Skeleton Gorge

Monday was a public holiday, Heritage day or as it is more fondly known National Braai day.  It is a day to celebrate the cultural heritage and diversity of South African beliefs and traditions.  I did not have a braai, but I did go on an incredible hike.

Liz, Lisa, and I took a cab to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens on the back side of Table Mountain. We did not get to view a lot of the gardens since the hike was supposed to take five hours and we wanted to be sure that we finished with plenty of time to catch the cable car down.  The part I did see was beautiful, and it seems that the flowers are all in the processing of blooming, so I will be sure to make a trip there sometime to actually stroll through the gardens.

The trail is in a deep ravine, called Skeleton Gorge, and it is surrounded by trees and waterfalls.  The path is quite steep heading up and would be dangerous to hike back down for fear of slipping and falling.  About 40 minutes in we hit these ladders that you have to climb up to get up the edge of the river bed.  Once at the top of those, the path was completely gone.  Sunday had an extreme amount of rainfall, so much that I stayed inside all day to avoid the nasty weather.  The water had gushed down the mountain increasing the size of the river and the waterfalls making the main route impassable.

Instead, we had to scale the side of the cliff, dodge random barbed wire fences, and creep along the edge of the cliff for about half an hour before we could get back on the main path further upstream.  This was pretty scary as we had to find our own path and cling to the side of the slopes so that we wouldn’t fall back down into the gorge.

Once that nightmare was over, we continued on the trail which was easy to follow.  The additional rainfall made the paths flood and the waterfalls overflow into our way.  We had to climb around several of these and got our feet nice and damp.  I have learned a valuable lesson about hiking after severe rainstorms and will not be attempting that again.

We reached a high point and stopped for a picnic lunch with an incredible view out over the eastern side of Cape Town, with the southern suburbs and False Bay.  The hike continued on a trail called Smut’s Track that connects Skeleton Gorge to Maclear’s Beacon, the highest point of Table Mountain.  I was very proud when we reached the top and were the only group of girls up there, while there were tons of guys who had hiked up.

From Maclear’s Beacon it is a flat hike for about 45 minutes to reach the other side of Table Mountain and the cable car. The hike took roughly 4.5 hours to complete.  We celebrated by having wine with our very early dinner (I was starving and exhausted after that hike).

Less than four weeks until my safari!

1) Kirstenbosch

2) Kirstenbosch

3) Waterfalls

4) Waterfalls

5) The dangerous cliff - where is the path?

6) Picnic stop

7) Hiking

8) Almost to the top

9) Maclear's Beacon

Classic Wednesday

Other people's pictures from last week's high tea:

The local forum PATA held in Mwanza, Tanzania went very well.  The main focus was adolescent girls, with master classes covering other topics.  One of our clinics hosts the event, but most of the attending clinics are not even a part of our network.  We provide education to them anyway and hope that they learn a lot to contribute without us at PATA following up.  Several of the teams afterward apply to join the network in order to be more involved and have access to our resources.  PATA is unique as a NGO because we provide education from the experts directly to the frontline healthcare workers while most AIDS conferences are experts teaching experts.

Wednesday is official known as margarita Wednesday, especially for Shevaun, Liz, Lisa, Caroline, and I.  We have now spent two successful weeks in a row going out for margaritas and the best Mexican food Cape Town has to offer.  This week’s venue, on Long Street, featured the cheesy decorations, juggling, Shevaun eating a meal for two by herself, and six pitchers of lime margaritas (some frozen).  This is one tradition I look forward to each week, as it breaks up the workweek into two halves.  

Another protest occurred outside Parliament this morning.  This one was for anti-fracking legislation with signs such as “frack off” and “are you fracking kidding me?” From my apartment I could hear the speeches being given and the protesters rallying.  I am not sure how effective these are, especially since it is a Saturday and the members of Parliament are not in the office.

Plans have officially been made for my vacation, a vacation from Cape Town that is.  I will fly out Monday October 22 and return Monday November 5. I will be going to Pretoria and Kruger National Park in South Africa, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with a day trip to the Zambia side, and Chobe National Park in Botswana!  Most of the trip is a camping safari, so I will be in a tent in the wilderness of Africa!  Caroline is going with me for the whole trip, while Shevaun, Devan, and Liz are coming for Victoria Falls and Chobe. I am beyond excited for this adventure. It may be a month away, but months in Cape Town simply fly away.  

I couldn't resist including this photo.  Nathan I just want to hold you so much!

Afternoon Tea at the Mount Nelson

This week PATA had a local forum in Tanzania. I did not get to attend, but it apparently went really well.  11 teams participated and learned about adolescent care.  Baylor was the host clinic, which is funded by Baylor/Texas.  They fund quite a few of our clinics, and those are the ones that have more resources.

