How to pass a perfect sunday in Cape Town

On Sunday we set out at 12 noon for our 5 and half hour hike. That was mistake number one.

But luckily that was it.

Despite the scorching heat and uphill climb with my legs screaming "Why didn't you take me in the opposite direction?", we managed to complete another leg of our long-term goal of hiking from Signal Hill all the way to the Cape Point.

We calculated that we have about 3 or 4 more days of gruelling walks, with one overnight section, but then we'll have done it!

See pic of me ecstatic to on top of Table Mountain, and the view across the ridge, looking down onto Camps Bay.

That night we had some friends around for a braai.

We cooked up some delicious tongue, seasoned with salt and pepper and lemon juice (from the lemons on our lemon tree in the garden).

I can happily report that everyone enjoyed it.

We all agreed it tasted a bit like salty sausage.

See Matt getting acquainted with The Tongue pre-braai, and everyone sampling the fare with their sundowners.

It was a windy evening and the boats across the harbour were getting whipped around pretty bad.

The Cape wind is indescribable and until you've experienced it, you won't know the true meaning of windstorm.

I've been woken up on several occasions from the howls and hisses of this wind, and, unable to sleep immediately, plot emergency exit strategies if our roof was to suddenly be ripped off.

inspire me

There is something very therapeutic in writing. There is an element of healing in writing, in creating music, in painting. Such outlets for such energy, be it good or bad, is a vital in maintaining one's sanity.

While being in a contemplative slump recently, the powers that be intervened and introduced me to women who were making it their mission to provide such creative energy outlets for kids around the world.

Today I met the founder of Let Love Lead, an organization in NYC that does just that. Often, kids are unwilling to discuss trauma in their lives (abuse, rape, death, etc) and allowing them to express themselves (perhaps anonymously if need be) is a way to acknowledge "the issue" as much as they want/need to, and then, along with the ill feelings, release it.

Adults, on the other hand, require similar methods i think.

Always, when I remove myself temporarily from my current situation, something or someone is gently thrusted into my life to inspire me again. I don't ask why anymore, I just embrace it. Thankful.

The day, turning out to be a good one, has flown by. It often does when you're having fun. Or when you have a lot on your mind.

ready or not, happy new year

New Year is supposed to bring fresh optimistic thoughts of the next twelve months to come, of the resolutions to be fulfilled and of the experiences and adventures yet to be had.

Already, i feel a sense of confusion, of not being in control of my bearings. When there are so many unknowns in the equation, you are left clinging to the hard facts. Thankful to be in good health, to be debt free, to be fed, clothed, housed and loved ... shouldn't that be enough?

But things are growing around me faster than i can catch up. It's like my shoes are 5 sizes bigger than I can suitably walk in.

I seem to yearn for more lately. More stability and routine, a chance to develop professionally and really dive into something I believe in, knowing I can see it out to the end. I yearn for more "knowns".

I've been neglecting my writing lately, i know. We have had a whirlwind of visitors, weekends away, and just recently, a long-distance road trip which took us to Lesotho and Kruger National Park, through Johannesburg and back again.

2008 will be actively dedicated to finding a happy realistic medium where I can be in control of Me and where I will be able to walk for miles in shoes that fit my feet.

Homeward bound & 10 gold flakes richer!

After succeeding in spotting our lion(s) yesterday, we decided to try our luck at something else: gold panning!

Just an hour and a half hour south from where we were staying in Komatiport (about 10 minutes away from the Mozambican border), is the splendid town of Barberton.

In the late 19th century there was a huge gold rush and Barberton was home to South African's first stock exchange.

Initially we wanted to visit the Agnes Mine (spelled incorrectly in the Lonely Planet as "Atlas" so those who are going to visit one day, beware because there is only the one sign) and then try the gold-panning.

But the mine closed indefinitely due to the heavy winter rains.

Instead, we had an exclusive tour with the South African champion of gold-panning: Danny Brink.

He will be representing his country in Spain for the World Gold-Panning competition in June!

Ankle-deep in the stream, we panned for a couple of hours and to our surprise, found 10 flakes altogether!

Danny put them in little vials with water and then he glued them onto a charm as a necklace when we were finished.

There is quite a technique to the whole process, very graceful and fluid.

I now kind of understand the "rush" people talk about when they find gold, and how addictive it can be.

There's always that feeling of "just one more pan and then I'll go home."

Nearing the end of our big roadtrip, the next morning we left Komatiport and drove the 4.5 hrs to Joburg.

There was a lot of traffic on the road as families were returning home after the holidays.

We checked into the Brown Sugar Backpacker's Lodge and walked down to the Bruma Market (just a bunch of well organized stalls set up in a safe fenced-off site) and then to Chinatown where we GORGED on everything from har gao, siu mai, ma po tofu, char siu, bamboo and mushrooms, hot and spicy soup, and very tasty fluffy rice.

Sorry, no pics. We were too busy stuffing our faces.

We also stopped off at a bakery and bought egg tarts and other goodies for the drive tomorrow. See pic of Matt eating his egg tart behind the wheel.

The next morning, Matt and I left for our return journey back to Cape Town.

See Anice waving us goodbye, looking a bit apprehensive to be left alone in "one of the most dangerous cities in the world."

She would be staying an extra day in Joburg to visit the Apartheid Museum and do a Soweto Township tour, flying back to Accra the following evening.

When we asked what the best part about visiting us in SA was, she said it was definitely the food, and the variety of it. It was back to foufou and maize meals for her!

We overnighted in Colesburg in a beautiful peaceful lodge overlooing the Orange River (see pic) and the following day made our way back home to Hout Bay by mid-afternoon.

