Little acts can make a big difference
Friday was another typical day at the Greenpop office, everyone busy but excited for the weekend. It was quite cloudy in the morning, but luckily they burned off by early afternoon, and from the office we have a nice view of Table Mountain! After work, we all headed to Sir Juice (extremely delicious juices by the way..) where Josh, who is an actor around Cape Town but also volunteers a lot with Greenpop (I met him at Reforest Fest), had his “going away” party. He is cycling from Cape Town (he left Saturday morning from Green Market Square), to Zambia for Greenpop’s Tree’s for Zambia event which starts in early July. Some of us Greenpop-ers and his friends and family gathered to hear him talk about his adventure and plans for the journey ahead. He has started an organization called Sail Cycle Trek (please check out & like the page on Facebook), where after Zambia, he intends to sail to South America, and while there, cycle and trek across multiple countries. He is definitely an incredibly strong and brave individual, all this talk of travel and going for what you want is really inspiring, and makes me feel like whatever you want to do, you just have to go for it. He wants to raise money for a number of charities and people he has met along the way, which is incredibly awesome, and I wish him the best of luck!
Josh giving us the low-down on his epic adventures ahead!
Unfortunately, I am scheduled to leave South Africa just a few days before the Zambia event begins, and if any bit of luck comes my way and allows me to change my plans, I may just have to take it. Nothing is certain of course, but it is in the back of my mind, as everyday I spend here, I realize there is so much more for me to see, and an endless amount of adventure waiting for me. But nothing is set in stone, so I must enjoy the time I have now!
After Sir Juice, we finally had some dinner at a nice thai/sushi restaurant near Kloof St (one of my favorite spots in Cape Town so far!), and stopped for some frozen yogurt, which had free wifi! Hard to admit, but the spots that provide free wifi don’t come often, and when you’re living accommodations only allow certain websites (Facebook and gmail), I take full advantage of a real internet connection, which means uploading Instagram posts.. Wifi hotspots and work are my only Instagram-able places, shoot dang, but I make it work!
Saturday was an eventful day, and not only because I was finally able to go shopping.. It was an event called 100 in a day, which basically had over 100 “interventions,” that were conducted by different people in all different parts of the city. A few Greenpop-ers hosted a “booth” outside of truth where they wanted people to make a pledge to the planet, get their photo taken, and then were able to take home a small tree. Pretty awesome! Other ideas included ultimate frisbee, communal art projects and a march against GMOs. We hung around Truth Coffee, which was the main spot for information about the event, and then headed towards Kloof St. We actually ran into a woman who was conducting an intervention of her own where she walked around with a large plate that said “what is your dream?” and a marker where you wrote down your dream, she took your photo and gave you the link to the tumblr blog where you can find yourself! All of us (Chris, Janna and I) all participated, but have yet to check on the site to see our photos. Once I check it out I will definitely post here! So ya this event definitely was an awesome experience, even if I wasn’t directly a part of it, I was able to see how inspirational people can be, and how active we can be. If only I had known sooner and maybe gotten more involved, but this definitely gives me the idea that things like this can happen all the time, anywhere in the world, and even if you only affect one or two people, you are still making a difference.
100 in a day after party
100 in a day event outside Truth Coffee
So we kept walking up Kloof St. checking out the shops, which some have a really cool, urban vibe. The atmosphere of Kloof St (as I have said before), is really awesome and reminds me of Portland, and the fact that I found a BEFORE I DIE wall makes it EVEN cooler!! I haven’t had the courage to actually write on it yet, but once I think of a good one, I will definitely head over there.
Another awesome thing on Kloof St. was when we were having lunch at Van Hunks, a fun little restaurant, and as I open up to the beer menu (obviously), right before my eyes in Rogue beers!! Who would’ve thought craft beer all the way from Oregon would make it to Cape Town! Not only was it a good reminder of home, but also that Cape Town seems to have a pretty nice craft beer scene :) It may not be as amazing as Portland, but I definitely feel like I can find good beer whenever we go out, which is so freaking exciting!
Reasons for more Cape Town Awesomeness
- Vegetarian options all around
- Craft beer options all around
- Before I Die wall
Meryl is a happy camper!
BUCKET LIST: Before I Die Wall
Oregon craft beer, whaaaattt?!?
Anyhoo.. after Kloof St we went down to V & A Waterfront to do a little more shopping. It is really beautiful down there, but the only real shopping is in a giant mall with all your typical brand names, not necessarily the quirky fun boutiques on Kloof. But it was definitely nice to finally go down there and check out another part of Cape Town.
Saturday night we went to a few bars on Long St, and then headed to the 100 in a day party, which had a pretty awesome venue, with fun music and good drinks. The night was a real success!
Yesterday was not the best of weather in Cape Town, so we decided to try out the South African Museum. We bought tickets for the museum and planetarium, yet the planetarium was more of a ‘let’s worship table mountain talk’. Pretty interesting at first, but after 45 minutes your brain gets..well..tired. But they say Table Mountain is an important part of the planet’s history, and there is a constellation named for Table Mountain, which is actually pretty cool. All in all, the museum was pretty fun, a nice casual thing to do on a Sunday. Afterwards, we decided to hurry down to the V&A again to watch The Great Gatsby, but since it ended up being sold out, we saw Oblivion. Not bad, but I probably couldn’t explain what happened very well. Oh well, it was all in all a good day, we came back and made dinner. Looking forward to another good week ahead!
What can you do today?
“Never give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration you cannot go wrong.”