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I can not believe my month at the primate project has come to an end, I am really sorry to be leaving. Anyone who has spent time with primates can have any doubts where man originates, the similarities between primate and man is uncanny, they have the same social structures and interactions as human societies, and I swear I recognize some peoples in some of the monkeys, but no names mentioned.
How anyone can harm these beautiful creatures is beyond my understanding. What Karen is doing with so little money and resources is amazing, I intent to support the project in some way in the future.
This is Leanne & Mollys first visit to Africa, they came directly to the project for a month and are due to fly directly back to the UK from George on 1st July. I am due to catch a coach to Namibia on the 1st from Cape town, so to enable them to see a bit more of the Cape regeion, we decided to share to cost of a hire car + petrol and drive to Cape Town for a few days, then they would leave me in Cape Town and drive back to George
to get their flight. An added bonus was that Karen asked an old freind called Steve, who lives in Cape Town, if he could put us up, and he agreed.
The first day we drove to Mossell Bay and spent the night at a backpackers, the next morning we called in at The Garden Route Wildlife Reserve to give a message to a guy called Patrick who is the game manager. The reserve has luxery accommodation, swimming pool, personalised game drives etc, while chatting to Patrick, he asked if we would like to have a look around, we jumped at chance and spent the next couple of hours getting up close to some of the animals in an open landrover with Patrick as our guide, very cool.
After there we went directly to Cape Town, Steve lives in a 2 storey townhouse/apartment in an area called Gardens that is right at the foot of Table Mountain. Shortly after settling in, Steve left to spend the night at friends before leaving on a trip for a few days, so we had the place to our selves.
The next day was sunny and warm so we first went up Table Mountain, then
drove around the Cape penisular, it really is a stunning coastline, and although there has been some developments, the small villages are quaint and have retained their original buildings and feel.
The girls went on a short boat trip to see seals while I waited at the dockside and watched the world go by, amazingly half dozen seals came up to where I sat, they had followed a fishing boat in, and put on a show of their agility. We then went to veiw some penquins and then ended up eating the largest fish & chips ever in a place called Simon Town before heading back.
For the shoppers among you; I have noticed there are a lot of retro shops here, I saw a dress and bag I would have killed for, but that sort of purchase is not in the budget. There are also some geart secondhand furnature and interior design stores. OK ok I digress!
We awoke the next morning to a rainy day so decided to go to the district 6 Museum (if you dont know about it, please google), it was fascinating to get an insight to some recent history. We then walked down into
the city centre to have a look around, and I had to go the coach office to confirm my seat, on the way there we had an amusing incident; we made a slight detour and emerged into an area with rows and rows of mini buses (known as taxis in SA) they run out to the townships and suburbs and are nearly exclusivly used by black africans, there were hundreds of people milling around and we were the only white faces. There were 5 black police officers standing a few mtres away, so i went over and asked them for directions, they decided to escort us to the door. We looked like we had been arrest surrounded by police and we drew quite a bit of attention. I asked one of the officers if they had experienced any problems during the world cup, but he stated it had been very quiet for them. I dont think we were at all at risk, I think they were just bored, infact it is probable the safest time to come to Cape Town as apart from the masses of police, there are public protection officers everywhere. When we got to the coach office, they offered to walk us all the way back to our car, we declined, but did take a different route back.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and the girls headed back to George, I spent a few anxious hours worring about them, until they text me to say they had arrived safely.
I then spent the day relaxing and walking around Gardens, it reminds me partly of Sydney with rows of single story houses with tin roofs and overhanging roof, and cast iron fences. It also is like Ponsenby, with smart cafes, tendy shops etc.
Tomorrow I leave SA and head north.
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