Yesterday, I walked along the "Salt River" area, being bordered by the districts Woodstock and Observatory (-> where I am living now). It is an area which used to be the industrial and textile center in former times but later developed to a creative space. Nearly every third house has been decorated by local and international artists. The majority of its residents are Muslims and the so-called "coloured" community. The morning started with a lovely Cappuccino and a chocolate waffle at the "The Old Biscuit Mill" market. Here you can find all sorts of local and international food - Asian, French, Malaysian cuisine - very tasty! Not to forget: clothing and even better, local handcrafts. :) After my walking tour I tried a smoothie with beetroot, lemon and something else. Likewise very nice and healthy. Moreover, I bought a lovely handmade handbag with floral elements on it. I'll pretty sure this one will accompany me on many future trips. :)

Another quad bike experience, but this time at "Atlantis Dunes", which is approximately about 45-50 min. from the city. It wasn't more difficult to drive the quad here but you had to be more careful because of the loose ground sometimes. I enjoyed every minute of it. Afterwards I tried sandboarding and I have to admit that it was easier for me to find my balance in comparison to surfing. Maybe because I've got surfing lessons before. Who knows...:D The only thing I known by now IT that I might try Snowboarding

Today, I did a wine tour to two different areas: Boschendal and Stellenbosch. They are both known for their premier wines. I tried lovely red wines such as a pinotage, a light rosé and two white wines, among other things a sparkling Sauvignon. Hmmmm....:D

As you might remember, I've written about "Constantia" before. It is not only one of the more luxurious areas in Cape Town, but above all known for its delicious wines. Our hiking trip started at Constantia valley and it was one of the most exciting and frightening hiking experiences I have ever made. By "our" I mean Yaba and me. Yaba is a volunteer from France - very athletic, friendly and social but organizing a hiking trip may not count to his leading abilities. I trusted him and as such didn't prepare properly myself (-> my fault ;(...) cause I thought he might have downloaded an offline map of the area and might have a clue where to go. Nope, DEAD LOSS! The first 30 to 40 minutes we're lovely, just a quiet and peaceful walk in midst of Tablet mountain National Park. But, as we moved on we lost orientation and Yaba had no clue where he was or where he wanted to go to. I wasn't scared at this point but we only had 1,5 hours left until it gets dark. Oo Ooooooh! "Hurry up", I thought. Anyways, I recognized the issue as a woman passed us on her way through the forests. She went for a walk with her dog and while talking to her I realized that Yaba had no clue at all. So, I kindly asked her for the way and she gave us a recommendation to go to "Newlands forest", which would mean that we still had a march of 7-8 km ahead. Remember: The upcoming darkness. FUCK! So, I got a little nervous and we were walking faster. Following the track for the first 5 km wasn't the problem but due to an imcomplete and bad signage system in this area we literally got lost amidst of the Kirstenbosch Garden area. And it got dark!!! Another "FUC*". I was prepared and put in a headlamp but wouldn't there have been two joggers passing by we would have been in trouble. They rescued us, so to say. Finally, we're made a trip of almost 10 km in 3-4 ours but we walked in the woods for pitch darkness the last hour. I was so scared, just wanted to be "home" and slip under my cozy covers. We're made it! I'm proud and besides the "lost stage" I enjoyed every step. But, honestly, I never wanna experience such shit again.

The best way to relax from a week full of activities, encounters and joy. It was Sasha's final day in Cape Town, so we decided to make it special for her. Sasha is Britisch and came to Cape Town to volunteer in the field of medicine and health. We went out into the "Fable bar", had a light dinner, some drinks and finally ended up in a club called "Boogie". The music was a mixture of modern mainstream and vibes of the 90s - was a lot of fun. :)

