*Went to a benefit dinner organized by C's aunt Diana's family friend. It was delicious Italian meal, complete with a grappa tasting that benefited the Starfish Foundation. After the dinner we stayed with C's godmother Karin, who's a little fireball with more energy than the both of us combined, and her lovely husband Loew, as a closer launching off point to explore Cape Town. We woke up early the next morning to tour Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 16 years. We were about to load into the car when due to the early morning combo of malaria pill on empty stomach and eating yogurt K threw up. (The tally is currently C=75 and K= 10, K is gaining on C with much thanks due to doxycyclin!)
*Anyway, K toughed it out, Robben Island happened and it was amazing. Nelson Mandela and many other important political prisoners were imprisoned there (including our guide!) for much of the apartheid era in SA. It's nickname was "the university" because it became such a breeding ground for ideas about how a new South Africa should be run and even an opportunity to implement a more socialist and anti-segregation lifestyle model.
*We spent four days with C's gran in Simonstown braving the bold wind and hitting all of the highlights - Boulders (where the Jackass Penguins were full swing in mating season), Cape Point, Gran's favorite fish and chips restaurant, a picnic at Nordhoek, a visit to Uncle Peter, and interminable amounts of tea!
*We got brave and independent (after being mollycoddled by family for over a week) and hired a car for a week. Krista drove.
*We drove to Rawsonville where C's aunt and uncle have a beautiful vineyard. http://www.eensgevonden.co.za/Farmstead.html. We had some nice dinners and discussions, a long walk up the mountain, and an early(ish) jump into the swimming hole.
*We then drove to Wilderness on the Garden Route for two nights at a backpackers hostel on the beach. Here we picked up an adventurous, good looking, hitch-hiker-picking-up Brit and exemplary third muskateer, Max (or Maxine if you'd prefer!), who came with us canoeing and canyoning (they call it kloofing in SA) and provided us with this fun clip: http://gallery.me.com/yatesmax#100106
*We drove back to Cape Town and convinced Max and Sonya to climb Table Mtn with us which was steep, but well worth the effort and intense organization by all family members! To celebrate, we went for lunch at fancy Camp's Bay and then said sad goodbyes to our new friends and the beautiful city.
*Had a final dinner of Aunt Diana's delicious babootie, packed up, slept one last night in our borrowed house, and grabbed an early morning flight to Joburg.
*Spent the day in Joburg (very last minute, thank you for taking us) with Martin family friends - the Osborne's. Had time for a flick ( the new Hannah Montana, very soul nourishing, a bit homesick making, and completely age appropriate!) and a lovely steak dinner with Richie O and all his very important banking friends.
*Began an epic trip to find Laura Henson, Peace Corps volunteer extraordinaire, in Vilankulos.
*Took an 8 hr. overnight bus from Joburg to Maputo, Mozambique (a pretty sketchy thing to do in Africa apparently), a 11 hr. chapa (or chicken bus) from Maputo to just outside Massinga where the radiator burst. Charmed a NGO worker into giving us a lift into town where the triumverate of super PCV's saved us, fed us avocado sandwiches (much needed), taught us a few new GRE words (we knew most of them coming in) and were our guides to hitching in Moz.
*That said, we hitched the remaining 4 hrs in the back of police truck hitting or swerving to miss potholes approximately every 6 minutes while super Ali tried to convince the interested men in the front that all the girls aboard were married and super Chase and super Pat read difficult books in Portugese.
*Arrived in Vil, elated, and went straight to the beach.
*Spent night grooving with Peace Corps Mozambique volunteers who were preparing for Beach Beer Olympics the next day.
*Missed a majority of the Olympic events the next day due to a pre-arranged and fabulous snorkling trip.
*Joined BBO in the late afternoon, joined in the reveling of the volunteers still standing, and added a few interesting competitions of our own - the shimmy competetion, the pick-up-the wallet-on-from-floor-dance competition, and the midnight-swim-with-the-phosphorescents- who's-in?-competition.
