June 2, 2009...Robbens Island, Basketball Game, Mama Africa!

Today was another day full of fun adventures. We started off the morning by heading out to Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. We finally got to sleep in (well, 8:30 actually) too! On the way to the ferry boat, we detoured to the office of Hoops for Hope, which is the organization affiliated with the clinic we put on yesterday. While we were there, we dropped off the remainder of the shoes that we had brought with to donate to the children. It was cool being able to talk to some of the people responsible for helping out the kids we were teaching and get a better feel for what their program is all about.

After the detour, we made our way to the Waterfront to catch our ferry ride, but only after another one of our crazy drives with Martin! After about a 30 minute ride, we arrived at Robben Island. While on the island, we toured around by bus and then ended it with a walking tour around the prison. Both tour guides were actual prisoners of Robben Island so they were able to give very accurate and detailed accounts of what really happened inside the prison walls.

Next, after returning from the island, we ate lunch at the Green Dolphin, a restaurant on the waterfront. With what little time we had left, we hit up a few of the shops looking for more souvenirs. Then, although it is winter here and the weather today was record cold, we headed to the BEACH! That’s right, we went swimming. Well the four crazy ones anyways (that would be Jackie, Sam J., Amanda, and me!). This was one of the things that we REALLY wanted to do on this trip, and considering that Sam J. had never seen the ocean, we figured why not? So, the frozen four threw on our swim suits and braved the elements. We only had about 20 minutes, but we made the best of it. We jumped in Baywatch style and took on the waves head on. We couldn’t believe how salty the ocean was or how strong the waves were crashing against us! It was a blast and definitely one of my highlights of the trip.

After attempting to dry off and warm up a little, we set off for our game in District 6 against the Cape Select team. This game was a little different than the first because this time we were actually playing against some of the girls that we had instructed during the clinic the previous day! It was exciting to see our drills and instruction put to work during the game! After a hard fought battle, Luther won big, but it didn’t really matter what the scoreboard read at the end of the game. We had impacted the young women of South Africa and they had given us an experience that will last a lifetime. After the game was over, we left our game uniforms and shoes for the Hoops for Hope organization and headed out for dinner. We had dinner with some of the players and coaches from Hoops for Hope at Mama Africa, a restaurant that had a live band and some delicious food. Some of us decided to try some authentic South African cuisine, like chicken curry, crocodile, kudu, ostrich, and springbok.

After another exciting day in South Africa, we’re packing up our things and getting ready to say goodbye. And with that, we’ve got some packing to do!

Gina and Camille