More First Day Safari Photos

The back of the injured rhino.  Click on the photo

to enlarge, and you can see his wounds pretty easily.

The wounded part between his legs shows "he"

is definitely a "he!"

The front of the wounded rhino.  Yes, we WERE close!

Profile shot of a baby elephant on the first drive.

Impala on the run.  South Africans are amused

by the fact that there is an American car

named the "Impala."  It's by Chevy, so "car"

is an arguable description.

I could say this is a dramatic roar,

but that would be untrue.  Yawn.

But the cat was cool, and she

never said a mumbling word.

Lions insist on stretching before doing cardio.

Or going back to sleep -- either way.

Sundowner time!  Justin and Petro man the bar.

Julia (the pants aren't Zubaz, they are from India!) and

Carol chat with Claire and Dan.

Sunset, and our vehicle.

Group photo.

I Seek To Cure What's Deep Inside -- A Need for Penguins!

I know the blog is jumping around a bit here, but you really don’t want to read three straight posts of the safari, because you will just be jealous. So, I’m going back a few days to our trip along the Cape of Good Hope.

We hit the road early.  With two busses, there was plenty of room to spare.  Doing a big bus trip is not ideal – you don’t get to stop where you want, and you never have enough time, but we did enjoy the stops we had quite a bit.

We wound our way through the suburban beach towns along the western Atlantic coast side.  It is reminiscent of coastal California – beautiful beaches and expensive homes stacked along hillsides.  The real estate costs less here in the Capetown area than Laguna Niguel or Malibu!  Our first stop was along the western Atlantic coast overlooking the beautiful beaches of ? (look up name).  We also had a great view of the 12 Apostles looming right above us.  It was a traditional large bus photo op – off the bus for a few minutes, snap pictures, and back on the bus.  I’ve never felt more Asian in my life.

(All kidding aside, it WAS fun doing the trip with a large group of people – especially on the safari.  And, our guide for much of the trip, Carol, did a great job of keeping us engaged with her historical and cultural briefings as we traveled.)

We then continued along the western Atlantic coastline (where the water is very cold – no one goes swimming – just surfing).  We drove up the windy cliffs of Chapman’s Mountain, and stopped for tremendous views of Hoets Bay and the Sentinel.  Then we wound our way down to the bottom of the Cape of Good Hope – past mountains, and beautiful views that are a cross between California and the Amalfi Coast.  We drove passed a large ostrich farm.  We saw a bontebok off in a field.  The national parkland is stunningly beautiful – reminding me of Australia or the starkness of Ireland.

Once we got to end, we disembarked the bus.  Some people hiked to the top, while we took the funicular.  The views at the point were stunning – beaches, ocean, mountains all around.  We hiked up to the pointless lighthouse (built in the 1800s, it is high up and gets shrouded in clouds, so ships could not always see the light.  After one shipwreck, they built a better one much lower down on the point.

It was very cool to be there – not only were the views amazing, but the sense of history and adventure is palpable.  The bravery of the first sailors to round the cape is inestimable.

Julia and I hiked all the way to as close as you can get to the lower lighthouse and the very physical end of the Cape.  Carol joined us for much of the hike, but turned around in the hot sun.  We all saw two Dassies sunning themselves on the rocks above us (see the pictures in the penguin photos already on the blog).  We smartly hiked back so as not to miss the bus (although, this wasn’t the Robben Island tour where people would be left behind!  Btw, those people who were left behind were not part of the SAS group.)  I worked up a good sweat on the hike, smelling a bit ripe.

We headed back towards Boulders Beach, which houses the only on-shore colony of African Penguins in, well Africa.  The rest live on islands offshore.  The penguins came ashore in 1985, transforming a sleepy little beach town into a tourist mecca.  We parked in the bus parking, and walked an easy ten minutes through residential neighborhoods.  I pity the people who live here now – their quiet beachtown is no more, and the beach itself is now off limits.

(On the drive to Boulders Bay, we could see Seal Island across False Bay.  Seal Island is famous as the spot for nature programs to go and shoot footage of great white sharks leaping out of the water to eat -- or miss catching -- seals.  No doubt you've seen the footage.)

