(Not sure why this was never published, but it was from back in South Africa)

People tend to think that if they decide to go camping as they travel, that they have to lug all of the equipment with them from the get go. On the contrary, I’ve realized that it’s much easier to buy your equipment at your destination of choice (pending you’re flying into a city). Asking locals for cheap places to find these items (whether they be dollar stores, used sporting goods stores, etc.) opened up a whole new (and much cheaper) purchasing experience for us. Below are the essentials that we’ve included on our camping list:

• Tent (used at a sporting goods store)
• Sleeping bags
• Ground pads
• Mosquito candle
• Silverware
• Plates, cups, bowls
• Small stove + 10kg gas tank
• Pots
• Soap
• Sponge
• Cooking utensils
• Aluminum foil
• Toilet paper
• Lighter
• Select food items

The best part is, when we are done camping, we can sell the items back to a used sporting goods store or we can barter them off for rides, goods, food, etc.

It was late Tuesday night in Cape Town and we were staying with Andy, a friend of a friend. It was our first night with him and because we had arrived at his house late that evening, we had just enough time for a key exchange to the place we’d be sleeping for the next few days. Upon entering his house, I dropped my bag, got ready for bed and crawled into the sleeping bag which extended on the pullout sofa in the living room. I had drifted off to a deep sleep when I woke up to a knock on the door. ‘Was I imagining it?’ I asked myself half awake. ‘Could someone really be knocking on the front door at..,’ I looked at my watch, ’3:00am?’ I layed there for a bit before I heard the knock again, this time louder. The security light on the front porch would earily go on and off with the movement of the rapper outside. I tried to reason with myself; ‘maybe he’s just drunk and trying to find his way home.’ The knocking stopped for a few minutes until the security sensored light came on and suddenly the criminal outside was picking the locks. I was horrified. This must be a nightmare. I sat there numb thinking this guy was going to find a way in no matter how long it took. The picking continued as he got closer and closer to entering Andy’s house.  I laid absolutely still in my sleeping bag, a cold sweat collecting all over my body. ‘Should I wake up Andy?’ ‘Should I call the Cape Town police?’ ‘Should I just lay here hoping that he won’t notice the blob of sleeping bag with my body under it?’ Frozen by fear I chickened out and laid there deathly still praying that he would pass over me if or when he broke in. And suddenly, the lock clicked, and the door opened. ‘Oh dear god, please don’t let this be true,’ I muttered under my breath. The man walked slowly and quietly down the hall right to the living room. He stopped for a second before moving on into the kitchen and toward the back room. I sat there breathing shallowly under my sleeping bag while the intruder disappeared into the back room and became silent. ‘What is he doing?’ I thought to myself. I laid there like this for the next 45 minutes not hearing another sound. ‘Maybe he snuck out the back window?’ I thought. I laid there as attentive as possible until I slowly drifted into a restless light sleep. I woke up the next morning paranoid by what had happened the night before. Do I dare go to the bathroom by the back room?

Later on, I told Andy what had happened and it was then that I found out that he has a flatmate who lives in the back room. Apparently, he works late in the restaurant business and was trying to get into his own house. I felt like such a fool. The ironic thing is, we locked him out of his own house. To make matters worse, I almost called the police on him. After hearing the new info, I sat there thinking ‘ well at least it pays to be a chicken sometimes.’

There are several tourist and non-tourist attractions in Cape Town. One of those attractions is visiting the Penguin Colony at the Boulders in Simon’s Town. I dragged Chris along one morning to make a trip to Cape Point and the Penguin Colony. I was extremely excited to see the penguins because growing up in the mountains, I didn’t exactly get my share of penguin viewing. From Cape Town, we took the R$5 (~US$0.60) train down to Simon’s Town and then walked 30 minutes to the penguins. Thoughts after having seen them? Dirty, domesticated, touristy, and completely overrated. I would instead suggest skipping the Penguin Colony and head straight South to Cape Point. Yes, it’s still touristy, but it’s much more beautiful, educational, and refreshing. Plus there’s a bonus: there are gangs of wild baboons that hang out along the road AND there’s a small chance you’ll see whales and zebras too!

Needless to say, travelling the world allows us the opportunity to meet several unique individuals from all walks of life at any place and time. Table Mountain was one of those opportunities. Chris and I had passed two Saudi men eating their lunch just meters from the summit. Chris and I did not think about bringing food on our hike so when the Saudi men joined us at the peak, we began speaking with them about how they were smart to have brought food with them. We began talking with them more when one of them offered us his sandwich and a banana. He had packed extra and could see we were hungry. After much resistance, we accepted the food and continued on with our conversation. He asked us where we were from and we told him we were from the US. “Oh, Americans hate us…” was his response. We were shocked. ‘Hate you?’ I thought… What a stereotype. I pondered this for a second and then realized that America has harshly stereotyped much of the Middle East for several years now. Too many Americans blindly and unjustifiably associate terrorist activity with everyone in the Middle East. Chris and I spoke with them about the issue, the misunderstanding, and our plan to learn more about the situation as we trek through the Middle East in a few months.

We ended up hiking down the mountain with them sharing stories with each other along the way. By the end of our day hike, we had learned more about their family, their religion, and their lifestyle than most people know about their neighbours. We exchanged information and have since been in touch. Chris and I will be joining them for traditional Arabic coffee tomorrow. Not surprising, they are two of the most unique, generous, and humble human beings I have ever met.