Cape Town - day two

Our first day in Cape Town, we ventured to the V & A Waterfront. It’s sorta like a mix between the Florida Keys and Mackinaw Island. There are lots of little shopping areas, places to eat, and tons of sailboats. The views here are absolutely breathtaking. Off in the distance are monstrous green mountains and cliffs, and then all around you are water and lovely buildings.
The only thing I didn’t like about Cape Town is seeing the wealth in contrast with the poverty in this area. You’ll see million dollar beachfront properties, and then 5 minutes down the road will be people living in cardboard boxes. When we went out at night, there were so many kids, as young as 5 years old, out on the street begging for money. It’s a tough situation, because you never know if it’s their parents that set them up for begging, or if they need it for themselves. We found the best thing to do was to give the kids food instead of money. It’s very heartbreaking to see such a drastic disparity of wealth – and I feel like a hypocrite for even talking about it, since I’m able to go on a vacation like this when these kids are suffering just to get money for a loaf of bread.

The next day, we decided to climb up Table Mountain. Most people take a cable car up – but I thought of my adventurous sister, and decided to follow in her steps to take the more scenic and less lazy route to the top. So, four other girls and I did the climb up Platteklip Gorge to the top of the mountain. It would have been a great hike, only we ran out of water part way up, and the heat was excruciating. We ended up taking lots of breaks in the shade, and made it up to the top in pretty good time. I attached some pictures, since they do a better job of explaining the beautiful view than I ever could.