Cindy's proud moment of accomplishment

Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

 On one of our free days we decided to hike Table Mountain. I remember being super excited the morning of I was one of the first ones up, dressed, and ready to go. So that morning we caught a minibus taxi to the minibus bus station so that we could catch another minibus taxi to Table Mountain. However when we arrived we found out that none of them go there, but we were lucky enough to have been offered a ride there anyway. The man driving even agreed to picking us up after we hiked the mountain and bringing us home. So finally, we got there and before we began the hike we took a group picture then we began the journey. I was surprised that there was a sign that said approximately 2.5 +/- hours to reach the top. I was expecting it to be quicker for some reason, but once I started I quickly realized it wasn’t going to be an easy hike. It was super rocky and had streams that we had to climb over. About 30 minutes in I thought, “What did I get myself into.” I honestly thought I wasn’t going to make it all the way to the top. I was already feeling exhausted and I wasn’t even half way there. We would see people walking down the mountain and ask them how close we were to the top and they would all say “you still have a long way to go.”

At one point we all split up because we were going at different paces, so that’s when I took 5 minutes to myself and sat on a huge rock and just gazed at the scenery around me. I took some pictures and sipped some water before I began again. I was so tired, but all I kept imagining was how beautiful the top would look and I kept pushing myself harder and harder. Eventually, some of us met up again so we took a short 10-minute break, ate some fruit and had more water. We had finally reached the half way point and somehow I was more energized than ever. Daniella and I stuck together for the second half of the hike, we kept telling each other that we’ve made it this far we can keep going. As we climbed higher and higher the temperature was dropping it was really cold and moist the closer we got to the top. We saw many people hiking alone, with families, with friends, and even with dogs. It was interesting getting to meet people there because we had something in common; we all felt the exhaustion of climbing but we all kept pushing.

We actually met some other students who were also visiting from another university and we met a family from Colorado who was there on vacation. Finally after 2 hours we made it to the top! It was the best feeling knowing that I pushed through with the words of strangers motivating me and knowing that I thought I would never make it to the top at one point. Hiking up Table Mountain and finally reaching the top was definitely metaphorical for how life works. Not all things come easy, life is a rollercoaster it has hills and valleys so when you finally accomplish something it’s a proud moment. I’m extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to visit such a beautiful country filled with beautiful and kind-hearted people

Cindy at the top of Table Mountain