Day Five - Happy (Belated) Birthday Nick!

If you try hard enough, you can think up many reasons why you should not take advantage of opportunities in life. I came up with quite a few when I was offered the opportunity to interview for Parks & People: I just got accepted into the Higher Education Ph.D. program, I would miss out on hiring my next graduate assistant, milestones would be missed (birthdays, holidays, etc.), I might not like the food, etc. The first milestone was Nick’s birthday, which was on January 26. Nick isn’t a big birthday person, so most of me knew he would understand me being gone, but another part of me struggled. Nick was willing to move to Pennsylvania for me and my career. Was it right for me to leave him there for 10 weeks while I traveled South Africa? Nick was incredibly supportive of my decision and never made me feel guilty about deciding to travel with Parks & People. For this, I am thankful. Happy (belated) birthday to Nick!

We started January 26 with our third trip to Table Mountain. Again, the “tablecloth” of clouds was veiling the mountain, but conditions seemed favorable, so we tried again. As they say, the third time is the charm! We took the rotating cable car to the top and had a short lesson before we had time to explore the mountain. Unfortunately, the tablecloth kept us from getting the view of the city, but going to the top of the mountain was still an awesome experience.

Next, we loaded up and the students ate lunch on the road on the way to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, where we met Wendy, who gave another short lesson and guided us through. I was sitting in the back of our outdoor classroom while Wendy was teaching and this tortoise walked right up to me. I think he would have walked over my feet if I didn’t move!

To close out of day, we headed back to the iKhaya Lodge, where we had dinner with the owner, Ruth. Ruth grew up in Kenya and had dreams of owning an inn in her parents’ home with her brother someday. Ruth was working in New Zealand when her brother called her about iKhaya Lodge, which she decided to purchase. Ruth explained that living and working in South Africa has been challenging, even post-apartheid. Many people seem to think that a black woman should not be in charge of a business, but seem to be more okay once they realize she is not South African. Ruth shared great advice and lessons with the group and our time with her was the perfect close to a busy day. Ruth is clearly passionate about her job and does a great job running the business.

The students are really soaking in all the information they’re getting here in South Africa. They’ve been great to work with and I love seeing their personalities come out. Our time in Cape Town was full of action and adventure. We’re currently in The Karoo Desert, where wifi is quite limited, but I’m hoping to catch up on the blog before we depart on February 7.