A long weekend of adventure

After a long weekend in the forest and exploring Cape Town, it is finally back to work. So much amazing fun happened, and I cannot wait for more to come. Here's as brief of an update as I can make it.

Last weekend it was weekend two of Reforest Fest, Friends Fest! Our car left early Friday morning, about 6 AM, and we got to watch the sunrise as we left Cape Town! It was beautiful, we stopped for some delicious lattes, and continued on the road to Platbos! We arrived around 9, and the setup had already begun. I helped paint some signs for the campsite and planting area. People started arriving around 4 o’clock, music was playing and lights were going up to set the festival atmosphere. Friday was a chill night around the fire, drinking wine and beer and listening to good music. Everyone was taking it easy for the big planting day ahead!

Saturday started at 7 AM for breakfast and preparing everyone for planting. Last weekend all the interns helped everyone plant, but since double the amount of people came this weekend, we were not needed to help plant, but were a part of the refresh team. After a few hours of planting, we brought fruit, trail mix, simosas (South African savory pastry) and beverages up to the planting areas and people were so excited. They all needed the energy to get through planting trees until lunch time. By lunch we had already reached our goal of 2,000 trees, and decided to go for another 1,000 to finish the day with the most trees Greenpop has ever planted in one day! It was an awesome experience to be a part of, and planting the last tree with everyone all around was a great way to bring everyone together.

After the last tree was planted, everyone headed down for the celebration: music, drinks, good company. Everyone was really exhausted, but still in a very positive mood, the beer was flowing and the night was a great success! Working behind the bar with everyone was a definite highlight.

Touchwood performance, awesome folky music.

Francois, the owner of the forest, asked a group of interns to help collect more firewood for the party, so four of us hopped onto the back of his buckey (truck) and headed off into the night. We drove a bit of a ways out of the campsite towards his home to a giant pile of wood. The ride was awesome, the starry night sky was absolutely beautiful.

Packing up on Sunday took quite a long time, we eventually arrived home at 8 PM. A quick shower and it was bedtime.

Monday, we got to take a day off from working all weekend, so three of us (Chris, Janna and I) took the train from Cape Town to Stellenbosch, aka wine country. A return train ticket only costs around $3, and takes about an hour. We arrived around 12:30, did some walking around and ended up having some lunch and beer at Basic Bistro, a cool (swish) restaurant in the middle of town.

After exploring a little more, we found a really awesome place for wine tasting called Brampton Wine Studio. The place was really trendy, all the walls had hand-painted lettering, and the tables were painted black and each were given a bucket of chalk to have some fun while tasting wine! Obviously an a great idea, especially for us doodlers. The wine was also pretty good! (Speaking as an avid beer girl), it was fun tasting a range of different wines outside along the casual yet trendy street scene.

On the way to the train station, we stopped for some delicious ice cream (a great pairing with wine..) and then waited for our train home. The journey back took a little longer than expected, but we all made it home safe! A trip to our usual Eastern Food Bazaar (really cheap but good falafel) was a quick stop for dinner before we made it home. A successful day of traveling!

Wine & Dine chalk fun at Brampton Wine Studio

“You must learn how to handle difficulty; it always comes after opportunity.”

— Jim Rohn

Yesterday, Chris, Janna and I took on the adventure of hiking Table Mountain. The famous mountain of Cape Town that is a necessity for one to reach the top while they are here. We left home at 9 AM, walked all the way up to the station where most people like to take the cable car up, but we hiked the whole way! It was uphill the ENTIRE way up to the station, and this is where the real hike begins.

Once you hike up for 30 minutes, you reach a flat stretch of land (thank god) that takes you from the right to the left side of the mountain. This part was a nice break from all of the steep climbing, with an incredible view the entire way around. You hike for about 45 minutes along the pathway, and then you reach what is called the “saddle.” This part is the last stretch of the mountain, where you basically hike up stairs in a zig-zag formation until you reach the top. My oh my was it an adventure: it was a beautiful (yet incredibly hot) day, and it took a lot of determination to reach the top. I felt so accomplished, and all the times during the hike when I thought I wanted to just fall on the ground and lay forever were definitely worth the final adrenaline rush you get when you reach the top.

At the top, the view is even more spectacular than you can imagine, and from every direction. We walked all the way to the other side, where they have a nice cafe where we sat and had some lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect (and possibly one of our last sunny days here in Cape Town...but who knows!) it was clear blue skies and hot hot sun. After lunch, we decided it was best to take the cable car back down, and then hike down to Camp’s Bay (a beach which is a suburb of Cape Town on the other side of Table Mountain).

We hiked down to the beach, and the view was just as amazing. The beach was awesome: warm sand, cool ocean water (first time touching the Atlantic Ocean!) and a view of Lion’s Head and Table Mountain behind us.

After a week and a half, I have definitely discovered the endless sights, activities and places to go in Cape Town. This city is truly amazing, there is so much to do (and for me in so little time!) Everyday I find something new and exciting, and want to feel accomplished in knowing I haven’t wasted my experience here. Tonight for dinner we went to Rafiki’s, a hip restaurant on Kloof Street (Hipsterville of Cape Town), which had awesome food and awesome margaritas!

I think Kloof Street has a really fun, hip vibe to it that I love, it reminds me a bit of Portland (the Hipster vibes), which makes me feel right at home! It has awesome food, and awesome shopping I have yet to check out.

After a day like today, I am incredibly exhausted, and excited to be going to bed at 10 o’clock. Back to work!

“Take Risks. If you win, you will be happy. If you lose, you will be wise.”

Meryl TurnerMay 22, 2013Comment