I woke up early Saturday morning, headed down to the Longstreet café like I’d done on so many mornings in Cape Town had a delicious espresso and a brie, tomato, mushroom sandwich. Got back to the hostel waited for my dorm mates to wake and eventually accompanied them to “Yours Truly” for more espresso and another bite. Yours Truly was the perfect example of the kind of café I’d like to own if I ever went that route. The place had great local artwork on the walls, delicious coffee, fresh pastries and amazing sandwiches. They also had an amazing assortment of magazines you could read while you were there and purchase if you wanted, including Monocle. Tasteful décor with comfortable couches and classy music really completed the environment. The girls indicated they had planned to head to Camps Bay, JJ and I didn’t have anything solid planned, we thought we might stroll down the waterfront and take in some local street buskers and try some more locally brewed beer. Since the weather was optimal for beaching, we asked if we could tag along, the waterfront wasn’t going anywhere.
We took a Minibus to Camps Bay, fantastic way of getting around town –if you know the route. 6 Rand will get you to Camps Bay, but don’t expect the driver to tell you anything more than: “Yes, I go by there at some point during the day”. The minibus system is also the sketchiest form of transportation I’ve ever experienced, some of the drivers don’t have driving licenses and text/drive or talk/drive on their cells. There’s anywhere from 10 to 15 Minibuses in Cape Town that are registered and part of a co-op. The rest of them are illegal minibuses, private drivers who are poaching customers from the co-op. It’s very difficult to tell them apart, they are all just super dodgy. Unfortunately, I think we took a minibus that went all over Cape Town before ultimately getting to Camps Bay. 6 Rand is still much cheaper than a 70 Rand cab ride, and on the bright side, we saw the town a bit more. Another added benefit to taking the Minibus is brushing shoulders with some locals, taking in some of the local language and culture. Cape Towners or Capeys, all take the Minibus; or have at some point in their lives.
Arriving at Camps Bay, I got a smell of the ocean and glanced over my shoulder at the Lions head, I knew this was a great choice. We’d arrived around 1130 and the beach wasn’t too busy yet. Luckily it’s the Cape Town winter and not many people go to the beach, otherwise we might not have had such primo real estate on the beach.
We set up shop and I busted out the disc JJ, Nele and I threw the disc around and almost lost it in the ocean a few times, Cybil sat smoked a cigarette and watched us. Great start to the day, eventually we got hot and went for a dip in the ocean.
Swimming in the Indian Ocean at Camps Bay was very refreshing, the water was just a touch over 10 C and the waves were just shy of 2 m. I swam out, until the waves turned to big swells and my toes started to go numb, turned around and just let the ocean carry back to shore. The others didn’t understand how I could stay in the water for so long without a wetsuit, I explained to them that the water was just right for a 30 C day at the beach with no wind and no clouds in sight.
After drying off listening to the Strokes, lying on the beach chatting with my new friends; JJ, Nele and I went over to a duo tossing a red Coca-Cola sponsored unofficial disc and offered to play with them. We attracted a few more people with my Discraft MEC disc and had fun laying-out. The initial guys we went to play with turned out to be an odd pairing of Australian and Cape Towner, they told me about some great bars the locals go to and where the good local bands were playing that night. I was stoked I had something new and exciting to do in Cape Town, finally getting off the tourist strip of Long Street.
We joined Cybil back at our home base, sat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Table Mountain behind us Lions Head beside us and the Ocean cracking some serious waves in front of us. We discussed dinner plans and thought we’d try and find a spot on the patio of one of the bars behind the beach. We walked by at least 3 different bars that were packed beyond capacity. I guess, everyone had the same idea. We end up at a nice bar with a patio facing the ocean, watching the sun drop into the ocean over the horizon we glanced at the menu and realized why this bar was empty. Everything was way over-priced by S-African standards; but not Canadian standards, it was also an oyster bar! I got excited and thought to myself: “What a great way to end the day, nice white wine with some oysters watching the sunset”. I looked over at my friends and they didn’t seem to share the same opinion, I queried the group and concluded we should find somewhere else to go.
We walked up the street a bit and found a P n P (Pick and Pay) grocery store. We agreed we’d take a look inside and see if we could get some snacks and head back down to the beach and just watch the sunset there. I grabbed a tray of cheese with a wooden knife and some crackers, a 250g pack of Kudu biltong and an Appletizer (carbonated apple juice). I asked the cashier where the nearest LC was and she told me it was at Seapoint, which is the neighboring town! Not far, but we wouldn’t make it there and back for the sunset. We went to the beach and sat down to snack while we brainstormed. JJ suggested we just try and buy a bottle from one of the bars, we pooled our money together and he went and asked. The bartender was keen on selling a bottle of wine to us; then the manager came out and forbid it. JJ returned with the bad news, but it didn’t matter. We had great company, music, cheese n’ crackers, biltong and Appletizer; we watched the sunset together and quietly I think we were all glad we’d come to Camps Bay that day. In the end, not having oysters and white wine didn’t matter to me, the view, the company and the choice of music was perfect where we were.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
South Africa, Madikwe Chapter: Safari Day 1
On July 7th 2011, my colleague Susan and I went on Safari for the first time. We were tired waking up that morning after traveling for nearly a day to get to the game reserve… Was it ever worth the travel!