As an aside, there are a couple of groups of younger (9-12 years old, I guess) black kids singing and dancing wearing African clothes/jewelry, markings, as well as the usual folks showing off their wares for sale by the individual car parking lot.

The penguins were so cool to see.  We walked down boardwalks that weave through the sand dunes, and the penguins were on either side – sometimes crossing under the boardwalks.  Some were lying there – in fact I saw one on a nest scoot down over an egg.  Others were walking around.  When we got to the beach, there were a number of penguins on the rocks (sounds like a British drink – “I’ll have a Penguin on the Rocks, please!”), some on the beach, and some on the water.  It seemed like some were showing off for us – walking towards us, while others nonchalantly ignored everything.  It was neat to watch them swim – alternating between diving under the water, or swimming on top, looking almost like ducks.

African penguins are not as big as your typical penguin in the Antarctic, but they sure are cute little guys and gals. I’m guessing probably saw around 50 penguins in the colony, although I did not take a survey.

After the penguins, which was hard to top, we reboarded the bus and headed to our last stop, the town of Fish Hoek.  We were pretty tuckered out from the combination of hiking and riding a bus, so we grabbed lunch at a little Bistro.  Service was slow, so we did not have time to shop or walk around.  We decided to go back to the hotel and relax, rather than go to the Botanical Gardens and rush around to get to dinner.

The Cape is an invigorating land -- stark windswept beauty, interesting animals, beautiful resort towns and beaches, and some towns where people are having a rough financial go of things.

Sabi Sabi Safari -- First Day Photos

Carol and Julia at the Sabi Sabi airstrip

Impalas are the deer of South  Africa -- they are

everywhere in the bush.

Elephants at the Earth Lodge

Another proud Republican

This elephant is right by the entrace to Julia's room

The view from our room of the veld.

The Wild Dogs Cry Out In the Night

Sorry for the delay in blogging – between being on the go, and having some laptop issues, I’ve gotten a couple days behind.  So, I will skip right to the safari and then go back to our amazing day on the Cape of Good Hope in a future posting.

We got up early in Cape Town, checked out, and all gathered in the lobby to leave by 6:30 am.  The buses took us right away through the rains down in Africa to the airport.  We had an easy two hour flight to Johannesburg (Carol and I will be in the airport four times this trip!).  We all gathered as a group and marched off through the airport.  At least we weren’t all wearing the same shirts or hats or anything!

By the time we got to the charter flight building, which was off the airport, it was pouring.  I think that actually delayed some of the charter flights.  We sat around in the big chairs waiting for our 18 person plane to be called.  It was one of those flights you could see right into the cockpit – one seat on each side, the co-pilot gave the safety briefing, and they had a cooler with water and a box with snacks – that no one got up to help themselves to.

The clouds were amazing to fly just above as we took the one hour flight to the African bush.  They went way above us in puffy elevators up to heaven.  The pilots avoided the clouds as much as possible.  Upon arrival in the savannah, we did landed on a paved strip, which has been the last pavement we see until our departure.

Once we rinsed off with a nicely fresh cold facecloth, we boarded modified Highlands – four rows with three seats per row (except the front row had space for only two) and drove to the Earth Lodge at Sabi Sabi.

The lodge is built into the side of a hill, so it is VERY unobtrusive.  It was so unobtrusive that there were elephants roaming nearby upon our arrival.  Including one younger elephant who was hanging out right outside of what turned out to be Julia’s room.  That was a pretty amazing sighting immediately upon our arrival.

We had a very pleasant, and very late lunch before our first 4:30 safari drive.  We quickly changed in the rooms, which are amazingly private, unobtrusive, and quite large.  Each has its own plunge pool, and is a large suite overlooking the savannah.

For the three hour safari drive, we headed out with Justin our guide/driver, Petro, our tracker, and two families of two each.  We were to stay together for the entire trip – four drives.  We really enjoyed our time with Len, Claire, Keira, and Brina  – as well as Justin and Petro.  I had a great tie cracking Justin (and others in the vehicle) up with my one liners, some of which I will share with you in these posts.

Within three minutes of leaving the lodge, we watched some elephants, including an incredibly cute baby elephant.  Then, we went no more than three more minutes, and saw a rhino up close.

