Its a Small World After All

So, basically the world is really really small. This was epitomised last weekend when I met up with a friend I had in Thailand (whom I met there 9 years ago when I was in high school, on exchange there) here in Cape Town. When I lived in Thailand there was a small ex-pat community in my town and Grant was there teaching English to elementary school students across the street from my high school. He is originally from Cape Town and left in his early twenties to explore the world. So when I found out I'd be in CT all summer I immediately emailed him, and we were both excited to reunite. So, nine years later, we are both here in Cape Town, and last weekend gave my room mate and I an amazing weekend at the beach. 

We went to Muizenberg, just across the Cape a ways on the False Bay side, which is on the Indian Ocean. He mentioned that he was going to go plant trees and spend the afternoon surfing. Does it get any better? 


So, we spent the morning helping the City of Cape Town plant native trees and plants along the beach where invasive species had been threatening the fragile ecosystem. Grant was telling us that the Cape Town area has some of the most unique flora and fauna in the world, and has more species native to this area than the Amazon rain forest. Then we spent the rest of the day surfing, as my roomie Giselle had never been before, and it was mighty cold, the wetsuits were a must. 

Grant and I

Giselle and I planting away, beautiful Muizenberg Mtns in the background. (Invasive species on left side behind us.)

Beautiful beach in Muizenberg

Little beach huts

Shark flag. Don't worry there were no sharks this day and its someone's job to sit on the mountain seen in next picture watching for sharks, if they see one, they ring an alarm.

9 years later we reunite in CT, SA. Pretty cool, eh.

After a quick bite to eat Grant took us on an amazing drive down the coast of the Cape Peninsula, with amazing vistas and through cute seaside towns, and up and over the mountains back to Cape Town, with an amazing view of both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans at once. 


It was quite the reunion and it amazed me how we got  along after so many years. We were definitely different people then, and have grown in many ways and it was just so wonderful catching up, and seeing who we are now. It is additionally nice to have a local friend here who can give us a real experience of this beautiful place. But the incredible smallness of this vast world will never stop to amaze me (of course with the help from Facebook and other recent technological advances).