Table Mountain!

Moi on top of Table Mountain.  Man, it was so amazing to finally be at the top looking down after looking up at it every day since I arrived!  Making it to the top of Table Mountain is just one of those things you can't leave South Africa without doing.  After school on Friday, the other volunteers and I went straight to the place where we were going to start hiking and got to it.  We were accompanied by one older and experienced guide, as well as a cute young French guy who was training to be a guide.  We all stayed overnight part way up the mountain (after about a 2 hour hike) and finished in the morning with another 2 hour (ish) hike.  It wasn't as strenuous as I imagined it would be , but I definitely broke a sweat and got my heart pumping.  The hike down was probably harder than the hike up actually.  Imagine walking down a windy stone staircase with extra tall, uneven steps.  I slipped at one point and about 4 people actually slipped in the same spot, which goes to show that certain sports were just plain tricky.   

You might be wondering why I'm wearing a dress in the picture above after I just said I hiked up the mountain...Long story short, I had my change of clothes ready, but when we came back home to pick up our things after school, we were running late, so I haphazardly grabbed my stuff and decided to just change later.  I didn't really consider the fact that there wouldn't really be another opportunity or place to change before the hike.  Also, I forgot to pack a shirt haha, so that was the end of that!  Anyway, I basically pulled on sweatpants over the dress, wore a sweatshirt on top, and was good to go, but when I took off my top layers, people were so confused!!  Oh well, my lapse in judgement made for some laughs and at least I arrived at the top in style (or at least a moment of style where I briefly took off my other layers to take the picture above haha).  

Anyway, what else was memorable about the hike?  hmm...oh yeah, there was stream water at various points along the trail, often in the form of mini waterfalls, and I used this little polka dot mug to drink every chance I got because the guide said right from the beginning that it was perfectly fine to drink.  The water was of questionable color (yellowish), but tasted fresh and sort of sweet.  Someone said it tasted like nature and I agree.  It felt so cool to drink pure, untreated mountain water.  I felt like I was in the movie Holes or something.  Something else that I will probably not forget any time soon was the trail mix that one of the guys packed for the hike- M&Ms, peanuts, and raisins.  He said that everything tastes amazing after you spend a few hours hiking and it is a 100% true phenomenon haha, but really, it was delicious.  All around, it was a beautiful start to the weekend!!