Countdown: 4 days

So I'm off to South Africa in 4 days time, and it is definitely a strange feeling. I am surprised at how relaxed I've been about the whole thing and thought I would be worrying much more than I actually am. It is definitely a good thing, and I think it just hasn't quite hit me yet. Hopefully it will stay that way while I am trying to get the last of my things together. I also hate saying goodbye, and tend to get very emotional, but my excitement is overpowering those feelings right now which I am appreciating greatly.

When thinking about what I want to accomplish in South Africa, a lot comes to mind. I am hoping to grow as a person and learn a little bit about myself. But there are also some other goals that I would really love to achieve while over there. This goals have come from experiences of friends, some prior knowledge of South Africa, and books on South African travel:

1. Swim with the penguins at Boulders Beach. Boulders Beach is right in Cape Town, and I think I will be accomplishing this goal during orientation week for UCT.

2. Visit Robben Island. You can't visit South Africa without visiting Robben Island. I have read books on Nelson Mandela and he is such an incredible man and it would be a sad but important experience to see where he was for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment.

3.  Hike up Table Mountain. UCT is located and the bottom of Table Mountain, so I will have ample time to accomplish this goal, but would like to do it a few times during my stay. Here is a picture of the mountain:

4.  Learn how to scuba dive. This one is very intimidating to me for some reason, but I'm sure I would love it once given the chance.

5.  Surf. Probably not too often, and I'm sure I will be terrible, but it is something I have always wanted to try. And what better place to try it than in Cape Town?

6.  Go bungee jumping. Terrifying, but I really really want to do it. It would be such an adrenaline rush.

7. Sky diving. Also terrifying, but it would be an amazing experience.

8.  Go on a safari. Hopefully at Kruger National Park.

I need this to happen to me.

9.  Visit Victoria Falls, which is the largest curtain of water in the world. It lies between Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

10.  Drive the Garden Route. It is a stretch of coastal plain between Mossel Bay and Storms River Mountain. It has a legendary status of being South Africa's paradise.

11.  Learn about South African wines. I also want to visit some vineyards for wine tasting, and hopefully will be able to do the Stellenbosch wine route.  

12.  Visit the sand dunes in Namibia. Sand dunes are crazy, and I want to be surrounded by them.

13.  Lay on the beach in Mozambique. It is supposed to be paradise, and it sounds and looks simply amazing:

14.  Picnic at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. It is right in Cape Town, and was the first botanical garden to grow only indigenous plants, which is wonderful.

15.  Visit Lesotho, Swaziland, and all South Africa's bordering countries. This may be a little far-fetched, but I would like to see most of them.

16.  Watch both a soccer and a rugby game. I have never done either, and I think it would be a blast.

17.  Volunteer with young students promoting education. This is my life's passion, and a big reason I am going to South Africa. Ideally I will be teaching abroad after I graduate, and this would be a great experience for me.

18.  Learn some Xhosa, and also Afrikaans.  Both are widely spoken in Cape Town, and I would like to learn a little of both.

There are many more where this comes from, and I will be adding on when I get there. But I am going to try and do as much on this list as possible.  Unfortunately, I don't think I will have to funds to accomplish everything I would like to, or the time for that matter (I sometimes forget that I have to go to school while living in Cape Town), but a girl can dream. And an experience like this won't happen again anytime soon, so I am going to do it big, and come home broke.

Let me know if you have any other recommendations! And my next post will be written while sitting in Cape Town, which is so exciting. Hamba kahle!