Red Cross, Stellenbosch, Safari

Friday 3/27 - I got to attend a medical meeting at the Red Cross Hospital where doctors from all over the world came to discuss unsolved patient cases and metabolic disorders. It was so interesting. A pediatrician from London and a pediatric neurologist from Switzerland seemed to have all of the answers. It was sad to hear that some of the treatments and procedures that are pretty common in the US and other countries are simply not possible here. The meeting lasted the entire morning.

After placement, a group of 9 of us hopped on the train to a cute little college town called Stellenbosch. After getting lost in the train station in Cape Town and boarding multiple 'wrong' trains, we finally made it to our hostel, Stumble Inn. Friday night we went to dinner with the group in the little town and walked around to different restaurants afterwards. It was definitely a college atmosphere and so much fun.

Saturday 3/27- We woke up early on Saturday to start our wine tour. The Stellenbosch wine route is one of the country's most famous, and the area includes 110 different cellars. Allie, Karen, and I decided to join a guided tour we found through the information desk at the hostel. The others decided to try and rent bikes for the day to use for their own tour, but it turned out that the bikes were gone and the wineries were actually pretty far from each other. They ended up shopping. Our tour was unbelievable. The winelands were gorgeous. All we could talk about in the bus between the wine farms was how impossible it would be to try to explain the experience to any of the others or to anyone back home.
Vineyards

At the first winery, Simonsig, we did a wine tour followed by a tasting, and it was perfect. At the second winery, Fairview, we did wine tasting and also a cheese tasting.. There was also a bread bar where we got to sample all different delicious fresh bread. At the third we had lunch and more tasting, and at the fourth we just tasted. The scenery was the best part. The weather was so nice. We got a ride back to Cape Town from one of the couples on the tour with us. The entire trip including transportation, the hostel, meals, wine tour, everything, cost each of us less than $50. It was my favorite experience yet, even better than Table Mountain.

Sunday 3/29 - Happy Anniversary Hilary and Joe!

Today we went on a safari at the Aquila Game Reserve and Safari Lodge. We saw elephants, rhinos, hippos, zebra, gnu?, cape buffalo, ostriches, springbuck, and all kinds of animals, but we never saw the lion, cheetah, or giraffe :( . I'm so glad I did the safari though and it made me so excited to come back someday and do a bigger one.RhinosElephants