The rhino had been badly wounded, presumably in a battle with another rhino.  His, uh, manhood was out and was bloodied (makes low blows in boxing seem tame), and his butt had big open wounds on them.  The fight had clearly been recent, and the defeated rhino seemed to be moping about.  As that great American philosopher, Kenny Rogers, once sang, “every hands a winner, and every hands a loser, and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”

As we were pulling away, we were talking about the rhino, uh, extended, bloody man-parts.  It was a mess.  I quipped, well, I think after four hours of that, you are supposed to call your doctor.  Some laughed, others didn’t get it – until I noted, well, that’s what they tell us on the TV commercials.  (The quip was funnier at the time.)

We then immediately saw a herd of Impala – including the male with his impressive horns.  There were at least a dozen watching us as they ate and chewed their cud.

We drove around, and Justin filled us in on the various beautiful birds we saw, including colorful African parrots.  We actually saw the most birds the next day, during the morning drive.  The hornbills are my personal favorite, primarily because I, like the whole family, love the Lion King movie, and the part of Zazu was played by a hornbill (I know, not an actual hornbill!).

While you think it would be hard to top the elephants and the wounded rhino, but we did when we came to a pride of eight female lions in the grass.  (Someone said, “Look at them lying there.”  I quipped, “hence the name” – man I crack myself up sometimes.)

We stayed there quite sometime – just a few feet from them, watch them sleep (mostly), stretch, walk lazily and plop down, yawn (my, what big teeth you have), and even sneeze one time.  I was very impressed, because Justin called the sneeze right before it happened, just like a great play-by-play announced will predict a play right before it is run.

I brought three camera lenses – ended up taking 410 photos here at Sabi Sabi.  I gotta think two or three worked out!   I brought a standard 18-55 lens, the go-to 55-250 lens, and then the newest member – the huge 150-600 Tamron lens.  I also brought a portable tripod, but since we are not allowed to get out of the car, the tripod proved to be essentially pointless.

After watching the lions for quite some time, we had to leave to allow another safari vehicle to move in close.  We drove some more, marveling at what we had seen, and the beautiful lower velt (pronounced “felt”) landscape and vegetation.  We crashed through streams, and took dirt paths that seemed near impossible.  Finally, we pulled off the track to enjoy the sunset, and have a sundowner.  Justin and Petro smartly set up a small table connected to the grill of the vehicle, and served us our choice of beverages and snacks.  Very civilized.  Sundowners should become a staple of life.

Then, after reloading into the vehicle, we drove around for an hour plus in the dark, as Petro shone his light around to try and spot eyes in the black night.  All we (and by “we” I mean him) spotted were two chameleons, both turned green to blend into the plants they were on.  Carol and some others saw a shooting star, while we also marveled at the Southern Cross, the Milky Way, Orion, and a far-off lightning storm.

Upon returning from the safari, we had to be escorted back to our rooms.  They do not allow guests to walk to/from the rooms in the dark, in case of predators.  So, once we were ready, we had to call and ask for a ranger to come collect us.  The funny part is, it is one person coming to get two – if a predator strikes whilst the ranger is by himself, I’m guessing that would end badly, and be more likely to happen than a strike on two people.  But, we followed the rules.

We had a drink in the incredible bar before dinner.  The Pinotage was nice, but the carved wood of the bar is unlike any I’ve seen.  The wooden benches and chairs here at Sabi Sabi are works of art.

Dinner was in the boma, which is an outdoor area for gatherings.  The five course meal was delicious, and we had a great time talking with the others at our table.  After dinner, which finished late, we were all exhausted and went to bed.  Wake-up call was set for 5:30, with the morning safari to start at 6am.

Gonna Take The Time to Do Things We Never Had

We waited a bit by the ferris wheel for Julia’s friends to show up.  All in all, five made it in time to go get dinner.  Carol and I were treating them – not only did we think it important to treat them well even though their parents couldn’t come on the trip, but of course we also wanted to hear all about their perspectives of the trip.

Carol had seen a Portuguese Tapas place called Tosca, on the Waterfront, so we grabbed a table there.  She sat at one end with Julia and two of her friends, while I sat at the other end with Mark, Kim, and Bethany.  I bombarded those three with questions – where you from, school, major, favorite country so far, country you would go back to, favorite food, what do you miss most from home; an endless stream of questions.  They answered my questions patiently – they were quite happy to have really good food.

