Capetown - Day 1

My first day in South Africa and I am simply overcome with how awesome everything seems. It could be the gorgeous weather, the view as we flew in or simply the slowly dawning realisation that I am free to do anything I want until next summer! As the plane landed (Boeing 777 - touch screens at every seat - loadsa space, lovely!) the sight of massive peaks leading down to empty white sandy beaches was truly inspiring.

My first stop was a backpacker's hostel in Simonstown quite close to Capetown. It was dark and pretty cold just after landing so I got to my bed and fell asleep within minutes.
On waking up it was time for some very slow exploring of this chilled out town. On finding a way down to the beach I could faintly hear the sound of African singing. There was a small choir giving it their all so I had no choice but to sit on some rocks at the shore to relax and take it all in. I was puzzled by a periodic cracking sound and it took me a while to realise it was the gulls collecting shellfish and dropping them on the rocks around me to crack them open!

A little further down the road there was a nesting area for African penguins so I must have spent an hour in the area snapping away with the camera. As I wandered back I ran into Gareth, a friend of Karina's who has a coffee shop. He invited me in to sit in the sun with a glass of wine and chat for a while. I could never say no to that so a lovely walk was capped off perfectly. The tranquil feeling I have here is just incredible and although I am still getting used to it, there is plenty of time to daydream about adventures yet to come.