*Played a pretty intense game of beach volleyball, had a delicious dinner at an oceanside resort, shopped the markets for our own kapalanas with Laura as a trusted guide, and left a little sad to say goodbye.
*Another chapa, punctuated by a lovely dinner with super Ali in Maputo, another overnight bus back to Joburg, a rearranging of bags in Joburg and a flight to Zimbabwe where some faulty landing equipment gave Cate a bit of a fright and Krista a reason to open her eyes for a sec and hold Cate's hand, but clearly proved to be ok.
*Arrived in Harare, picked up by C's cousin Christy and daughter Keira. Dinner with the whole Martin brood at Murray Martin's house. An evening pick up of the effervescent and good looking Mr. William Cathcart, Jr. who seems not to be bothered by his 24plus hr trip.
*A day of planning and recovering followed by a long weekend in Mana Pools, a game reserve in Zimbabwe, with a group of good people. Highlights include a hippo in the camp on the first night as Will is stubbornly taking off for an advised-against night walk, an elephant walking through the camp midday strikingly close to Cate alone in her tent, many scary animal-attack stories and delicious dinners by the camp fire, and some good animal spotting. Check out Will's article for the Charleston Mercury. http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12145ed645d300c9&mt=application%2Fpdf&pli=1
*A sad farewell to Will, a day of K shadowing C's uncle, the now infamous Dr. Kevin who delivers babies by torch light and looks up surgeries he's never done online before performing them, and C visiting Aunt Gill's schools.
*A terrifying Air Zim flight (at a very low flying altitude) to Victoria Falls preceded and delayed by an official Zimbabwean welcoming ceremony to some Asian dignitary on the tarmac!
*Two days at a cool backpackers in Vic Falls, a risky canoe trip down the Zambezi on the lookout for lurking crocs and hippos the whole time, almost running out of money and not being able to use any ATM's in Zim as they've just switched to the US dollar and don't have enough currency, a flight to Nairobi where we're safe in the ghetto with a Pentecostal preacher as a house mom and projects that we're thrilled with!
More anon....
*Anyway, K toughed it out, Robben Island happened and it was amazing. Nelson Mandela and many other important political prisoners were imprisoned there (including our guide!) for much of the apartheid era in SA. It's nickname was "the university" because it became such a breeding ground for ideas about how a new South Africa should be run and even an opportunity to implement a more socialist and anti-segregation lifestyle model.
*We spent four days with C's gran in Simonstown braving the bold wind and hitting all of the highlights - Boulders (where the Jackass Penguins were full swing in mating season), Cape Point, Gran's favorite fish and chips restaurant, a picnic at Nordhoek, a visit to Uncle Peter, and interminable amounts of tea!
*We got brave and independent (after being mollycoddled by family for over a week) and hired a car for a week. Krista drove.
*We drove to Rawsonville where C's aunt and uncle have a beautiful vineyard. http://www.eensgevonden.co.za/Farmstead.html. We had some nice dinners and discussions, a long walk up the mountain, and an early(ish) jump into the swimming hole.
*We then drove to Wilderness on the Garden Route for two nights at a backpackers hostel on the beach. Here we picked up an adventurous, good looking, hitch-hiker-picking-up Brit and exemplary third muskateer, Max (or Maxine if you'd prefer!), who came with us canoeing and canyoning (they call it kloofing in SA) and provided us with this fun clip: http://gallery.me.com/
*We drove back to Cape Town and convinced Max and Sonya to climb Table Mtn with us which was steep, but well worth the effort and intense organization by all family members! To celebrate, we went for lunch at fancy Camp's Bay and then said sad goodbyes to our new friends and the beautiful city.
*Had a final dinner of Aunt Diana's delicious babootie, packed up, slept one last night in our borrowed house, and grabbed an early morning flight to Joburg.
*Spent the day in Joburg (very last minute, thank you for taking us) with Martin family friends - the Osborne's. Had time for a flick ( the new Hannah Montana, very soul nourishing, a bit homesick making, and completely age appropriate!) and a lovely steak dinner with Richie O and all his very important banking friends.
