Cape Town: the best week of my life. #wakawakabirthday

(disclaimer: i use proper grammar all day err day at my job so please just excuse my laziness here k)

so! just turned 30. this may come as a shock but there was no way i was entering a new decade by staying in vancouver.

so where to go?!

there is one place that has been calling my name for the last year or so, a place that has been tugging my heart since i first went in Nov 2017. and if there's one thing i've learned about myself in the last year n a half it's that i'm not one to procrastinate my bucket list. it was time for AFRICAAAAA.

when i thought about it, Rwanda was probably the most special and unique part of #peaceplaypassion. it was definitely the place that gave me the most culture shock, and made me feel the most out of my element.

i wanted more of that. that’s the good stuff.

Rwanda was also the place that gave me my first taste of the safari bug: and that bug is ADDICTING. when i did a game drive through Akagera Park i knew that i was INSTANTLY hooked. you can look at all the pics of elephants you want online, but seeing these incredible animals up close is an experience you just can’t imagine unless it’s IRL. plus i still had to round out my Big 5 sightings, including that elusive leopard, so what choice did i have but to go back to do a proper safari?!

then there was Cape Town — a place i coined in 2017 to be my spirit city. i've yet to meet someone who went to Cape Town and wasn't obsessed with it. i had such an epic time there, i think that part of my trip really changed me. it was the first place i came into my own as a solo traveller. i just met awesome friends, yoloed so hard, had a freaking blast. plus, i had as close as i’ve gotten to a spiritual experience at the top of Lion’s Head at sunrise, when i decided i didn’t know what life held for me post #peaceplaypassion, but i knew it was up to me to keep the adventure going. i just never ever want to let go of that commitment that i made at the top of that mountain.

so i knew i was going to make it back to cape town as soon as humanly possible.

when i was growing up i kinda always thought i’d be married??? by 30??? or at least in a relationship.

welp. here we are.

back to africa i go!!! lol

i did spend my actual bday with my besties in new york city, which WAS my city at the time. (till Cape Town)… what more could a girl ask for on her bday, really?

a 14.5 hour flight from JFK to Jo-burg, plus a 2-hour flight from there to Cape Town, later, i was descending on this breathtaking south african landscape and, SHOCKER, getting emosh.

i was here, back in africa, back in the motherland, the land that is shared by so many incredible animals, each with their own story to tell. i made it my goal to come back here, and here i was. badabing badaboom.

i also have never been so confident that i would have a 10/10 trip. like i was so prepared, everything was perfect, i knew i wasn’t going to screw anything up (trust me, i have in the past). i honestly had set an intention that my trip was going to be an amazing adventure and never wavered from that — that is called manifestation, friends. it works, trust me.

got to Cape Town, back to Atlantic Point Backpackers Hostel, back to falling in love with the V&A Waterfront. it is so fresh, clean, modern, vibey. the views of table mountain and lion’s head. the live musicians singing african beats. ahhhhh. i was so so so happy.

walked from there to Sea Point in literal bliss. everything was so stunning. the mist was hovering over the shore. lion's head was towering in the background. everything was perfect.

Sunset drinks at Chinchilla rooftop in Camps Bay with my shark diving guide from last time and his gf Ana. i love how travel creates friendships like that.

next day toured the peninsula with Allie from ToursByLocals. this was all a personal trip but this one day was a work partnership and i am so blessed that all worked out. here’s the article. saw dolphins, seals, dodged the baboons at Cape Point, obsessed over the penguins at Boulders. caught the Muizenberg beach huts at sunset and it was so freaking magical.

honestly in Cape Town i felt like i was floating. it was next level. i was so happy the whole time. every person i met i was just like "hi i am so happy" like i could not shut up about it. but everyone was like "i know, i get it."

i met new friends, drank on rooftops, caught every damn sunset. went out dancing with different people, went to Yours Truly, Asoka, Mama Africa, Tiger's Milk, the Gin Bar, Radisson Red. popped into Sgt Pepper a couple times for old times' sake lol. worked on my laptop in a cafe and a rooftop, got a tour of the beautiful Silo Hotel. hiked Lions Head at sunrise again and had the same sort of out-of-body experience. there is something so incredible about sunrise, especially in Cape Town — it’s all quiet, and the city is twinkling and just waking up below and all around the mountain. i get there early so the other stragglers are just making their way up to the top as the sun is coming up. it’s just more peaceful than sunset, when everyone is getting loud. i think sunrises are a secret to success that all real travellers know — this is when the magic happens. never turn down a sunrise.

i was with my new friend Xavier, from Jo-Burg, at Silo Rooftop when the bartender brought a bottle of wine and said it was for me. i was shocked, asking Xavier if she bought it cause i mentioned i was on a birthday trip. she was like nope wasnt me. apparently it was some gentleman who already left. he came back up later and we all had a drink, just one drink, then went home. he was so nice and not creepy and we all were just appreciating life and this amazing world we live in. i said i was having the best time ever in Cape Town and the universe just kept handing the good vibes right back to me.

the next morning he was already on his way to the airport when he msged me: “so not sure what you up to but can get you a helictoper excursion that takes you out along peninsula down to Cape Point and around. it’s awesome and something to tick off. it's 4pm today. let me know” *waving emoji*

me: “lol WHAT??? how much?? … NO. STOP. no way. … honestly thank you so much but i couldn’t. that is way too crazy!!”

random stranger who i probably will never see again: “The world is crazy girl. embrace it.”

and that is how i got a free helicopter ride around the most stupidly beautiful city in the world. 

it was insane. on my bucket list ranking it came in #2 after the gorillas. probably because of the WHOLE SITUATION. like i was manifesting a sweet trip, but that was next level. i never could have seen that one coming. even my pilot was italian/french/south african, cause why wouldn't he be? then there was champagne at the end. cause i was thirstay.

what else?

city tour with Kiff Kombi tours was awesome, went to Bo Kaap, Woodstock, got wine tipsy at Constantia. Drew was so great an invited me out with his friends who were so pretty and nice and welcoming and made me want to move there so fricken bad … … .. .

went paragliding with Marc from Fly Sky Wings, flew for like 20 minutes in the sky like a bird. we just floated. he said the winds were perfect that day. took me on a roller coaster over the water, i freaked out at the landing. it was just so amazing. something i had tried to do last time but couldn’t because of the wind, and remember how this trip everything went perfect?

strolling through Sea Point after, its beaches are white sand and its waters are icey blue (in colour, but not that warm in temp either but you know). it’s just so beautiful there. Cape Town isn't the most safe city (you just have to follow these tips i wrote) but it is so damn liveable. just look at it.

… was going to make this post about my whole trip but you know what cape town filled’er up already! so that was what i call the best week of my life. i have had some amazing weeks, but you ask me when i’m 40 and i’ll still say that week in cape town was the happiest i’ve ever felt. i’ll match it i’m sure, but i don’t think that feeling can be beat. Rio olympics was similar (we called it #consistentfun), and for 6 months of #peaceplaypassion were pretty close to pure bliss. but this one was perfect. i need everyone to go to Cape Town and experience what i mean.

i wonder if people who live there feel like that all the time. kinda seems like they do.

ok bye stay tuned for more africa!