Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA – I was thrilled when I got my visa from the South African embassy in Cairo. For me, this visa meant that I would finally begin exploring the world, starting with South Africa at Youth Journalism International’s 2025 Global Conference.
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When the plane started taking off, I was extremely nervous. I had many questions running through my head. What am I doing? Is it true that I am going to South Africa?
Once I arrived in Cape Town and was on my way to the place I would be staying, I was shocked to see tall green mountains and so many trees. And guess what? They were driving on the left side of the road.
Cape Town was really far away from home. Everything was different. For years I had dreamed of going to such a green place where I could see trees everywhere, smell the fresh air, experience the heavy rain and learn about a new country.
Once I arrived at our YJI house, I met my friends that I had known for two years only on Zoom meetings. They were as sweet and lovely as I imagined.
They offered to help me with my luggage and started talking to me directly. I can truly say that during the whole trip we never had a moment of awkward silence.
My first place to visit was District Six museum, which was a great start to know more about South Africa’s apartheid era. I learned about many people, their stories and the horrible things that used to be done here.
The second highlight was going to Table Mountain, the beautiful mountain that you can see from any place in the city. It’s a standing mountain that appears in all city photos. It makes it look like painting or even unreal.
The day we visited was a bit cloudy so we saw almost nothing in the first few hours. After the clouds were gone, though, I saw the most stunning view I had ever seen in my life.
As the clouds moved out of the view, beautiful green Cape Town appeared more and more with the sun lighting its buildings as well as its ocean. And of course I am not going to forget about dassies, the cute animals walking right in front of you on the top of the mountain.
Cape Town has the perfect city formula: mountains, environment, ocean, diversity and history.
On our way to visit the Cape of Good Hope, we had the chance to see ostrich farms and baboons. Of course it was my first time to see them, too, so I was super happy.
After we arrived we took the Flying Dutchman Funicular which is a climbing train.
The view from it was beautiful but once we arrived at the old lighthouse, it was amazing. The scene was like a painting that mixes between green mountains and clear ocean water. I felt so connected to nature there that I told everyone that I wanted to live here on the top of this mountain.
After visiting the Cape of Good Hope, we went to Boulders Beach in nearby Simon’s Town to see the amazing South African penguins. The happiness I felt while watching these cute little animals and reading about their life was amazing. It was my first time to see how penguins live. Their ability to swim shocked me.
On our way back to the house, South African nature didn’t leave us empty-handed and we got a second chance to see baboons when one started jumping and running on one of the streets as our bus passed by. It was super fun to see it moving freely, and in such a big city.
Throughout the conference, we tried different cuisines. Our sweet German friend Lina Marie Schulenkorf cooked us a delicious German lentil soup.
Then we tried the Malagasy national dish on Madagascar’s national day. We tried Indian food at a Cape Malay restaurant and African plates at the GOLD restaurant.
All the dishes I ate were so tasty and some of them even were close to Egyptian cuisine.
Every day during the conference was a new day to discover something or learn something new.
We all shared card games and some popular games from our nations. Lina taught us how to play Villagers and Wolves, a game that mainly relies on storytelling.
On other days I had the chance to learn about history in many places. Anya Farooqi, my dear friend from Karachi, told me about Pakistan’s journey for independence and the current political situation of the country.
Everyone taught me something and by the end of the trip I was almost full of information from everywhere on Earth.
On my way to the airport to go home, I was thinking about whether I would return back to Cape Town, the city that gave me all of this joy and love. I made my decision pretty quick: I will return for sure.
Before I end this piece, I would love to thank everyone who made it possible for me to be part of Youth Journalism International’s Cape Town conference. I am very proud to be part of such an organization.
Ahmed Elkhamisy is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Egypt. He wrote this commentary, contributed a photo and made the recording.
Dorothy Quanteh is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International from the United States. She contributed the top photo to this article.
Lina Marie Schulenkorf is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Germany. She contributed photos to this article.
Norah Springborn is a Senior Correspondent with Youth Journalism International from the United States. She contributed a photo to this article.
Holly Hostettler-Davis is an Associate Editor with Youth Journalism International from Wales, UK. She contributed a photo to this article.
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