A Very Long Day . . .

On Friday, we went on a structured tour. I am not even sure that I can remember all the stops that we made along the way. I do remember stopping at Maidens Bay, the Marina, Cape Point, Cape Hope, the Penguins, and the botanical gardens that was all before dinner. Then I adventured out an ate at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant! What a day - this is definitely geared towards the energy level of a 24 year old, which I am increasingly aware that I am not! I'll probably do a separate page for each venue so that I can include a representative picture for now, let me just give you some of my overall impressions.

It is interesting to me what post-apartheid South Africa looks like. I have to be generous because new South Africa (as some call it) is just in its teens. The United States is over 200 years old and we are still battling some of the very same issues. Having said that, I am constantly amazed about the ease with which they speak of race. There are generally recognized to have four races: whites, colored (mixed race), Indian, and Black. As we have been driving around South Africa, I have been amazed how easy it is to point to a community and say "that is a colored neighborhood". Or in one case, they were talking about the area down by the marina which had traditionally been all white, but since apartheid, a settlement had been established. This is back to those make-shift communities made out of random scrap metal, often without electricity. That is what he points to to show that they have integrated. Of course, he adds that the values of the houses had decreased in value by 50% because they now had a "poor neighbor." If found the use of the word neighbor interesting because it was as if the entire black community were an entity rather that a population of people.

The natural beauty in South Africa is just overwhelming; it is all so majestic! I can't imagine that people can't see the creator behind all of this. There is no way that this is anything but intentional and, oh my, the creativity, it has to be an awesome God! Okay, enough. The range of experiences has been incredible. I saw some of the most beautiful coast lines, mountains, while also seeing Whales, baboons, as well as various varieties of antelope and this all before the safari!

Today is a kind down day as we just travel to Durban. Can you imagine that I could use the word "just" when speaking of going to another city in South Africa? Amazing!

Ethiopian Dinner

After this full day of seeing the cape, we, of course, had to eat. Okay, so I am not very brave when it comes to “foreign” food, but I am trying to experience as much as possible while I am here. Friday night was probably the best example (and you thought that Ostrich was adventuresome . . .). Let me tell you about Ethiopian Dinner.

First, we all selected a dish. There were nine (around two plates) of us, so we worked to ensure that we all got something different. Before being served, our server came around with a pitcher of warm water and poured them over our hands for use to wash before dinner. When they brought the food, they served half a portion of each of the nine dished on each of the two plates. From there, we all used this spongy kind of sour dough bread to pick up some of the food to eat.

This picture is what our plates looked like. Imagine four or five people picking from this with a piece of bread. It was so weird, reaching across, literally to grab a bite to eat. As if that wasn’t weird enough, there aren’t words to describe the various tastes that I experienced. Tastes and textures that I don’t think were mean to be experienced.

I am glad I went (I guess), but it isn’t a place that I’d go back to under normal circumstances, as if there is ever a normal circumstance that I’ll ever be in South Africa again.

Botanical Garden

Anybody who knows me know that I do not have a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the beauty of a well maintained garden! What beautiful sights to behold at Kirstenbosch. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and we were cut even more in our time to appreciate all they had to offer. I just spent a few minutes trying to take it in when it started to rain. The guide indicated that you really need to dedicate a full day to see them all!

These gardens are located in the same area where the embassy homes are located. It was an exquisite (Can you tell that I am running out of adjective) neighborhood.

By this time, it is after 5:00 and we head back to the hotel. We passed by the monument to Rhodes, of Rhodes scholar fame. He is the one who created the De Beers diamond monopoly that keeps diamond prices high. He owned an amazing amount of land in South Africa. Having never married and having no (known) children, he left everything to the state.

Hmmmm . . . what to have for dinner? How ‘bout Ethiopian, whatever that is!

Penguins

Would you have ever thought that there would be penguins in South Africa? Me neither, but there are Africa Penguins, formerly known as Jackass Penguins. I can tell you that they really do make a braying sound. I have a video of them that I’ll post when I get home. For now, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

They have kind of an interesting story. First of all, did you know that all species of penguins all live in the southern hemisphere? I didn’t, but according to the guide that is the case. Anyway, penguins apparently typically live on islands and this breed did too. Then, there was an attack of seals and they were practically killed off as a species. They, without human intervention, relocated to the mainland where they are today. Somehow they knew that they needed to relocate in order to preserve their species. Pretty smart, huh?

