South Africa in 10 Photos
by Madison File, who studied abroad in Stellenbosch for the summer of 2023
South Africa is hands down the most beautiful country I have ever visited. This image is of me and one of my friends who went abroad with me. This picture was taken only about three days into the trip, far before I knew what an incredible experience it would be.
These penguins were located on Boulders Beach, right outside of Cape Town in South Africa. There were a ton of these penguins spread all across the beach and they walked with the cutest waddle! We even were able to see some baby penguins following their mom around the beach. Thankfully, their space was sectioned off so that nobody could interfere with their daily activities.
Nandos is a South African chain fast food restaurant, with some locations now in the United States! I would get food at this restaurant anytime we were in Cape Town because their bowls with fresh avocado were the best. South Africa is known for their home-grown avocados and there was also some incorporated onto the menu… especially on pizza!!
Spontaneously, my friends and I decided to ride this huge ferris wheel near the mall that our group was visiting right inside of Cape Town. We figured that it would be a cool view at the top and yield us a more aerial sight of the waters that surrounded the beach area of Cape Town. It was a beautiful ride and we got to ride it about four times!
These crepes were from a stand within the Stellenbosch University Student Union. This complex was huge, with an assortment of different restaurants, a convenience store, and multiple places to buy Stellies merch! The union also had a boba shop and the best coffee place called My Brew with the sweetest staff.
This image is from one of the Stellenbosch vineyards that my group traveled to within the first week of arriving in South Africa. We arrived just after sunset and were able to get a lot of different pictures that are still some of my favorites to date!
This picture is along the street running through campus. The University of Stellenbosch has one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen in my whole life. It had historic brick buildings that ran throughout the interior with beautiful parts such as the Botanical Gardens.
During our first bus tour excursion, we were riding along and saw this ostrich on the side of the street. It was the cutest thing and I was just so fascinated that South Africa had wild ostriches roaming around the street. We also saw a baboon the same day!
This image is of the street I crossed every day when walking to class, about two minutes out from the building that our daily experience was always held inside. I can still picture being at this crosswalk and meeting up with my friends who were also walking, and us always making it to class in the mornings.
Rainbows are one of the prettiest natural occurrences in my opinion. South Africa was absolutely filled with rainbows and always would have one or two pop up after a slight shower. Anytime it rained, I would always go outside to look and see if I could find a gorgeous rainbow over the South African landscape.
