Week Two: Getting Acquainted

          Week two was easily just as exciting as week one. I spent more time exploring my neighborhood – Observatory – and meeting more VAC interns. I hiked Lion’s Head for the first time which I’m told has the best view of any of the main hikes. I spent time on the beaches at Camp’s Bay and Clifton and tried many types of seafood you just can’t get fresh in Montana. I had my first meeting with Michael and his partner Irfaan, and it sounds like my internship is an absolutely perfect fit. Kalahari has many projects in the preliminary stages, but they want me to focus on my own documentary during my internship, which opens me up to an excellent resource for advice and guidance throughout my process and gives me twice the time I had allotted to film and edit my project.

         There are a lot of weekly events in Obs that interns tend to go to. Monday is a culture series then unlimited pizza and beer at Trenchtown for R100 (~$7.5), Thursday is a beer pong tournament at Forex (the foreign exchange bar), and Stones seems to be the go-to place every other night. Though these things are fun, they get exhausting after a couple nights. My favorite happenings are the hikes and excursions I get up to with a few friends or with VAC. This week we walked through the Cecilia Forest along the backside of Table Mountain which was breathtaking.

         Saturday was a big day. I took the train to Simon’s Town with a group in the morning to go see the penguins and explore the area. We looked through the local market, walked through town, and spent a good few hours swimming and chilling with the penguins. They are funny little creatures who don’t need much more than to stand in the sun and eat fish all day. Afterwards we head back into town to have some burgers and beers before heading back to Obs. That night we all went out together and I ashamedly went to late night KFC with some friends – KFC is very popular here, as well as McDonalds, but really no other big U.S. chains.

January 8

Highlights

  • Breakfast at Hello Sailor
  • Lion’s Head
  • Seafood at Ocean Basket
  • Camp’s Bay

January 9

Highlights

  • First meeting with Michael and Irfaan
  • Sunset beach neighborhoods
  • Start of internship
  • Unlimited pizza and beer at Trenchtown
  • Stones

January 10

Highlights

  • Read the Sunnydale script
  • Watched African Cypher with Michael & Josh
  • Kite surfers at Sunset Beach

January 11

Highlights

  • Returning to Kalahari w/ new intern Tia
  • Pufferfish script
  • Watching Goalstar, a prospective job for Kalahari
  • Uber problems

January 12

Highlights

  • Met with Fly on the Wall productions
  • Kite surfers

January 13

Highlights

  • Cecilia forest hike
  • Wine on the mountain
  • Waterfall
  • New interns
  • Sushi
  • Stones

January 14

Highlights

  • Train to simons town
  • Boulder beach
  • Penguins
  • Market
  • Burgers on the pier
  • Crazy ride back
  • Beers at Scrumpy Jack/Stones
  • KFC