At some point earlier on the tour we had heard that the various breeds of antelope only breed if there are predators and sufficient food. They seem to instinctively know how to preserve their species and, unlike us, they follow those instincts!

Okay - On to the botanical gardens!

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope used to be called else (which escapes me except that it had a negative connotation.) Someone decided that maybe there would be few shipwrecks of they renamed it something more positive. So it was named, Cape of Good Hope. It worked! Shipwrecks went down! They usually fail to mention that at the same time there were many navigational improvements and related documentation that more likely account for the reduced number of accidents.

Once again, it was spectacular! (Are you getting tired of this theme? Too bad!)

Okay . . . Off to see the penguins!

Cape Point

Cape Point is amazing. There I had my first encounter with Baboons! Cape Point is part of Table Mountain National Park. As we were driving up, we saw a Baboon along the road. When we got to the destination, they were literally all over the place. The guide spent quite a bit of time telling us of the guidelines should a Baboon jump us. The primary point is that they will steal your food right out of your hand.

The first order of business was to get lunch. The only option at this park was a small convenience store with “those” sandwiches. We all were in the store and someone who was ahead of me and had already gone outside to eat, came back in with “A baboon took my sandwich so I need to get another one.” She was sitting along a wall and a baboon came out of nowhere and snatched her unopened sandwich. She was stunned. I later learned that another in our group had his cookies stolen as well. As a result, we all ate as as fast as we could, huddled up against the wall of the store, looking out for baboons. So what did you do on your summer vacation?

At this same place, I took my first ride on a funicular. This is a two car mode of transportation for getting up a hill (in this case). It is kind of cool. Only one of the cars had a driver and the other car moves based on a pulley system. When one goes up, the other comes down. They use the same track, but in the middle, there is a split in the tracks for one to go to one side while passing the other. I was quite fascinated by this and much preferred it to walking, thank you very much!

The view at the top was (again) amazing. I could have (but chose not to) walked further up to a lighthouse. The interesting thing about this lighthouse is that it was built at the top of this mountain and not very close to the coast. As a result, it didn’t really work very well and another one had to be built about halfway down the mountain on the point side.

Another interesting fact to know about Cape Point is that some want to believe (and their printed material suggests) that this is the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, but it isn’t. That point is actually at Cape Agulhas National Park.

Then on to the next stop - - - Cape of Good Hope

But before we got that that, we were driving along the coast and our driver spotted two Right Whales just off the shore. (I am not sure that he should have been looking for whales while driving, but I’m glad he was!) We stopped and watched them for quite some time, seeing their fins and an occasional blow out their hole! The guide indicated that this was very early for them to be here. Usually, they don’t appear until possibly as late as September! He said that he could say for certain that we were the first tour to have seen them!

Hout Harbor

This was a gorgeous harbor with some beautiful boats. This area had, during the apartheid days had been all, rather affluent whites. This is the area where a settlement was built that lowered the property values. No matter that these people are living in total poverty and stand on the street corner hoping to be hired for the day. The going rate for a single day might be 100 Rand which is about $14US. Imagine getting someone to do yard work all day for just $14. Amazing.

At this point in the trip, the guide also explained that the average farm worker might earn R940 per month. That would be less than $140, but he would also be provided accommodations, of what type, I don’t know. (As you might image with the dollar being equivalent to 7 or 8 Rand, South Africa is one of the most economical international programs available these days!)

Back to the harbor . . .
Along the edge of the docks, there was an open air market where a variety of good were sold. This was not at all unlike the Green Market in the center of town. It was interesting that as we approached, the guide explained that the vendors expected us to bargain. He said that the way you could tell if an offer that was not accepted was unreasonable was to walk away. That is, if you walked away and your offer was close, the vendor would pursue you. If they didn’t, you know your offer was too low. It was an interesting process. For example, there was something that I wanted to buy that I was told would cost R80. I hesitated and she quickly lowered it to 70 and then to 60. I had determined that I wanted two, so I offered 80 for two and she declined. Even though I really wanted them, I started to walk away and she quickly followed with a “just for you” acceptance of my offer. I immediately knew that my mother would be so very proud of me!

From there we headed on to our next stop - - Cape Point.

Maidens Cove

Maidens Cove was our first stop. This is an absolutely amazing site. Behind us were the twelve apostles and in front of us was the ocean. Twelve apostles, you ask. Well, this is actually a mountain range with 12 peaks, the first being the end of Table Mountain. It was an incredible sight, as you can see.

From there we headed on to our next stop - Hout harbor.