Two weeks ago my mom came to visit me. She arrived the day we got back from the Human Rights Conference. Right when we got home I called the hotel to see if my mom was in. Ben was able to drive me into town after dropping Rachel off at the hospital for her foot. That night my mom and I got dinner and I told her as many stories and experiences that I could think of. Later that night we planned the week, trying to fit a much in as possible. I tried to create orientation week for my mom.
The first day, I took my mom to the waterfront bright and early to try and get on one of the Robben island tours. They were all booked up, so we just spent the day in Cape Town buying souvenirs for the rest of the family. The next day I went to my internship while my mother went to the District 6 museum. Unfortunately Joe was not there to give one of his amazing tours, but she still said she learned a lot. Visiting the museums is just the beginning of understanding the history of South Africa.
The following day we were booked for an all day tour of some of the beauties of Cape Town and Cape Point. The tour began with a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain, it was a sunny clear day, and so we were both able to see the different towns. The other interns and I hiked to the top of Table Mountain earlier in the semester, but it was cloudy so after the 4 hour-long hike we could only see the cloud we were in.
After Table Mountain, our bus drove us to Hout Bay where we took a boat out around the bay to watch the seals. We were then on our way to Cape Point. On the way we saw baboons, ostriches and randomly camels (not wild of course), I was glad my mom was able to see these animals because they are a crucial part of the Cape Point experience.
When we arrived at Cape Point we got lunch, we ordered two pizzas (thinking they were small), turns we could only finish one. The old British couple that was on our tour found it quite amusing that we ordered two pizzas, and had a whole pizza left over. My mother made me carry the left over pizza as we walked to the lighthouse on Cape Point, for fear of a baboon attack. Honestly I was quite nervous about the baboons myself, every rustle in the bushes made me jump a bit. Walking back down from the lighthouse we happened to bump into the old British couple that again commented on our pizza situation. When we then got on the bus, the entire tour group erupted with laughter as we entered with the pizza box (all thanks to the old British couple).
After leaving Cape Point, we proceeded on our journey to Boulder Beach, where an African Penguin Colony lives. It was a really windy day so we were getting whipped with sand; it was quite painful but so good to see the penguins. Our next and last stop before we hit the hotel was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Our bus driver was giving a tour of the gardens, naming some of the different plants and showing us the pretty ponds. As she stopped to talk about this one plant, I looked above her only to spot about 4 different spider webs and probably 6 HUGE spiders directly above her head. I immediately interrupted her lovely explanation of the plant with my terrified shrieks followed by my stealthy sprint to the other end of the field. As everyone was watching/laughing at my little show my mother translated those actions into words and told the tour guide to move because there were spiders over her head. After an embarrassing visit to Kirstenbosch, we headed back to the hotel; right after entering the hotel we realized the we left the pizza on the bus with the old British couple. That pretty much ended that day.
The following day my mom did the Robben Island tour while I attended class at UCT. After that I gave her a tour of the house and of Rondebosch. We bought some South African chocolates (P.S. I Love You bars) and South African cookies. That night we had a lovely dinner at Marita’s flat, where she met all of the professors and Zoë who held the human rights conference. The next day Meredith, my Mom and I took the train to Kalk Bay, where we walked around, shopped and ate enormous amounts of food (Kalkies).
The next day my mom left Cape Town and headed back to the states. After a watery goodbye I began to think about going home, and although I miss my family and friends so much I can’t even imagine leaving Cape Town. I showed my mom around this place, took her to my favorite spots, assured her that the train is safe even though the Hotel concierge says it is not and ensured she was safe and having fun. It was a weird feeling; it felt like I was showing my Mom around my home. I don’t know how I am going to be able to leave this place.
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