They were quite grateful to us for buying them a nice dinner at a great restaurant.  They commented on how lucky Julia was that her parents came on the parent’s trip.  I refrained from noting that we clearly love her more than their parents love them!  (It would have been a joke, but I wasn’t sure how all would take it).  They noted that they enjoyed the Shiraz much more than they usually like wine (um, that’s because I picked it out!).

Julia stayed in the Waterfront area till quite late as more SASers (Semester At Sea) joined them.  We walked back to the hotel, secure in the knowledge that we had as fun a time at dinner as we could have – it was really great to hear everyone’s stories!

His Body Abused But His Mind Is Still Free

The Long Walk to Freedom

The boat trip was pleasant and lasted about an hour.  Upon landing, we hopped on a small bus with a tour guide.  She was remarkable.  Black, she evidenced no anger or resentment at the past.  She obviously was critical, but dispassionate.

Our first stop was the prison “home” of Robert Sobukwe.  He was kept in solitary for many years before his health deteriorated, leading to his death.  It had to be hard – small yard to exercise in, not allowed visitors or to even talk to his guards (for the first years of his captivity), and views of the ocean and Cape Town suburbs off in the distance.

We then got back on the smallish tour bus, and drove past the lepers graveyard to the village, where the people who work on Robben Island live.  The small shop at the end of the island afforded great views of Cape Town and the lighthouse on the island.  

The next stop was at the limestone quarry, where Mandela and the others were forced to labor with few tools for years.  Our guide pointed out the Cave where they would teach the illiterate prisoners to read, and where the foundations of the nation’s new constitution were first outlined.

She also talked about the rock pile.  It was formed during a reunion of the political prisoners when Mandela walked over and grabbed a rock, put it down, and said a prayer of remembrance.  Unprompted, the others each went and got one, stacking them as a pile.  It is left there as an impromptu memorial.

The final stop was the prison.  Our guide was a former political prisoner who was imprisoned in 1981.  He spoke with no bitterness, only forgiveness.  He outlined life in the prison as we toured it – including getting to see Mandela’s cell.  We also went to a large cell that held a number of prisoners at once.

After he escorted us back outside, we took the short walk to freedom back to the docks and the boat.  A couple of women dawdled getting back to the boat, and we watched them as they watched us pull away.  Once they realized the boat was leaving, they ran, faces disbelieving that we would leave without them.  One of their boyfriends/husbands tried to get the boat to wait, but to no avail.  There was one other tour after ours (the 3pm), so I’m sure they hung around the docks until it was time to go.  The looks on their faces as the boat pulled away, however, were priceless.

On the way back, we were followed for a bit by some dolphins, and then we watched a seal cross behind our boat, leaping fully out of the water at times.  Alas, no great white shark leapt out of the water to try and catch the seal in mid air.

(The two Robben Island blog post titles were from the 1984 song by Special AKA, "Free Nelson Mandela."

Riffs on Cape Town

It’s hard to call this riffs on South Africa – we’ve only been to Cape Town, and that would be like judging America by being in Seattle or DC only.

The hardest part is understanding people.  Everyone we’ve dealt with speaks English, but many people are very soft spoken with English as a second language.  Again, their English is a LOT better than my second any language, primarily because I don’t have one.  Our cabbie on the trip to dinner last night speaks four languages. . .more on his interesting story later.

While the conversion rate is ten Rand to ninety-two cents, it’s much easier to think of it as ten Rand to the dollar.  So, coins are worth next to nothing – so I don’t bother to pay with anything but paper money or credit cards.  Tipping is ten percent here, so I always over-tip but I’m happy because it’s much less in the States.

South Africans have, like most countries, some colorful phrases.  My particular favorite so far is “shirty.”  Apparently, when someone gets unhappy and reacts poorly to something, they get shirty.  They also tell a lot of cracks about Aussies, which is interesting, given the significant similarities between the two countries geographically and culturally.