On Thursday, July 23rd, I got the opportunity to see the other side of beautiful Africa and, more specifically, the poverty of Cape Town. The Langa township was established in 1927 and is one of the oldest Black African townships. It was created under the 1923 Urban Areas Act to segregate and control black labourers. During the 1960s it became the key center of political resistance. Massive protests led to tragic loss of life of many people and severe damages. Until today, the government "promised" better housing conditions for its residents but it may be a neverEnding Story as most of today's residents are still on waiting lists and often cannot afford something better. It really moved me to see how human beings are living here: simple metal containers with leaky roofs. No warm water!!! oO They're getting the water from the nearby hostels and carry it home in buckets. Imagine how cold and wet it can be here during winter times. Up to three families might share one container. To give you a short imagination of the size of one living area for a family of four people: Usually, most of the containers are about 6m long and 2,4m wide. Longer containers, which are very rare, might reach the 12m mark. I had the chance to look into one of those containers and it simple was terrible. One bunk bed for 4 people. One little TV, something that could be imagined as a wardrobe, a tiny sink and maybe a small mirror, and hotplates to be able to cook and heat cold water. No words! :( After the Apartheid regime was abolished, the government tried to get rid of the townships but it seemed to be impossible due to housing shortages, generational ties and the deep cultural roots that lie in here. To say something positive: A lot of African artists and musicians has been nurtured here. We could view some creations ourselves and even got a short drum lesson. It was amazing and however bad it all may be at Langa, I'll never forget the sound of the drums and the smile at the faces of the children who welcomed me so openly and warm-hearted at the end of our tour when we visited a typical township kindergarten. Likewise, I'll never understand while some human beings who are just as valuable and smart as me possibly will never have the same possibilities and chances in life like me.

On July 23rd I rode a quad bike at Grabouw mountains, a beautiful mountain area south-east from Cape Town. The landscape really invites you to do hiking and mountain biking, but I decided to do a quad tour and it was amazing. The sound of the tires turning constantly on rocky routes and gravel was so exciting that I honestly think about an extension of my driver's license to be able to drive faster scooters or a "tiny" motorbike. Imagine that! :D The whole trip took one hour in total and we even passed a waterfall. It was such a funny ride. :)

This is only one of the beaches here but the view is awesome. You can do a little rock climbing on the smaller rocks here to have a better view. The water is extremely cold, even more than at Muizenburg beach. The waves seem to be very strong. There are plenty of little bars and local stalls along the main road to make your Break as comfortable as possible. I had two lovely ice scoops - lemon and biscuit, love it! A definitely must-do while being here.

I've already been here once before but this time we (-> meaning "most of the volunteers") we're going up together as group. Being accompanied by lovely music (-> thanks to modern bluetooth technique) the hike was even more fun. Just as a short reminder: Lions's head is a famous peak in Cape Town - 669 m above sea level and located between Table Mountain and Signal hill. I was one of the faster ones...hahaaa :D Just let the pictures speak for themselves and thanks to all who've made this trip so amazing and unforgettable to me.

Today's morning started very smoothly with a light breakfast and a warm coffee. I looove coffee! :-) After that we went kayaking on a lovely river very close to the sea. Unfortunately, I forget the name of the location but anyways, being together with all those lovely poeple counts more. It was a lovely trip a likewise a good warm up and start into the day.  We even passed a little waterfall as you may see on one of the pictures. The atmosphere was very peacful, the morning light stunning. We had a lot of fun! :-) After that we went on a three hour Safari tour to see the 'big five'. At least, we've not seen all of them but viewing those wonderful, unique creatures in their own environment from such a close point of view was amazing. There's not much to say about a Safari as such as you may know what's meant by this term but I'm going to share some glimpses of this day and some things that I've learned with you. We saw so many creatures: Rhinos, Elephants, Antilopes, the Cape mountain zebra and "normal" (-> pointing at a common well-known 'zoo-like' zebra), Hippos, Buffalos, some indigenous birds and even a Giraffe. I'm not putting any pics of rhinos online as they are still endangered, but a little fun fact on the so-called "white rhinos" that live in this reserve: Yes, you read correctly: white. Everyone who's reading this term would think that would have something to do with their skin colour or structure but it doesn't. The first European settlers of this area used to call those rhinos "wide mouth rhinos", which has been transferred into "white" by the native community due to a misunderstanding and as such remains until today. Did you know that these massive, masculine creatures only eat grass? They can be very stubborn and moody like elefants. So, if you might come across a rhino one day, just try to stay calm and watch out for a save place. The hippos were also very cute, although I could only see their heads on top of the water. One of them had a "small" baby. The pregancy time is about 8 month. Another fun fact: Hippos actually can't swim and they can only breath for about 8 seconds under water. They're usually laying in water all day as their skin is not made for the sun. It will destroy its surface and burn them literallly. Giraffes are so big but likewise seem to be very fragile and their extremes are very small (-> like hamster poop) compared to their body height because they have many stomaches and a good digestion. By the way, the "cape mountain zebra" is way smaller than a normal zebra and has more black stripes. The neck's skin is more wobbly and fattier to regulate the heat. Moreover, zebras are usually not white, it's just a hair piment. My personal highlight actually was the rhino cause I've never seen one before. I think in my next life (-> afterlife) I'd become an animal carer. I love animals. :) 