My new flat mate Shevaun moved in from Canada.  She is now the seventh person I have shared an apartment with in the past 3.5 months.  That number is only going to grow because I should be moving rooms at the end of the month.  We all went to Fat Cactus for Mexican Wednesday night which was so much fun. It is one of my favorite places to go to, not only because of the margaritas but because I really like their food.  Restaurants here give out blankets to use when you are cold.  However, it turns out that homeless people keep walking by and stealing their blankets so they don’t have many left.  I thought that was really funny even though I was cold without one.

I was very excited Saturday morning because I got to eat French toast!  There is a restaurant called Knead that makes a honey version that was delicious; it is something I have been craving for months. It definitely made my morning.  Afterward six of us took a cab out to Claremont in the Southern Suburbs. Some of the girls met a group of locals (born and raised in Cape Town) who live out in that area.

We relaxed at their house for a while before wandering around and seeing the area.  Bier Fest was going on down the street.  We were going to attend, but it was right in between shifts since they had an afternoon group and an evening group.  It was hilarious to watch all of the drunken people stumbling out of the event at four in the afternoon.  We decided not to wait for the next time slot and to just go back to the house to chill. The guy who owns the house makes music and we listened to it while having a small bonfire in his backyard as the sun set.  The guys drove out to Wynberg to buy dinner to go – I had my first Gatsby.  A Gatsby is similar to a hoagie but one serves four people.  It is filled with a bunch of things; mine was chicken.  They all have hot chips (French fries) in them as well. It was massive and very good.

On Sunday the weather was absolutely phenomenal.  It hit 80 degrees!  I am trying to learn to speak Celsius, so it hit 35 degrees!  The day could not have been better.  In the morning, Skyrove internet was not working (not that uncommon) so we went to an internet café for milkshakes and Wi-Fi.  I had the best chocolate coffee milkshake while I found out that the Huskers won their weekend game. 

In the afternoon a huge group of us put on our fancy clothes and went to the Mount Nelson for high tea.  The Mount Nelson is a gorgeous expensive hotel in the city center, about a 10 minute walk from where I live. They have giant columns at the entrance that lead into the grand estate.  The tea is served on the Windsor Table in this great open area that has outdoor seating on a veranda.  We got to stroll down by the fountains and pools in between cups of tea.

I am not a huge tea drinker, but I had at least seven cups while we were there.  I really enjoyed the strawberry and vanilla Rooibos tea from South Africa, the vanilla tea, and the forest berries fruit infusion.  There was a large buffet table filled with chocolates, sweets, and finger sandwiches.  The event lasts three hours and is all you can eat and drink (tea of course) that you want. All of it was so good, that we kept going back for more despite not being hungry anymore.  The cheesecake was probably better than the Cheesecake Factory back home.  The hotel itself is pink and covers a huge area of land.  We wandered by the pool, tennis courts, fountains, and a wooden swing.  Having afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson is one of the tasks in 1000 Places to see before you die.  I had such a good time, with the sun shining and a great group of people.

100 Days in Africa

I hit a huge milestone on Saturday!  It was my 100^th day living in Africa.  Where did the time go?  How am I already halfway done with my internship? 

To celebrate I spent the day climbing Table Mountain.  A group of us took the same path I have done before (Platteklip Gorge) up to the top.  It took just under two hours to climb up all those stone steps.  I am resolved to not do this path again, but to take a more scenic route that would be a 3-5 hour hike.  That way I don’t have to just climb straight up for two hours, but can meander around.  At the top we walked over to the edge and sat there enjoying the incredible view.  The weather was gorgeous, the sun was shining, and it was only the third time I have worn shorts since I got to Africa.

After enjoying ourselves for a long time, we decided to hike back down as well instead of taking the cable car.  The hike down was less strenuous on the muscles, but scary in terms of falling down or slipping on the rocks.  By the end my neck also hurt from looking down the entire time.  The hike definitely wore me out, and I was too tired to do much of anything Saturday night.  

The entire week was the best in terms of weather in the past three months.  It didn’t rain for over six days straight which has never happened in my African experience.  Spring is truly here.  On the mountain the flowers were starting to bloom with bursts of purple, white, and yellow exploding up next to the rocks and on the trees.  On Wednesday the weather actually hit over 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

I attended a drinks night at the Neighborhood bar on Long Street with all of the new interns through my program.  It is bizarre when I realize that I am officially the person who has been in South Africa the longest out of all of us (over 40 people).  I am the expert on what to do and how much things should cost and where to go. 

