Camps Bay

On Sunday, February 17^th I spent the day at the beach in Camps Bay. About twelve people from my program had spent the night in the area so my friends Lara, Ashley, Kelin, Allie, and I decided to meet up with them and spend the day at the ocean. Allie was going out to breakfast with a family friend and catching a ride with her to the beach so Lara, Ashley, Kelin, and I met up at the taxi rink around 9am to catch a taxi to town and then transfer to a taxi heading to Camps Bay. The taxi ride to Camps Bay was beautiful! We took a route that hugged the mountain so we were able to watch our descent down the mountainside to the white beach and sparkling ocean waters below. Over the past three weeks I’ve often found myself breathless, overwhelmed by the scenery around me; I definitely experienced this on our taxi ride!

When we reached our stop, the four of us got out and ran into Pick-n-Pay to grab some snacks and water before heading across the street to the beach. Lara and I decided to get a spot to ourselves that was close to the bathroom, while Kelin and Ashley migrated further down the beach to meet up with the bigger group. While we were setting up camp, Lara made a joke about getting ice cream from the vendors who weave through the crowds of sunbathers every time one passed by. This suggestion was hysterical because vendors passed by us about every two minutes! Talk about a lot of ice cream we would have to eat! After half an hour of sunbathing Lara and I were groaning, pretending that our stomachs were full of ice cream, and shouting “NO MORE ICE CREAM!” every time a vendor walked by. About the same time we decided to take a break from sunbathing to go explore the rocks at the far end of the beach. The two of us spent over an hour climbing over the rocks and through the tide pools, before deciding to get out of the blistering heat for a while and grab some lunch. Since we were in a tourist area we had to pay about 50-60R more for lunch than we usually do, but the salads and cocktails we got were worth the extra money even if the service we received was subpar. After lunch we stopped at a shop so I could buy some postcards before heading back and moving our belongings further down the beach to join the rest of the group. We spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing and enjoying the company of our friends before packing up and heading back home for dinner at our respective houses. All in all it was a great Sunday, even if I got a little burned. I certainly wouldn’t trade my sunburn for the cold, snowy winter weather back home!

Lara and I on the rocks at Camps Bay