On this fateful morning we saw a male lion walk less than a meter past the truck, roar and a female with her cubs walk by the other side of the truck just moments later. We saw a herd of elephants feeding on vegetation and even heard them pass gas. Rhinos and Impalas were also spotted on our first trek out into the game reserve. What a rush! The sheer beauty of seeing such majestic creatures in their natural habitat was truly breath taking.
We came back to the lodge and had brunch; the food was ok. I had a very nice hour-long full body Swedish massage while Susan had some Gin and tonics on the veranda overlooking the river with her Kobo E-Reader. Later that afternoon, we had a coffee and tea break; they also served some pastries, fruits and mini pizzas. That was when we found out the kiddy safari drive that occurred after us had spotted a leopard.
After the snack, we hopped back into the truck and headed out on another safari drive. Feeling pumped and hoping to spot the leopard, hahaha ok, last time I swear. We head out for a few more hours, see a pair of rhinos far closer than this morning and as the mother protected the young one, we truly got to see the width of the rhino. For perspective, it’s about as wide as a Yaris. It’s longer and it’s taller, it also weighs more and has a mind of its own. I now have so much more respect for the ninja turtles; Rocksteady must have been quite the force to reckon with. Forgive me if Beep Bop was the rhino, I can’t remember which was which. We followed the rhino sighting up wth a Warthog, which I alone on the truck found rather ironic, considering their pairing in the ninja turtles. There’s a saying around here, the wildebeest aka the warthog is made up of left over pieces of animals, horns from a buffalo, mane and tail from a horse, shoulders of a bull, legs of an impala and most importantly that there wasn’t any spare brains. Which is why the warthog shakes its head side to side mindlessly as it strolls around the grass grazing.
The true, wow moment of this end of day safari came when our guide Ernst got a call on the radio of a wild dog sighting, he lied about our position and reserved first standby (They don’t allow more than three cars at a time to surround any game). We drove super fast along some seriously graveled roads and caught up to the other car only to have the wild dog run by our truck. I joked about how awesome it would be to follow the wild dog in hopes he would find his friends and we could meet them all. Twenty minutes of turning around in circles through the bush, we encountered eight beautiful lanky wiry wild dogs. Incredible. The wild dogs all looked off into the East, we glanced in that direction and noticed three giraffes hoofing it across the hillside, we tried to catch up to the giraffes but they were too fast and able to traverse terrains we dared not attempt.
After all the excitement, we went to a nice quiet retired well of sorts with a beautiful camel toe bean tree surrounded by termite mounds and had some beer and biltong; South Africa’s version of beef jerky. It was an interesting combination of prosciutto and beef jerky. I loved it. Dinner tonight, was lentil soup first course with Eland main and Crème Brule dessert. We drank a delicious 2007 Pinotage from Stellenbosch and chatted by the fireplace to wrap up a beautiful first day at the Madikwe River Lodge
Baby elephant crossing
Lion beside our truck
Pack of endangered African Wild Dogs
EDIT: I realized after I typed it I made a huge mistake.. Wildebeast and Warthog.. The story is for the Wildebeast and for the record, I know there's a difference
On this fateful morning we saw a male lion walk less than a meter past the truck, roar and a female with her cubs walk by the other side of the truck just moments later. We saw a herd of elephants feeding on vegetation and even heard them pass gas. Rhinos and Impalas were also spotted on our first trek out into the game reserve. What a rush! The sheer beauty of seeing such majestic creatures in their natural habitat was truly breath taking.
We came back to the lodge and had brunch; the food was ok. I had a very nice hour-long full body Swedish massage while Susan had some Gin and tonics on the veranda overlooking the river with her Kobo E-Reader. Later that afternoon, we had a coffee and tea break; they also served some pastries, fruits and mini pizzas. That was when we found out the kiddy safari drive that occurred after us had spotted a leopard.