*Began an epic trip to find Laura Henson, Peace Corps volunteer extraordinaire, in Vilankulos.
*Took an 8 hr. overnight bus from Joburg to Maputo, Mozambique (a pretty sketchy thing to do in Africa apparently), a 11 hr. chapa (or chicken bus) from Maputo to just outside Massinga where the radiator burst. Charmed a NGO worker into giving us a lift into town where the triumverate of super PCV's saved us, fed us avocado sandwiches (much needed), taught us a few new GRE words (we knew most of them coming in) and were our guides to hitching in Moz.
*That said, we hitched the remaining 4 hrs in the back of police truck hitting or swerving to miss potholes approximately every 6 minutes while super Ali tried to convince the interested men in the front that all the girls aboard were married and super Chase and super Pat read difficult books in Portugese.
*Arrived in Vil, elated, and went straight to the beach.
*Spent night grooving with Peace Corps Mozambique volunteers who were preparing for Beach Beer Olympics the next day.
*Missed a majority of the Olympic events the next day due to a pre-arranged and fabulous snorkling trip.
*Joined BBO in the late afternoon, joined in the reveling of the volunteers still standing, and added a few interesting competitions of our own - the shimmy competetion, the pick-up-the wallet-on-from-floor-dance competition, and the midnight-swim-with-the-phosphorescents- who's-in?-competition.
*Played a pretty intense game of beach volleyball, had a delicious dinner at an oceanside resort, shopped the markets for our own kapalanas with Laura as a trusted guide, and left a little sad to say goodbye.
*Another chapa, punctuated by a lovely dinner with super Ali in Maputo, another overnight bus back to Joburg, a rearranging of bags in Joburg and a flight to Zimbabwe where some faulty landing equipment gave Cate a bit of a fright and Krista a reason to open her eyes for a sec and hold Cate's hand, but clearly proved to be ok.
*Arrived in Harare, picked up by C's cousin Christy and daughter Keira. Dinner with the whole Martin brood at Murray Martin's house. An evening pick up of the effervescent and good looking Mr. William Cathcart, Jr. who seems not to be bothered by his 24plus hr trip.
*A day of planning and recovering followed by a long weekend in Mana Pools, a game reserve in Zimbabwe, with a group of good people. Highlights include a hippo in the camp on the first night as Will is stubbornly taking off for an advised-against night walk, an elephant walking through the camp midday strikingly close to Cate alone in her tent, many scary animal-attack stories and delicious dinners by the camp fire, and some good animal spotting. Check out Will's article for the Charleston Mercury. http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12145ed645d300c9&mt=application%2Fpdf&pli=1
*A sad farewell to Will, a day of K shadowing C's uncle, the now infamous Dr. Kevin who delivers babies by torch light and looks up surgeries he's never done online before performing them, and C visiting Aunt Gill's schools.
*A terrifying Air Zim flight (at a very low flying altitude) to Victoria Falls preceded and delayed by an official Zimbabwean welcoming ceremony to some Asian dignitary on the tarmac!
*Two days at a cool backpackers in Vic Falls, a risky canoe trip down the Zambezi on the lookout for lurking crocs and hippos the whole time, almost running out of money and not being able to use any ATM's in Zim as they've just switched to the US dollar and don't have enough currency, a flight to Nairobi where we're safe in the ghetto with a Pentecostal preacher as a house mom and projects that we're thrilled with!
More anon....
2 comments:
Sweet fancy moses! Glad y'all have been able to see so many friends along the way.
It sounds like your trip was amazing, I too traveled the Garden Route and landed in a place called Plettenberg Bay, this town is amazing, I went skydiving, bungy jumping and hiking during my stay, there is so much to do in Plet (this is what the locals call it), I stayed at an amazing backpackers called Starling Village Backpackers. Man what a great journey and I want to go back.
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