I had one of the best weekends of my entire life.
Not even exaggerating.
Friday: I hiked up Lion's Head for the second time...but I actually hiked my way to the top for the first time. It was more challenging

because we took the tougher route where you have to propel yourself up with a hanging chain. Scary, to say the least. And not to mention that once you get past the chain part, you have to free climb big rocks to get to the peak. But despite all of the moments of doubt where I thought I would fall over, collapse, and roll down the mountain...I felt like I was on top of the world when I reached the peak. It was breathtakingly beautiful - the panoramic view was something I've never seen before: mountains, the ocean, the city, and hillsides of residents. A couple of us decided to stay and soak in the scenery, while taking advantage of the situation to do a photo shoot. My heart raced like it never did before as I took pictures for the girls because they were sitting, standing, and waving

on the edge of a cliff. But when I saw how they turned out, I wanted some as well... so I built my courage and went out there. I was pretty much shaking the whole time, but the feeling was (fill in the blank with some adjective better than amazing/awesome/incredible). After the photo-opp. we decided to head back down but then we bumped into a group of South African guys. They were carrying instruments & lanterns with them, and I was so intrigued by the guys with the djembes so I went up to one of them and asked if I could play. He handed me the smaller one and told me to follow his beat. I caught on for a little while, but then he sped up and then I lost the rhythm.

It was a blast though. And I was ecstatic about the opportunity because playing the djembe was one of the things I wanted to do! I am definitely going to bring one home as my carry-on. Well, after our little jam session, we headed back down the mountain and caught the amazing sunset.
After the hike & dinner, we decided to go out to another fun place besides Long Street, so we decided to head to the Obz area (aka the SoHo area of Cape Town; also where I work). We jumped from Stones (definitely a college hangout - pool tables, games, and punk rock music) to Roots (a beachy-tiki themed place, but with a cool & fun atmosphere inside). My roommates and I danced away to the techno/house music although no one else would join us. I guess techno is hard to get into, but it made me nostalgic for all the French clubs from last semester. It was a fun night, overall. Oh, and we finished this gigantic vanilla cake w/ hot pink glittery frosting from Neha's surprise birthday party. Deelish.
Saturday: I slept in. Like woah. Like until 3 pm. It was glorious. But as soon as I woke up, I had to get ready quickly to catch the cab for the rugby game. It was the Cape Town Stormers versus the Pretoria Bulls. I love sports games for the sole reason of excitement. There is a certain energy buzz at games that I can't get anywhere else - men shouting their heads off, the smell of greasy fried foods, everyone dressed up in their team colors, and wild crowds. I love it. And this game was no exception - if anything, it was one of the best games I've been to. And it was also my first rugby game. I've never even seen it on tv, so I was confused with the rules and tactics...but it was loads of fun. It's such a direct contact sport, very brute and fierce. We were doing well the first half, but we ended up losing the game in the second half. Good game, though. We grabbed dinner at a local casual hotspot called Rafiki's (mmmm, falafel pita) and then headed home. After watching Thank You For Smoking, we called it a night.
Sunday: Greatest day in Africa yet. Woke up at 6 am because a group of 10 of us decided to go on a mini-safari.

So we had to meet early to drive two hours away from Cape Town to a resort-like place called Aquila. After a close-call of not getting there on time, we were relieved when we finally arrived and were welcomed with a yummy breakfast buffet. I filled up on eggs, fruit, toast, sausages, and apple juice. I was pulled out of a hat to be in the morning group (thank God!) so as soon as we finished breakfast, we jumped onto our horses to start the tour. I was placed with a beautiful, black 12-year old female horse named Raven. She was a very jealous and dominating horse though because our tour guide said she never let any horse pass her (apart from the leader horse).

I felt bad for my friend behind me because Raven would keep trying to kick her horse, Shadow. But I secretly enjoyed being in the front because the pictures I took were a little clearer. Anywho. The tour was great. We started off riding by a lake where there were Egyptian geese and a family of hippops napping away on an island. I LOVE HIPPOS! They're so lazy & cute (but I hear also very dangerous). Then we started riding onto a more rough and rocky terrain with lots of bushes and things like that - very desert like. We spotted a lot of Springbok (their national animal) and saw a herd of Black Wilderbeasts. Ooooh, they were scary. The leader of the pack

was obviously very territorial and started to motion for us to leave. So we continued along our way, spotted more Springbok, and then made our way to...the ELEPHANTS! There were two of them - two baby boys (human raised) - and they were oh so cute. We didn't have much time to watch them because some of the horses in our group kept trying to go into the pond near the elephants so we had to move along. We saw the rhinos next. They were hiding really well in the grass because there were big rocks behind them, but we actually got pretty close to them. They're a lazy bunch as well, it seemed. We spotted the zebras next. They were beautiful! It was so surreal seeing them in real life. They were horses - just with stripes and a mohawk. Up next were the giraffes. There were two of them, gracefully walking

underneath the shade of tall trees. They were pretty young, still, compared to the ones I saw in France, but they were still very tall. Giraffes were the last ones we saw, to my sad disbelief. But it was an awesome game viewing all in all. I am hoping to see the Big Five (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, and rhino) sometime before I leave. Our horses didn't gallop like I wanted them to, but it was nice traveling around horse-back. I wish I could have lived in those days without automobiles. Just to see what it would've been like. But anywho, once we returned we were welcomed again with a lunch buffet. This time, I stuffed myself with lots of different kinds of salad, bbq chicken, sauteed veggies, cheese, and desserts. While the afternoon group set off on their game viewing, the rest of

us stayed behind at the outdoor pool/lounge and napped/tanned. But man, as I was laying out...I was thinking about how lucky I am to be here...and sometimes it just feels like a big dream. I actually had to close my eyes for a minute during the safari and open them again to see if it was real. I just feel so lucky. The safari was definitely my favorite activity yet. It was like taking a glimpse of Lion King...in real life form.
So that's that.
Another memorable weekend.
(Click to enlarge)




Work is finally starting to pick up.
I am taking on a few more projects, apart from revamping the website. And I will be going into a couple of townships this week!
Oh, and after work yesterday, a group of us went to Sea Point during sunset to play soccer. It was pretty much my first time, but I got a good workout out of it. And the boardwalk was absolutely gorgeous with the huge waves crashing and the sunset in the background.
Once I find the time, pictures will be added to all this jibber jabber.
lots of love.