Cape Town, South Africa
November 2-27, 2012
Friday, November 2nd and Saturday, November 3rdTime had come to go on my trip to Africa. Cape town South Africa to be exact. I was traveling with South African Airways, and the plane actually took off on time. Seven hours to Dakar an hour or so there to pick up more people and then on to Johannesburg, where I need to go through immigration and customs.
We started with dinner, chicken, potatoes and spinach, actually pretty good, and some South African wine to go with it. Amazingly enough we got to eat from real silverware. Turned on a movie and fell asleep. It seemed as only a short while and we were landing in Dakar already. Moving on to Johannesburg, we received breakfast, omelet with spinach... and they asked if I wanted wine with that! Movie, reading, studying about Cape Town.... and back asleep. 24 hours after I left home I landed in Cape Town. In the Taxi van i met a very nice South African couple who just came back from visiting their daughter who lives in Washington DC. They gave me some insights, told me some nice places to visit was told that I should stay away from Shantytown, kind of like a trailer park, but huts, People are Black, Coloured or White. The Coloured are people from fro example India. We dropped them off and they waved bye like I was family leaving. Heading back to Cape Town and my hostel, I got even more insights, read gossip, from the chauffeur, until he dropped me off at the Big Blue Hostel. The Hostel was like any typical hostel, 11 bunks and a bathroom in the hallway with two showers, two toilets and a sink. Free coffee 24/7 and free Wifi in the lobby. It took a bit of getting used to sharing a room and bathroom but hey, for $15 bucks a night, I'm perfectly happy to experience new things. In my room there was this one other girl, Ymkje from Holland. We decided to get together in the morning and do a sightseeing of Cape Town. |
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Sunday, November 4th
On Sunday morning I woke up pretty early. Tried to plug in my phone and check Facebook, but no, no Internet and barely any battery left. Well, I came prepared, I thought, and dug out my South African plug. No matter how I tried it did not fit, so I went down to the lobby, grabbed a cup of instant coffee and went to find someone to ask. The guy in the reception, super British, laughed at me and said, "No, you have got the British plug, you need the South African plug". Ok, so I received directions to "Pick'n Pay" where supposedly they have everything to a pretty good price, so Ymkje and I head out to check it out.
We arrive home with a plug, locks and some yogurt for breakfast. Once we have cleaned up we head out. Our goal was the Hop on Hop off bus that would take us through town. We headed for the top level, outdoors, of course!
Cape Town is a typical tourist city and could really have been located in any part of the world. Waterfront offers a mall, restaurants and tours. A big Ferris Wheel spins and there are plenty of street performers all around.
Our first Hop off was at Table Mountain. 205 Rand gave us a round trip or "return" to the top. We were about 25 people hopping on to the cable car and was told "Do not hold on to the rail!" Reason being that the floor spins 360 degrees before arriving to the top.
We hopped off the cable cart to look around and the view was amazing. The clouds were low and it gave a great depth in looking at cape town and all the beaches. After checking out the Shop at the Top and having some delicious South African Wine and cheese at the Café we went around the long trail, where we saw Dassies basking in the sun and Humming Birds sucking some nectar from the mountain plants.
Next stop was Camps Bay, a cute beach with white sand and turquoise water. Light colored buildings leading up to the view of Devils Head, Table Mountain and Lions Head. Absolutely beautiful.
Dinner we had at an Italian restaurant at Waterfront, San Marco's. I had a very interesting Caesar Salad that included four leaves of lettuce, six slices of Parmesan cheese, eggs and anchovies. South African wine again - of course - but the waiter spilled it and brought a huge glass of wine. It took about three hours to finish it so we finally went to bed, after a very nice first day in Cape Town, by 11pm.
We arrive home with a plug, locks and some yogurt for breakfast. Once we have cleaned up we head out. Our goal was the Hop on Hop off bus that would take us through town. We headed for the top level, outdoors, of course!
Cape Town is a typical tourist city and could really have been located in any part of the world. Waterfront offers a mall, restaurants and tours. A big Ferris Wheel spins and there are plenty of street performers all around.
Our first Hop off was at Table Mountain. 205 Rand gave us a round trip or "return" to the top. We were about 25 people hopping on to the cable car and was told "Do not hold on to the rail!" Reason being that the floor spins 360 degrees before arriving to the top.
