The END of AFRICA

I finished work at PATA on December 14. It was very sad to leave as I have learned more than I ever thought from my co-workers, boss, and PATA clinics. It has been a huge part of my life over the past 6.5 months and I am sad to let it go.

We had our work Christmas party on Thursday at my boss Daniella’s house. Her house is gorgeous. Daniella cooked burgers for us and we lounged in her pool enjoying the heat of the day with the back of Table Mountain overshadowing us. It was not the typical Christmas party that I am used to. I did get a present from everyone – a framed photo of the delegates atop Table Mountain holding our thank you sign!

For my last weekend I went on a hike to the Crystal Pools.  We hike through Steenbras River Gorge just off of Gordon’s Bay on the southern coast. The hike is not too hard and takes about 45 minutes to reach the third pool – which is the one we stayed at. It was very hot out though and we were all dripping in sweat anyway. Only 50 people are allowed to hike to the pools each day as they want to preserve the nature as best as possible. We had our permits though and were allowed to go on this hike.

The pools are full of fresh water and are back hidden in the mountains – a very secluded and untouched part of nature. There is a small waterfall on one side where you can drink the water if you want. Also there are very high cliffs on the side – for cliff jumping as the pool goes very deep. The jump is 30 meters high though and I was not willing to risk my life this time as what if I hit sharp rocks in the pool that I didn’t know about.  You can be very happy about that mom. We spent several hours just lounging about and enjoying the beauty before the hike back.

Monday was a public holiday, the day of Goodwill. Ashley, my new roommate, and I spent the day walking. We walked from our apartment all the way around Signal Hill to Sea Point and continued on past Clifton to Camps Bay. It was a very long walk in the heat of the day, but the views were spectacular of the coast. We ate lunch at Caprice where I promptly drank two glasses of water in under five minutes to rehydrate myself.

I have been busy doing the last of my Christmas shopping at Greenmarket Square and St. George’s Mall. I also have been doing a last bit of sightseeing. My bus to work drove past the Castle of Good Hope every day, yet I had never been inside. I finally walked there with my only purpose to enter the castle. The outside is ancient and impressive, but the inside was quite boring. Clearly I wasn’t missing out much by never going in until now, but at least I have seen it.

I leave tomorrow night to fly home to Nebraska and the USA!!

As this is the end of my African adventure living in the Mother City, I want to share with everyone that my next adventure is going back to school! I am starting my Masters at Boston University School of Public Health this January and I could not be more excited.  I am leaving a Cape Town summer for a Boston winter, but I think it will be completely worth it. I only hope that someday I can show SOMEONE around Cape Town as I am quite an expert at it now.