BoKaap.

Location: The township embedded into the bottom of Signal Hill,  just outside of Cape Town city center. 

Home: To the Cape Malay people of Muslim decent. 

Contains: 1 museum in the oldest BoKaap house

                   1 Mosque that residents attend

                   Many brightly colored Cape dutch styled homes

History: The original inhabitants of BoKaap were captured as slaves from Indonesia to Africa. When they finally made it to Cape Town, the slaves were freed. When the slaves were finally freed, they painted their homes bright colors in celebration. Today the homes remain as vibrant as when they were first painted!

Internship.

LWA office building

Company: Leroy Wasserfall Architects (LWA)

Location: Cape Town City Center

Focus: Commercial architecture, beginning to think about sustainable design and construction.

           Development of residences / small residential upfits.

Current Projects: Sever Sir's Night Club

                           Rietvlei - Mixed use facility on a nature reserve

                           Strand Concourse - Tile Design

                           Small Residential development

My Desk

Personal Participation: Design and development of signage for LWA office building
                                  Program and design development for Night Club
                                  Research on sustainable aspects for Reitvlei (Nature reserve)

Duration of Internship: 3 Months

Leroy, Margaret, and Keith

Cecilia Forest.

Friday Excursion: Hiking Cecilia Forest

VAC Interns braved the heat for this Friday event. We hiked about an hour to reach our destination; The waterfall! Streaming through moss and vegetation was some of the cleanest water in South Africa. Luckily the waterfall emitted cold water, helping everyone to cool down. Some interns were even brave enough to drink from the waterfall! 

Hiking another hour back down through the forest, we experienced peak through views over Constantia Valley, just outside of Cape Town. 

Queen of Tarts.

Kelsey from PA

Kelsey from WA

Queen of Tarts 

The BEST breakfast spot in Cape Town

Even better when joined by Friends :)

Sailing.

Sailboat Cruise

Off the Waterfront

Keith (My Coworker) and I were surrounded by views of Table Mountian, Lion's Head, The buildings and restaurants along the Waterfront, and the City of Cape Town. 

The boat ride was an hour and a half long. It was a relaxing way to end a long day of work! 

Lion's Head.

VAC Interns at the top of Lion's Head

Lion's Head is another one of the mountians to hike here in Cape Town. It has become a ritual for Capetonians to hike up Lion's Head on the full moon each month. Hundreds of people gather at the top of the mountian to view the sunset. Then move to the other side of the platform to watch the full moon rise. 

The view from Lion's Head is astonishing! You can see the ocean fully surrounding the peninsula which is Cape Town. The city lights begin to come alive as the moon rises. Table Mountian and The Twelve Apostles are within the view from Lion's Head as well. 

The hike down is no problem and pretty well lit by the glowing full moon! 

Sea Kayaking.

One of my good friends that I have made in Cape Town [ Kelsey ] and I, took a Sea Kayaking tour!

The tour started from Three Anchors Bay in Sea Point. We paddled all the way to Camps Bay Beach. 

Along the way we had several amazing views of Lion's Head, Sea Point, Green Point Stadium, Signal Hill, All four Clifton Beaches, and Camps Bay. We had several seals following us along the way. Jumping and playing along side our kayak! The seagulls were swarming us and plunging into the water, due to the fact that it was their feeding time. 

The tour took place at sunset, which was rather delightful to experience while being in the ocean. We also witnessed the moon rising over the mountians as we paddled back into shore. 

What a marvelous experience!

Photo Credit: Art - Kayak tour guide

Vino.

Friday Excursion: Wine Tasting Tour

Vineyards: Eikendal winery in Stellenbosch

                Solms Delta in Franschoek

Both Vineyards were located about an hour outside of Cape Town. We were able to experience the breath taking views of the countryside. The Franschoek tasting took place outside. What a peaceful environment, if only there was a hammock hanging from one of the many trees surrounding the property!

At Solms Delta in Franschoek