There have been more protests and marches going on all the time.  On my way to work on Friday, the bus took the freeway to get around a march that was occurring on my usual route.  At first I thought I got on the wrong bus and was not sure where I was going to end up.  Fortunately I didn’t mess up and got dropped off at my usual stop once we could get back on the main road.  Saturday morning there was a march to Parliament I witnessed from my apartment.  They walked down the street in front of my building and stopped at the end to chant and give speeches.  I believe this one was in protest of the treatment of the miners and their rights.

Things I haven’t done in 100 days:

1.       Drive – I walk, bus, taxi, but never drive.

2.       Clothes shopping – I have not bought a single article of clothing (even though they do have some cute stores here).  This one I plan to change before I head home!

3.       Taco Bell – it doesn’t exist here and I really miss it.

4.       Spent time with ANYONE I knew before I came – everyone I know and spend time with I have only met after I left America.

5.       Bought a book – This is very depressing.  Books are expensive here, even more so than back home.

6.       Been on USA soil – I left America May 31 and haven’t been back since.

Below is a picture of me with an Africa sticker on my forehead.

Lion's Head

The Short & Sweet film festival is currently in Cape Town.  It also runs in London, Toronto, and New York.  They show a selection of short films, music videos, and short animations created around the world by up and coming directors.  It is on a 5 week run here, and I attended the fourth week Tuesday night.  There were 8 short films shown with a half time in the middle.  The screenings were held in the Old German Club in the city center with all the viewers packed tight on benches and chairs in the screening area. The woman hosting was very energetic and enthusiastic about everything especially as the night wore on.  I am not sure if she was drinking or what, but she became very odd by the end of the night and was just yelling excited things into the microphone as she introduced each film.

Of the first four films, two were okay (TXT Island and Watching) and two were awful (Five Ways to Kill a Man and Loom).  Loom was a lifelike animation of a spider scuttling on his web and catching the moth that was stuck in it.  It lasted over 3 minutes.  The second half had some better short films: Dark side of the Lens, Bad Man He Comin, The Surprise Demise of Francis Cooper’s Mother, and Dad’s Girlfriend.  My favorite would have to be Bad Man He Comin, which was a stop animation music video filmed in the Free State.

I have had several cab drivers here try to tell me that there are 52 States in America.  No matter how many times I insist there are only 50, they don’t believe me.  I don’t think we have added two states to the Union without me hearing about it. 

The smoking ban has passed in South Africa.  There will be a ban on all indoor smoking in public places and restrictions on smoking in public outdoor areas.  I am not sure what date this goes into effect, but I hope it is soon so I no longer smell of smoke after going out in the evenings!

This weekend had the BEST weather I have seen in a long time.  The sun was out, there was no rain, and I absolutely loved it.  The wind was still chilly at times, and it was only just warm out, but I will take it.  Saturday we went to Old Biscuit Mill for delicious food.  They have many options and ethnic foods to enjoy.  There also is a random dog wearing a sweater that was just wandering around.  In the afternoon we walked down to the waterfront to just soak up the sun and people watch.  On the way, we passed some young girls varying in age from three to thirteen wearing more traditional African clothes, playing the drums, and performing tribal dances.  It was fun to watch, especially the youngest children.  

Since it is the start of the month there was once again a change in the interns living in my building.  It is an interesting cycle of constantly changing friends and roommates.  Tze is now back in the UK studying, leaving Hayley and I as the only two in my apartment.  Another girl should be moving in, but her VISA hasn’t gone through so she can’t fly to South Africa yet.  I met some really fun new girls from the US who will be here for several months including one from Colorado (close to Nebraska).  Mostly I am told that I am the first Nebraskan everyone has ever met.

Seven of us hiked up Lion’s Head on Sunday.  This time I took the harder path where the top portion of the hike is rock climbing.  You grab on to metal handholds and chains while climbing vertically up the mountainside – this definitely would not pass the safety standards of the US.  At the top we enjoyed the sunshine while watching the paragliders soar out over the Atlantic Ocean to land next to Camps Bay beach.  On the way up I noticed the wildflowers are all starting to bloom, spreading white and yellow color throughout the side of the mountain. 

There is an unfortunate new American reality TV show, called Clifton Shores filmed here in South Africa that is now airing back in the US (it was filmed last summer here so around January/February).  The premise is 4 American attractive girls living and working in Cape Town in a mansion on Clifton beach.  I am definitely embarrassed by how the previews of the show look as it appears to be similar to Jersey Shore but with a little more class.  On the bright side, Clifton beach is a nice area and with the improving weather I plan on spending more time there enjoying nice African sunshine.

Also the Huskers won!  If only I could watch the games here….Go Big Red.

This is a photo of my weekly bus passes. I have 10 used ones now I think, plus the couple weeks in June before I knew how to buy them.