Things cost less here – when we took Julia and five of her friends out to a very nice dinner on the Waterfront (tourist central, mind you), the cost for dinner for eight, including some appetizers and three bottles of a good Shiraz was around $400 – which is pretty darn affordable for eight.

The next bad bottle of South African wine we have will be the first bad bottle.  We had really enjoyed the wine we had at a South African wine dinner in Alexandria a couple of years ago, but this trip is really allowing us to try a nice variety.  The restaurants we’ve been to all have pretty lengthy wine lists, with only South African wines, but plenty of varietals.  Looking forward to the wineland tour!

Everyone we have met is very friendly – even the cabbies.  It was a little disconcerting getting in a cab last night to return to the hotel – it was a small car with no meter.  He charged us 80 Rand for a trip that cost 63 Rand going over. . .but I was not going to argue with him.

Stop lights are called “robots” here – which means that South Africans are far ahead of us in use of robot technology (just kidding).  Many things here are literally named.  One town has four beaches, colorfully named as Beach 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Another beach in another town is called “Long Beach” because it is. . .long.

Service at restaurants is weird here.  Everything is great, except in the beginning.  They seat your party, and then ignore you for a while.  Once they come to take your order, everything is fine.  Unlike Italy, they actually check on you occasionally throughout the meal, and promptly bring the cheque.

The snooty sales guy at Woolworth’s was wrong.  We found an outdoor store at the V and A Waterfront that sold zip off cargo pants, which proved to be perfect for the rest of the trip so far.  I actually should have bought two pair.  Anyhow, I was so happy with finding the shorts that after changing in the fitting room, I wore the shorts (having unzipped the leggings part) out of the fitting room and to check out.  I don’t understand why so many people wear long pants in 75 degree weather – heck, some people are even wearing shorts.

I’ve got to keep this interesting. . .I’m keeping with Julia’s blog for readers!

Day Two Photos -- Reunion, Robben Island, and Dinner with Julia's Friends

First sighting of Julia since early January.

Table Mountain and Cape

Town from the docks.

More of Cape Town, Lion's

Head, and Signal Hill

First Recontact.

Aboard the ship.

The MV Explorer, Julia's home

and classroom this semester

Cape Town from the boat to Robben Island

Robben Island

The infamous prison

The "house" where Robert Sobukwe was

held in solitary confinement.

Looking back to Cape Town

Our guide in the prison -- he was a political

prisoner there from 1981 till being freed.

Nelson Mandela's cell,

and yes, that's his bed.

Dinner with Julia's friends at Tosca on the

Victoria and Albert Waterfront

Pleaded the Causes of the ANC

So, after checking Julia into the hotel, we walked the 15 minute stroll over to the Victoria & Albert Waterfront for lunch at the Belthazar Restaurant.  We sat outside (of course!) and had a great meal.  I had the WISK -- wildebeast, impala, springbok, and kudu.  Kudos to it!  The  kabob of wild game was pretty, uh, wild.  Delicious.  Julia was just happy to be off the ship and having a meal that didn't include pasta and potatoes.

I was both smart and lucky, and had secured tickets to Robben Island -- which we learned today (day 3) means "Seal Island" in Dutch.  (More on the famed Seal Island of False Bay in another post.)  The trip to Robben Island for most days and times were sold out, but I managed to snag three of the last twelve tickets for the 2pm boat trip across the 12 kilometers.

Robben Island is most famous as the location where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for most of his 27 years he spent as a political prisoner.  It also held hundreds of other black political prisoners.  We took a very pleasant trip on the boat across Table Bay.  Robben Island had been a place of exile for lepers and prisoners long before it was designated the prison island for anti-apartheid leaders.

As wrong as liberals were about Commies in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s, conservatives were wrong about South Africa during the same time frame.  While I was never a supporter of the South African apartheid regime at the time, I certainly was not outraged.  I was wrong.  

Two things stand out:

1.  Touring Robben Island was amazing.  More on that in another post to follow, but we had amazing views back towards Cape Town, Table Mountain, Lion's Head, etc.  

2.  It's amazing to us how forgiving Mandela and the other ANC leaders were toward their tormentors.  For the country not to blow apart in a race war after they were freed is stunning.  This is not to say that everything is racially hunky-dory -- we don't think so, and we have no idea.  But, it's a lot better than what has happened in Zimbabwe, for instance.

