San Culture Experience and Other Activities of the Western Coast

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Before I begin telling about my weekend trip north of Cape Town, I want to clarify that I was not specifically in Lamberts Bay. I spent the weekend visiting that area, but more specifically Elands Bay or Elandsbaai, which is a very tiny surfing town on the coast north of Cape Town. My Location Selections of my blog has overlooked the quaint town, so I'm setting the record straight. For now, I will back-track to last week as to stay in chronological order and be less confusing!

Last weekend we had decided to have a nice relaxing weekend, just a few plans, but mostly time at the beach. Well, on Saturday morning we attended a very nice charity brunch for a women's shelter that we volunteer at, St. Anne's. We sat outside, though it was a bit chilly, and dined on typical brunch cuisine. All was good and tasty, until it made a reappearance later that weekend... But stay with me, I'll get to that. After our brunch we met up with our friends that we are practically attached at the hip with, Cle and Paul, and their housemate Will. We took a minibus from downtown Cape Town to Camp's Bay, which is a very high-end beach area. It is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! It definitely has the fancy vibe though, due to it being surrounded by big houses that are high on the surrounding mountains. Regardless, the sand is so white and the water so perfectly turquoise. Being forgetful boys, they forgot their bathing suits, so we sunbathed on the giant rocks that jut out into the ocean. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it sure was pretty! The next day we attempted to have another beach day, this time at Muizenberg, but that's when the brunch came back to haunt me. I won't go into detail, but I spent my time at the beach throwing up in the bathroom of a cafe. It was rock bottom and in perfect irony, the floor was actually made of rock. I suffered through the day and night and basked in the company of my also sick travel companion. We were a sight for sore eyes as we spent the entire next day in pajammas, on the couch, watching movies and trying to stomach toast.

We made a full recovery by the next day and it was back to the office. We were back to our party animal selves by Wednesday night and enjoyed a night out at what was quite possibly, the creepiest bar ever, but it had pool tables and beer, so what more could you ask for? Apparently a lot considering the friends we were with convince us to go to a nearby club, though we hadn't wanted the club scene that night. Regardless, it turned out very fun. Thursday night, we enjoyed dinner at Cubana, all the volunteers favorite restaurant, for a Projects Abroad social. It was a mad house! There were so many people there and it was incredibly hectic to get our dinners and pay and whatnot. On Fridays we get off early, so we were able to get into downtown Cape Town to go to the Green Market Square. As is true in any marketplace, it is a constant battle of haggling and trying to avoid purchasing unneeded items. But don't panic, I got many souvenirs for my loved ones back home! We had a really nice lunch at RCaffe with Val and Keely (our host sisters) and then returned home to get ready for the night. We had a few friends over before going out to Club 31, Cape Town's most renowned club. It is on the 31st floor of the ABSA building and you have to be 21 years old if you're a girl and 23 if you're a guy (yes, it's nice to be a girl). With our charm and stunning personalities, we were able to talk ourselves in despite our tiny little age gap. The view from the club is spectacular! Though I wasn't as impressed with the club itself. It's nice, of course, but I've found that I'm coming to love little dive places much more.

We had to be up bright and early on Saturday morning to depart for our overnight tour. We met at the Engen gas station in the suburb of Newlands and took off for the !Kwa Tu San Bushmen Center. First we had a quick stop at Bloubergstrand, where you can get the most picturesque view of Table Mountain. Then, back in the car! The center was located in the African bush north of Cape Town. When we arrived, we got a quick lesson in many of the clicking languages of the various bushmen tribes. I was horrible at it, but it was interesting none-the-less. We had a nice ride through the bush in a giant wagon, pulled by a tractor, driven by our tour guide, who is a San himself. It was our first real introduction to the African sun and it was hot, to say the least. There is not a single spot of shade out in that terrain, my father would have a cow! Don't worry Dad, I applied sunscreen and only got a tiny bit burnt. I can hear you lecturing me about the dangers of skin cancer and the differences between the rays of sun in the U.S. compared to Africa. I hear ya and I respect ya. Our drive ended at a re-creation of a San bushmen camp that they would have stayed at. It was very interesting to see the styles of huts and the layout and also to learn about a lot of the different objects that they used. At the end of our tour, we got lunch at the center. I had Eland pie, which was a first and it was actually quite good.

We continued on to Eland's Bay, which is an absolutely tiny surfing town. They were boasting about the population of 900 and all I could think of was how that doesn't even compare to the size of my highschool. It was a very cute town, that is only known for it's great waves. We were meant to have a surf lesson, but our tour guide, Gavin, thought the waves to be too rough for a lesson. Instead we just swam. I channeled my inner Charles Scott and was one of the few to actually plunge in the water. It was much colder than the lake water, Grandpa, but as you would say, "It's just refreshing". I suppose I'm lucky to be part polar bear. I also channeled my mother and attempted to body surf, but my mom is a beach babe and I find her to be a lot more graceful in the water than I. After we dried off and warmed up, we took a drive with the man who worked at the hostel where we stayed. Now there are few who will understand what I mean by this, but for those who will, he was just like the men you would meet on Tybee Island. A good island man, who's a little off in the head from a lifetime of sun and surf. One of his arms was all scarred up and it was obvious that he has been having problems with it. Would you like to know how this happened? Oh, he just jumped out of a truck that was going 110 km/hr to try and catch a Springbok. Yes, the giant antelope looking things. In respone to our astonishment he simply said, "Well, I've done it before so I thought it would work". Anyways...he took us to this very barren stretch of coast, where we climbed up to a cave that housed original bushmen cave paintings! It was amazing! They were simply amazing. As was the view from the cave. We stopped on the way back to try and get close to some seals that were basking on the rocks. We did manage to get close and take some nice pictures. That night we enjoyed a traditional Braai, or barbeque, which was really good. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the food as much as I did. After dinner, we all went down to the beach to look at the stars and I even learned to find Orion's belt. All the other volunteers wimped out in order to go to sleep, but being the night owl that I am, I stayed up and enjoyed the company of the locals at the bar in our hostel. It was one man's bachelor party and he fell asleep on the stairs. The small town hospitality served him well and they put a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket. I finally dragged myself back to the campfire area, where our little cabins were located, and crawled into bed.

The next day we just played frisbee on the beach and had a really good seafood lunch! After that, we returned home and relaxed. We were all exhausted after such a packed weekend. As usual, it was back to work on Monday, with a sushi dinner and some bar-time following. Wednesday we took our second attempt at hiking Lion's Head mountain which is located next to Table Mountain. This time was successful! The weather was absolutely perfect. There were no strong gusts of wind threatening to blow us off and this time we made it to the top! It was brutal, or at least it was for me and I was bitter everytime that joggers would run past me. The sunset from the top was gorgeous! Really breathtaking. Yesterday I decided to treat myself to some fun and join in on a team-building activity with a group of buisness people. Myself and a couple of tour guides spent the morning setting up obstacle courses and other active games for the employees to take part in. It was so much fun! I loved watching them all struggle to accomplish the tasks and have a lot of fun while they were doing it!

Well there is my long, long entry! I have a lot more exciting things coming up, so be prepared for lots more! I love and miss you all so much.

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