Indeed, I've given up ship life! I had an amazing third and last contract with Royal Caribbean and I'm so grateful for this experience, having had a job I really enjoyed, working with people from all over the world (guests as well as crew), seeing places other people go on vacation for, speaking different languages, and being motivated to learn even more.
Boston as we sailed away
Bar Harbour in the fall ~ simply beautiful
I was home for 10 days and enjoyed the fall nature in my home town. Then I flew to....Cape Town, South Africa
On my second day in South Africa, we climbed Lions Head from where you have a nice view on Cape Town as well as on Table Mountain, if it's not too cloudy. Here I'm just enjoying the view and trying to take it all in.
It didn't take me long to find out that 'it's beautiful here'...
And of course many crazy poses wherever we went...here taking a break from driving along the coast of the cape.
On one of the many wine farms by Stellenbosch, here with a friend from my second contract on the Explorer of the Seas. It was so nice to see Lauren again and stay with her for a few days.
We went to quite a few wine farms to do some wine tasting....yum! On this particular one we also had some cheese. Perfect combination. Anytime again. And as much as possible!
What is a trip to South Africa if you don't get in contact with wild animals? I wanted to do it right - and got to play with cheetahs for a few minutes.
We never got to swim in the ocean, partly because the water was too cold, partly because we had so many other things on the agenda. Here at Jeffrey's Bay.
One of the highlights was going to
We went to the Addo Elephant National Park where we saw so many elephants you could only imagine! Here we almost drove into this small herd that is walking around the baby elephant. They were following us for a while and we got to watch and enjoy as they trotted their way back into the greener parts of the park, waving their big ears almost choreographically...
I am also intrigued by South African history and so we made our way to Robben Island. Here I'm standing by the cell where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for many years. Touring the island and hearing about the political movements in very recent history has made a deep impact on me. So often we take freedom and peace for granted.
I had such an amazing time. Three weeks filled with adventure and spending time with friends I wouldn't want to miss in a lifetime. I couldn't have planned it better, I couldn't have asked for anything else. Thank you Adél. Thank you Lauren. Thank you God.