Lots more on Robben Island in the next posting.  I do want to stress that it was very moving.

First Day Photos

The Bell Tower at the

Castle of Good Hope 

Don't have a cow, man.

The cable car at the top of Table Mountain.

On top of Table Mountain, looking South

A slightly different view south from Table Mtn.

Signal Hill, with the 2010 World Cup Soccer

Stadium behind it.  Hear the vuvuzelas?  

Our hotel is the whitest building (no pun 

intended) behind the stadium.

The 12 Apostles as the sun sets.

Sunset over the Atlantic, which

rarely happens where we live.

We are big fans of sundowners now!

Note the red sky under the clouds.

Pretty cool photo effect, if I say so  myself!

She's Coming in Twelve-thirty Flight

Friday morning was the big day – Julia’s ship was coming in (literally).  We had been told not to rush – to get to the dock by 9:30am or so.  My plan was to get up early, work, wake Carol up, have a leisurely breakfast, and then head over to the dock.

The SAS people have been great on this tour so far, but they never told us how to get to the dock.  Around 8am we started getting emails that the ship had come in early and we had better get over to the dock.  I rushed Carol along, as I had visions of Julia waiting forlornly by herself at the dock.  We skipped breakfast so that our world traveler didn’t feel ignored!

While I had no idea where the dock was, fortunately, we found out from another family it was too far to walk (very true).  We shared a cab with friends we had made the night before.  The cabbie, and all four of us, had no idea where the dock was (there are multiple docks), so we drove around the docks of Cape Town searching for the right cruise ship.  It was somewhat comical – the cabbie drove up and down streets, asking and getting incomplete directions.

Finally we arrived at the ship.  And they were not even close to ready to let us board.  South African customs were still on the ship.  Contrary to shipboard rumor, they did not bring dogs to search each room.  But, they were not fast.  We stood outside waiting with the other parents (out of the 550 students on the trip, maybe 20-25 families did the family trip).

I called Julia – she came to the outside of the MV Explorer and waved to us.  We must have locked like ants from up where she was looking down on us.  We were excited and impatient ants, but ants nonetheless.

And we were waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Finally they let us go to the bottom of the thing you walk down to get off the ship (or up to get on it).

Progress!

Or not.  We waited some more.  A lot more.  Someone from the State Department had to show up to give a safety briefing to the students (for Cape Town?  Are you kidding me?  I know, they have to just to be safe and cover their butts).  They finally let us, Noah-like, on the ship either two-by-two or four at a time.  We went where we were sent – the Garden Lounge on the 6th deck of the ship.  And, shockingly, waited some more.

It was like a hostage release.  A few kids trickled in to the joy and tears of their parents.  Finally, they let all the hostages go after what must have been tense negotiations (or bureaucracy) and they all came flooding in.  Julia was toward the back of the pack.  We all hugged, and took some pictures inside and outside.

We did not cry.  We were happy to see her, but this is what children are supposed to do – grow up and have adventures.  Do we miss her?  Yes, but more importantly we are excited and proud for her.  She has already been to more countries in her life than I have (of course, she’s gone with us to all of the European ones she’s hit!).  If you haven’t read her blog for this trip, it’s very interesting and well worth a read.

Anyhow, she showed us her room (it’s a single now – long story about her roommate having to leave the ship back in China), and took us on a tour of the ship.  We kept running into friends of hers, which was great fun.  They all thought it was pretty cool that we came on the trip, and that we had already been to the top of Table Mountain, to the Castle, and to Signal Hill.

Julia also turned in her Yellow Fever card.  That was dodging a bullet.  They had lost her first copy, and she would not be allowed off the ship in Ghana or Morocco if they did not have it on file (bureaucracy losing something?  Hard to believe!).  A friend at UVA went, got it, and UPS’d it to us to arrive the day we flew over.  Phew – or else we would have spent time in Cape Town tracking down a doctor (Carol already had done that as a back-up plan) and getting another Yellow Fever shot (which Julia would not have been too hot on!).

