Cape Town

Before heading to my next volunteer assignment my friend Maria and I decided to meet in Cape Town for eight days. Now remember, Maria has been living in the bush in Botswana since March and I have been living in various East African countries in the bush, jungles and even an island where I didn’t wear shoes for over a month. After months of roughing it, we are suddenly thrusted back into a modern metropolitan city. Three words… GIRLS GONE WILD.

We were staying in a cute guest house at the waterfront. It had real duvets and lots of pillows on each bed, and even electricity and hot showers. And guess what? The power never went out! The streets were paved; I didn’t see one donkey only cars, streets lights (which are called “robots”) and tall buildings. I couldn’t believe how foreign this felt to me. It truly felt like a different world. I must admit, it was a world I was ready to play in again.

Our first stop…. the famous V&A Waterfront. This landmark has everything from world class shopping, to casual and fine dining. And we did it all! We both were in desperate need of haircuts and treatments. After spending a few hours at the salon, we shopped for some new clothes to replace the stained and torn clothes we had been wearing for the past six months. The economy may suck in the U.S. but the dollar is very strong in South Africa…. 11.5R to $1. A simple white, v-neck t-shirt set me back 4.95R… that’s less than $3! Certainly worth replacing the one I had been wearing for close to six months with cow blood stains from feeding the lions. Trust me, I bought more than a white t-shirt. We had to take full advantage of this opportunity… just ask Jimmy Choo! We dined on the Capes best seafood and best wine. The next day we went for the full spit shine…. Massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure. If I told you the price you wouldn’t believe me. O-kay, I’ll tell you…. $90! And this was at a high-end hotel and spa. I think I’m going to move to Cape Town!

All I can say is, “You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl!”