Blogs from South Africa, Africa - page 574

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town July 2nd 2007

We were woken up early because the morning was clear and calm, perfect for going up Table Mountain. After a quick, light breakfast of hot-cross buns and tea, and a shower, we headed to the cablecar station. It was the first day of school holidays, so beating the lines was the mission. We went up and had the most wonderful view of the Cape. It was a gorgeous day, cold, but blue, and the experience was perfect. Well, except for NO dassies! There was a kids' thing going on in the "Dassie Den" for R40. Owen participated--got some "dassie droppings" (chocolate!), a fancy balloon, coloring pages, and his face painted. It was a good idea--the teacher in me wanted SOME info about dassies(not a piece of info at all!)--a great opportunity to educate the little folk!! ... read more

Another view from the top of Table Mountain

Just testing!

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Knysna July 2nd 2007

Anja and Damian

Just testing if this website works.....will update soon! cheers!... read more

Trip to Cape Point

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape of Good Hope July 2nd 2007

Cape of Good Hope

sarmon

Sunday morning we all woke up bright and early (much to our chagrin) to head down to Cape Point, which is the southwestern most point on the whole continent of Africa. It was really an amazing day. The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, and the sky was this intense blue. In Cape Town, the weather wasn’t too cold; breezy, but I was comfortable just in a light sweater. However, by the time we got halfway down the peninsula, the Arctic wind was coming in and I had to put my fleece on. Our first stop was at Chapman’s Peak, which is the beginning of a strip of highway that was closed for many years due to rock slides. The coastline here is very similar to the Californian coastline, with the hills ... read more

More fun at the airport...

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 1st 2007

Mrs Plod

We arrived in SA just fine--I whizzed through passport control on my SA passport, while Ross and Owen took 45 minutes to get through the "other passports" line. We zoomed over to the domestic terminal and asked about getting on an earlier flight to Joburg. After waiting and waiting for them to board all scheduled passengers, we were sad to hear that we wouldn't be on the flight after all. Exhausted does not begin to describe how we were feeling! So, back past security and into the 1Time line again we went. About this time, we discovered that a belt in the baggage-moving system had broken, and consequently, EVERY check-in desk was at a standstill. No flights were leaving, because they wanted bags to go with the passengers, and bags were not leaving the check-in area. ... read more

Joburg and The Cradle of Mankind

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 1st 2007

RECOVERED

Jaseandrach

On Our Own! Although it was a bit sad leaving all our mates on the truck, it was exciting for us to contemplate doing our own thing at our pace. We drove out of Joburg airport in our little blue Clio, immediately having to negiotate city centre motorways and traffic. Fortunately our map seemed pretty clear and we found our way to Fourways, the northern suburb of Joburg where we had booked accommodation. Unfortunately there was a mistake in the directions we had been given, so we were driving around the area for ages before we found the hostel. However, this gave us a good opportunity to check out the local amenities and we got excited about the huge shopping malls after 5 weeks overlanding! Eventually we bumped our way down a dirt track to ... read more

Safari, Monkies, and a farwell to Africa

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 1st 2007

Cidai

Greetings all! Unfortunately my time in South Africa has come ot an end. What an amazing 12 days it has been. In this post we have: my safari, attacking monkies, Johannesburg crime, and the apartheid museum. Let's get started... Upon my arrival in Johannesburg I was greeted by Patrick, the owner of the hostel I was staying at. That night, we had a couple drinks together and watched cricket until 2 in the morning. I guess you could say that we're pretty much best friends by now... The next morning I was whisked off to Kruger National Park to chase some animals on a three day safari. to be perfectly honest, the safar ididn't quite live up to my expectations. Out of the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo) we only saw two- a ... read more

South Africa: Lekker like potjie!

Africa » South Africa June 30th 2007

Watching the world go by

Kev and Elle

As you will have gathered from Elle's blog, we are indeed back in Sydney. In fact, in the 2 weeks we have been back we have volunteered in our church's annual conference, and I have been to Dubbo for work and back. It just keeps getting more exciting eh? But South Africa... the final stop on our whirlwind trip. It was deja-vu as we exited into Jo'burg for the second time in a week. Another friendly face to meet us, this time a little more familiar. It was Albertus, who organised the Hillsong United tour of South Africa last year. During a casual chat on the tour, he mentioned that he used to organise safaris, and that if I was ever planning to do a safari, I should do one in South Africa and call ... read more

Well, you know what this one is called...

Learning the Law

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town June 29th 2007

Judge Shylie

sarmon

So I know up until now, my blog has largely talked about the culture and landscape of the places I’ve traveled. However, it is important for us all to remember that I am in Cape Town on a study abroad program, to learn all about South African law. Today, I had the opportunity to shadow an attorney with the second largest law firm in Cape Town and find out what it’s like to work in the legal profession down here. Another girl from my program, Maura, and I left our house this morning and arrived at the law firm, which is located on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in the CBD of Cape Town. After making it through security (which was mildly harrowing), we arrived, and were greeted by our attorney, ... read more

Last morning in the bush...for now

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park June 28th 2007

Max in Musth Part II

D and B

We awoke this morning in beautiful Akeru lodge at around 6AM and proceeded to the open air 4x4. The sun was still down and the air was still very cold. As soon as we left the lodge, Sam (our tracker) spotted rhino tracks. A rhino had just passed our lodge during the night. We spend a few minutes tracking the rhino - including some time when we dropped Sam off on his own on foot - but the tracks led to an area we could not enter. However, the first character we ran across was none other than Max. Max was still in musth, but seemed much happier to ignore us and munch on his tree (see picture). Danika even grew to like Max, quite a feat considering her considerable distrust of him from the ... read more

Living the Nightlife in Cape Town

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town June 28th 2007

Part of the Group at Tank

sarmon

Since I haven’t done anything too adventurous or touristy this week on account of the whole school and class thing getting in the way, I decided that I should update my devoted readers on the culinary and nightlife scenes in Cape Town. I still have plenty of things that I want to try, but just to recap some of the highlights of the last two weeks (I can’t believe I’ve been here for two weeks already!) The staple place we’ve been has been Café Manhattan. Manhattan is the heart of the gay nightlife in Cape Town, but also happens to have the best hamburgers I’ve ever tasted in my life. These things are huge! And they’re only $7. On Sunday nights, Manhattan hosts one of the premier musical acts in the city: Three Tons of ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

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