Capetown - Family and Penguins!

I woke up this morning and experienced something that is occurring more frequently - I truly couldn’t remember where I was! I thought “definitely not Nepal - where am I?” Finally realized as I looked around and saw I’m in a huge beautiful tent that I’m in South Africa - in Kruger National Park. (I’m a bit behind in writing)

There are such stark differences between Nepal and South Africa- both so beautiful in their own way. Both with such unique histories, landscapes, cultures and religions. Different food. We’ve quickly become accustomed to Load shedding (daily scheduled power outages) here. And while Nepal is home to one of my favorite sites (Bouddhanath) in the world, South Africa tugs at my heart in particular as it’s where my father was born…and where my Aunt Amanda lives that I only got to know recently. A large part of my family’s history is here…and It has been remarkable. ❤️

Capetown is at the south-western most tip of Africa. It is surrounded by uniquely lined and stacked mountains on multiple sides, including Table mountain, which we visited via a large, high tech revolving cable car. We stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast a block from my aunt so we could have some good family time. We went Aunt Amanda and Aunt Penny’s house with their lovely cats. We had a beautiful family picnic at the local botanical gardens. We had a braai (traditional South Africa grill/BBQ) with distant cousins which was also so special. We also drove along beach towns on the coast, made friends with a local kite surfing family, and Maddie became close friends with the daughter and had her first sleepover since being on this trip. She even got to try kite surfing.

We also got to go to Boulders Beach and were surprised to see hundreds of penguins nesting. We even got to go in the water near them - freezing water - so only Brian went swimming! Shocker 😂. We also got see an animal we had never heard of called a Dassie. Super cute combo looks like a mini bear and Guinea pig that hang out in and on the bushes near the Cape.

I have travelled quite extensively in the past but still get caught off guard by how many things (places, ideas, and animals) I didnt know existed. For some reason I love learning about how much I don’t know. I love that reality check in life - there is so much out there. There is always something new. There is always something to be explored. So much beauty in that. I feel that constantly here. It’s beautiful.

And more than anything I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know my Aunt - we are so blessed to have such a beautiful human being as part of our family. Beyond grateful…❤️

Anyhow long post - hope you’re all well! I’ll write soon about Kruger National Park then we’ll be off to Egypt and Morocco!

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“Life is a daring adventure towards an unknown future. Its beauty depends on how much you enjoy the journey.”

Debasish MridhaRead more