Its crazy to think we have been Capetonians for over 4 weeks now. We have managed to cross off items on our to do list aswell as visiting a few places we hadn't planned on seeing. I have to admit spending this last month in Cape Town has made me realise how beautiful South Africa is and I think Nat can agree with me.
Anyway since the last time we wrote we have visited quite a few places and as I cant remember in which order I will just write about them randomely. First off we went to Cape Point which is a where the 2 Oceans, the cold Atlantic and the warm Indian Ocean, meet and is also a nature reserve which is home to a large population of baboons. Now I'm not sure if any of you have had the chance to see a baboon close up but if you have you will agree with me they are really scarey and evil looking creatures. There are signs up everywhere "DO NOT FEED THE BABOONS" as in previous years people have fed them and then when you withold food from them they get agressive towards humans and then have to be shot, which I think it crazy as its their home we are intruding on. They are the only baboons in the world that have taught themselves to crack open the shells on the rocks along the shoreline and eat the sea creatures inside. Fortunately they are protected and it seems like they have reached an understanding with the rangers, we wont attack the tourists if you dont disturb us.
The next place on our list was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which sits at the foot of the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. Although not as big as Kew Gardens and not as extensive it is still however filled with indigenous South Africa plants and great opens spaces to have picnics and just chill out. The World of Birds in Hout Bay was also on our list which has not only birds, but everything from guinea pigs to spider monkeys. Some of the highlights for us was being greated by a cat with no ears as we paid for our tickets, I dont think he was supposed to be one of the attractions, a rather amourous male tortoise and walking through the owl enclosures. You can go into the spider monkey enclosure during feeding times and they sometimes jump onto your shoulder but this day they seemed more interested in their food than us. Whilst we are talking about Hout Bay one of the days when it was particulary hot we along with Heidi and Quinn , my sister and nephew, went to the beach in Hout Bay and managed to watch a seal surfing the waves. Now there is an animal that looks like it has fun surfing. Although the little girl learning to surf didnt see the funny side as all she saw was this black thing in the wave near her and she promptly bolted out of the water.
One of the areas near the Waterfront and at the base of Signal Hill is called Bo-Kaap (translated as Upper Cape) and is home to a group of people called the Cape Malays. The main reason this area is of interest to any tourist is becuase each individual house is painted a different colour making it look like you have arrived in some kind of lego town. The reason this was originally done was that if you were of a certain profession ie doctor, lawyer, mechanic, then you would paint your house with the corresponding colour so that if people needed someone with that profession they would know who to go and see. Its no longer the case but if you live in the area or buy a house there you are not allowed to change the colour. It has actually become a very much sought after area and trying buy a house there is almost impossible as people never really sell.
The last thing i want to write about is an event that we, myself, Nat, Heidi and Marq, went to 2 Sundays ago at Muizenberg beach called Earthwave. Since 2006 they have been holding the event which is basically on a specified day they try and get as many surfers to stand up and ride 1 wave for 5 seconds. As Marq is a keen surfer he was all up for it and managed to convince me to join him. The money we paid goes to the shark spotters, yes there are sharks that roam the Cape Town coastline and the spotters sit up on the mountainside and keep an eye open for them, aswell as any other environmental projects. Anyway with my miniscule experience of surfing I joined Marq and after 5 attempts we managed to get 103 people on 1 wave however I'm not sure I was part of that 103 as I only managed to get up on the last attempt. It was total chaos but so much fun as the comaraderie amongst the surfers is great. I am definately hooked and will hopefully be able to get some surfing in when we go to Mozambique. Come summer next year in the UK if we are back if anyone is keen I will be heading to the coast with my surfboard under one arm.
Well thats about all our news for now but I suspect our next entry will be alot more interesting as we leave for Malawi this Friday. We have decided to stay in Lilongwe for the weekend and then catch a bus upto the place we will be staying on Monday. We have been warned that it is really remote so we need to stock up on food supplies etc and we dont know how often we will be able to communicate, but we'll let you know once we have settled in. Its all pretty scarey but exciting nontheless.
Take care
Kim & Nat
