A Culmination in Cape Town

Well, it took me essentially 23 months, but I finally am finishing these Remote Year recaps with this Cape Town entry. Cape Town was country 12 of 12 of the Remote Year program, although I managed to tack on 7 additional countries during the year as well. The most common question us remotes get is "what was your favorite place" and that's actually quite hard to answer. That being said, Cape Town is up there. Cape Town is on the bottom west corner tip of Africa and is housed in the country of South Africa and it's a gorgeous beachside city on the coast. We lucked out and got to stay in Cape Town for 5 weeks to end our trip and I don't think there could have been a better place to cap off what has definitively become the best year of my life. Not only is Cape Town amazing in and of itself, there's so much to do and to see! And we did it all.

Some quick things about South Africa and Cape Town: Despite the country having 11 (!!!) official languages, the primary language used is English and South African accents are amazing. The people of South Africa are gorgeous. Charlize Theron is South African, which I always thought was random, until I saw South Africans and realized she very much looks South African. Some people call Cape Town the Miami of Africa, and to me, that's not an incorrect comparison. There's definitely some glitzy clubby vibes in Cape Town: it's right by the water, it has a happening nightlife, and there's definitely a segment of the population that is very posh and glamourous. It's essentially the place to be in Africa if you're dreaming of being any sort of model and once discovering this, you realize that in hindsight it's obvious Charlize Theron is South African. Table Mountain is a beauty and a must-visit. I could go on and on about the awesomeness of Cape Town. The one negative about Cape Town, and it's not a small one, is the crime. South Africa in general is not a very safe place. You don't want to walk alone in the night time no matter if you're male or female and even if you're with a group you should keep your head on a swivel. Most violent crime is contained to locals, but muggings and robberies are frequent if you're not careful. If you are female, be very cautious. There's a reason all of our residences had security guards, electrified fences, and locked gates keeping strangers out. You don't have to walk around in fear, but you do have to be a little more cognizant in South Africa. Santiago was pretty bad in terms of petty crime, but South Africa is definitely more dangerous. That's it. That's the only negative. Oh, and load shedding. Load shedding is when the city shuts down certain electrical grids for hours at a time due to the city's demand for electricity. It means no air conditioning or internet for at least a couple hours and it can be brutal. Aside from those two things, the rest of Cape Town is amazing. You must try attending a braai, which is essentially a South African BBQ. Biltong is dried beef that's very popular with South Africans. The common warm greeting in South Africa is "Howzit", combining "hello" and "how is it going?" and my buds and I used "Lekker" a lot to describe things we thought were great.

Cape Town also has its own wine country about an hour outside of the city. It includes the regions of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl that offer a bunch of different wineries and estates for wine lovers. The wines are quite good and the scenery is very pretty. A lot of us Polarians participated in loads of other fun activities in Cape Town and its surrounding areas, from shark diving, sky diving, going on safari, scoping out Table Mountain, seeing the penguins of False Bay, doing a trip through the Garden Route, hanging at the V&A Waterfront, soaking in the sun and waves at the beaches, walking tours of Bo-Kaap, taking in a cricket match, or attending a Rands First Sunday, a giant "braai" that is held on the first Sunday of a new month. It's a very fun and festive atmosphere. As you can tell, there is a lot to do in and around Cape Town. As soon as we flew in, we attended a summer sunset concert in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden which was a weekly event.

The highlight of the South Africa trip had to be taking a safari around the Kruger National Park area. We used Distinctly Africa and loved our experience. A safari had never been on my bucket list per se, but it always sounded cool. It is one of the coolest experiences I've had. You drive around and have no idea what will show itself around the next turn. A couple of rhinos? A pride of lions? A leopard and her cub facing off against a few hyenas for a recent kill? Giraffes? African Buffalo? Elephants? Wild dogs? Warthogs? Zebras? Gazelle? A dung beetle pushing, well, dung? All of the above. Seeing these animals in their actual environment, not in cages on display at a zoo or amusement park, is something that can't be explained, only experienced. It is simply incredible.

As for the more domesticated stuff, I was a big fan of The Bootlegger Coffee Company, where I basically had breakfast every single morning and Yindee's Authentic Thai Food that had really good Thai food. Clifton Beach and Camp's Bay were the two beaches we spent the most time at, and if you find yourself there and you love fresh seafood you need to eat at The Codfather. On the flipside, if you're looking for a cool vibey place to grab drinks or lunch right on the beachfront, go to Cafe Caprice, which also doubles as a dope nightlife scene. Again, Table Mountain made for a beautiful background, but it's even more exquisite when you take the cable car to the top and hike around it. It's truly gorgeous. I also recommend a sunrise hike up Lion's Head, another mountain found in Cape Town. Watching the sunrise slowly over the city is tranquility defined.

However, Cape Town was extra special not because of all the amazing, cool things we did, but the fact we knew it was our last month together. All the friendships, drama, good-byes, I love you's, fights, happiness, sadness, and the complete transformation of nearly 40 strangers turned into acquaintances turned into friends forever over the course of the year came to a head in Month 12. A special bond with a group that will, most likely, never be replicated in our lifetimes. There is no way to truly connect with a person or group of people the way that traveling together does, for better or for worse. There are no secrets. There are no masks. If you think you're going to be a different person when you travel, the real you will eventually show itself, especially if the time period spent traveling is a year. I'll save my true Remote Year recap for a separate entry, but Cape Town was captivating in all the ways, mostly because it was our final farewell, even despite the fact that Remote Year crammed in at least two other groups with us as well. Our murder mystery party was a highlight, but also the true beginning of the end. Our farewell party was fun, if a little understated. Our impromptu farewell dinner was a time for celebration and good-byes. In all, Cape Town couldn't have treated Polaris any better.

On the -5 to 5 scale, I give Cape Town a 5. It is the one city I give an easy 5, despite the crime and load shedding. If you ever have a chance to go to South Africa and specifically Cape Town, I urge you to do so. It is a great place with a lot of natural beauty, beautiful people, kind locals (the good ones), and good food. It is not ranked this high just for recency bias, but for all the opportunities it provided us. Cape Town was indeed one of the best months of the Remote Year journey and we'll never forget it.