West Coast National Park

About two hours to the north of Cape Town is West Coast National Park. Ocean lagoon, sand dunes, beaches, and flamingos. Oh what fun!

After stopping at the beach in Table View for some photos of Cape Town from across the bay and a look at a shipwreck right off shore, we drove up to the national park were we hiked and played on the sand dunes in the hot, hot sun. We found the largest caterpillar I have ever seen and I came back with a tortoise shell with the tortoise body still inside. One of the dunes we found was really steep and we all took turns running/rolling/falling down it. I did a little boot skiing down in honor of the snow that has been falling these days back in the US of A.

           

Then, we drove out on the peninsula that helped contain a huge saltwater lagoon. We found a really pretty beach along the shallow waters of the lagoon for some playing in the water and enjoying the beautiful day!

 On the other side of the peninsula the shores were rocky and the waves were huge. I climbed around on the rocks while some of the girls collected shells and looked in tide-pools. Afterwards we drove up to the north of the park where we saw a few flamingos by the lagoon (there weren't very pink because they don't enough shrimp apparently). Then we went into the village of Langebaan where we had seafood and watched wind surfers right off shore. My life is paradise.

Addiction

I have never been much of a gambler. I don't like Vegas. I'm not very good at playing cards. Yet, on the night of November 6th I discovered another reason why I should not gamble... i'm an addict.

The night began innocently enough; I was going to study for my upcoming exams and go to bed early, but when my friends decided to visit the Grand West Casino for a few hours it was easy to not want to study. Just about anything can make me not want to study at this point. Everyone got all dressed up (apparently I looked like I was going to a Bar mitzvah, not sure what that was supposed to mean) and got in the car for a short drive into the Cape Flats where a little piece of Vegas was gleaming in the middle of a township. There were palm trees, bright lights, roman columns, and fountains.

The Grand West Casino

Apparently no one dresses up to go gambling here though as we stood out amidst people in jeans, sweatshirts, and tennis shoes. The girls actually got mistaken for prostitutes! A girl came up and told them that her brother wanted to know how much they were. Whoops!

Ben was pure Minnesota on the ice.

Ben was experienced at blackjack and so we followed him to the blackjack tables where we played as low stakes as possible (50 rand minimum which is about 7 dollars). We all were learning the ropes and bailing each other out when we got into debt but nobody lost more than 100 rand. I was doing really well with Ben's help and was actually up 500 rand when Devin told me to walk away and I realized I had a gambling problem.

I couldn't pull myself away from the table and subsequently lost about 300 rand. With 200 rand left, my friends managed to get me to leave the table and go ice skating. Ice skating was fun but couldn't get my mind off of the money that I could have had if I had left when I was ahead. It was scary how badly I wanted to go back and try to win more money but we thankfully left before I no doubt would have gone on to loose the rest of my money.

Ice skating to take away the pain

Macy the Springbok

Just three hours north of Cape Town is the Cederberg Mountains, a dry and mountainous region, that is home to famous arches and rock formations… sounds a lot like Moab, Utah to me. Oh yessss!

The beautiful drive up to Cederberg

 Six of us literally crammed into a five-person car with enough food and supplies for three nights of camping and a two-day backpacking trip. We left after everyone had finished with class on Tuesday and drove north through gorgeous mountains (reminded me of home) until we reached the Nuwerwurst Farm where Steve and Louise warmly welcomed us despite us being a few hours late. The farm is about an hour and a half from the nearest town along dirt and gravel roads. It was so much like home driving around on dirt roads while the sun set on the dramatic canyon walls.

First encounters with Macy.

That night while sitting around the fire and making dinner Judy noticed a little Springbok (a small deer and the mascot of the national rugby team) that was just up the road from us. Of course we all tried to get a look at the Springbok before it got scared and ran off, but to our surprise the little deer only got closer when it noticed us sneaking around for a better look. In fact it almost touched me while I was motionless on the ground. After snapping a few pictures and enjoying some campfire food, we all went off to bed.

Getting ready for two days in the wilderness.

In the morning we packed up the essentials and began our two-day backpacking excursion down the canyon to the confluence of three rivers. It was only 10km down river, but there were not actual trails that took us there so we were left following animal trails and bushwhacking through the dense foliage that inhabited the floor of the canyon. Needless to say, our legs were beyond cut up from all the branches that slashed at our legs and we were beyond sweating in the scorching desert sun.

Around the campfire and watching the sunrise at the campsite.

When we finally reached the confluence of the three rivers we took a refreshing swim in the cool river water and set up camp for the night. After all falling asleep around 8pm we woke up with the sun and got back on the trail before the heat of the day was pounding us. In now time, the sun was high overhead once again and inspired us to take swimming breaks along the river every hour or so to cool off. We ended up finding a lot of really beautiful swimming spots on our way back up the canyon.