What a beautiful morning - gentle sunbeams but freezing cold. I slept with long trousers, two pairs of socks and a jumper, plus two blankets. It doesn't matter where I stay here in South Africa: All the rooms are ventilated the whole day, open windows everywhere...puuh...I'll probably never get hardened to the cold. ;-/ 

Anyways, after having had breakfast, we went to the "Buffelsfontain Game & Nature Reserve" to do a walk with their elephants. At the moment, there are 2 boys named "Jabari" and "Bolerlo" and 1 girl named "Malaika" (-> or "Angel"; so far my favourite :)...). They are 24 years old and we're brought here at a very young age from Kruger National park to protect them from hunters. I can't even put into words how sorry I am for these "little" creatures, which had to grow up and develop without their lovely parents because human monsters needed to make profit out of ivory and potentially of their skin. Elephants are very social animals but likewise can be very stubborn and, of course, unpredictable.  Did you know that they can become 70 to 80 years old and that the males are bigger than the females? These three here were bottle-feeded, which is the reason for them to be more approachable and friendly towards human beings. Imagine that: They drank 35 liters of milk every 4 hours - what the fu**!!! Elephants eat up to 18 hours a day. I could feed them too, and Jabari (-> look at the pic) even gave me a hug with his trunk. I'll never forget that. :)

After viewing the elephants we drirectly headed to the so-called "Cango Caves", being located 30 km north of the town of Oudtshoorn. All together, the cavess are 5,4km Long. There are 18-20 degrees inside and approximately a humidity of 60-70%. The caves were rediscovered in 1780 by European colonists and were opened to the puclic in 1891. "Cango" means 'place of water' which makes totally sense. The deeper you walk inside the caves, the more you observe beautiful wavelike limestone structures on the chamber's ceiling. Years ago, a river was running under these chambers. Over the years, this acid rainwater seeped through the limestone. The water slowly dissolved the rock and created massive underground tunnels and chambers, which later dried out and led to these unique crystal formations. Just to give you a short glimpse on the size of a chambers: The first chambers is about 18m high and 97m long. Choirs used to sing here long time ago, even concerts used to be played here. Imagine the acoustics - wooow. :)

And finally, I did it. I jumped 216m into depth from Africa's highest bungee jump bridge, the Bloukrans Bridge. We had to do zip-lining to get to our jumping point. I can tell you that I was fuc***g nervous when they put on the equipment on my body. The zip-lining actually calmed me and likewise prepared me for the most adventurous thing I've ever done in my life so far. I was so excited and could feel the first adrelanine running into my veins. "There's no way back from now", I thought. There we're plenty of people doing the jump before me, which calmed me again. The system is very secure and all the peparational steps go through a four to six-eyes principle. I'm so proud I've done this. It felt like diving and I couldn't really scream until I finally recognized whilst falling that it is actually fuc***g high. I started screaming shortly before reaching the final point at which my body was pushed back upwards. After coming down a second time again my body turned around constantly. At this point I just felt peace and freedom and enjoyed every moment of it, although the circling around kind of made me go crazy. If you are here once, you should definitely experience the jump. You're never forget it. What an amazing trip and one of my absolute highlights so far! :D

Hey guys :)

Long time no see! This weekend, my journey took me to the Western Cape, which is very diverse and beautiful by the way. This was THE area which was colonized by the Dutch (-> Dutch East India Company) in the middle of the 17th century and around 1800 became the centre of Britisch interests. As such, it is not surprising at all that white population with 16,4% is representing the highest number of whites in comparison to any other South African province. Originally, the west was inhabited by the Khoisan, hunter-gatherers and foragers. Today the Western Cape is known for its beautiful vineyards, stunning coastal views, the Garden Route and, moreover, as one of the country's best-run and most economically stable provinces. No wonder, considering the tourism. Likewise, this may be one of the reasons alongside economical and political developments why approximately 50% of the South African population is unemployed. 