After the snack, we hopped back into the truck and headed out on another safari drive. Feeling pumped and hoping to spot the leopard, hahaha ok, last time I swear. We head out for a few more hours, see a pair of rhinos far closer than this morning and as the mother protected the young one, we truly got to see the width of the rhino. For perspective, it’s about as wide as a Yaris. It’s longer and it’s taller, it also weighs more and has a mind of its own. I now have so much more respect for the ninja turtles; Rocksteady must have been quite the force to reckon with. Forgive me if Beep Bop was the rhino, I can’t remember which was which. We followed the rhino sighting up wth a Warthog, which I alone on the truck found rather ironic, considering their pairing in the ninja turtles. There’s a saying around here, the wildebeest aka the warthog is made up of left over pieces of animals, horns from a buffalo, mane and tail from a horse, shoulders of a bull, legs of an impala and most importantly that there wasn’t any spare brains. Which is why the warthog shakes its head side to side mindlessly as it strolls around the grass grazing.
The true, wow moment of this end of day safari came when our guide Ernst got a call on the radio of a wild dog sighting, he lied about our position and reserved first standby (They don’t allow more than three cars at a time to surround any game). We drove super fast along some seriously graveled roads and caught up to the other car only to have the wild dog run by our truck. I joked about how awesome it would be to follow the wild dog in hopes he would find his friends and we could meet them all. Twenty minutes of turning around in circles through the bush, we encountered eight beautiful lanky wiry wild dogs. Incredible. The wild dogs all looked off into the East, we glanced in that direction and noticed three giraffes hoofing it across the hillside, we tried to catch up to the giraffes but they were too fast and able to traverse terrains we dared not attempt.
After all the excitement, we went to a nice quiet retired well of sorts with a beautiful camel toe bean tree surrounded by termite mounds and had some beer and biltong; South Africa’s version of beef jerky. It was an interesting combination of prosciutto and beef jerky. I loved it. Dinner tonight, was lentil soup first course with Eland main and Crème Brule dessert. We drank a delicious 2007 Pinotage from Stellenbosch and chatted by the fireplace to wrap up a beautiful first day at the Madikwe River Lodge
Baby elephant crossing
EDIT: I realized after I typed it I made a huge mistake.. Wildebeast and Warthog.. The story is for the Wildebeast and for the record, I know there's a difference
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Canada/Burundi day
On the eve of Canada day, my colleague chris and I stayed up till about 1 am. We were catching dragon flies and grasshoppers. We invented "Middle Game" a great fun version of caps, laughed and listened to music. The following morning, we had breakfast at about 9 and proceeded to clean and prep for our pizzas. Susan joined us and together, we made the sauce, chopped veggies, grated cheese and flattened dough. Susan also made some sweet dough to fry into "Beaver Tails" as dessert.
Mid afternoon, some Burundi co-workers came over, we sat down enjoyed laughs, some za and beaver tails over Burundi's locally brewed beers. Amstel blonde and Primus Lager, some modest very fairly priced drinkable beer. We also played some beer pong on this momentous occasion, dual country birthdays called for it. Not having the plastic dixie cups we are used to playing with back home, we substituted for what we had; porcelain coffee mugs. Really, really, really increased rebounds and difficulty; so we played with no swatting, no blowing and fingering, Gentleman shots on rebounds only.
Great fun, great day, the pizza turned out pretty well I think... Im biased, so you be the judge.
We had a pineapple, salami chicken onion green pepper pizza; a ham, pineapple, chicken pizza; a salami cheese pineapple and a banana ham pinapple pizza. The banana one was the least favorite, suggested by one of the south african expats, I can't really say I was a HUGE fan, if you picked off the banana and ate it separately... The banana wasn't bad.
3 days to South Africa, I can taste it.
Dennis a french expat and Chris Canadian recent Geology grad from Carlton enjoying the good times.
Susan currently completing her Masters in Geology at Carlton and I enjoying some Za
'
The Battlefield
Porcelain Beer Pong
Mid afternoon, some Burundi co-workers came over, we sat down enjoyed laughs, some za and beaver tails over Burundi's locally brewed beers. Amstel blonde and Primus Lager, some modest very fairly priced drinkable beer. We also played some beer pong on this momentous occasion, dual country birthdays called for it. Not having the plastic dixie cups we are used to playing with back home, we substituted for what we had; porcelain coffee mugs. Really, really, really increased rebounds and difficulty; so we played with no swatting, no blowing and fingering, Gentleman shots on rebounds only.
Great fun, great day, the pizza turned out pretty well I think... Im biased, so you be the judge.
We had a pineapple, salami chicken onion green pepper pizza; a ham, pineapple, chicken pizza; a salami cheese pineapple and a banana ham pinapple pizza. The banana one was the least favorite, suggested by one of the south african expats, I can't really say I was a HUGE fan, if you picked off the banana and ate it separately... The banana wasn't bad.
3 days to South Africa, I can taste it.
Dennis a french expat and Chris Canadian recent Geology grad from Carlton enjoying the good times.
Susan currently completing her Masters in Geology at Carlton and I enjoying some Za
The Battlefield
Porcelain Beer Pong
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