On Top of the World

Well. Here it is. The blog for the most beautiful country in the world. The Country that brought the World together in the summer of 2010 with the FIFA World Cup.

South Africa.  A mysterious yet enchanted country full of wonder, culture, and hope.

Finally. The blog is here.

I apologize for the long, long wait, but midterms, sickness, and other obligations have prohibited this writing from making it to the public domain. But now that I am here in this position, over a week after leaving Cape Town, I don’t really know where to begin. I’ll do my best to recap our incredible journey and efforts during our short time in the greatest country in the world.

I guess I’ll start off by saying this: For those who don’t know, I’ve had the privilege of visiting South Africa before, and it’s essence and brilliance has stuck with me since then. In June of 2006, I traveled with about thirty classmates and teachers to South Africa through an immersion program with Archbishop Mitty High School, my alma mater. We visited both Johannesburg and Cape Town, and we volunteered our time at children’s hospitals, AIDS orphanages, and various impoverished communities. It is because of that trip that I attribute my open worldview and longing to see the world. It was a trip of a lifetime and I am so thankful to have been able to go back. Being able to do it again truly is a gift from God. I am so lucky.  

That’s why I feel the way I do about South Africa. You may call it bias, I call it truth. It is a country that will resonate at my core forever. It is ingrained in my memory. I’ll always have a connection with it. Deep down, I think we all do. After all, it is the cradle of civilization, is it not? It is the birthplace of human life. We are all from Africa.

Semester at Sea was docked at the Cape Town V and A Waterfront from October 3rd  to the 8th. It’s hard to believe that we have already come and gone, but c’est la vie. So is life. I will do my best to recap the experience from start to finish. At the moment, however, this post only recounts the first day. The rest is still to come. It was the heart of our time in South Africa. Bare with me as the next post comes, but enjoy this nonetheless. It is a slight glimpse of South Africa’s natural beauty. 

The following is a recount of our trip up Table Mountain, a hike into the clouds. A walk in the sky.

(I’d also like to preface this story by saying that Dallas, Cody, and I consumed an entire  boerworse, fries and pint of 11% lager prior to climbing the mountain at Mitchell’s Pub in Cape Town. How grand of a decision that was.)

On the morning of October 3, I joined a small crew on a journey up one of the most incredible and magnificent mountains God could ever create. Jutting out from the surface of Cape Town, Table Mountain touches the sky with grace and brilliance. Coined the name Table Mountain, it literally looks like a gigantic table made of rock, planted randomly in the middle of the ocean city, and surrounded on three sides by water. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It can be seen for miles and miles around.

Riding the cable car in 2006, I knew I had to conquer this thing by foot this time around. So that’s why I joined Olivia, Jill, Dallas, Cody, Morgan, Emily, Tracy, Cassie, and Hannah on the hike up. Apparently we took the “easy” trail. To me that was a total fallacy as it was literally two hours up a completely flat rock, but whatever. I’m a better man because it.

But in all seriousness, it was challenging yet totally rewarding experience. I’ve never really done a hike of that caliber before. We were proud of ourselves for making it up. Though there were trails moving through ravines and on the sides of rock faces, a lot of it involved climbing up small ledges and boulders. There was always a new obstacle around every corner, but I loved it.

Finally, we made it up Table Mountain. It was up there that I felt the closer to Heaven than I’ve ever felt before. Our plan was to hike up and take the tram down, but that plan was slashed real quick. On our ascent, the world famous “table cloth” settled early over the summit. Similar to the San Francisco fog bank, the table cloth is a layer of clouds that quickly envelope the mountain and cover only the top. Thus, table cloth. It is an anomaly that makes the mountain famous worldwide.

As beautiful as this scene is from afar, it can put a damper on of any hopes of getting a tram down the mountain. Because of the extreme wind and clouds, we were forced to hike back down the mountain. But I am thankful we did. We were able to walk within the clouds. Surrounded on all sides, we could barely see ten feet in front of us. It was a scene from a movie. The air moist and soft, strong gusts hitting the face every few seconds. It was turbulence on foot. I never thought I’d see the day where’d I’d be walking and touching the clouds without the help of a floating hunk of metal. Because it was so cloudy, however, we could not make our way around the top of the mountain. Our group stayed localized in one position. We were warned that any venturing on the top of the mountain would inevitably lead to getting lost. We didn’t want to take any chances. I wanted to be back for free dinner on the ship. It was already 3:30 at this point.

Now, Table Mountain is known for its incredible views (particularly the view of the Indian Ocean meeting the Atlantic), but I wasn’t upset. I’ve been there before. This was almost more worth it. It was a spiritual experience. I was in touch with the environment, forced to use four of the five senses. Sound, touch, taste, and smell. Sight was rendered useless up there.

We made the trek down at around 4:30. Emily and I trailed the group and went our own way down. Our own pace. Our own trail. Our own leisure. Almost two hours later we were back at the taxi that was ready to bring us home. 

A group of us went back to Mitchell’s, had ourselves a massive steak dinner, three Ol’ Wobbly’s, and then headed back to the ship for a good’s night’s rest. Big plans in the morning. We were finally going to be meeting Andre from Youth For Christ. Our contact. Our friend.

I will save the details of our service project for another post. That was the greatest part of it all. Helping those with the least, giving ourselves to make their life slightly easier. More to come.

Peace, love, and happiness to all…..