Weekend in Simonstown

This past weekend we had a student "retreat". Which was basically just a break for all of us from our homestay families and a chance to hang out a bit. They called it a vacation but then gave us a bunch of homework, so it did come with a price.

On Friday we took the train from Rondebosch all of the way to Simonstown. The train station is right across from our classroom so that was really convenient. It was about a 45 minute train ride but it seemed much shorter. The train ran right along the coast so we had a mountain on one side and the ocean on the other... not bad scenery. I put up a bunch of pictures of the view on facebook, so for those who are able feel free to search me and check them out.

Our vans met us at the train station when we arrived and brought us just a few blocks to our hostel. On the train on the way there our student liaison officer (basically an older group guide) was telling us that we were staying in an old convent and we would have to be very quiet and pray several times a day. It was a big deal over whether she was joking or not and she had quite a lot of fun with us. We got there and sure enough, it had been a convent. However it was now converted into a Bed and Breakfast. We all found our rooms and then regrouped before heading out to dinner. About 10 of us went out to eat at a restaurant that our Student Leader knew about. Her brother is in the navy and stationed in Simonstown so he met up with us and showed us where to eat. The food was great and a bunch of the people at the restaurant came over to our table to hang out with "the loud Americans." The cook even came out and bought us all a round of drinks. It was a fun night. I ate springbok steak that was delicious.

On Saturday morning we woke up and walked around Simonstown. It was pretty cloudy so we stayed in town and checked out some of the little shops and grabbed lunch. Then at 2pm we all got in the vans and headed to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. They are two different capes in the Southernmost tip of Africa. Cape Point is also the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. We climbed all of the way up to the lighthouse and then we climbed all of the way down to the beach. It was quite the workout but absolutely beautiful. It was really interesting because there were a lot of tourists there so there were many languages being spoken. But it was also very frustrating because we are finally getting used to walking on the left side of roads, paths, and people, but everyone there was doing the opposite so it felt wrong to switch back.