I'll give you a short review of the most important stops within my next pages. Enjoy reading! :)

This Friday we we're basically sitting in a small bus and driving along the Garden Route to our destinations. I got up at 5 a.m. in the morning - literally "hell"! No way to think differently, way too early. ;/ Anyways, today we we're ment to do a wine tasting at "De Krans wines" and to visit the "Cango Caves" but due to a delay we only managed the wine tasting, which is equally welcome to me. The wine was very delicious and I had a light salad as main course. Even more interesting than that was one of our stops on our journey: we stopped at a "Sex shop" in the middle of nowhere. People all over the world who were passing this shop on their way along the Western Cape stopped here and left some of their (now signed) underwear. As such, this shop hast developed to a unique resting stop over time.

"Green market" is one of the local and oldest African markets in Capetown, close to the V&A waterfront - with "close" I mean approximately a 30-40 min.  walking distance. It was a very nice experience but, of course, as a single and non-African woman you have to be careful and you have to negotiate well. They have so many nice handmaid arts, crafts and clothing...awww. You'd love it! 

Now, I'm going on a 3-day Safari tour where I'm going to see cute Elefants and even more of the big five. We'll get to know some beautiful parts of the Garden route. The tour includes a wine tasting and a walk into a cave as well as a Kajaking tour. :) ...and, who knows ??? Maybe I'll do a bungee jump from the highest bridge in Africa - the Bloukrans Bridge - which is about 215 m high. How crazy would that be?! Imagine the Adrenaline kick....:D

So, let's hear us "soon soon".

Yours, Mandy

Hey guys,

I'm at the so-called "Starfish Academy" in District 6. I haven't been posting anything online so far due to data privacy reasons and because I first had to get an impression myself. I'm also not allowed to put any pics of the children online or even to take pics myself but that's totally understandable and fine for me. Unfortunately, I missed the last two days at the kindergarten because I had a severe stomache pain - promise: I'll skip the details. ;-) However, I'm pretty sure now that I'm allergic to Avocado as I had the same situation twice before. Luckily, I'm feeling better now and can go on my Safari tour. *woop woop* :-)

I don't know a lot about this area - "District 6" - but I'll find out more in the local museum I'm going to visit next Monday. The only thing I know is that this district was strongly influenced by the Apartheid regime. People of colour have been banned from the early 1960s onwards and later the area was declared as being a "whites-only area". And now read the quote of Mandela I found on that wall across the kindergarten and let its content speak for itself. Its unbelievable that at this point there is a kindergarten again where lovely small Africaan kids find a safe and welcoming space to play, learn and grow. :)

They are caring for children from the age of 1 to 5. I'm in a kind of pre-school with the older ones - aged 2 to 4 years, I think. Each group consists of maximum 16 people. In "my" Octopus class there are 12 little kids at the moment. They are soooo cute :D ...although they don't have many material things to play or to learn with. :( They have crayons, a few coloured pens and pencils and some scissors and glue sticks. Even a mix of a few Lego stones and tops of bottles which they use to build small houses and stuff like that. Even the teachers here are working with very simple tools and material. There's no opportunity to print at all. The material the teacher is using for the week will be given to him/her by the kindergarten's administration or principal itself. One day, Sindi (-> the teacher I'm working with) wanted to repeat the numbers from 1 to 10. She took out some white plain papers and wrote down "Match the number". Then she was writing the numbers repeatedly with my help on every single paper again to make sure that everyone can do the exercise. Imagine how teaching like that would be like? It really hits the bottom of my heart. 