We hopped off the cable cart to look around and the view was amazing. The clouds were low and it gave a great depth in looking at cape town and all the beaches. After checking out the Shop at the Top and having some delicious South African Wine and cheese at the Café we went around the long trail, where we saw Dassies basking in the sun and Humming Birds sucking some nectar from the mountain plants.
Next stop was Camps Bay, a cute beach with white sand and turquoise water. Light colored buildings leading up to the view of Devils Head, Table Mountain and Lions Head. Absolutely beautiful.
Dinner we had at an Italian restaurant at Waterfront, San Marco's. I had a very interesting Caesar Salad that included four leaves of lettuce, six slices of Parmesan cheese, eggs and anchovies. South African wine again - of course - but the waiter spilled it and brought a huge glass of wine. It took about three hours to finish it so we finally went to bed, after a very nice first day in Cape Town, by 11pm.
Week one, Monday, November 5th
We got picked up at 9am by a Taxi (Mini bus) that took us to the SASTS office where we went through a briefing of the programs, local culture and expectations. I got a feeling they had lots of young irresponsible people travel by, because they emphasized the importance of not getting drunk during the week and not showing up to work. After a quick break we headed out for a Walking Tour, lead by a lovely Coloured woman by the name of Fayrouz. We walked through the very nice little Company Garden where people were enjoying some lunch or just relaxing and then a market with trinkets from here and there like masks and South African beads. By 2pm it was time to head back to collect the luggage from the Hostel and then on to the Host Families. A Swiss girl by the name of Marie-Laure and I was going to Rabia Hussam and her family, husband Jainoodien, two and a half year old Taskini and Rabia's mother, Nani Fathima. A very modern and liberal Muslim family with Indian descent. We passed by all sorts of neighborhoods, most of them looking like a mix from those in Southern Europe, Florida and those in Hawaii. Mostly light colored, low and with a stucco foundation. We were greeted by another volunteer, Oscari from Finland. Rabia was still at work, so he took us around the house. We entered into a dining/living room. At the end was Marie-Laure from Switzerland and my bedroom. A room of about 12 cubic meters, a small closet, a bed and a bunk bed. Moving toward the kitchen we passed a big kitchen table fit for eight people, walked through a narrow hallway into a small kitchen, that seemed to have at least two counters to few. Nani Fathima's bedroom, Rabia and Jainoodien's bedroom and Taskini's bedroom at the end beyond the one and only bathroom/toilet. The other volunteers slept in what looked like the entry way remodeled into a bedroom with one bunk bed. That's the content of the house, if you don't count the patio and the pool. The pool contained of about half a meter of water, a chair and some garbage of different shapes and sizes. The family has two cars, both VW golf and both quite a few years old and well used. The family and the other volunteer Maarten from Holland, arrived home after a full day's work at about 7pm. The cook had the day off so Rabia started dinner while chatting away with us newcomers. Rabia proved to be a very positive and friendly, a smart woman with very strong opinions. Once Jainoodien came home with Taskini, they both started working in the kitchen at the same time we conversed about all sorts of things. Dinner and then in bed because the following day I was heading to work at 7am. |
Photos will come as soon as I have gotten permission from Woodside.
The week of November 5th
Woodside
At about 7:30am we all, Rabia, Taskini, the other volunteer Maarten from Netherlands and I, got our lunch, made by Rabia and packed in to the VW, to take the 15-20 minute ride to Woodside. Woodside is a home for severely handicapped children and adults, with 87 residents between the ages of 6-50 for the moment. Some come during the day, others go home for the weekend, but most live there 24/7.
Maarten took us around to the four separate wards, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Topaz. One is the women's ward, one is the men's and two are the children's ward. There are about eight beds in a room and a few single rooms. At this time they were all getting ready to get their breakfast and were sitting around the tables in the dining room.
Tea time was between 9-9:30 and after that it was time for the Dayroom, that is the OT and PT room, where some of the residents were starting to come in and get into position for exercise. Once in position we started playing some rock music, because they all had to practice for this Rock Concert they were having on December 1st. We will rock you by Queen and I love Rock'n Roll with Joan Jett were clear favorites and they played their drum and tambourines and sang along as best as they could.
