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Published: August 6th 2007
Lisa chillin' at Camps bay
A rather beautiful picture of my girlfriend with a backdrop that is paradise!!!Well its been a week for Lisa and I in South Africa now where we have been subject to 4 seasons of weather in just 7 days.
We were prepared for bad weather as it's winter here, but we were really surprised at how random the days are. One day it could be clear blue sky and what we regard as beach weather (around 23 degree's), and the next it could be torrential rain and showing no sign of letting up.
We arrived in the rain on the 28th July and at first glance, it was nothing short of where we had just left (London, Heathrow).
Construction is everywhere as they prepare for the imminent world cup in 2010.
Our first real taste of SA was the huge townships that greet you either side of the main road to and from the airport. Its a site that neither Lisa or myself were ready for and for a split second, I remember thinking ' god, I wonder what our hostel will be like'.
This of course was an area that as a tourist, you don't really get to see up close unless you are with an organized company.
At the mercy of a cheeky monkey
Lisa and I enjoyed a trip to the 'world of birds', which included a monkey park. Its very hands on and the monkeys have the run of the place. Here is a nice image of Lisa and the monkey!!! The townships are basically made up of many corrugated type shacks all connected with little or no irrigation, causing health problems amongst other things. It really is a big issue, and will continue to be for some time.
As you make your way along, past the townships, you are immediately hit with a world that most can relate to. A civilized world with anything the modern human being could ever want. A large bustling city with bright lights and diverse cultures.
This is where I wanted to be, and indeed its where we ended up. Our hostel (the Zebra crossing hostel), is delightfully located just yards away from busy 'long street' in the CBD, and is centrally located near all major attractions in Cape Town. I feel there was an element of luck involved in our choice of accommodation as there are copious amounts of backpackers around town.
We have stunning views of table mountain each day from our dorm rooms, and all for R80 a night (about 5.70 in pounds).
I suppose we have taken a cautious approach to the number of tours or activities you can do here because we are yet to work out
The view from our room
AH YES, as we both wake up of a morning (without alarms), we open our eyes to this lovely view of table mountain. Well someone has to stay here!!! a daily budget ( I think we are too scared to to be honest).
That hasn't stopped us from doing the museums, aquarium, holocaust centre, whale watching, world of birds tour or the day at the gorgeous beach nearby.
We have two weeks left in Cape town and still have quite an impressive list of 'must do's to achieve before we leave, which includes shark diving, skydiving, climbing table mountain and robben island amongst other things.
I think Lisa has settled in more as the days have gone on. She is not overly impressed by the backpacking menu of pasta, noodles, toast, soup and tea, but apart from that she can't complain.
I did feel that her first night in an 8 bed dorm would be disastrous as she has never shared a room with anyone she doesn't know before. I think it worked well though because she got to know a few of the people from the hostel while we were staying in our own double room (a luxury thing to do as a backpacker).
She has adopted many of her homely instincts which I think helps her alot. We have adopted the hostel cat as
Resident rodent
This little, or should I say large critter is referred to as a rock dassie. It spends its life in the rocky outcrops on the edge of cliffs. our own (starsky), who will always sit with you in return for a little attention, and Lisa has now become familiar with the channels on the t.v and looks forward to regular SA programmes each day. This coupled with many cups of tea works a treat for her.
I think considering the location and how well we have both settled in, we have decided to make the Zebra Crossing hostel our permanent residence for our stay in Cape town.
We will keep you all posted on what we do in our next blog. I Hope you become regular followers and somehow take something from it to help you in your relatively mundane lifestyles......................sorry, I couldn't resist that comment at the end.
TTFN.
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Racheal
non-member comment
wow!!!!!!
hi chris n lisa ows fings goin? .....omg it looks well gud where u r n dat lil monkey u ad on ya woz well cute...... im not sure wat dat fing woz pokin out of the sand but looks pretty lol n yeee dat is sum big sea weed lol hope yor avin fun n gettin a gud tan lol speak ta ya soon n ill get every1 to ryt a coment ...... missin yas xxx mwah xxx