Disembarkation!

On February 14th we disembarked as part of a crew change before the ship continued on to Singapore and Korea. The ship drifted a few miles offshore while a service boat came alongside and transferred personnel via the accommodation ladder. 

Imagine being a pilot and doing this in 10 ft seas and 35 knot winds! Sea level certainly offers a different perspective on the ship

Last picture of the Apollonia before she sailed off over the horizon!

The city of Cape Town from the water. Table Mountain is in the central background, Lion's Head on the right, and Signal Hill  (the one we hiked) is the smaller one in the central foreground.

Container ship action at the port as we pulled in

Signal Hill Hike

Luckily, we had the afternoon to explore part of Cape Town before going home that evening. The majority of the city is built around the base of Signal Hill, and a short hike to the top granted us amazing views of the surrounding area. Over the course of the afternoon we experienced beautiful weather accompanied by a pleasant sea breeze and even managed to get a slight sunburn before heading home to the polar tundras of Michigan and Maine.

Table Mountain, the most easily recognizable geographic feature of the Cape Town area.

A nice valley between Lion's Head and Table Mountain.

The 2010 Fifa World Cup stadium and part of the waterfront.

At the top of Signal Hill lies a monument called "Sunstar". It is constructed from the fencing that formerly enclosed the Robben Island prison, which was an infamous symbol of the apartheid era. It was located on a small island visible from Cape Town and is a location where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

And so we conclude our sea term. We are very grateful to all who helped make this extraordinary experience possible! Many thanks to the crew of the Apollonia for welcoming us into their team and taking the time to share their knowledge with us. This sea term was a great adventure both technically and culturally and the skills learned will be highly valuable in our academic and professional careers.