After lunch we, they two new volunteers, Rebecca from England and I sat down in Rabia's office while she told us the plan she had for us. We were to help her get some activities in place. Rabia had this great plan to activate the staff so that practice and therapy could take place at all times.
Once they found out I'm a photographer, I also got a project to do related to that, and another one and after the first week I had no less than five photo projects up and running. First project and possibly the least fun was to capture all residents faces, preferably from straight forward and with eyes open, which proved to be bit harder than it sounds. Project number two, get all staff and resident's faces for a chart to put on the wall to show who was with who during a particular time. Easier, because I could use the same pictures. The third project was Rabia needed to get some attractive photos of the building for an advertisement for Woodside. Much easier! Fourth project was taking photos of some things and areas for the speech pathologist to use for pecks photos and lastly, and the most fun, take photos for a slide show Martin was putting on at the concert they were having. That meant taking a lot of pictures of the kids doing different activities and preparations for the concert.
The language they mostly speak here is Afrikaans. It's Dutch based with a mix of this and that. If they speak slowly I could pick up a word here and there. They also speak isiXhosa, which has a clicking sound and isiZulu. Most of them also speak English. Their English has a whole different tune to it, so I would compare it to the difference between English and Australian, and then again the same difference to South Africa. Most of them are ok to understand, but some have a very difficult accent.
After a long week, working 8-5 I really welcomed Friday afternoon. I had asked for some time off to go to the mall and of course that was not a problem. They even dropped me off and picked me up! Rabia, Rebecca and I had a quick lunch before Rabia went back to work and Rebecca and I went shopping. My plan was to get some shorts and sleeveless shirt before my Safari trip. It was a bit harder than I expected, because the prices were kind of high, much higher than in the States, but after some searching I found a few things before we sat down for tea to wait to get picked up.
That evening I was exhausted, and I really enjoyed the fact that all I need to do is sit down to a set table. I don't know if I ever want to leave after getting this spoiled. Dinners during the week were some bean, chicken, pasta and mashed potatoes gratin, Chicken curry and Roti, a piece of bread that looks like a pancake and tastes like bread fries in lots of butter. We had Snoek, which is like a Barracuda, with rice and on Friday we had pancakes with creamy spinach and feta cheese and for desert, since there were pancakes left over, we Rabia made a banana & mint chocolate chip crepe. Delicious! After dinner Oscar and I watched a movie and then straight to bed.
At about 7:30am we all, Rabia, Taskini, the other volunteer Maarten from Netherlands and I, got our lunch, made by Rabia and packed in to the VW, to take the 15-20 minute ride to Woodside. Woodside is a home for severely handicapped children and adults, with 87 residents between the ages of 6-50 for the moment. Some come during the day, others go home for the weekend, but most live there 24/7.
Maarten took us around to the four separate wards, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Topaz. One is the women's ward, one is the men's and two are the children's ward. There are about eight beds in a room and a few single rooms. At this time they were all getting ready to get their breakfast and were sitting around the tables in the dining room.
Tea time was between 9-9:30 and after that it was time for the Dayroom, that is the OT and PT room, where some of the residents were starting to come in and get into position for exercise. Once in position we started playing some rock music, because they all had to practice for this Rock Concert they were having on December 1st. We will rock you by Queen and I love Rock'n Roll with Joan Jett were clear favorites and they played their drum and tambourines and sang along as best as they could.
After lunch we, they two new volunteers, Rebecca from England and I sat down in Rabia's office while she told us the plan she had for us. We were to help her get some activities in place. Rabia had this great plan to activate the staff so that practice and therapy could take place at all times.
Once they found out I'm a photographer, I also got a project to do related to that, and another one and after the first week I had no less than five photo projects up and running. First project and possibly the least fun was to capture all residents faces, preferably from straight forward and with eyes open, which proved to be bit harder than it sounds. Project number two, get all staff and resident's faces for a chart to put on the wall to show who was with who during a particular time. Easier, because I could use the same pictures. The third project was Rabia needed to get some attractive photos of the building for an advertisement for Woodside. Much easier! Fourth project was taking photos of some things and areas for the speech pathologist to use for pecks photos and lastly, and the most fun, take photos for a slide show Martin was putting on at the concert they were having. That meant taking a lot of pictures of the kids doing different activities and preparations for the concert.
