table mountain

T and I at the top of Table Mountain.

Table Mountain. Trevor and I along with the Zimterns (Derek and Ale) and some of the CT crew (Laura, Rebecca and Durkin) climbed it today. It took an hour and a half to make it to the top and it was nothing but stairs the whole way. And these were not your easy Stairmaster stairs – no, these were uneven, monster stairs that were very unsympathetic on all climbers. 

But we completed the arduous climb and even had fun wile doing it! The CT crew introduced the Discussion Question game in which people just ask questions that everyone in the group has to answer. Some good ones that came up were "What GRS site would you want to move to if you had the choice?" and "Rank the five physical features that attract you to the opposite gender." 

Another fun past time was taking pictures of crazy ol' Zimbird. Zimbird is the housewarming gift that the Zimterns brought the CT crew for Thanksgiving. Trevor and Ale spent a good amount of time helping the Zimbird climb all over Table Mountain and we ended up getting som hilarious pictures. 

Zimbird with a guy who was chilling alongside the path playing his
xylophone.

And we did indeed make it to the top of Table Mountain! To celebrate our victory we lunched on Thanksgiving leftovers. There was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, apples, wine and even a turkey tablecloth! Sure we got tons of odd stares, but deep down I know all those people were just jealous. 

From left to right we have: Derek (Zimtern), Trevor (Kimtern), me, Rebecca
(CT crew), Ale (Zimtern), Durkin (CT crew) and Laura (CT crew).

I thought the views of the city were better from the top of Lion's Head (even though Table Mountain has a higher elevation) but it was still cool to look out over the city.

Lion's Head is on the left, Robbin Island is in the distance and the
soccer stadium is on the right.

After hanging out at the summit we began our descent. This was still tough and we all felt like we had jelly legs by the time we reached the bottom, but we had a blast swapping stories and telling people, "You're almost there!" even if they were just starting their climb... (We actually had a debate about the morality of telling people this even if it wasn't true).

Alice (former intern and current GRS staff member), Rebecca and I
underneath the 12 Apostles.

On the way down Table Mountain I was crazy enough to promise Trevor that if we went to the beach later and he went swimming, then I would join him (I blame the sun). That evening we went to Camp's Bay to watch the sunset and sure enough, Trevor went swimming. So I foolishly joined him. The water was cold - it reminded me a lot of swimming at Cape Cod - and it didn't help that the sun was setting and  a crazy Cape Town wind was blowing. Was swimming it worth it? Debatable. But I did get some mad props, so I'll consider it a win.

Just hanging out on some of the rocks.

The whole group spent a good amount of time just lying on the beach, eating chocolate and drinking wine, sharing stories and watching the sun set. I know I've said this several times now, but I'll say it again - it always feels so great to hang out with the other interns and I continue to be amazed at how awesome each and and every one of them are.

That night we hit Long Street - the main drag in Cape Town. Going out in Cape Town is a lot different than going out in Kimberley. One difference is that there are actually white people around. Another is that a lot of American pop and classic rock music is played. But the biggest difference is hard to describe - there is just a much different vibe in the Cape Town night life. It's very similar to how it feels when you go out in the U.S. or in Europe, but I really think I like going out in Kim a lot better. The cool thing about going out with the interns though, is that regardless of where you are and what your surroundings are, you are guaranteed to have a good time. It was a good way to finish off a fantastic day.

Trevor and I.