Journey

Depart.

2010-06-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Cape Town: Just to the left of the plane's wing

I departed Cape Town during the early morning hours on April 12^th. As I flew over the city I had grown to love over the past three month, I couldn’t help but feel sad! I have had the pleasure of getting to know some of the most amazing people, from all over the world!

On my flight home I reflected on how much I had learned and experienced during my visit in Cape Town. Altogether Capetonians are very generous people. I felt so welcome at my architecture internship. And I know when I choose to return to Cape Town some day; I will be welcomed back with open arms.

A special Thank you to everyone who helped make my trip possible. Whether it was financially, emotionally, spiritually, etc I truly appreciate your support! This is an experience I will continue to value for the rest of my life!!!!

High Tea.

2010-06-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

One of the well-known British inspired rituals in Cape Town is High Tea.

High Tea is held in different locations all over the city. I attended the Mount Nelson Hotel afternoon tea.

At this even, you first choose what tea you would like, from a large selection. Roobios is the flavor of tea made in South Africa.

Small sandwiches, quiches, samoosas, and other savory foods are served. As well as, a wide variety of decadent mini desserts!

Tea and snacks are enjoyed at seating arrangements specific to the size of your party. Large armchairs, sofas, and occasional chairs surround a coffee table full of your tea and treats. Quiet classical piano is playing in the background.

High tea makes for a relaxing and delicious afternoon!

Exterior of Mount Nelson Hotel

Kirstenbosch.

2010-05-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

Kirstenbosch is a botanical garden located about 20 minutes outside of Cape Town. The large garden is made up of hundreds of different types of plant life. The winding paths that lead you through the vegetation are embedded into a lower part of Table Mountian.

The gardens also house the summer concert series each year. The concerts are every Sunday evening during the warm months in South Africa (December - March).

Rainy day at Kirstenbosch!

Home.

2010-05-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

3 Bishop

Observatory, Cape Town

Bedroom

I rented a room in this house for 3 months

My roommates were 5 Scandinavian students. 4 Norwegians and 1 Sweed!

The home contained 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 lounge areas, 1 dining area, 1 kitchen, and a back patio. All enclosed by secure metal bars on the windows.

I was able to make myself comfortable here and feel at home!

Center Hall

Kitchen

Garden Route Day 3.

2010-04-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

We made our way to Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve for a 2 hour safari. We saw so many beautiful animals such as zebras, lions, giraffs, rhinos, hippos, crocadiles, buffalo, springbok, and other deer-like animals native to South Africa.

Overall this trip will be something I will never forget. It was amazing to spend time in nature, travel outside of Cape Town, especially along with some great friends!

Garden Route Day 2.

2010-04-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

We made our way through the beautiful town of Knysna, where we stopped for some amazing ocean views.

Then headed to the Knysna forest or "The Crags" to The Elephant Sanctuary. Here we learned about the growth and development of elephants. We also walked trunk in hand, fed, and took a ride on these beautiful creatures.

We then made our way to the Tsitsikamma forest to zipline. Our canopy tour consisted of 8 lines that ran directly above a waterfall and river.

The Big Tree in Storms River

That evening we stayed at the backpackers in Storms River. We were provided a pasta dinner, accomodation, and an outdoor bonfire. My friends and I couldn't resist sleeping outside under the magnificant display of stars!

Garden Route Day 1.

2010-04-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

After driving several hours through green mountians we arrived at The Cango Caves. We decided to take part in the adventure tour. This entailed viewing stalactites, stalagmites, crawling through the casket, devil's chimney, and through the post box. Some of the rock formations were a difficult squeeze, but we all made it through.

Exiting The Post Box

We stayed at a backpackers that evening in the town of Wilderness. Our accomodations provided brick oven pizzas, our own room, and amazing views directly to the ocean.

A room at the Backpackers

View from the Backpackers

BoKaap.

2010-03-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-03-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Kelsey from PA

Kelsey from WA

Queen of Tarts

The BEST breakfast spot in Cape Town

Even better when joined by Friends :)

Sailing.

2010-03-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-03-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-03-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-03-01T12:49:00.000-08:00

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

Biscuit Mill.

2010-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

Bread Boat!

The Biscuit Mill

Location: Suburb of Woodstock, only 5 minutes outside of Cape Town.

The farmer's market portion is open Saturday mornings from 9am - 2pm.

There are many treats to choose from including...