The language they mostly speak here is Afrikaans. It's Dutch based with a mix of this and that. If they speak slowly I could pick up a word here and there. They also speak isiXhosa, which has a clicking sound and isiZulu. Most of them also speak English. Their English has a whole different tune to it, so I would compare it to the difference between English and Australian, and then again the same difference to South Africa. Most of them are ok to understand, but some have a very difficult accent.
After a long week, working 8-5 I really welcomed Friday afternoon. I had asked for some time off to go to the mall and of course that was not a problem. They even dropped me off and picked me up! Rabia, Rebecca and I had a quick lunch before Rabia went back to work and Rebecca and I went shopping. My plan was to get some shorts and sleeveless shirt before my Safari trip. It was a bit harder than I expected, because the prices were kind of high, much higher than in the States, but after some searching I found a few things before we sat down for tea to wait to get picked up.
That evening I was exhausted, and I really enjoyed the fact that all I need to do is sit down to a set table. I don't know if I ever want to leave after getting this spoiled. Dinners during the week were some bean, chicken, pasta and mashed potatoes gratin, Chicken curry and Roti, a piece of bread that looks like a pancake and tastes like bread fries in lots of butter. We had Snoek, which is like a Barracuda, with rice and on Friday we had pancakes with creamy spinach and feta cheese and for desert, since there were pancakes left over, we Rabia made a banana & mint chocolate chip crepe. Delicious! After dinner Oscar and I watched a movie and then straight to bed.
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Saturday, November 10th and Sunday November 11th
Hotspot's 2 day Wildlife + Safari Tour
Pick-up time was between 7:45-8:15am, right here at the house at 6 Pers Close, Goolhurst Estate, Grassy Park and my guide, Paul showed up at exactly 7:45. After getting a bit lost we had finally picked up everybody, nine girls from all over the world, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Holland and Ireland.
We drove inland through some barren, savanna plains, where we passed a few baboons hanging alongside the road. After about an hour we entered a tunnel taking us under the Swartberg or Black Mountains which surrounds Cape Town. As we entered the other side, we came upon mile after mile of vineyards, rugged Karoo plains and Cape Route 62, supposedly South Africa's version of Route 66..
A few stops along the road and we entered the Cango (a watering place) Wildlife Ranch, where we first got a tour and later ended with our choice of animal encounter, cheetah, red panda, crocodile or python. I picked to pet a cheetah. After spraying clean our hands and shoes and feeling a bit nervous I entered the area of the cheetahs. He was laying down and as I started petting him he begun to purr. The purring took all feelings of being scared away, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
In the evening we had a BBQ or braai as they call it here. Veggies, potatoes, rice and ostrich Shish Kebab and sausage and of course some local wine. We hung and chatted for a couple of hours and then Ymkje and I walked back to our totally cool hotel room with our very own shower. All the others were staying at the Backpackers Paradise in Oudtshoorn.
The following morning we got picked up at 8:30 and headed toward an Ostrich Farm. Again we received a tour which was followed by either sitting on or riding an ostrich. An ostrich was caught and a bag was placed over his head. Ostriches think that if they can't see you, you can't see them. After sitting on the ostrich (I decided against riding it) and having them give me a neck massage, I stood on some eggs and then we were off to the elephants.
After a beef and lamb lunch, three elephants and a couple of caretakers greeted in in beaming hot sunlight. A tray full of fruit and carrots was divided between us and then we fed them, got hugged by them, got to sit on the leg and finally hop on and sit on them. After all the photos were taken the elephants played some ball, waved good bye to us and went on their merry way. That was our cue that time with the elephants was up and we headed for the van to move on to our Safari.
Two hours later we were at the Safari Park where we jumped on a jeep and went for a wild ride amongst the Big 5. The Big 5 is the lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and water buffalo. Out of the five we saw three, the lion, rhino and elephant, but we also saw giraffes, zebras and different kinds of antelopes. As we closed in on the male lion, he turned to face us and got into a pounce position, so we had to back off and leave him alone.