One of many swimming stops.

Back at the farm, we were met by none other than that little Springbok. After talking to Steven, the farm owner, we discovered that Macy the Springbok was actually their pet. That sure explained the friendly nature of the little deer. Back around the campsite we got better acquainted with Macy who was six years old… uprising considering her small size.

She licked my face and sneezed in my hair... true love!

After another early night we packed up our little car with all of our things and all six of us, and made the trip back to Cape Town. What an exhausting and memorable weekend! 

The Republic of Hout Bay

On a beautiful Saturday morning I joined Grace, Carolyn, and Taylor on a drive over the hill to Hout Bay, officially called the Republic of Hout Bay. We hung out at the beach, ate fish and chips at the pier, went for a drive along the coast, and had another wine tasting. The following Wednesday Grace, Ben, Judy, Devin, and I went to Signal Hill to watch the sunset and have a picnic dinner. Romanic.

Grace, Me, Taylor, & Carolyn

The Republic of Hout Bay

Devon and I with Pasta and Sunset

Romance

Lion's Head and Sunset

Halloween

Here are a few pictures from a South African Halloween, which is essentially only celebrated by Americans. It began with watching the Currie Cup Championship (the Super Bowl of SA rugby) and ended with a house party hosted by some Americans in another program.

Safari Barbie and the Minnesota Vikings' Jarred Allen

Car guards: Essentially homeless people who watch your car.

Car guards with saweet hats!

A Lactose Overdose

Simonsig Cellar... That's a lot of wine!

Ben, Grace, Judy, Taylor, and I took the weekend of the 23rd to visit the town of Stellenbosch, about an hour north of the city. Ben and Grace dropped us off downtown and took the car to Gordon's Bay for a hike and cliff jumping while Taylor, Judy, and I boarded a van bound for four local vineyards, a restaurant in Franschhoek, and a stomach ache.

The first vineyard, Simonsig, began with a cellar tour, which explained the wine making process from vine to bottle. Afterwards we sampled five different wines. The reds were better, but that is just my general preference. At the second vineyard, Fairview, we also tried five wines and were able to have a cheese tasting. They had a good Shiraz and even better cheese. Judy and I ended up going through the cheese tasting line three times... each time eating more than the time before. I can say without hesitation that I have never had so much cheese in one sitting in my entire life. My personal favorite was a garlic herb brie, but there was also good aged cheddar, blue cheese, cream crease spreads, chakalaka and brie, and more.

The view from Dieu Donne

Despite ordering a delicious basil pesto and pasta at the restaurant in the town of Franschhoek, I was beyond full and was beginning to feel like throwing up the pound of cheese. The feeling continued on to the third vineyard, Dieu Donne, where I had five glasses of champagne in the hopes that the bubbles would ease the pain on my stomach. In the end that did work so that by the time we got to the last vineyard of the tour I was not expecting a possible death by cheese.

After taking a nap in the hostel to sleep off the bottles of wine drank and the pounds of cheese eaten we went out for dinner in a really good restaurant where I tried a Kudu steak. It tasted a lot like elk (shout out to Dad!)

The spirit of adventure.

In the morning we took a drive into the mountains were we went on a very rainy hike. Despite being soaked the entire time, it was really fun and beautiful. The valley we hiked in reminded me of Yankee Boy Basin, just without the snow. 

October Occurrences

The following is a series of events that have transpired between the farewell dinner of October 17^th and October 23^rd.

Swimming in Arcticly cold water at Clifton Beach. There are four beaches and I’m not sure which one it was specifically… it wasn’t the one for nudists or the one for gays, so one of the other two, just to be clear.

Hiking with Scotty, Natty, Dave, Natalie, and Grace at Silvermine. In the mountains above Muizenberg and Kalk Bay is this awesome hiking/climbing/bouldering spot where we spent the day jumping around on rocks and climbing stone objects. Followed by crashing a book signing with free wine… hey, you can’t be handing out free wine and not expect a few sweaty hikers to show up for a few bevs and leave before the reading part.

Walking to Claremont for the worst haircut of my life and then bowling with Ben, Grace, and Judy. I was obviously the worst of the group, although to be fair the place didn’t have bowling shoes so I was tossing gutter balls in Birkenstocks. Typical. The previous evening (yes, I went bowling two days in a row… weirdo) I set a personal bowing record of 102… triple digits baby!

Tweaking on top of Grace as the Moon Rises over CT

Another sunset hike of Lions Head and the final full moon of my time in Africa. Once again really beautiful views and a bit sketchy climbing down in the dark without flashlights. I know I must sound really cool and fearless… it’s true.

epic.