Making the best out of a rainy day.

What a fun-filled day here in Cape Town!  Since it was supposed to rain all day today, we decided to hold off on visiting Cape Point until next weekend.  Instead, we left around 9:15 to go to the cheetah reserve (about 30 minutes away).  It was incredible.  The reserve takes care of cheetahs, meerkats, and jackals.  They have a total of 9 cheetahs, most being male because they are known to be more social than females.  AND GUESS WHAT?!  WE GOT TO PET A CHEETAH!!!!  His name was Joseph and he has actually been featured in National Geographic and King Solomon's Mines (movie with Patrick Swayze)! 

There's Joseph with Patrick Swayze!

It was so cool to be able to actually pet one!!! Mia, Becca, Mama K, and I walked in with the trainer and walked over to where the habitat was in order to see it up close and pet it.  So cool!  Below are some pictures from this morning.  When Holden, Berrit, and David went to pet him, Joseph actually began to growl at them.  Holden's face was priceless!  The trainer just started saying, "Stand up, stand up, stand up!"  Intense.  Look how beautiful they are! 

We also saw some adorable meerkats there!  See below!  (McAlister and Mortensen, they made me miss you guys!!!)

LOOK AT HIM!
Sebastian the Meerkat

Once we left the reserve, we headed back to our area of town and drove alongside the beach for quite a while.  Holden noticed a cliff overhang on the side of the road, so David pulled over for us to check it out.  It was pouring down rain, but Holden and I were still curious to know what it was like!  So, we jumped out of the car, sprinted probably 200 meters in the rain, and arrived at the cliff/cave made of sandstone.  It was AWESOME.  We explored all around it and looked over the edge to see the beautiful light blue waves crashing against the rocks below!  It was stunning.  Holden kept shouting against the wind, "SO WORTH IT- OH MY GOSH- SO WORTH IT!" I  would have to agree with him on that.  It was so cool to climb down and see it.  We climbed a little further down and ended up being on the beach.  From there, we ran along the water to get back to the car.  I was laughing so hard for a couple of reasons: 1) It was SO windy and misty which I find extremely comical for some reason, 2) Holden was running/flailing along the beach, which was funny to watch, and 3) We had just gone through a sandy dust bowl that had attacked both of our faces.  Needless to say, I was cracking up at the situation we put ourselves in.  So funny.  We eventually made it back from our spontaneous adventure 10-15 minutes later....soaking wet.  

Only form of shelter! 

After being drenched by the rainstorm, we headed back to Fish Hoek to visit a wine vineyard, Steenburg Winery.  It was beautiful!  Granted it was raining, but still gorgeous!  

We left there around 3:30 to head back to the house to get ready for an afternoon hike.  Holden, Mia, Becca, Berrit, David, and I all had a quick bite before heading out.  We left to go to find a trailhead and came upon Silvermine.  We started on the trail and then somehow quickly veered off of the trail.  Holden, Mia, and I went ahead of the group and explored many paths along the way.  It was so much fun!  We had a great time walking all over these mountains; it was a fairly easy hike too.  The rain was literally falling at a 45 degree angle, which was just comical.  I found it quite humorous.  We actually came upon some animal tracks that looked similar to a dog, and then suddenly heard barking.  Holden was in front and immediately jumped when he heard it, while Mia and I screamed like we were being attacked.  Come to find out, two ladies were just walking their 3 dogs (none of which had leashes) and were on their way down the trail.  It was hysterical.  We all had a freak out moment, but were immediately relieved when we heard the two ladies consoling the dogs.  We kept walking and came upon some cool cliff areas (see below) that overlooked the same winery we were at just hours before! 

We had a great time hiking our way up and down the mountain.  Holden was our fearless leader the entire way- thankful for that!  Praying for a pretty day to hike Table Mountain soon!!! 

To finish off this fantastic Saturday, we went to the movie store to pick up Jumanji to watch.  For the last several days, we have all been talking about that movie and how much we want to see it, so we did tonight!  It was definitely a throwback.  A lot of us had not seen it in over 10 years or so.  So great.

Tomorrow morning we are going to David's church at 9 AM, which I am very excited about!  Afterwards (weather permitting), we are planning on hiking Table Mountain!  Hopefully, that will happen.  Also, tomorrow night we are planning on attending Hillsong Church in Cape Town, which I am very excited about!  Once again, so thankful to be here!!!