Lauren's Experience

Hello from South Africa! I am writing this on my last night here in South Africa. As I write, I look back on what an amazing and life changing experience this has been. I am so grateful to my parents for allowing me to partake in this once in a lifetime trip, but also I am beyond grateful to be apart of the Ursuline community. I am proud to say I go to Ursuline, and this trip has really brought the phrase, “we are connected to Ursuline communities all over the world” to light. We so often hear that phrase, but I do not think one truly realizes it until they experience it for themselves!

My favorite part of this trip was the time we spent in Cape Town. After a long day of traveling, we arrived in Cape Town in the evening, and made our way to the hotel. I was so excited about what was to come, I had trouble falling asleep! We woke up the next morning and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I had the most amazing breakfast, and tried strawberry juice for the first time. Then we made our way to our first stop in Cape Town, Table Mountain. We rode a gondola up the mountain, and the floor of the gondola spun in a circle while it was carrying us up. I had never experienced anything like that, and it made my stomach drop a few times, but the view at the top was completely worth it!


After that, we stopped on a street where the houses were previously owned by slaves that could not read or write. Since they were illiterate, they had to find a way to differentiate between the houses without using numbers or letters. So they painted each house a different color. Our last stop for the day was the District 6 Museum. I learned a lot about Apartheid at this museum. District 6 was one of the largest areas that was declared white during Apartheid. This means every person who was not white had to move out of this area, leave everything, and find another place to live. District 6 really brought Apartheid into reality, and gave me a closer look into what people endured during that time.

Our second day in Cape Town was jam packed with things to see and activities to do! We began the day with a boat ride out to an island almost covered in sea lions. The island was such a neat thing to see, but the boat ride there and back was rough. We were going over 20ft waves; I am just happy I do not get seasick easily. When we got back to shore we piled back on the bus and began our way to the Cape of Good Hope. On the way, we stopped for a photo op. in the most beautiful place. We were on the side of a mountain, looking over I could see the water and the stunning scenery.

The Cape of Good Hope was our first baboon and ostrich sighting. On one side of the street there was a gang of ostriches, and on the other side was was a bunch of baboons. On the way out, we saw baboons climbing on peoples’ cars, and our guide told us if you do not lock your car, the baboon will open it and take any food you have! After we left the Cape of Good Hope, we made our way to the beach with all of the penguins. This was the highlight of my day! The penguins were so cute, and there were so many of them! It was so different and such a cool thing to see.

The last day in Cape Town was my favorite day of the entire trip. We visited the Langa Township. This was the first time we were exposed to real poverty while in South Africa. At first it was a shock, and I had to take a step back because I had never witnessed this type of lifestyle. Our guide grew up in Langa, and spoke about the hardships the township faces, but also the benefits of living in the township. There are many hardships including lack of a good education, difficulty to obtain a job, and poor living conditions. There was an area with man made “houses”, they were essentially huts made out of scrap metal, wood, and anything else the people could find. What really hit me was when our guide pointed out a row of shipping containers and told us several families live in each container. The living situations, among everything else was shocking to me, but it truly opened my eyes and exposed me to what life is like for so many people in South Africa. As the tour went on I realized there were so many amazing things about the township. The main thing was the community. As we were walking around, I could feel how tight knit the community was, and it was such an amazing thing to witness. On one side of the township was an area with really nice houses, and our guide explained how the people from the township who were successful moved to this area so they could still be apart of the community. He also explained how they are a symbol to the young people that success is possible. Langa Township was my favorite part of the trip because although it was a culture shock, if you looked deep enough you could see the beauty in it.

“Nomadic Notes” a blog post by Sydney Kirchoff

The day awoke with the chime of an alarm playing from the bedside table at the pure hour of 7:15am. Eager to explore Cape Town, the awakening transition was found easy! The girls gathered around the table with Mr. Master and Mrs. Jones to have one last meal in the great city of Cape Town! We left the hotel with our two tour guides that were to show us the townships of Cape Town. We were informed, the townships were apart of the 1923 Urban Areas Act that was enacted on the native Africans in Cape Town during the apartheid. The townships are places the government forced people to live. Fifteen years ago the South African government set up cargo boxes for living quarters, and the people ever since have tried to escape their living situation, attempting to find affluent jobs that lack existence. From the year of 1923, the lives of those in townships have been stricken by poverty. Poverty within townships is hard to combat due to the underlying apartheid roots and lack of education towering over their motivation to find work. As we stepped into the townships, the sense of community was easy to recognize. Despite the difficulty of survival, us girls came into agreement that the people living in the Township of Langa, are warriors. It was fascinating to see people that were living in the worst conditions, come together and manage to find joy in the smallest elements of life that us Americans, surpass every second.