Three more hours and I arrived home just in time for dinner, then shower and straight to bed because Monday morning it was time for work again.
Pick-up time was between 7:45-8:15am, right here at the house at 6 Pers Close, Goolhurst Estate, Grassy Park and my guide, Paul showed up at exactly 7:45. After getting a bit lost we had finally picked up everybody, nine girls from all over the world, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Holland and Ireland.
We drove inland through some barren, savanna plains, where we passed a few baboons hanging alongside the road. After about an hour we entered a tunnel taking us under the Swartberg or Black Mountains which surrounds Cape Town. As we entered the other side, we came upon mile after mile of vineyards, rugged Karoo plains and Cape Route 62, supposedly South Africa's version of Route 66..
A few stops along the road and we entered the Cango (a watering place) Wildlife Ranch, where we first got a tour and later ended with our choice of animal encounter, cheetah, red panda, crocodile or python. I picked to pet a cheetah. After spraying clean our hands and shoes and feeling a bit nervous I entered the area of the cheetahs. He was laying down and as I started petting him he begun to purr. The purring took all feelings of being scared away, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
In the evening we had a BBQ or braai as they call it here. Veggies, potatoes, rice and ostrich Shish Kebab and sausage and of course some local wine. We hung and chatted for a couple of hours and then Ymkje and I walked back to our totally cool hotel room with our very own shower. All the others were staying at the Backpackers Paradise in Oudtshoorn.
The following morning we got picked up at 8:30 and headed toward an Ostrich Farm. Again we received a tour which was followed by either sitting on or riding an ostrich. An ostrich was caught and a bag was placed over his head. Ostriches think that if they can't see you, you can't see them. After sitting on the ostrich (I decided against riding it) and having them give me a neck massage, I stood on some eggs and then we were off to the elephants.
After a beef and lamb lunch, three elephants and a couple of caretakers greeted in in beaming hot sunlight. A tray full of fruit and carrots was divided between us and then we fed them, got hugged by them, got to sit on the leg and finally hop on and sit on them. After all the photos were taken the elephants played some ball, waved good bye to us and went on their merry way. That was our cue that time with the elephants was up and we headed for the van to move on to our Safari.
Two hours later we were at the Safari Park where we jumped on a jeep and went for a wild ride amongst the Big 5. The Big 5 is the lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and water buffalo. Out of the five we saw three, the lion, rhino and elephant, but we also saw giraffes, zebras and different kinds of antelopes. As we closed in on the male lion, he turned to face us and got into a pounce position, so we had to back off and leave him alone.
Three more hours and I arrived home just in time for dinner, then shower and straight to bed because Monday morning it was time for work again.
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Wednesday November 14th
False Bay
I took the day off so Marie, Oskari and I could hop the Taxibus and Metrotrain to Simon's Town. The Taxibus is a minivan, that for 6 Rand, approximately 80 cents, packs about 11-15 people and drives like a crazy man to the next area. We were taking the train from "Retreat" so the Taxibus took us from Grassy Park to there. Nine Rand took us on the train for approximately 20 minutes or 7-8 stops. After getting off in Simon's Town we had coffee and scones and then we walked for about 30 minutes to Boulder Beach to check out the penguins. Most of them were hiding because November is nesting time, but we did get to see a few and then a quick dip of the feet in the Atlantic and back to the train station.
Heading back again we hopped off in St. James and took the beach walk back to Muiezenberg, a very nice beach with colorful changing rooms, where we had a tasty pizza before heading back home. Muizenberg is where the surfers hang out, but the waves were small, so just a few kids were there trying to learn the sport of surfing.
I took the day off so Marie, Oskari and I could hop the Taxibus and Metrotrain to Simon's Town. The Taxibus is a minivan, that for 6 Rand, approximately 80 cents, packs about 11-15 people and drives like a crazy man to the next area. We were taking the train from "Retreat" so the Taxibus took us from Grassy Park to there. Nine Rand took us on the train for approximately 20 minutes or 7-8 stops. After getting off in Simon's Town we had coffee and scones and then we walked for about 30 minutes to Boulder Beach to check out the penguins. Most of them were hiding because November is nesting time, but we did get to see a few and then a quick dip of the feet in the Atlantic and back to the train station.
