A Day of Beauty

Today was possibly the most exciting and uplifting day of my life! We went to Boulder’s Penguin Colony and, if you haven’t guessed by now, saw PENGUINS! The penguins at the zoo do not do justice for penguins in their real habitat. It was amazing to see these little creatures standing amongst the crashing waves of the ocean and the mountains in the background. A motherly feeling came over me as I watched the penguins (possibly because I wanted to snatch one up and bring it back to the states) because they seemed to be so peaceful yet aware of their surroundings. There were so many penguins that would look up at us and just stare at us with the same curious eyes that we had for them. Bottom line, I love penguins. Our next stop was Cape Point, the most southern point of South Africa. On our way there we encountered some baboons! The funny thing about baboons is that they are extremely dangerous and we had to keep our windows rolled up as we drove near them! The baboons were quite opposite of the penguins because they were not aware of their surroundings AT ALL! There were cars everywhere but the baboons didn’t budge and weren’t threatened at all. It was very interesting and exciting to see these creatures in their natural habitats.

After a hike up a mountain, which I’m sure I’ll be feeling in my quads and butt tomorrow, I had the amazing pleasure of being able to have a view of the beautiful coastline, ocean, sky, sun, everything of South Africa. Words and pictures cannot do justice for what I saw today. The beauty of nature cooperating together and the colors all perfectly complimenting each other brought such a serene feeling about me. Although there were many people around me, I felt so isolated but completely satisfied. I hope everyone is able to experience the same thing I was able to feel at that point. We also walked further out to the point and this required walking along a tiny path on the edge of a cliff. I was shaking with every step I took in fear of falling into the ocean but the instant I saw the view at the edge of the cliff all of that anxiety left me. I had a smile from ear to ear (literally) and couldn’t stop my disbelief. It was such a great experience and something I will never forget. After the long hike up the mountain we went to Mariner’s Wharf, right next to the Atlantic Ocean, for some fish and chips! Such a refreshing meal after a little hike!

After looking at the beautiful landscape of Cape Town I couldn’t help but think about the differences between the people and the land. I couldn’t help but notice the diversity in animals and plants (I mean there is a mountain and an ocean which, to me, are very contrasting things) and relate that to the people of South Africa. Also, I couldn’t believe how unbelievably amazing (and I know I’ve said this numerous times now) the ocean and the mountains looked together. The harshness of the mountains outlined in the deep blue of the ocean was shockingly beautiful. To me, this signified the future that South Africa is looking for. Although opposite things exist in nature it is possible to make them flatter each other.

The last part of our night was our meeting with Alison Alexander. Words can’t even explain the heart that this woman has. She started an organization called The Rainbow House which houses abandoned, abused, and neglected children. She started this in her home in a township and then made it bigger by moving it to a house in a suburb. She also did this because she wanted to remove the kids from the townships since she didn’t want them placed back into the vicious cycle of the townships. She currently houses 13 children (one of them is her adopted child) and she provides phenomenal care for them. She understands that the intervention for these children is essential in their rescue process. This spoke to me on so many levels. Hello, I’m a psychology major. If money were not an issue for me, I would volunteer every second of my life for this woman and help these children understand their exposure to rape, incest, alcohol, etc. I want to do this so badly but I don’t know how to make it work which makes me really sad. I was so motivated by everything she was saying and agreed with along of her goals and visions but my heart broke as soon as I came back to reality. I wish the best for Alison and I hope we will be able to visit her at The Rainbow House in two weeks.

I was going to try to keep this blog short so I’m very sorry but there’s a lot going on here and a lot on my mind! Anyhow, I’m off to read and go to bed because we’re exploring Table Mountain tomorrow!

Thanks for blogging,

Brittany