The mud seeped into our leather soled shoes at the same time a child walked barefoot in the cold mud beside us. At this moment, we were exposed to reality. We could have easily avoided the negative

parts of South Africa, and focused on the photogenic cafes and lush scenery. However, we were immersed in a experience that will forever move us. As we left the Township, we drove to the Cape Town international airport where buses swarm, jobs are found, and water flows. Only a short 10 minute drive away from the airport, is the Township of Langa, where money is rare, and hope trickles as happy stories are told. After the township experience, we had a 2 hour flight to the city of Johannesburg to meet our beloved Ursuline family. We have all met our families and feel at home. Thank you for tuning into our adventure, today has been magical, and we have changed.

Olivia's Experience

Today we visited many beautiful and breathtaking sites. We went to many beaches, but the most memorable one that we went to was the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point National Park. This is the southernmost point in west South Africa, and it was beautiful. It was a huge climb to the lighthouse, but it was all worth it in the end. You could see for miles, and I felt like I was on top of the world. When we visited the Cape of Good Hope we were in Cape Point National Park, which is the whole tip of Cape Town. We were able to see various animals, like gazelles, baboons, and so many different birds. Along with those land animals, we were also able to go to Seal Island. This is a whole cluster of huge rocks where Sea Lions just chill out and sunbathe. 

Today was our last day with our tour guides. One of them was named Percy and he was the funniest guy you've ever met. He knew South Africa like the back of his hand. He gave us advice and answered any question we had, he also provided really interesting information about the Apartheid and many struggles that he and his tribe went through during that horrible time. Overall, today was a breathtaking and surreal day. We were able to go to places that I have never dreamed of, and I am so thankful for this day. Peace from South Africa!

Abigail's Experience

September 3rd-5th

Hello from South Africa! The past two days have been a roller-coaster for everyone. Our 28 hour journey all started at the St. Louis airport where we said good-bye to our family and hello to the adventure ahead of us. Then, we flew to Detroit, Michigan where we ran to catch our next connecting flight to Amsterdam. The Amsterdam airport was overwhelmingly big and I felt like we had to walk miles before reaching the next gate. After all of these connecting flights we were finally off to Cape Town, South Africa. Although being stuck on a plane for many hours was not fun, I loved being surrounded by people from all over the world on all of these flights. I had plane seat neighbors from Europe and the United States just like us. Overall the travel on the way here was very smooth and easy.

    When we arrived in Cape Town we were greeted by our tour guides that are taking us around the city for the next couple of days. They are both very nice and introduced themselves to each of us one by one. As we walked out of the airport I was looking around and I saw so many pictures and illustrations of Nelson Mandela (he is also on all of the rand which is South Africa’s currency). I could obviously see how important he was here. One of our tour guides later supported this observation by telling us “Nelson Mandela made South Africa free for us. There is no longer division between blacks and whites”.

On the first day of touring Cape Town, we visited Table Mountain and the District Six Museum. Table Mountain provided an outstanding view that looks out above Cape Town. To get up to the top we rode in a gondola lift that shuttled us up on a cable. The views were breathtaking and the sights were so good that it made up for it only being 4 degrees up there. Ground level temperatures this time of year in Cape Town are in the comfortable upper 50s. I had two sweatshirts on but I regret not packing a heavier coat! At the District Six Museum there were many pictures and street signs on display from before Apartheid. I learned Apartheid means “complete separation” and in South Africa it was specifically a system that forced black people out of certain areas in Cape Town and declared those areas for whites only. We spoke with an elderly man who was living in District Six when Apartheid took place and it was very interesting.

As I bring this to a close, I realize how incredible it is that I am here. I am so grateful and blessed that I was able to participate in this once in a lifetime trip. It is so exciting to experience new things and I cannot wait to see what comes next!