The conditions here are really poor, which reshapes your own perspective and let yourself value the smaller things even more. They don't even have toilet paper. When we go to the toilet together in a line and as a group, tissues may help out and desinfection spray is being used afterwards to clean the kid's hands. *uuufff* Even their lunch is very plain and includes the basic things a child may need to eat: Usually rice with beans, small pieces of carrots and brown sauce. Sometimes they get Spaghetti with one tiny piece of meat in it. In addition to that, their parents make them an individual lunch package every day which usually includes a yoghurt for their so-called "yoghurt time" (-> first break in the morning). 

Let's give you an impression of a daily routine (-> also view the scan of the plan I've uploade):

Every morning Sindi and I are welcoming the students in class. A typical morning should start around 8 a.m. but as the teachers often arrive late (-> remember: African "time" ...We'll see us 'soon soon'!  etc....) a normal day often starts at 8:30 a.m. We get their bags and take out their lunch packages, sort everything out properly and put it to their individual lunch box. Then we usually start the day with a morning circle and a few songs. We repeat the alphabet, numbers from 1-20, forms, some colours and even the names for the seasons, the weather and the month. Sometimes a story is being read to the children. I could even do this procedure twice on my own so far - was a lot of fun. :) Everything at this point is very similar to a routine in a German kindergarten. Songs about nearly everything and every situation and games like "Simon says" are used to activate the kids and to facilitate playful learning and a friendly, childish atmosphere. Then' there's the daily "yoghurt time" (-> around 9:30 a.m.) where everyone eats yoghurt. They value good table manners here a lot and train them. First eat, then speak! ;) These children are so quiet and most of the times really listen properly to their teacher - unbelievable when I myself think about German kids. They call Sindi "teacher" or "teacher Sindi" and even called me "teacher" - haha. :) After that we do some games and exercises like "Colour in the lines" or "Cut across the lines" etc. to train basic skills. It's basically the same procedure every day but the content changes slightly. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they play music for all of them in the biggest room there to train physical skills and make the children move. It's so lovely when you see all these little whirlwinds dancing and bouncing on the ground. :) One day, I brought a little bouncing baseball, which has the size of a Tennis ball, into class and we played with it. It was my highlight to the sun in their faces. They literally loved it, smiled and enjoyed plaing with me. How little the thing can be to make someone smile and to make a change! :) After playing games or dancing the children get their lunch, pee again and rest for at least 1,5 to 2 hours. At this point, usually around 11:30 a.m., my work is done is and I can go home again. In the afternoon the children have time to play again. Usually they stay until their parents pick them up. That's it.

Next Monday, I have my last day at the Starfish Academy and I really enjoyed my time here. All were very kind to me and the kids are just awesome. Even after these few days I could build a connection to them and they got close to my heart. On Tuesday I'll start at the "Ellerton Primary school" near the V&A waterfront and stay there the next four weeks - let's see how it will be. :) Updates follow!

What an amazing but exhausting  experience...all my muscles hurt, especially my ankles and my arm and upper back muscles. Today someone crashed into "our surfing space" and so his or her board (-> couldn't see it properly) went straight over my head and hit me lightly at the lower back of my head. Luckily, nothing bad happened and my head is "still alive"...uiuii! 

Today, I went surfing for the second time with Aná, Sete and Gabi at Muizenburg beach. The waves have been not so rough this day. I got better and even stood up on the board a few times.

Tomorrow again! Can't wait! :D

Unfortunately, I've no pics but I'm trying to make some next time. Promise! 

Hey lovely people around there :)

On our way to the so-called "Cape of storms", which was nicknamed like this by early explorers of the cape because of the rough water conditions and overall unpredictable winds their, we stopped by in "Hout Bay". It is known for its gigantic seals and its beautiful scenic mountain view along its harbour. We did a 45 min. long boat trip to a little island nearby to observe the seals at close range. It was awesome. :) Most of them we're just laying around and took a sunbath, some of them we're swimming or playing inside of the water. Imagine what a life it would be!

