Signing up with Connect-123 for an internship in Cape Town was one of the best decisions I have ever made. They set you up with an internship in the country you desire and provided housing. Their office, in Cape Town, is in the building that we live in (Perspectives) which is in the middle of town. The on site supervisors will assist you if you need any help and they always have a positive attitude! It’s also a great way to meet other interns from all over the world studying different subjects. Not to mention, South Africa is such a beautiful country with a vibrant tourism industry. Coming here, I had no idea what I truly signed up for. I was aware that I was going be interning at a hostel for my tourism management degree, but I wasn’t sure what my duties would be. They had me working reception at first, which was a bit difficult because I had never worked in this type of environment before, and I was new to the country. The first two weeks, I was strictly working bar shifts and reception, learning the system, and the general ways the hostel runs. It was hard at first to work reception because many guests would ask me about the city and I could barely point out our location on the map.

Towards the end of my first month and all of my second and third month working there, I became much more involved in the company. I would attend multiple meetings, went on some more tours (shark diving, township, Garden Route), closed down and opened the hostel, sold tours, taught other interns, helped with the community projects, organized the shop, communicated with guests, and I was given my own codes for the system and phones. I learned so much about working in the tourism field and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was so fun to plan tours for guests and communicate with the multiple tourism companies.

I feel as if every goal of mine was met through my internship, and I learned new skills that I never thought I’d be good at. I truly enjoyed coming into work, communicating with guests, the company of my coworkers, selling tours, and travelling South Africa. I achieved networking strategies and gained a better understanding of how hostels are run. I would say my biggest highlights of working here was selling and attending tours, and my biggest disappointment is that I can’t stay longer due to my visa.

I suggest that you use Connect-123 to get to Cape Town, find an internship, meet other interns in different fields! The program supervisors are always there to help you with anything you need, even if it’s just some advice.