Blogs from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 9

Day 47 - Paarl - 14/9/09 Set off from the car hire office at 1000 as we pulled out and made our way to the vineyards. Earlier on that morning I was getting my hair cut I was talking to her about my toe and pick pocketing episode and she told that Cape Town was the 4th most dangerous city in the world, using what stats? In what context? Behind who? Basra? Bagdad? Jo'burg? We hit the road and made our way out of Cape Town, eventually we started to see beautiful vineyards and rolling countryside. We arrived in Paarl, stopping in the town to get a better map of the vineyard region from the tourist information office. The first vineyard we stopped at was the Nederburg vineyard where we were greeted with a glass of ... read more

This morning, Charon's daughter and future son-in-law joined us for a great breakfast of poached eggs, bacon, mushrooms and toast. We were then collected for a nutty but wonderful morning in the Brown-mobile (a VW mini-bus). We went shopping at Walmer Park (got cash, tried to find a book, Mom went to Woolies), raced off to fetch my cousin Fabian from his group home, zipped back to Charon's so we could collect the beautiful birthday cake, and zoomed over to Thatchwoods for the "surprise" birthday lunch. Ruthie knew about it, but didn't know about all the friends and family that had gathered to celebrate with her. John gave a lovely speech, and we all toasted Ruthie with champagne or sparkling grape juice. Lunch was a choice of 3 appetizers; a choice of 2 of 3 meats ... read more

I woke up this morning to the sound of South African bird calls--hadedahs and doves. :) After a quick breakfast of toast and tea, we got ready to meet Miss Tribe (my old head mistress) for tea. For some reason, I had the time mixed up, and in the middle of a comfortable cruise towards Park Drive, I realized that we were actually LATE! Mom quickly called Miss Tribe to apologize, and after three circuits around St George's Park, we stopped to get clearer directions. Forty-five minutes after we were due to arrive, we finally got to Park Drive Village and collected the dear woman. We had a lovely chat over tea and cupcakes at a little coffee/tea shop around the corner from her home. After tea, we scurried over to Greenacres to meet my godmother, ... read more

Salut tout le monde, Nous inaugurons enfin ce blog avec un premier message pour vous montrez où nous avons atterris, comment s’organise notre vie ici et ce que nous avons fait depuis ce premier mois (déjà !). Pour commencer vous pouvez repérez où nous sommes grâce à Googleearth©. Grâce à cette merveilleuse technologie, vous pouvez même voir notre petite maisonnette !!! Logement : Nous sommes donc logé dans une résidence pour étudiants étrangers du nom d’ Annie’s Cove. Les logements sont des maisons d’un niveau (pas d’étages), contenant chacune deux appartements. Les dits appartements sont prévus pour être des collocations pour deux personnes. Chacun a sa chambre et il y a une cuisine et une SDB pour 2. Nous sommes donc techniquement colocataires, seuls dans notre colocation = On a donc notre appart pour nous 2, ... read more

Port Elizabeth was great! Stayed there for 4 nights. First night at Helicharter Backpackers but decided to leave since the place was virtually empty... =( Instead we walked down the street and found Kings Beach Backpackers. Awesome place, one of the cleanest we have come across! The manager at KB is an amazing man called David. He took us for a township tour. A township is basically the slum, but the government are building new houses for the people living there so life quality is slowly improving. Went to this old lady that was taking care of the township kids who's parents can't afford school. David bought them crisps and they were delighted! A woman that lived in a tint house let us in - the misery! When it rains her house get flooded and water ... read more