After that we headed over to the "Cape of good hope", which is not the southern tip of Africa but the southwestern tip, and moreover became an important landmark for the maritime trade and sea navigation as it is the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The first European to sight the Cape was the Portugues navigator Bartolomeu Dias in 1488. The additional symbolic expression of "good hope" replaced the "storm" under the direction of king John II of Portugal to show the world that their might be a possibility to discover a sea route to Asia. This famous sea route to India was finally discovered in May 1489 by the the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Unfortunately, it not only marked the start of the connection between Europe and Asia, but likewise the beginning of European colonization, which didn't only do good. There, we walked to the Cape lighthouse and along the Cape to embrace the stunning coastal views and fresh air. But, watch out for the Baboons that walk around freely and please, didn't try to touch or feed them. They are fast runners and good thieves. ;)

We finally reached Boulder's beach, which is 45 min. south of Cape Town, in the afternoon. It is well-known for its cute penguin colonies and definitely a thing that you should put on your "to do"-list If you're here. The name points at the beaches' structure and surface. 540-million-year-old granite boulder's can be found here and block heavy winds and waves. The penguins are very cute. They typically have these little black dots on their balley and a light rosé eyeshadow. The babys are usually more hairy and darker. Their white teint develops throughout the years. In addition, I saw a little "Dassie" on a tree at the entrance of the beach. They look like the genetic extension of a hamster, sooo cute! :) They are veggies and good jumpers and can usually be seen at mountainous and coastal areas.

Well, there's not much to say about this. It is spanning 528 hectares and once belonged to the Dutch.  It's stunning and a huge area which longs for exploration of South Africans indigenous flora, but as long as your no botanic or scientiest you might just wanna enjoy nature and sun here - especially on a clear and warm summer day like today. ;-)

Today I woke up pretty early (-> around 4:30 a.m.) to get ready for the"Lion". ;-) It's a mountain between Table mountain and Signal hill and peaks around 699m. The mountain was named like that by the Dutch in the midth of the 17th century. According to the Dutch people from back then Signal hill and Lion's head together may depict a sphinx. To comment on that: Yes, the similiarities can't be denied. I wanted to see the sunrise from its peak and, in addition, could enjoy a breath-taking view of Cape Town at night/dawn. It was amazing :)...and in comparison to my hike on Table mountain it was way easier (-> meaning: not so exhausting) and more interesting, but likewise a rocky amd stony trail with its pitfalls. I had to climb stones, ladders and a lot more but it was worth it!! :-) Just for you if you'd wanna hike up there too in future: I'd rather recommend to take the sunrise tour and start early before it gets to busy around 8/9 a.m. as more people wanna climb the mountain - and trust me, the ways are quite narrow sometimes. I'm so happy and grateful to have seen this natural play of lights.

Hey guys, sorry for the delay but I've been quite busy the last few days. As you might already know, South Africa is well known for its different wines - especially Sauvignon Blanc and other white wines. There' are plenty of beautiful wine yards close by, which literally invites you to come. As such, Liz, Gwen and I decided to go out to the "Constantia" valley to experience wines of Klein Constantia with a history of winemaking that goes back to the 17th century. Really impressive. We took a huge platter with cheese, jam, some meat, brownies and veggie stuff on it plus some sparkling water to at least make the impression of being "okay" after drinking all that full-bodied wine. No, just kidding! ;-p As far as I can remember, I chose to take 3 white ones, 1 rosé and 1 red wine to have a bit of everthing. The "Husseys Vlei" (white wine) and "Christine" (white wine) we're my favourites so far. I can really recommend to do wine tastings when you're around here cause it IS an experience and, moreover, affordable. The "Chenin blanc" is delicious too. I'll definitely come back before I'll going back to Germany. 

In the morning we got a short briefing about our upcoming Volunteer project and about what better to skip or avoid doing our stay in Cape Town. In my case, it’ll be a typical African kindergarten in one of Cape Town’s townships for the next two weeks. After that, I’m going to attend a primary school. But, more on that tomorrow.