-Fresh Bread loaves

-Pastries, cookies, muffins, crepes, etc

-Made to order smoothies

-Assortments of sandwiches, pitas, wraps, and pizzas

-Flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables

-Several different dips, spreads, seasonings, etc

-Hand made crafts

Nyanga.

2010-02-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

Vegetable Garden

Mural Addition

Friday Excursion: Ubuntu Community Peace Garden

The Garden is located in the Township of Nyanga, about 20 minutes outside of Cape Town.

VAC has adopted the property to revitalize it for members of the Nyanga Township. The duties we took part in Friday were Weeding, Clearing new areas to plant, Mowing the lawn, and painting!

The Garden and facilities provide jobs for the Township residents. The vibrant gardens full of vegetables, herds, and such provide income for the employees, as well as food for their families.

Sustainability at work :)

Herb Garden

Rainwater Systern

Rhodes Memorial.

2010-02-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

The hike to Rhodes Memorial is actually within walking distance from Obs. Once the hiking area is reached, it only takes about 25 minutes to reach the top. The memorial is a strong piece of Roman architecture that cannot be overlooked. The grand stairway entrance is lined with a horse statue as well as several Lion statues. The numerous sculptures draw your eye to Ionic columns, that lead you into the memorial. There is a statue of Rhodes himself once you enter the monument.

As always the view from the Memorial is absolutely breath taking!

Cape Point.

2010-02-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Furr Seals

View to Hout Bay

Chapman's Peak

This past weekend some friends of mine (also VAC Interns) and myself, decided to take a tour down to Cape Point. This is about 1.5 hours away from where we live in Cape Town. We were greeted in Observatory by our tour guide at 8am!! We had a very busy day planned with many activities, such as…
-A scenic drive past Camps Bay beach along the Atlantic Ocean.
-A stop in Hout Bay to take a boat ride out to the Furr Seal Island. We got to view Cape Town’s most well known seals!!
-We drove through Chapman’s Peak and stopped to take pictures of the amazing views.
-At Simonstown we were greeted by dozens of African Penguins.
-We then made our way down to The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
-Once we passed into the Reserve we were all given a bike, to travel along in an untouched natural environment.
-We stopped to have a gourmet lunch, and biked more afterwards.
-Once we arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, we hiked for about an hour to Cape Point. The views were spectacular!!!
-At Cape Point we hiked up to the Cape Point Lighthouse. This is considered the Southern Most tip of Africa and is where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet.

There were a few surprises along the way such as, our wildlife sightings. We came across a family of Ostriches on the beach and then got to feed another set at a farm on our way home. We also saw antelopes grazing off in the distance on one of our hikes.

What an amazing adventure and experience!!!!!

Simonstown

We got to Bike

Hike to Cape Point

Cape Point Lighthouse

Company's Garden.

2010-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

Company's Garden is a beautiful oasis located right in Cape Town's City Center.

The garden is full of numerous walking paths covered by different types of vegetation. Ranging from Palm and Pine Trees to Bamboo.

One area of the garden is home to a flourishing Rose garden, with dozens of different types and colors of roses!!

Aloe plants and trees cannot be missed throughout the garden because of their massive size.

The wildlife within the garden contains squirrels, rats, pigeons, and other types of birds.

The Rose Garden

Yes, The squirrels come right up to you!!

Aloe Plant

Muizenberg.

2010-02-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

VAC Interns preparing to Surf

Friday Excursion #3: Surfing at Muizenberg Beach

All VAC interns were given a mini surf lesson from Oliver Hagan (VAC Director of Applications and Outreach)

We were able to rent surf boards for 2 hours for about R80 (R stands for Rand). This would be about $10 USD!

The weather was gorgeous. The sun was radiating over the mountians surrounding the beach. The water temperature was warm enough to surf without a wet suit, luckily. Many VAC interns braved the questionable water based on the black flag flying high. The black flag indicates to beach goers to "swim at your own risk" due to shark sightings.

Mountians surrounding Muizenberg

Africa Sand Castle

Hillsong.

2010-02-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

My new Church: Hillsong

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Hillsong Church originated in Sydney, Australia. Now there are numerous churches in major cities across the world. Such as, London, Paris, Stokholm, etc.

On Vision Sunday it was announced that Hillsong will be starting a church in New York City, USA!!!

Hillsong United is the worship band from Australia. They have written numerous well known worship songs, sung in churches all over the world.

Welcome to Hillsong!

Worship

Beauty.

2010-02-06T13:08:00.001-08:00

Mzoli's.

