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Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: beach

Exploring Cape Town

March 18, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Part 1: Finding the Beach
On our first full day in Cape Town, Amanda, Kayla, Olivia and I decided we would walk to the Camps beach from our guesthouse. The problem was that it was a few miles away across the entire city, but we figured it would be a great way to explore the city. We began our journey at a hidden café that was far too fancy for our group but we went there anyway. We then kept walking towards the beach using the occasional sign as a guide. As we walked, we could see an amazing view of the city. The city is extremely beautiful on its own, but the backdrop of Table Mountain brings it to a whole new level.

View of Cape Town from walk

View of Cape Town from walk

The first 2/3rds of our walk were spent traveling uphill, but the beauty of the city distracted us enough not to care. At one point I ran off to go explore the trees nearby because they were so cool that I couldn’t help myself. We then walked down the winding streets that work their way down to the beach and met up with the rest of our group.

Winding roads to Camps Beach

Winding roads to Camps Beach

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View of Camps Beach

At the beach, the water was a bit too cold for swimming and there was an intense wind that sent sand spiraling in all directions. I escaped to an outcropping of rocks and climbed up. I spent nearly an hour just staring out at the ocean and at the mountains that surrounded me.

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The clouds roll in over Table Mountain

The clouds roll in over Table Mountain

Part 2: Bishop Desmond Tutu
On Friday morning, I woke up early and went to a Eucharist at St. Georges Cathedral where I got to take part in a service led by Bishop Desmond Tutu. He was an extremely kind and loving person. Bishop Tutu went around and tried to learn the name of every visitor and made sure to inquire about the status of each of his regular members. It was truly a blessing to be in his presence.

Some members of our group with Bishop Desmond Tutu

Some members of our group with Bishop Desmond Tutu

Part 3: Climbing Table Mountain
It’s a long story. But basically we did not plan well. But we still didn’t die.

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View from Table Mountain

Part 4: On My Own
On one of our free days, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I ended up just walking out the door and picking a direction. I ended up walking through the park and around downtown until I ended up at the train station. I walked up to the guy at the main desk and asked him where I should go for the day. He asked me if I wanted to go to a beach and I said “sure!” So he said, “alright! There’s a train leaving in 5 minutes at gate 6”. So I left, not really knowing where I was off to. I watched as Cape Town flew by my window and the countryside appeared. I ended up at Muizenberg beach which is about an hour away from Cape Town. My experiences were very unique but it was well worth it. I met interesting people and got to have a day for one for the first time in a long time.

Muizenberg Beach

Muizenberg Beach

Part 5: Adventure Day
On our last day in Cape Town, Olivia, Luke, Taylor, Dashawn and I went out on a day full of adventures. We started out by going to Signal hill and went paragliding. I hooked up to the parachute with my guide and he told me to run. We ran forward together as he got a gust of wind and ran right off the cliff. We flew around for about 10 minutes and got a fantastic view of the city and Table Mountain. I even saw a whale!

Paragliding!

Paragliding!

After paragliding, I went surfing for the first time! I was able to stand up a few times but I definitely am not good at all. It was still a fantastic time and our instructor was extremely helpful and entertaining to say the least.

Surfing!

Surfing!

All in all, Cape Town was an amazing experience full of adventures and learning. I was able to push myself to try new things and explore my own thoughts and beliefs about the world.

Table Mountain from the park

Table Mountain from the park

L’Hospitalet de L’Infant

May 4, 2012 / / 0 Comments

This last weekend, we all visited a smaller town on the Mediterranean south of Barcelona called L’Hospitalet de L’Infant. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s not actually Spanish. The town is in the Tarragona area which is a bigger city but still not really close to L’Hospitalet. The name is actually Catalan which is sort of a mixture between French and Spanish but not exactly. A friend of mine from the University of Zaragoza from Norway (who incidentally just tackled me while writing this line) has a house one block off the beach so we all came here for yet another four day weekend.

It’s been really nice so far even though the weather yesterday didn’t really cooperate most of the day. We decided to have dinner outside but by the time it was ready, it had begun to rain so we moved it indoors. If there’s one misconception about Spain I’d like to debunk, it’s that the weather is rarely as nice as most people think it is. The whole day was cloudy and cold though so we were cooped up inside all day watching the American Pie marathon on TV. None of the movies were censored in any way even though they were on broadcast TV and all dubbed programs on TV are available in their original language so we were able to watch it in English. This surprised me a bit but I think I’m going to save the whole “European openness vs. American conservatism” topic for another post. Even though we were inside most of the day, it was kind of nice just sitting around on the couch for a change.

Today has been much better, weather-wise. There’s a neighborhood pool just outside of her family’s condo and we spent a few hours out there in the sun. The others swam but I avoided the cold water since it rained yesterday. Elliot threatened to push me in but I told him I had my phone in my pocket (which might not have been true, my memory’s not as good as it once was). Other than sitting around the pool, walking along the beach, going to the supermarket, watching TV, and cooking, we didn’t do much else. That was the plan before we came so I’m perfectly content with having done just that.