The most exciting and probably also the most strenuos event was about to begin: Hiking the “Plattleklip George“ hike up to the top of the Table mountain. This hiking trail is only 2,5 km long but gains fuc***g 680 meters in evelation and is so rocky that I literally had to climb at some points with my short legs. It took us (-> Sete and Gabi, a French girl, and me) about 2,5 hours to walk up there and was exhausting. But, I’ve made it! :D Strike! On top of the mountain, some other volunteers were waiting for us and we enjoyed a cold drink and some sweets together. To return, we used the cable car, which moved 360 degrees while taking us down - nothing for the squeamish! I could even see the sunset from above – simply ‚wow‘. As the mountain itself rises about 1000m around the city, you can’t even put the view in simple words. It’s stunning, amazing, breath-taking and I’ve never seen such a flora and fauna before. See for yourselves by looking at the pictures. ;) 

Well, I didn’t even get much sleep in the plane. You can imagine my actual fitness level….;-p….But, however, the curiosity of meeting new people and enjoying today’s sun in Cape Town overwhelmed me more. After being picked up at the Airport and entering the volunteer house, which you can picture like one of those holiday homes for school trips with bunk beds and common areas etc., I decided to go out wit Aná and Sete from Spain. Aná and I are at the same room and we arrived the same day, which made it easy for us to connect.

Long Story short, we went to the V&A Waterfront since it turned out to become a beautiful, sunny day with a blue sky. There’s a major shopping mall and lots of bars and restaurants waiting for us. This waterfront is one of the oldest working harbours and having the sea on one side, the Tablet Mountain as its backdrop you can imagine the view and atmosphere here - simply stunning and really inviting yourself to relax.

Usually, there are 16 – 18 degrees here –> T-Shirt time. The morning and nights in comparison can be very (!!!) cold. A kind of cold we aren’t used to as Europeans. FREEZING cold and not “nice“ at all, to describe it in an euphemistic way. However, what doesn’t knock us down makes us stronger, doesn’t it? But, first mission for today: getting a warm and fluffy blanket for the nights. ;-)

Our day turned out to be a very touristic sightseeing trip. Just walking around, observing the people and getting impressions of how a typical day at the sea could be like. Very impressive and imprinting itself into my memory immediately was (and still is) the overall positive and creative nature of Capetonians. They’re really musical too. Once we went along the promenade, there was a small band playing typical local sounds by using drums and a kind of tamburin. They invited my friend Aná to join and she basically jumped into the rhythm by playing the balaphon (-> the African Xylophon so to speak). Very cool actually. Some steps further, we got the chance to listen to an African youth choir with beautifully strong voices and a Contortionist (-> s.o.WHO can bends ist body parts infinitely). Finally, I drank an non-alcoholic apple sider and somewhere got a typical African desert: Malva pudding. By reading “pudding“, you’d normally expect something sweet with a creamy texture. Well, it is sweet but it rather reminds you of a carrot cake. On top of that cake there’s caramel creme, added by a lovely vanilla ice ball on the side of the plate – yummy. :D

… leaving this picture in your mind until news of mine may sweeten your day again!

After a full and busy day, which actually started with work, we‘ve (-> André and me) started our journey from Dresden City to Frankfurt Airport. We’ve never been there before but let’s see where our journey will take us to. Actually, nothing strange happened – No traffic chaos, No strange encounters with others, No great losses …mainly, well, at least the worst thing that happened today was my encounter with a toilet (-> If IT deserves that name) at a park slot that completely melted and screamed „rather go than doing your job here“. Anyway, after a 7 hours ride we reached Frankfurt Airport and quickly made our way to check in lugagge. I hardly but fast said “goodbye“ to my friend, passed the security line and here I am: sitting at a table, enjoying my wonderful cappuccino. The perfect place to curiously observe my surroundings or let thoughts jump around the adventure that ist waiting for me in Cape Town.

So many questions but just an imaginary labyrinth of hopes, dreams and ways that will offer and give opportunies and hopefully proper answers:

Where will my journey lead me to?

What kind of people will I meet?

How will that trip change my perspective as an English teacher?

How does African English sound like?

….still curious, waiting to see the real me breaking out of a box, which shaped my daily routine for the last month and couple of days.
Freely flying like a free bird with wings being bigger than mine, across clouds and borders and finally reaching the sun. :)