When we got off the ship, there were many students milling around – and some parents.  But only two cabs – both of which had parents talking to the cabbies, but not getting in the cabs (which makes it harder to go anywhere).  And the dock might be in the center of Cape Town’s docks, but it’s nowhere near anything.  So I walked up to one cabbie, and asked him to call other cabs.  He gestured to the other family, said “they are still arguing about where to go,” and told us to get in.  So we did.  We headed to the hotel.

Her Moonlit Wings Reflect the Stars that Guide Me Towards Salvation

After coming back down from Table Mountain, we drove over to Signal Hill for sundowners.  It’s even better than it sounds.  You watch the sunset while sipping sparkling South African white wine (champagne but not from France), have some canapes and oyster, and talk to your fellow SAS parents.  We also had an amazing view of the Twelve Apostles (there are actually 17 mountain peaks in the range).  It was great fun – Carol and I both had a nice time getting to know some of the families.  One family is even cousins with someone I do work with in DC – Rob Collins.  Small world, even when you are on the other side of it!

We then bused down the twisty-turning back side of Signal Hill, through Camps Bay and other seaside suburbs to the Victoria & Albert waterfront.  We had dinner at the same restaurant we had lunch!  Carol and I had a great time talking with the parents seated around us, and I have become a fan of South African Shiraz, which I pronounced as Shuh-RAZZ, but I learned is actually pronounced Shuh-RAHZ.  And now you know.

After we got back to the Hotel, six of us closed out the evening with drinks outside at the bar, perched right over the ocean.  It was a beautiful view in the moonlight, and listening to the Atlantic crash against the rocks below was quite relaxing.

OMG -- PENGUINS!!! PENGUINS!!! PENGUINS!!!

BREAKING NEWS: We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to bring you pictures of penguins!  African penguins living at Boulders Beach just south of Simon's Town.  Penguins!  Wow!  Penguins!  And  a Dassie. Okay, a Dassie is not as exciting as penguins, but what is?

Very cool!

Penguins!

African Penguins!

Swimming African Penguins!

What more could you ask for?

Of course, you would ask for

Dassies, a one-of-a kind of its genus.

I Hear The Drums Echoing Tonight

We reported to the hotel lobby around 2:50pm to meet up with the other parents on the Semester At Sea trip.  The ship, the MV Explorer, wasn't coming in till the next day (Friday), so the earlier arrival gave us all time to acclimate to the time change.  The students had the advantage of shifting time zones about once a week or so (total guesstimate on my part), so it doesn't affect them.

There had been an opening reception for the parents the night before, but we missed that (as did some others) because we didn't get to the hotel till well after 9pm.  We met as many people as we could before boarding the bus to the Cable Car up Table Mountain.

Fortunately, shortly before we arrived, the clouds cleared away from Table Mountain, Lion's Head, and Devil's Peak.  It was a stunning sight.  Between the harbor, the bay, and the mountains, it has to be one of the most beautiful settings for a city in the world, if not the most beautiful.

After a bit of a wait to go up -- lines for the cable car were long, because it was the first clear day in a while -- we zipped up in 3.5 minutes.  The top is fantastic.  I can see why everyone raves about it.  (No, we did not hike up -- we were with a group, there wasn't time, and we were still groggy!).  We walked around the longer loop trail, with stunning views of the Cape of Good Hope, including the Twelve Apostles, Chapmans Peak, and False Bay.  The clouds clung to land like a blanket, affording fabulous views and photos, some of which I will post when I get the chance.  For loyal readers, there will definitely be the opportunity to be bored by my Shutterfly book.

The landscape atop Table Mountain is quite beautiful as well.  At the end of the loop, there were amazing views of Cape Town and Table Bay, and back East toward Darling.  We were quite lucky to be there on such a clear day.

We joined the queue to go down the mountain on the cable car at 5:05, and just managed to get to the bus by the stated departure time of 5:30.  But, we weren't the last to the bus.  And then we were off to Signal Hill.

She Hears Only Whispers of Some Quiet Conversation

(Sorry, I've decided to use a different line from Toto's "Africa" song lyrics to title each post, until I run out.  My bad.)

After the previous day's travel, we slept in till 8:30 am.  After breakfast at the hotel (inclusive), we took a cab down to the Castle of Good Hope.  It's not really a castle, but actually a fort.  It's not that grand a fort, but still good to walk around inside the whole thing.  And, unlike entrance fees in Europe, everything in Cape Town is reasonably price.

