. We were headed to Cape Point, the southern-most point in Africa. On the way, we stopped in Simon’s Town to visit the penguins. Clustered together in their holes, or strewn about along the beach, they were perhaps some of the cutest things I have ever seen. The best part for most of us was being able to walk just an arm’s reach away and stare intently at their funny feet or their beaks. Later on during the drive, passing through a narrow stretch of road on the side of a cliff, signs started popping up announcing things like, “Baboons are dangerous animals” and “Do NOT feed the baboons.” And all of a sudden, the baboons themselves appeared. Families of baboons perched precariously on the side of the cliff, looking into car windows and begging for food. And on the last stretch of drive to Cape Point, ostriches populated the side of the road, strutting in front of the cars and bobbing their heads in the grass.
When we finally reached Cape Point, my breath was blown away with the wind. The cliffs went straight into the sea, and the huge waves came crashing down on the rocks below. We hiked to the lighthouse on the top of the cliff, staring over the ocean to where we thought was Antarctica. The kilometers to different cities were listed on a pole, telling us that New York City was around 12000 kilometers away. For many of us, 12000 kilometers is the farthest away from home we have ever been.
0 comments:
Post a Comment