2010-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

VAC Interns

Mzoli's is a Meat restaurant located in Gugulethu. Gugulethu is one of the townships about 25 minutes outside of Cape Town. The townships are usually where you find true African culture.

At Mzoli's friends and families gather to eat massive amounts of meat, drink, listen to live DJ's, dance, and have a good time.

Vegetarian side dishes were provided for VAC on this particular day. ( Thank God )

Mzoli's Kitchen

Gugulethu Children Dancing

Boomslang Caves.

2010-02-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

View of Kalk Bay

VAC Friday Excursion #2: Boomslang Caves

45 minute hike up with a view of Kalk Bay beach

Climbing through the cave (Ceiling heights 3' - about 12')

Exiting cave to find another amazing view.

45 minute hike down, through the bush (many cuts received)

Entering Boomslang Cave

Veiw exiting the Cave

Penguins.

2010-01-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

Simon's Town is one of Cape Town's many tourist attractions. Boulder's Bay is home to numerous African Penguins . The Penguins live along the rocky shore of this beach. Onlookers can see Penguins for free from certain locations.

Chrystal Pools.

2010-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

View to Gordon's Bay

VAC Interns Hiking!

Friday Excursion #1: Hiking Steenbras Valley to Chrystal Pools

Hike steep and rocky paths

Swim in natural pools

Jump off rock cliffs

Amazing views and experience

Chrystal Pools

Atlantic.

2010-01-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Spending the day at Camps Bay beach. On the Atlantic side on Cape Town.

Water Temperature: 12 Degrees Celsius

53.6 Degrees Fahrenheit

Cafe.

2010-01-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

Africa Cafe

A few VAC members and myself decided to enjoy a dinner in Cape Town at The Africa Cafe. It was quite an experience to acclimate us to our new home. The dining experience is family style and the menu includes a range of dishes from all over Africa, such as...

Kenyan Coconut Chicken

Zambian Bean Pies

Ethiopian Chic-pea Bites

Senegalese Stuffed Papaya

Moroccan Lamb Stew

Congolese Spinach

Egyptian Om Ali Dessert

The restaurant also provided African face painting and a live performance along with your meal!

Mandela.

2010-01-21T23:34:00.000-08:00

Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela and hundreds of African slaves were held as prisoners during the apartheid era. The tour includes...

45 Minute boat ride to and from the island

A bus tour around the entire island to point out several landmarks

- Grave yard where prisoners were burried

- Limestone quarry where prisoners worked

- The shortest point between Robben Island and Cape Town

Walking tour given by an ex-prisoner

Viewing of old jail cells including Nelson Mandela's

Image of Slaves and Officers in uniform

Nelson Mandela's prison cell

City Bus.

2010-01-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

The Castle of Good Hope

As part of the VAC orientation process all interns are given the opportunity to take a City Bus siteseeing tour. The tour helps acquaint people to the city of Cape Town and points out important land marks.

Bus Stops:

The Clock Tower

St. George's Cathedral

South African Museum

SA Jewish Museum

District Six

The Castle of Good Hope

Table Mountian Cableway

Camps Bay

Presidential Hotel

Sea Point

Camps Bay

"Non wind zone" in Sea Point

Contrast.

2010-01-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

Since I have been in Cape Town there have been many differences noticed from things in the United States. They are random things I have picked up on and thought I would share.

- The drivers seat of a car is on the right, so the driving directions are opposite of the U.S.
- Aluminum cans are made with more metal, which makes them slightly heavier.
- Everything is made with natural sugars. There is no High Fructose Corn syrup in South Africa.
-The three main languages are British English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa.

Image of Downtown Cape Town from Gabriela Farias' (VAC employee) flat

Armchair.

2010-01-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Obviouzly Armchair Backpackers Inn

I arrived in Cape Town, SA January 16th around 2pm. Waiting at the airport to pick me up was my internship coordinator Jon Wilson. He drove rather quickly to the town where I am now living called Observatory (Obs) in Cape Town.

Jon announced that I would be staying in a Backpackers Inn for the weekend. This is a cheaper option for an overnight stay, similar to a hostile. The employees were all very friendly and helpful.

It wasn't long before fellow Volunteer Adventure Corps (VAC) Interns started showing up at Backpackers to welcome me to Cape Town!

Begin.

2010-01-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

What: Adventure to Cape Town, South Africa

When: January 15th - April 15th 2010

Why: Participate in an Architecture Internship

Travel through a new part of the world

Learn about and experience a different culture

How: Through Volunteer Adventure Corps (VAC)

Learn more at www.vacorps.com