Daily Photo

This photo (of surfers waiting until the tide was just right to swim out to the waves) was taken at Cape St. Francis on Saturday.

Daily Photo

Cape St. Francis (located 100 km from Port Elizabeth) is a coastal resort town, often referred to as "Little Venice" because of the canals that run through it.  The exclusive town consists of white-walled, thatch-roofed houses, and it was developed about 25 years ago by Leighton and Ann Hulett.  

Daily Photo

I took this photo of the Seal Point Lighthouse, located in Cape St. Francis, on Saturday. The lighthouse was installed in 1878, and its engineers included Joseph Flack, a man who was involved in construction on Robben Island. (After he died in 1876, W.B. Hayes took over.)  The small town of Cape St. Francis is known for its beaches and surfing, as well as the Penguin Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and Seal Point Lighthouse.

Daily Photo

Today I ventured out to find the Main Library in Port Elizabeth.  It's located on the Market Square, in an area of town that is being renovated for good reason; the Main Library was erected in 1902, after its terra cotta façade was manufactured in England and shipped to Algoa bay in pieces.

Unfortunately, it has been closed since April 14 for maintenance and restoration.  This is being done, in part, to address the damage caused by flooding which occurs whenever there are heavy rains.  

A vacation from a vacation

I took 592 photos on our Cape Town tour.

Most of them were landscape photos; it seemed like every time I turned my head in our huge silver van we were entering a new terrain.  Yet I still couldn't capture the beauty of all that we saw, or the memories that were made with those 592 pictures.

I viewed the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

I got to see Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island.

I toured a Holocaust museum in Cape Town that paid tribute to those who lost their lives during Apartheid and the Holocaust.

I saw, in bewilderment, the 2nd largest township in the country, and I tried to capture its essence against the beauty of Table Mountain.

I climbed Table Mountain and celebrated with friends at the top as we joked about how we were told we'd be doing a "leisure walk" that day.

I saw, with delight, penguins and and rock dassies and ostriches and baboons.

I tasted wines in the vineyards of Stellenbosch and learned about different flavors that hit the nose and palate.

I stayed at four different backpackers, and I thought about how much fun it would be to open a backpacker some day.

And I thought about how I still have two more months of this.

Still alive

I'm sorry for not posting lately, everyone!  We've had major issues at Annie's with our wireless internet; I had no connection whatsoever for 2 weeks.  Now we've been forced to sign contracts with a different company, and the connectivity is much less than what I'd desire for what we're paying.

Anyway, in the last month I've continued to help with Homework Club, and thanks to the package I got in the mail today from Mom&friends I'll be able to better entertain the kids while they wait to be tutored.  We also took a weekend trip to Tsitsikamma National Park, where we zip-lined and almost everyone (except for me!) went bungee jumping. (Pictures and other details to come.)

I still absolutely love it here.  I do believe that the first month was more or less a "honeymoon" phase, and I think that anyone else who has studied abroad can attest to that.  But I think I like the slower pace now; we're all more settled now.  We've realized that while we're here to experience new cultures, we have to go to class, too.  We're all still left with plenty of free time, (which we're filling with reading the Twilight series and watching Dexter and Weeds,) but it's a completely different experience than that first month or so that we were here.

Speaking of classes, this is the last week of Term 1, so after I turn in a paper on Friday (on some of T.S. Eliot's poetry,) I'll have off until April 14.  My plan for the fall break is to go on the International Office's sponsored trip to Cape Town.  I had other plans to go more independently (rent a car with friends, stop and go as we pleased,) but I'm happy that I've decided to go with the I.O.  The trip is all-inclusive, and it will be much safer since we'll be accompanied by a driver, guide, and someone from the I.O.

I can e-mail the specific itinerary to anyone who wants it, but here are the high points:

Knysna scenic tour, Simola Golf Estate visit, Thesen Island, Mosselbay Dias Museum & Harbor tour, Hermanus walkabout, Cape Town cultural tour-Castle of Good Hope tour and Holocaust museum, Table Mountain Platteklip hike, Township tour, Cape Point funicular tour, and Wine route with a wine tasting and cellar tour

I saved you all the trouble by linking the websites of some of them, so click away. :)

We're leaving on Sunday and will return the following Saturday.  Once I get my paper done I'll try to do more updates (before I head out of town,) since I have a lot to catch up on.

What a Weekend

This past weekend was a mix of activities and emotions, but it was certainly memorable.

Friday night there was a huge party on Tenbe Street.  It's an annual gig, and the people who live at this particular house on the street hire a dj and make a big deal of it.  I went for about 20 minutes (long enough to wait in line for the bathroom,) and then upon hearing that everyone was getting thrown into the pool (with clothes, cameras, and cell phones intact,) some of us decided to leave.  We went on to Toby Joe's, a bar that has been said to be closing for about 3 weeks now, and also one that is known for having pickpocketers, beggars, and prostitutes lurking outside.  Someone has attempted to pick my purse twice there, but they haven't gotten anything yet-- mostly because I keep everything zipped up, I don't take my camera, and they aren't very smooth operators.  I guess they think everyone is so drunk that they won't feel someone grabbing at them?  Once I was sitting on a stairwell, talking to a friend, maybe 15 feet from the entrance of Toby's, and a man crawled underneath the stairwell from the other side and grabbed at my purse.  I screamed, no doubt, and I really try not to go there anymore.  Note: I know I should be more careful.  I shouldn't go there anymore, etc., etc., but go ahead and scold me if you wish.

Anyway, Saturday a group of 7 of us girls from Annie's decided to go horseback riding at Heavenly Stables, a farm close to Sardinia Bay (an excellent place for kite surfing.)  It's owned by Jackie and Sydney, a lovely couple with three amazing kids who help out on the farm.

My horse's name was Red Eagle, and he had a few issues because he doesn't like having other horses behind him (read: lazy.) We brought up the rear, and what made things interesting was that Kari and her pony, Hercules, were in front of us and Hercules wasn't exactly motivated. Basically, Kari and I felt like we were getting lost in the bush several times since the guides stayed in the front.

Red Eagle:

The bush and beach were both beautiful, and it was neat to see the contrast in terrain since we went through the bush, then around a sand dune, and then onto the beach.  

After the 3 hour horseride, we went to Jackie's sister's house for a braii.  We're learning that braiing isn't the most timely event, so while we were waiting on our delicious meal from the indoor braii pit, we enjoyed Hunter's Dry cider.  This is a photo of our father figures for the evening.

And here are our mother figures:

And our family photo:

Side note: I've learned that I really like cider.  You still get that beer feel without the bitter taste and fullness.  And Hunter's Dry and Sarita ciders (both brewed in South Africa) have become a fave among a lot of the girls at Annie's.   

We also played with the family's pets while we waited for the meat to cook.  So here's a shout-out to everyone at the library! This family has a Scout Junior, and seeing this cat made me miss all of you and Scout and Atticus!

The meal was the best most of us had eaten since arriving in S.A.  We still aren't too sure if that had more to do with the homely feel to the braii (and the 2 dogs and 7 cats the family owns, and the adorable children, and the cider,) or the food itself, but nonetheless, we had an amazing time. (Thanks for the photo, Kari!)

To be continued... Next post: The Walmer Township tour