13 April (Day 28)

The actual Cape Agulhas was not where our hostel was. We had to drive there. Cape Agulhas is the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa, and also the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Obviously we took about a million pictures by the sign, before climbing around on the rocks for a bit. Also at Cape Agulhas is a lighthouse, complete with a small exhibit on lighthouses of the world. As we were climbing the lighthouse (which, by the way, has ladder-style steps at different levels, rather than the spiral stairs to which I am accustomed) we saw a poster with several lighthouses, including a particularly familiar one. The lighthouse in Grand Haven, MI is featured at Cape Agulhas! Small world.

After that we went back to the beach. Anna, Alex, and Jeff finally got to go kayaking, which they’d been dying to do all holiday. Those of us not quite up to that type of strenuous activity opted to go boating. There were small boats, so six of us fit on each. I had never been boating on the ocean like this before. Being that I’m not exactly a big boater to begin with, it wasn’t really my favorite day. I will admit that it was fun, though, and I had a really good time.

Until I ruined my camera. Salt water? Nope. Typical Caitlin clumsiness? You bet. I was trying to climb out of the boat with my camera in my hand when it slipped. I had the rope around my wrist, but the screen smashed against the boat and cracked. Luckily, it was just the screen. So I can still take pictures with my camera, I just can’t review them, or use cool settings, or know when my battery is dying without waiting for it to stop turning on. But I did make sure to get a camera with a viewfinder on it, and it’s kind of like having a normal camera. And the pictures still turn out fine. Plus, at this point it was almost the end of holiday and I’d done the bulk of our major exciting activity.

Following the boat ride, we drove to Gansebaai, kind of. I think we technically were staying in a smaller town near Gansebaai, but I didn’t exactly check my atlas. Which is to say, I don’t have an atlas. This was to be the last night of holiday, so we went to the nearest store to try and buy some beer. Unfortunately, Easter Monday is a real holiday here, and nothing was open. After that we all went back to the hostel. Once again, our group was too big. All twelve of the GVSU students took up our guesthouse, and Sandy, Pierre, and Antoinette were down the road. That was actually really cool, because we all hung around listening to the radio (a real radio station!) and playing pool before dinner.

After dinner we ordered Dom Pedro’s again, but this time I didn’t get Amarula. I chose to try Stroh’s rum. This rum is 86% alcohol, so mixing it with ice cream was about the only way I was ever going to try it. Jake, Jeff, Pierre, Antoinette, and I all ordered them. Someone described it as tasting like rum raisin, which I think is a valid comparison. However, it was the only Dom Pedro I’ve had that you could really taste the alcohol in, even with all the ice cream. Glad that I tried it, but Amarula still has my heart.

After dinner we went back to our guesthouse and played an epic game of sardines. I don’t even like sardines, and I had to be the hider like three times, but it was fun nonetheless. Anna had been dying to play sardines for weeks. I can see why, she’s really good at it. We still made it to bed fairly early, because we had to be out of the guesthouse by 7:15am the next morning.