Heading back again we hopped off in St. James and took the beach walk back to Muiezenberg, a very nice beach with colorful changing rooms, where we had a tasty pizza before heading back home. Muizenberg is where the surfers hang out, but the waves were small, so just a few kids were there trying to learn the sport of surfing.
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Friday November 16th - Sunday November 18th
Hotspot's 3 day Western Cape tour
Pick up this trip was between 8:45-9:15, I greeted our driver Maudi and Rebecca from work and then we took off to Hout Bay. A picturesque small harbor village, where we boarded a boat which took us through some pretty rough waves to Duiker Island. At Duiker Island are thousands of Cape fur seals lazily basking in the sun or splashing around in the water.
After the tour we headed toward Cape Point, Africa's most southwestern point and Cape of Good Hope where we ran in to a few baboons along the way. Passing Stellenbosch and beautiful views of vineyards, it was time to check into our Hostel for the night.
The following morning Maarten and Marie met up with us, and we headed to Kayamandi Township. This is where we learned to say some words in Xhosa "Molo!", which means hello, "Kunjani", how are you, "Unjani", Fine thanks, and "Ndiyaphila" which means well, thank you. The Township walking tours was by far the most interesting part of my stay in South Africa. One of our first stops was the local bar, where at 9am the men were drinking their home made African beer, made by corn flower and water. This is where the local kids first spotted us and they all posed for the camera, sang, held our hands and played with our sun glasses. As we walked through town, they followed us like we were some kind of interesting attraction. Even though they live in misery, dirt and small shacks, they all seemed pretty happy.
Then it was off to our first wine tasting, port and chocolate, at 10am! I love both chocolate and wine, but rally not at all this time of the day. After that on to next wine tasting and later on cheese tasting. After all that wine the cheese tasted marvelous.
A long ride later we were down to the southernmost point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, where we spent our second night. After a nice braai, some glasses of wine and happy chatting, we went to bed completely exhausted. At 7am some of the group were heading off to do some shark cage diving and the rest of us took a relaxing morning. After some eggs and bacon and a quick walk to the Indian Ocean where I put my feet in real quick, just to realize that it was way too cold to get in, we moved on to Hermanus. Here we had a few hours to spend doing some shopping and dining and watching some whales jump in the horizon.
Only one thing left on the schedule and that was Betty's Bay, a sea side village and the home to a colony of the South African Penguin. A long but very beautiful ride on Clarence Drive along the coastline brought us back home right in time for dinner.
Pick up this trip was between 8:45-9:15, I greeted our driver Maudi and Rebecca from work and then we took off to Hout Bay. A picturesque small harbor village, where we boarded a boat which took us through some pretty rough waves to Duiker Island. At Duiker Island are thousands of Cape fur seals lazily basking in the sun or splashing around in the water.
After the tour we headed toward Cape Point, Africa's most southwestern point and Cape of Good Hope where we ran in to a few baboons along the way. Passing Stellenbosch and beautiful views of vineyards, it was time to check into our Hostel for the night.
The following morning Maarten and Marie met up with us, and we headed to Kayamandi Township. This is where we learned to say some words in Xhosa "Molo!", which means hello, "Kunjani", how are you, "Unjani", Fine thanks, and "Ndiyaphila" which means well, thank you. The Township walking tours was by far the most interesting part of my stay in South Africa. One of our first stops was the local bar, where at 9am the men were drinking their home made African beer, made by corn flower and water. This is where the local kids first spotted us and they all posed for the camera, sang, held our hands and played with our sun glasses. As we walked through town, they followed us like we were some kind of interesting attraction. Even though they live in misery, dirt and small shacks, they all seemed pretty happy.
Then it was off to our first wine tasting, port and chocolate, at 10am! I love both chocolate and wine, but rally not at all this time of the day. After that on to next wine tasting and later on cheese tasting. After all that wine the cheese tasted marvelous.
A long ride later we were down to the southernmost point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, where we spent our second night. After a nice braai, some glasses of wine and happy chatting, we went to bed completely exhausted. At 7am some of the group were heading off to do some shark cage diving and the rest of us took a relaxing morning. After some eggs and bacon and a quick walk to the Indian Ocean where I put my feet in real quick, just to realize that it was way too cold to get in, we moved on to Hermanus. Here we had a few hours to spend doing some shopping and dining and watching some whales jump in the horizon.