The problems were two-fold -- we were still a bit groggy, and the clouds were hanging over Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, and Lion's Head, so the natural beauty that is Cape Town was, at that point, lost on us.  The best thing about the castle was that we could essentially walk all the way around the walls.  There were also some half-way interesting exhibits.  Honestly, however, at this point we were wondering what the fuss about Cape Town was all about.

After leaving the castle, we took a bit of the "Footsteps to Freedom" walk, with the Groote Kerk as our first stop.  It is the oldest Dutch Reformed church (established in 1704) still in existence.  It's certainly not a Catholic cathedral in Europe.  With the exception of the altar, it is very stark.  We also passed by the site of the old Slave Tree, and then went to the Slave Lodge, which had excellent exhibits on both the history of slavery and on the life of O.R. Tambo, one of the great black leaders in South African history, and a close friend/confidant of Nelson Mandela.

After leaving the slave lodge, we watched a political march go by.  We're pretty sure the protestors are aligned with the S.A. Communist Party, mostly because their banners had hammers and sickles on it (usually a dead giveaway).  They sang and danced with a lot more rhythm than the typical U.S. political rally, particularly at the Republican National Convention.  They were demanding more government jobs, which is always a great way to grow the economy!  It was fun to listen to the rally.  As we walked away, we could still hear it from blocks away.

Passing by the legislature, we then walked through the beautiful Company's Gardens, which is like a mini-Central Park.  Beautiful flora and fauna, we saw lots of people relaxing in the park.  Oddly enough, we only saw two dogs the entire day.  Every dog has its day, but Thursday wasn't it.

We grabbed a cab over to the V & A Waterfront, which is a great area to get a meal or hang out.  Yes, it is touristy, but the restaurants are very reasonably priced, particularly since they are outdoor dining on the waterfront.  It's also a working waterfront, so boats/ships are coming in and out all the time.  I had a delicious lunch of ostrich, while Carol was a lot less adventurous, getting the Tandoori Chicken.

I had a couple of packing fails, including forgetting to actually pack shorts.  It was getting warmer, and being slightly tired, the heat was getting to me.  We stopped in a Woolworth's in the little mall, but the salesman scoffed at me when I asked for shorts.  We did think it unusual that most of the day we saw people walking around in coats, sweaters, long pants, like it was cold or something.  He snottily noted that not only did they not sell shorts at this point in the season, but no other store did either.

Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel for our afternoon excursion, which proved to be a really great start to the trip.  The walk was along the ocean, which made for some beautiful views.

Hurry Boy, It's Waiting There For You

Okay, so the blog post title isn't the most creative (from Toto's 1980s hit, "Africa").  Carol and I flew 20 hours to Cape Town (Dulles to Dakar to Johannesburg to Cape Town) to do the parent's trip for Semester At Sea.  Julia has been going around the world on Semester At Sea (her blog) and we haven't seen her since early January.

Plus, we had never been to Africa.  Everyone who has been to Cape Town and on a safari has raved about both, so visiting Julia seemed like the perfect excuse to finally get to this continent.  I am a little worried about this trip -- it is my first extended trip outside the U.S. in an election year, and it is also largely out of our control.  The itinerary has some openings in it, but there are plenty of group (the SAS parents) activities and tours.

However, given the vast improvement in wireless communications, I felt like it was time to take a chance on traveling in an election year.  To reinforce that, I'm writing this after having edited a presentation and written the bottom line for it.  Alas, I was also able to follow the end of the UVA-Michigan State Sweet 16 game, which did not end well.

Anyhow, I used around 600,000 points to get Carol and I business class seats, which made the 20 hours of travel much easier to handle.  One hint -- if you land in Dakar, don't check your email and internet -- it was an expensive way to find out Senegal is not on international systems.

While we slept pretty well on the flights, it also meant we lost a full day.  We left Tuesday at 5:40pm  from Dulles, and landed in Cape Town at around 8:30pm on Wednesday.  We were a little road weary in the ride from the airport to the hotel.  We're staying at the Radisson Blu Waterfront whilst in Cape Town.