I can’t believe I only have 3 weeks left! My classes end in one week and then I’ll still be here for two more weeks. Everything seemed to move so slowly initially and now it seems like I’ve been here just a few weeks. I hate to sound so stereotypical but it’s true!

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account that has (finally) been completely updated!

 

The Canary Islands

May 2, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Gran Canaria

Last weekend, I went to the Canary Islands; known for its blue waters, sky, and black sand beaches! We planned this trip to be more of a relaxing than sightseeing trip and that’s exactly what it was. We stayed at a hotel one block away from the beach and that’s also where we spent the majority of our time. Our hotel was great and breakfast and dinner were included in the price. The food was actually decent since it was a buffet and there was always a variety. The majority of the other guests at the hotel were older or retired so the atmosphere was definitely more geared towards them and the older crowd than anyone else.

The Canaries are a part of Spain which I wasn’t aware of until coming to Spain so nearly everyone that works there speaks Spanish. However, it is a very international culture unlike that of Zaragoza and other smaller cities in Spain. The majority of the workers appeared to be foreign-born and the majority of them were multilingual. What really surprised me was the number of German tourists there. Normally, when we travel to a touristy area, English is the preferred second language but not in the Canaries. All of the signs, advertisements, and many of the signs for stores and restaurants were in Spanish, followed by German, followed by English.

Location 

Our hotel near the beach

We stayed in the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria and it was fantastic! The sun shone (most of the time) and I loved being able to relax instead of just sightseeing like we normally do. The weather is nearly perfect and only cools a little during the winter due to its closer proximity to the Equator. I did, however, get a sunburn so lots of sunscreen and aloe are necessities there. The one thing I wish I would have been able to do is travel towards the center of the island since it’s a volcano but we only had a limited amount of time so I guess I have to keep that in mind for a future trip. We talked to a travel agent about a Jeep excursion to the volcano and inner part of the island complete with a personal guide but were unable to do it in such a short amount of time.

In any case, I don’t have much more to write about because we didn’t actually “do” much there other than lay on the beach!

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account that has (finally) been completely updated!

Returning to the Cars

Spring Break Part IV: Crete

April 3, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Rethymo

Our ferry from Athens docked in Heraklion, Crete at 6:00, making it our second early morning in a row.  The weather matched our feelings; rain and a hostilely cold wind greeted us as we trudged from the shipyard to the bus station.  After an hour and a half’s ride to Rethymno, the city that would be our home for the next few days, nearly the entire group elected to take a long nap.  When we awoke several hours later, we found that we had slept through the inclement weather and awoke to the sun just coming out from behind the clouds.  In the increasingly warm temperatures we explored the city, adjoining beach, and made plans for the next two days with our extremely helpful hostel owner, Ivan.

Walk to Balos Beach

 

We were advised to rent cars because doing so would be cheaper than taking buses and would give us far greater mobility (you only have to be 18 and have a US drivers license to rent in Crete).  We got off to a bit of a late start the first morning, so instead of following our original plan and driving all the way to the opposite coast we decided to attempt to find Balos Beach at the northwestern tip of the island.  However, as we drove closer the condition of the road grew increasingly worse (maybe the road costs too much to maintain during the offseason?).  We ended up parking our cars along the side of the road and walked 5 kilometers to the beach.  At the beach we found our compensation for coming weeks earlier than other tourists:  we were the only ones on the beach!  The beautiful turquoise water (warm enough to swim in) was framed by sand and enclosed by the surrounding foothills.  But seeing as how we still had a long walk back to our cars, as soon as the sun began to set into the Mediterranean horizon we started retracing our steps towards our vehicles.  This time, instead of the view looking out to the sea, the walk back was towards a small coastal village nestled below the snowcapped mountains.

Returning to the Cars

During the second day in Crete we had intentions of visiting a pair of caves, but once again we ran into the problem of traveling during the offseason.  Both were closed.  However, our switchback route among the mountains left us within a relatively short drive of Preveli Beach.  Although the day was a little cold for swimming, Preveli Beach is adjacent to a palm forest.  After spending an hour or two alongside of the river running through this forest, we returned home at a slower rate to admire the view from the tops of gorges in the mountains.

Returning from Preveli Beach

The last day of our spring break was perfect.  Instead of stretching out the vacation by trying to do too much, we essentially took the day off.  After sleeping in, we stopped at a crepe stand (we had gotten to know the employees rather well by our third day) and for ice cream.  After this brunch, we visited the Fortezza in Rethymno for an hour or so and spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and enjoying the sun – forming the perfect ending to Spring Break!

Walk to Preveli Beach

 

 

 

 

Missed an earlier destination?  Take a look at my visits to Venice, Rome, and Athens!

Also, see more photos on Picasa or follow me on Twitter!

 

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