A Weekend With the Whales

Before this week gets away(I know it's already Thursday....), I want to let you know about this past weekend adventures with my roomies and friends. As some of you know, Friday was a national holiday, Heritage Day (aka- Braai Day) which meant a lazy Friday spent on the back porch of my house enjoying the sunshine. It was a great chance to catch up on reading and reflection and the weather was simply spectacular. We were all set to go on a hike when an old friend from Zimbabwe showed up at our door, inviting us to a braai at his friend’s place. Due to the hour of the afternoon and the fact that I hadn’t seen Tate in 2 years, we all decided that a braai on National Braai day was probably the right choice and we spent the rest of the evening catching up and enjoying lots of meat on a grill. (Braai, for those of you who don’t know is Afrikaans for grill. We basically bbq’d all afternoon)

Saturday morning came early as my roommates and I rented a car for the day and set off for the cute little coastal town of Hermanus—famously known for its excellent whale watching. This weekend was the whale festival and we didn’t want to miss out! The drive along the coast was absolutely stunning and we stopped several times to take pictures of funny signs and mountains falling into the sea. Driving on the other side of the road was definitely an adventure, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Left and right hand turns always required a bit more brain power than usual and the blinker was on the other side of the steering wheel. Every time I tried to signal to turn, my wipers went crazy on the clear sunny day, ha!

We spent the rest of the day, enjoying lunch by the ocean and hiking along the coast. We didn’t see too many whales, but the few that we did see gave us quite a show. Two of them breached out of the water several times!!! (See pictures) Our sunset drive home through Sir Lowry’s Pass gave us a spectacular view of Cape Town and Table Mountain. We decided to finish our day in Camp’s Bay overlooking the sandy beaches and giant palm trees. What a trip! It was so great to get to know my roommates more and learn about all of the different cultures we came from (Mexico, Germany, and Denmark). I’ve posted an album of pictures to facebook so you can check out more there!