Only one thing left on the schedule and that was Betty's Bay, a sea side village and the home to a colony of the South African Penguin. A long but very beautiful ride on Clarence Drive along the coastline brought us back home right in time for dinner.
Tuesday November 20th - Friday November 23rd
Stellenbosch
Marie and I decided to have a girls' day out and took off to Stellenbosch for wine tasting. We hopped on a Minibus Taxi for 6 Rand to Wyneberg and took the train (9 Rand) to Cape Town and then out to Stellenbosch (17 Rand). The views from the train were everything but the nice vineyards that we had expected to see. Mostly one after another of very poor neighborhoods followed us along the tracks. Comparable with the scary parts of the States, where one preferably never have to set a foot. Once over there we found a Visitor's Center ordered a Private Taxi (250 Rand round trip for the tow of us) out to Neethlingshof.
Here we tasted five different wines paired with snacks, and wow, wine really does taste quite a bit different with the correct flavored food. We tasted and chatted for a long time, before heading back to Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is a quaint little place with some cafes and small shops. A quick coffee and sandwich, or a buttie like Rebecca would have said, before taking the train back to Grassy Park.
The week continued and I finished up my projects at work, went out to a bar with the other volunteers and Rebecca's Host mom. She's a Muslim, so she couldn't drink, but that didn't stop her from hanging with us, just sipping on a hot chocolate. The following night Rabia suggested another bar, so off to Cubanas, where my house mates had quite a few drinks and shooters and some shisha. I stuck to my wine. On thanksgiving, which I actually had forgotten was going on until I checked Facebook, we had typical African food. It bore reminiscence of poor days, and included Pop, which is corn flower and water mixed to a goo, chicken neck , sour milk and Shakalaka. Interesting and I'm really glad I have tried it, but definitely not anything I would ever eat again.
Here we tasted five different wines paired with snacks, and wow, wine really does taste quite a bit different with the correct flavored food. We tasted and chatted for a long time, before heading back to Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is a quaint little place with some cafes and small shops. A quick coffee and sandwich, or a buttie like Rebecca would have said, before taking the train back to Grassy Park.
The week continued and I finished up my projects at work, went out to a bar with the other volunteers and Rebecca's Host mom. She's a Muslim, so she couldn't drink, but that didn't stop her from hanging with us, just sipping on a hot chocolate. The following night Rabia suggested another bar, so off to Cubanas, where my house mates had quite a few drinks and shooters and some shisha. I stuck to my wine. On thanksgiving, which I actually had forgotten was going on until I checked Facebook, we had typical African food. It bore reminiscence of poor days, and included Pop, which is corn flower and water mixed to a goo, chicken neck , sour milk and Shakalaka. Interesting and I'm really glad I have tried it, but definitely not anything I would ever eat again.
Friday November 23rd - Monday November 26th
Last Weekend
Friday morning and the beginning of my last few days in South Africa, I packed up my things and Jainoodien took us in to The Green Market Place and my Hotel, Inn at the Square, in Cape Town.
After my living standard the last three weeks, it was a wonderful feeling to have my own room, bathroom/shower and a TV. I had absolutely no clue what had gone on in the world the three weeks I'd been there. First news once I turned on the TV was that JR had died at the age of 81, sad. We met up with a whole bunch of volunteers and students who decided to do their Internship in South Africa and had some local food at Eastern Food Bazaar. Once finished we hopped in two cars and headed for the Cape Town FIFA 2010 Arena, where we watched Ajax and Chippa United. Ajax won, 3-2. After that, the rest of the gang headed to a club and I went to my hotel room to enjoy some alone time and internet. |
The following morning I went to the Slave Lodge, a museum located close to the hotel. After watching a short movie about Apartheid in South Africa and walking through the corridors of slaves of the past, I took a 25 minute walk to Waterfront, where I met up with Rebecca and Carina. We were supposed to go to Robben Island, but the winds were too strong and the trip got cancelled. Instead we had some lunch, met up with Oskari, Maarten, Marie and a few more voluneers and Intern shippers and had a party at the roof/pool of my hotel. |