CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

Even if a person knows nothing about South Africa other than that it exists, they have surely heard of the most famous cape in the world! Especially since it bears such a beautiful and resonant name, which includes two wonderful words: "GOOD" and "HOPE". Once, this cape was called the "Cape of Storms", as ships were constantly crashing against it. Later it was renamed to its current name, but they say ships kept crashing for a long time after that. And maybe it still happens even now...

Katya and I were there last Saturday. The SASTS were supposed to take us there, we politely reminded them about it, and without any argument, they added us to a newly arrived group of volunteers and participants of the "Work in South Africa" program. Students come from all over the world, not just us and Europeans, but also from Canada, Australia, the USA, and so on. They come from everywhere!

At 8:30 AM in Sea Point, a bus picked us up, about twenty people gathered, and off we went. I want to note that I had been working like a dog that week and sleeping three hours a night—it just turned out that way. So that morning, I returned from work at 5:30 and got up at 8:00. Katya called and asked if I was definitely going?

— What, did I come here just to work? — I replied and started getting ready.

We sat down and drove off. Katya was chirping about something and asking questions, and I remember asking her not to overwhelm me because my brain refused to work.

But as soon as we hit the mountain road, I immediately felt life and the traveler in me waking up.

And the day went amazingly! On the way, we stopped and took a boat to see the fur seals. In one place, there were almost five thousand of them!

Then we stopped again. In a beautiful little area called "Simon’s Town". To grab a bite. I bought a bottle of soda, some buns, and chips, and sitting on a bench at the pier, I watched the passing boats.

Further on, not far from Simon's Town, we stopped to see the penguins. I imagined them like in nature documentaries or in movies. A meter tall. It turned out those penguins live in Antarctica and are called Emperor penguins. In South Africa, the penguins are the size of a cat. Sometimes a large cat, but no bigger. They line up in a flock and stand like statues. And they don't care about anything, tourists scurrying around or whatever else is happening. Everything is parallel, indifferent, violet!

Their down is everywhere and they "smell", let me tell you, not like house pets... But it's so cool to see a penguin alive and in almost natural conditions!

Then we drove again. I want to note: so far, no matter which direction I've traveled in Cape Town, the views, in my opinion, are simply stunning! They say if you go further away, it's more steppe and hilly. But here, everything around is just a miracle!

On the way, we encountered a train. It was running right along the water's edge. A mesmerizing sight!

And then there was IT. Cape of Good Hope! It's so great: you're driving along the top of a cliff, and in front, to the right and left below, is the ocean. The Atlantic.

We walked along the cape. It is an absolutely fantastic place of incredible beauty! In one place, there is a beach you can go down to. And it's like in a movie! Or in a dream. But we didn't have time, the bus was waiting for us. All the time we spent on the cape, the feeling never left me that the bus had brought us straight to paradise.

We plan to visit again!

HOT SPRING

My aunt went to a hot spring last year. Somewhere in Europe. France, I think. And she praised it so much! And I was like: "So what! What's the big deal?!" So yesterday, Nick and I went to Caledon ourselves—it's a place in the mountains where they built a whole wellness complex with small stone baths for a few people; and larger pools with water from a hot spring. I went, tried it all out, and came to the conclusion: it is a "big deal"! A very big deal! It's sooooo great!

After swimming and splashing around, we went to the sauna.

— People like us really know how to live! — Nick declared.

— I could use some thick, rustic milk right now, — I mused aloud, returning to the dry sauna after plunging into a pool of cold water.

— And I would gulp down some beer or kvass! — Nick replied.

It would be ugly of me not to say how grateful I am to him! Without him, I wouldn't have had this trip, and I might never have known everything I experienced yesterday. In fact, I am often amazed myself: how did a poor writer like me manage to come to Africa? It's either a miracle or... anyway, it's a miracle regardless!

Meeting a WHALE in Hermanus

I terribly didn't want to leave the hot pools of Caledon, but the opportunity to see a whale alive lured me.

— You know, I don't really want to look at lions, monkeys, tigers, and so on. But I would see a whale or a dolphin alive with pleasure, — I shared my thoughts with Nick, emotionally and almost jumping on the spot.

— Well, lions, monkeys, and tigers are pop culture. But to see a whale, you need to go to a special place. Even though they are in Cape Town and everywhere in the area. And I would also look at sharks!

— No, I'm not drawn to sharks. They are somehow... it's unpleasant for me to look at them, they are disgusting, especially if they open their ugly mouths.

We left Caledon and headed towards a small town called Hermanus.

And we saw these cute little animals not only there but also met them at the Cape of Good Hope. Who they are—a ground squirrel, an opossum, a beaver, or someone else, I don't even know.

In Hermanus, apparently, there is such a good and convenient bay for whales that they are there all the time. Tourists from all over the world flock to admire this unusually exciting spectacle—the sight of such a healthy living carcass (or several carcasses at once) swimming in the water.

Clearly, periodically they go out into the ocean, then you won't meet them here. And sometimes, in a whole brood, they swim relatively close to you. And if they are together, they frolic, jump out of the water, and play with each other. I think it's incredible to see with your own eyes!

We saw a whale quite close yesterday! No further than twenty meters away! True, we were lucky enough to meet only one representative. It was small—about ten meters long. And it didn't really want to show itself to us, so, basically, we saw only its powerful back, sometimes part of its face, chest, periodically—fins or tail. But to see it entirely—it clearly didn't want to show off. Its pod wasn't next to it, which means there was no one to show off for. We—the spectators—don't count.

The views of the ocean and the shore in Hermanus are amazing. In one place—where the whale, for some reason, liked it the most (maybe they feed it there?)—it stopped and splashed around for a long time. A couple of times it rumbled and sprayed water into the air. So in this place, right by the shore, at the foot of a small cliff, there is a cafe. "Embedded" in the rocks. You can sit, sip something through a straw, and talk to... I don't know, your wife, friend, grandfather somewhere in... Nizhny Novgorod!

And from there they say:

— Well, how are you there? What are you doing?

And you, as if it's an ordinary thing and you spend your time like this every day, and the state of euphoria hasn't touched you at all:

— Yea-a-ah... Just sitting in a cafe with a friend. Not bad, a normal cafe, not the worst one.

And then you cough to somehow diminish the significance of the moment, but you continue yourself, hoping for a certain effect:

— Cough-cough. A cafe surrounded by cliffs. Whales are jumping over there on the right. And how about you, what's new with you?