My Winter Break in South Africa: A Story Told by the Penguins of Boulder Beach

I was lucky enough to go to South Africa this winter break to visit a friend I met on my gap year. And boy did we do a lot! We traveled from Cape Town to Johannesburg. We even went on a safari where I got to channel my inner Out of Africa Meryl Streep minus the part where Robert Redford woos me and takes me up on a plane. But it was still awesome! It’s so hard to put my experience into words, so I thought I would have some help from the friends I met at Boulder Beach in Cape Town.

When I first got to South Africa, I was extremely jet lagged from the seven hour time difference. I had to take a lot of naps, even in the most unlikely places.

We enjoyed the wonderful beaches that Cape Town has to offer. We spent the day under the sun and taking a “Cape Town Swim” i.e. jumping into the frozen Atlantic Ocean and then running the hell out of there. I think I got a nice bronze tan! Okay, fine, I got a really bad sunburn.

We went to the top of Table Mountain, the flattest mountain that overlooks the city of Cape Town. Seeing the whole city of Cape Town was simply breathtaking – but the hike down was even more breathtaking, like to the point where I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was not prepared for the three-hour walk down at all. I didn’t have any water on me and I didn’t even eat breakfast!

(This is the penguins’ version of Table Mountain. I just decided this.)

We hit the town and went to some bars and dance clubs! There was a lot of unsuccessful mingling. I did get one drink for free at a bar, even though it was a bottle of water. A Fiji bottle of water that is. That’s some fancy stuff.

I FELL IN LOVE AND NOW I’M IN AN ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP!

Just kidding. I’m still alone.

Now it’s back to the tundra of Providence for second semester (which I’m totally going to dominate). However, when I’m bundled under the covers in my dorm room procrastinating writing a paper, I’ll look back on the 100-plus selfies I took to relive this trip of a lifetime.

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