A Series of Fortunate Events

This is the best trip of my life.
These past few days have been absolutely incredible. I haven't written in forever, and I don't even know where to begin.... so I'm separating this in sections.
TOURISTY STUFF
If you're a tourist in Cape Town you can't help but fall in love with this city more and more every day. It's not in many cities around the world you can wake up and walk around town to the view of one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, the long winding beach, and a huge mountain in the middle. In terms of scenery, Cape Town is perfection... a mix between Santorini and San Francisco, the Andes and the Amazon... all on the coast of the Atlantic. Breathtaking. And so much to do! We've hiked all the way up to Lion's Head, chilled during sunset (cocktail in hand) in (the very chic) Camps Bay, Safaried in a game reserve and taken a boat out to Robben Island.
Lion's Head was ridiculous. That morning I had crashed at my friend's place (and by friends I mean the 15 volunteers living in this house). I was asked if I wanted to go to Lion's Head... but was forgot to be told that "going to Lion's Head" implies a 1hour hike (and climb) up to the top. Not a good place for tight jeans and skater sneakers, but totally worth it. The views up there are amazing... we took tons of pictures, although I must say people seem to have finally found a way to limiting my snap-away addiction: exercise. It's hard to think about taking pictures when you can barely catch your breath and your face looks like a swollen tomato (oou, attractive). Still though, once you get up there nobody is thinking about the hike up anymore (well, until you see a guy in his flip-flops and wonder how the hell he managed the hike up in the first place). You're completely taken away by the scenery (and the possibility of lying down and resting for a bit. That is until you have to come down... if you think climbing up is HARD... going down is absolutely TERRIFYING. Part of the charm of Lion's Head apparently s not only the beauty and the exercise, but the adrenaline. The whole hike up is steep and next to sheer sheer drops.... a narrow path, and no handrails. That is unless you count the barbed wire fence there is around some of the steepest sides. Because of course when you're about to fall down a steep cliff edge, the thing you want to hold on to the most is barbed wire. (Seriously?!) Anyways there is also parts where a chain goes down the side of the cliff and you can actually sort of rapel down. All in all, it was very exciting.
Robben Island was great too. The trip over there though... not as much. Try popping 4 exhausted 20-somethings in a bobbing boat at 10am after a night out in town. We were pretty lucky we didn't have to make use of the paper bags in front. We were even luckier though to manage to get in the tour bus with the best tour guide in the island. And I mean that literally.... this man is the one assigned to guide the tour when all the important people come around. He's got the coolest stories about touring everyone from Bill Clinton and Obama, to the princes William and Harry, all the way to John Travolta and Oprah... oh yes, and Bill Crosby! Apparently that was a hilarious one. More recently, he also toured the Dutch football team (who were there a week after we were). The island itself is beautiful, and the view of Table Mountain is amazing. The jails are very moving... Nelson Mandela's cell is nothing like what you can see in the movies. It is tiny. Very, very tiny. And you can see the sort of oppression the inmates where kept at before: the old lunch menu shows how the rations (although all small) were even smaller for black people than for indians and coloured people... the Apartheid's way of creating animosity even within the inmates. Apparently, however, they didn't fall for this, and the Indians and Coloured actually would share all their meals in equal parts with the Black inmates.
The Safari was one of the things i'd been looking forward to the most. And it was great.... but as a recommendation, if ever you are planning a trip to Africa and want to make time for a quick safari, do not expect the big bad wild. 1-day safaris do not exist... at least not the real thing. They take place in private game reserves, which are fenced and where animals are easily spotted, and separated by categories (it wouldn't be very economically feasible it their lions kept eating their zebras). Also, since they promise you a view of the big 5, if you don't manage to see their "wild" lions, at the end of the safari they take you to the "zoo" part of their premises, where you can see the big cats in barbed wire fences. It's amazing, but a bit depressing at the same time. Fortunately, I knew this before I went. However, a lot of my friends didn't, and were sorely disappointed. The reserve was at a beautiful location though, and... with the availability of free champagne and the sun out by the poolside, we ended up having a great time, and a sweet photoshoot. Part of the amenities also included seeing two friends try to chase and ostrich... and the plan backfiring. Nothing - i repeat, NOTHING - is funnier than watching an italian guy being chased by an ostrich. And then him mimicking its "attack".
WORLD CUP STUFF
If you follow my facebook updates, you will by now know of my famed picture of Beckham. Now I know people have taken to going "nah, he's not such a big deal" when asked about him. It makes you seem cool and original... you're better than everyone else by not liking Beckham. But face it, it's a lie. The man is pure perfection.... especially when dressed in the perfectly cut English team suit. And standing 2 feet away from you.... and yes, when he hugs you and says "you're welcome" in his perfect british accent as he squeezes your arm. Ahhh. But that's not the only exciting thing that's been going on in my football world. Like the sneaky latin I am (and in this case, I am damn proud of it), I have managed to snake my way in to the coolest spots every game... whether it be on luck or just talent lol. During Italy-Paraguay I stood less than a foot away from the likes of Cannavaro, De Rossi and Camoranesi... and translated the answers of the Paraguayan players for the international reporters. I was even live on Paraguayan radio!! For England-Algeria, I was on the pitch and next to the bench as the players came out on the field. I even show up on cameras... if you look for a picture or video of Fabio Capello (English coach) singing the anthem that day, right next to his head you will see a small set of brown hair and a big smile bobbing up and down. That would be me, standing behind him. Ridiculous. I have also watched every game so far, VIP booth every time. Oh and of course, watched as the players got on the bus to leave the stadium... capturing shots not only with Beckham but also of Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates, and the whole English team... oh yeah, me and a friend totally got checked out by Gerrard and Johnson. Waved at by Crouch... and motioned to come on the bus by the Algerian team lol... which of course we were banned from.
FUN STUFF
The people here are awesome. I can already see the next week when the first of us start to trickle away is going to be a hard one. Not only have I made great South African friends, but also a huge group of the most amazing international volunteers ever. We are already planning a visit to Peru in 2014... and then road-tripping it to Brazil for the next World Cup. Should be amazing. I've been staying in the volunteer house (it's a house 15 of them rented) some nights, were the latin people (Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan and Honduran) usually take over with some salsa dancing in the living room. Every day is so nice and fun... whether it's just walking to the water front or going to watch the games at one of the local bars. The USA win yesterday was ridiculous by the way... props to the "soccer" nation for supporting their team that much... I was impressed (although their chanting of "bullshit, bullshit" every time their team was penalized was just SO american hahaha)
Now everyone is pumped for the coming up round of 16 matches, so these should be some exciting days until I return to Canada. In the meantime... i'm off to enjoy Cape Town!!

MISS YOU ALL!! Pictures coming up soon :D