Arriving in Cape Town (almost)

Feb 17.

So after our pre-port meeting, and a little bit of reading I decided to go to bed really early last night, around 2200, just so I could be nice and rested for exploring Cape Town.  I woke up today around 7 to go grab some breakfast, and realized that the ship was still moving and had not yet docked.  Oh well, I thought; we were pretty close to the shore, and figured we would be pulling into our berth in the next hour or so.  I thought this until we made a 180-degree turn and started heading away from the waterfront, and back out to sea.  At this point the announcement came on that the winds were too strong to attempt to dock and that we would have to wait a while for calmer seas.  It’s about 1900 right now, and we have basically been sailing in these giant circles all day.  At best we can probably expect to be off the ship early tomorrow morning, but if the winds don’t die down, our arrival could be delayed even more.  I guess that’s the way wind blows (pun definitely intended) so there isn’t much use in complaining.  It was gorgeous outside today, and I spent most of it out on the deck reading, playing cards, and talking to friends.  Unfortunately I slept so well last night that I couldn’t really nap or sleep in, which is what a lot of students did, but at least I’m rested. 
From the water, Cape Town appears absolutely gorgeous.  Table Mountain dominates the landscape, with a permanent hat of these big billowy clouds right at the peak.  Every hour or so, an announcement comes on saying that there is no new information to report and that we will be updated as soon as information is made available.  It stinks missing a day in port, especially Cape Town, but at least I didn’t have any concrete travel plans today (some students missed flights for overnight trips and missed SAS day trips).  I’m not sure what the plan is as far as staying an extra day or anything like that, but logistically I can’t imagine that that would be possible. To keep us from going crazy, they have been showing a lot of movies and have planned an open mic event for tonight, which should be fun.  I am supposed to catch a ferry to Robben Island tomorrow morning around 9, so hopefully that will work out.  Until then, I’ll keep doing my best to stay sane, and probably go play some more cards. 

Cheers from South Africa (or at least the South Atlantic)
-Ben

UPDATE: It’s about 1 in the morning here in S. Africa.  We were told we would arrive between 2300 and 0100 but that obviously hasn’t happened.  I was just on the decks and we still are pretty far offshore (and not heading towards the port), which means that we are looking at at least several more hours before docking, assuming that the conditions are immediately ideal.  Hopefully, I can wake up tomorrow morning and we will be dock, but I think the possibility of another day at sea could be happening.  Today was kind of like a snow day from school, because no one had much to do except relax.  Of course, it wasn’t like a snow day because everyone really, really wanted to be on land.