Meeting my host sister again and hiking up Lions Head

On my second day, I had planned to do some writing, but since the night before my laptop was acting up, so I spent the morning until 1 am trying to get it working again. After that, I went with Linda, a German girl who worked at the hostel, to the Green Market in the city. This is where mostly Black people sell typical souvenirs like masks and other wooden crafts, bracelets and necklaces with colorful beads, and lots of colorful clothes. Some things there were really nice, but often it's the case that you only like them while you're in the country and once you get back home, you never wear them again. On our way back to the car, we walked through a beautiful green park. There's a section next to a café where different basket swings were hung up in the trees. I had never seen anything like it before, but they're really cool. There's a large open one where you can lay down, then a second one that's more enclosed and fits only one person. Perfect for reading. And then there's a third one that you can only access through a tunnel made of woven baskets. It was a small perfect oasis. Linda and I sat in the large open swing. After Linda pushed it from the outside, instead of just letting herself fall into the swing like any normal person would do, she had the brilliant idea to jump into it. You can probably imagine how well that worked. Luckily, she landed on me quite softly and there were no major injuries :D

On the way to the car, our paths diverged and after 10 years, I met my host sister Sonja again. It was truly incredible to see her again after such a long time. We picked up her 3.5-year-old son and drove to her home. On the way, she told me a lot about herself and I was incredibly pleased that there was this certain closeness between us again. At the same time, her story made me somewhat sad and reminded me once again of how fortunate we actually are in Germany. Especially now, when the water reserves in Cape Town are almost depleted due to the prolonged drought in recent weeks and if it doesn't rain properly soon, there will be no water in April. It's a situation that is hard to imagine in our country.

At six o'clock, we climbed up Lions Head with a larger group. One of the three mountains surrounding Cape Town. On a clear day, you have a great view of the sunset from up there. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky. The climb was still worth it. Even without the sunset, you had a spectacular view of the city, the many bays, and the ocean. However, the ascent was a real challenge. From halfway up, it was more like a climbing tour.

So, that's it for now. Today, I will meet up with a former school friend from back then and maybe go to the beach.