It was indeed very nice to be home again. After driving over 6,6000 km this holiday in just two weeks, Matt didn't leave the house for 6 days when we returned! Unless you count getting the paper or throwing the rubbish away ;)

Well, now I understand much better how vast and diverse Lesotho and South Africa are, in terms of landscape, climate and of course, people.

But there was definitely an overarching theme of friendly and helpful people wherever we went. Though it is usually the case when travelling, I noticed it more frequently this time round. Very special.

The King is definitely worth waiting for

If you aren't staying in Kruger National Park itself, you'd better get to a Park gate bright and early to ensure you'll get in.

Due to the strict quota, if you don't come early enough, chances are you won't get into the park at all.

We were at Croc River Bridge Gate by 5:30am and already there were dozens of cars lined up.

Well, as they say "pictures speak louder than words", i'll let ours do the talking.

In a nutshell, it was a day of warthogs, buffaloes, hippos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, kudu, springbok, baboons, vervet monkeys, and even bats sleeping upside down in a hut while we had our lunch!

The only thing we hadn't spotted yet (besides the cheetah and leopard, which are very difficult to spot anyways), was the lion.

We drove and drove and drove - all at 50 km/hr, the max speed limit in the park - but no luck.

And just when we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't see a lion that day, driving back towards the gate before closing time (6:30pm), we met a big traffic jam of cars, jeeps, and safari vans, all with heads and limbs sticking out.

The woman in the car beside us mouthed the word "LION" and pointed up ahead.

We couldn't believe it! And a few seconds later, we spotted them. An elegant lioness and her stunning male companion.

All the cars were trying to push and nudge their way up to get better shots.

Our luck came through right then and the lions walked right behind us and beside our car window.

The male lion even brushed his tail against the side mirror!

I was so ridiculously happy for the rest of the night; my Kruger safari was complete!

an adrenalin-filled day

Early to rise again, we were going to do a one day full-on white water tubing on the Sabie River.

It was incredibly fun, gliding through the narrow streams, sliding down all the rockpools and jumping off a 3, 7 and 8 metre cliff!

See Anice jumping, arms spread out as we were instructed to do.

Well organized with juice and coffees and biscuits at the end of our journey, we managed to keep everyone together and not have any serious incidents.

In the afternoon, we toured the Shangana Cultural Village, a living museum to show tourists the traditional Shangan culture and community.

See Matt blowing into the horn of a male kudu to welcome everyone to the community tour.

The chief was elsewhere "at a meeting", and so we greeted the second in line, his brother. See pic of him weaving something on his throne.

I was not too impressed with the whole set-up. Our guide, though very knowledgeable, was obviously reciting from a previously memorized text.

Even meeting the Shangoma of the village (a woman wearing a frilly wig with all her magic objects) was a rehearsed event where she would say no more than three words describing certain objects in front of her.

As if on cue and without missing a beat, our guide would jump in and burst into this long, elaborated speech about what was supposedly just stated in 3 words.

Driving back, we encountered more excitement as we took some backroads by mistake and ran over a black mamba - the largest venomous snake in Africa, and the second venomous in the world (after the King Cobra)!

Its one bite contains enough venom to kill 20-40 grown men!

We quickly did a U-Turn to snap a picture, careful not to roll down our windows too much.

After getting lost and realizing we were doing one huge loop, we passed the same section of the road but didn't see the mamba there anymore. It must've slithered away into the tall grass. Phew!

Apparently they are quite rare to spot so we were lucky. We hoped our luck would continue into tomorrow and we would see a lion or two in Kruger.


Happy New Year: This is the bush, baby

Back in SA, the heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks.

After a restful day in Ermelo, we arrived in the town of Hazyview at Uxolo Bush Lodge.

Only opened for a month, the Meintjies family had moved from Gauteng to be closer to Kruger National Park, a mere 10 minute drive to the nearest gate.

They decided to open up a B&B and combine it with personal safari tours in their 4x4.

We had no idea about their exceptional knowledge of Kruger Park, and even more amazing, they were a family of photographers as well!

That afternoon, Arno took us on an impromptu game drive, introducing us to the beauty and secret hot spots of the Southern Kruger Park.

It was amazing, plus he knew exactly how to position the car to get the best shot possible.

That night was New Year's Eve and we took full advantage of the braai and roasted a whole chicken bought from the local fast-food chain, Nando's. Yum yum!

With a bottle of bubbly to wash it all down, we rung in the New Year early and headed to bed before midnight!

For the past few years, we haven't actually managed to stay up till midnight! Oh well, it was New Year in some other part of the world at least.

The next day we hired a Russian Ural sidecar to explore Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world.

It was great fun to be riding in the sidecar, zooming past one of South Africa's largest man-made forests.

It is a tricky bike to manoever though. When you want to turn left, everyone on the bike, from the rider to the passengers, must lean their body to the left to provide weight so it will not tip over.

I had a go at it for about 200m on a side dirt rode and like the guy said at the shop, "You have to treat it like a Russian agricultural implement, not a motorbike". How very true.

We stopped at the Berlin Waterfall (see pic) , The Pinnacle (a 30m monolith rising from above the indigenous forst, see pic), God's Window, Wonder View (see pic) and Bourke's Luck Potholes.

All created from millions of years of erosion, it provides an exciting day out when you want a break from seeing lions and elephants.

That night back at our bush lodge, Arno and Louise, along with their son, came knocking on our cottage door to tell us there were a couple of owls in the trees.

We ran around with torches, trying to catch sight of them. Their son was an expert at making owl hooting sounds, and they responded to his calls accordingly. Amazing!

The next morning we woke up to find hippo tracks next to the fence! They actually trampled through the bushes down to the stream! You can't get much better than staying with this family!