My Penultimate Day in South Africa

After finishing my city exploring, souvenir shopping, and package sending on Wednesday, I ended up having a rather peaceful day in Fish Hoek. In the morning, I hiked up one of the mountains that make up Fish Hoek and went down the other side to Kalk Bay. The group had done this weeks before and said that it was a great view of both Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay. They weren't wrong, just look at the pictures. I then took the train back to Fish Hoek where I went to the beach-side restaurant. I sat there reading for a number of hours.

I was able to find a fish store that would grill me some snoek so I was finally able to try the cape fish. While it was the most bony fish I've ever had, the taste was outstanding. With no salt, butter, lemon, or anything the fish alone was delicious. I then packed for a little bit and found myself returning to the beach-side restaurant to read more. This is, by far, the closest I have ever come to not being about to put a book down. I'm reading "The Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollen. It talks about the state of American food and the current problems with our industrial food economy. I find it fascinating. It is a good thing too because I'm about to have 18 hours to kill.

Tonight, I'm going out into Cape Town one last time. The four of us  are going to hit Long Street and see where the night takes us.

Here are some pics of the Fish Hoek beach and the hike:

Before I conclude the blog I just want to say thank you for reading it or any part of it. I am glad I could  write and share my experience while it happened. There is no way that I would have been able remember everything I've done so I'm glad I have this to refer to when I'm retelling the stories in the years to come. I am looking forward to seeing all of you when I return home!

First Time I Felt Like A Tourist

Today I went into Cape Town and got the Hop-On - Hop -Off Bus at the V&A Waterfront. The bus is essentially for tourists who want to go all over Cape Town quickly. The route I chose stopped at places around the city center. There is another route that goes much farther into the wine lands and into the botanical gardens. 


I first went to ST. George's Cathedral. Just a few blocks away from the train station, this massive, beautiful cathedral seems out of place. I felt like I walked into Western Europe when I saw the big stained-glass windows surrounded by old Gothic architecture.

Next I went to the National Art Gallery. It stands next to the Jewish Museum and the Planetarium and is by far the biggest building of the three. I was expecting to be in there for hours but two out of the four exhibits were "under renovation." The two that were open were still quite interesting. The first was a sampling of random art from all over South Africa - no joke the exhibit was called "Random Sample." The other was exhibited displayed photographs of a South African magazine that depicted the life of the rather important Indian population in South Africa. I had no idea that there was such a population but apparently they were quite influential in political as well as social issues. 

Because the bus stopped at the Nelson Mandela Hotel, I decided to stop into the perennial 5-star hotel of Cape Town. It was nice but compared to the other things I visited, it was forgettable. 

I then grabbed lunch at the restaurant in the gardens across the National Gallery. It is a mission of mine this week to try snook- a local fish of the Cape that, according to every South African I've talked to, I must try. Even the audio person on the bus mentioned that "you should not leave Cape Town until you try smoked snook." Unfortunately I have been going to the wrong restaurants because I have yet to see it on a menu including the restaurant I went to today. Disgruntled but starving, I settled on the grilled hake. 


I then took the bus to the Gold of Africa Museum. The gold itself wasn't all that interesting or impressive to me but there was a room that showed the timeline of Africa through the production of gold. It was absolutely fascinating as it started before the Egyptians in 2500 BC and carried across the centuries as the gold market exploded. 


The bus then took me through some of the smaller towns in Cape Town and up to Table Mountain. Instead of returning through downtown. It went behind Table Mountain and into Camps Bay and Sea Point. I didn't get off there but I'm planning on going there tomorrow as it looked like one of the most beautiful and fun towns in Cape Town and I have never been there . 


After going along the coastline for another half hour, we soon arrived at the V&A Waterfront. I was about to start shopping for souvenirs until I realized that the last bus that going past the train station left in 3 minutes. It is definitely on the list for tomorrow, as well as the District 6 Museum which is apparently "The most powerful museum in Cape Town" 

Some site seeing pics:

The Cape Town World Cup Soccer Stadium

The St. George's Cathedral

The Nelson Mandela Hotel

The National Gallery with Table Mountain in the background

The gold

The crazy timeline of gold in Africa

Another shot from the base of Table Mountain

Camps Bay

Wilderness

We left at 5:45 in the morning on Friday and headed East. Tamsin, one of Roxy's surf instructors, stayed at the house the night before so it was a very cramped in the Will's wagon with 7 people. The trip to Wilderness, a small beach town near George, took about 5 hours on the Garden Route. We actually passed Riversdale, the camp site that we stayed at in early March. Before even arriving at the lodge we stopped at Victoria Bay, our primary surf spot, to catch some waves. Unfortunately, I felt terrible when we arrived and I couldn't bring myself to get my wet suit on. It was a good thing too because the swell was pretty intense and I was feeling a little nauseous. I passed out in the car for what felt like 10 minutes but turned out to be about 3 hours.

Joining us on the Surfing trip was Roxy's "Divas" a group of 6 middle aged women who were a part of Roxy's surf school. For most of them it was their first real surfing trip and they were all very excited.They met us in Vic Bay and geared up shortly after we got the 8 surf boards off the wagon's broken roof rack. 

Before passing out in the car, I did take a look at the beach. It was nothing like Muizenberg. The beach break was hitting hard and even the foamies were crashing. I saw Caine, Sammy, and Rosie try to surf them for a little bit and I felt more and more content with my decision to crash in the car. 


After my nap, everyone got back and while the surf was "hectic" there were injuries galore. Rosie took a surf board to the nose as well as cutting here toes on some rocks. Caine reopened, a rather nasty wound that he got while getting the gate open at the school. While my group stayed with the foamies, the divas paddled out 50 yards farther and were catching some major waves. Well, they were trying to catch them, most of them just got seriously wiped out. One of the women got wiped out so bad she "almost drowned!" She let everyone know about this the remainder of the trip. The same women badly scraped her ankle and the whole inside of her foot was lacerated and bloody. 

Despite all of this, "it was awesome!" And we hit the road again for about another 5 minutes until we got to our backpacker's lodge in Wilderness. The accommodations were surprisingly good. The bed was more comfortable than my bed in Fish Hoek and the view from our room was probably the best view in Wilderness- Sandy beach as long as you could see. 

Sadly, you couldn't see very far. It was cloudy when we arrived and the weather got worse as the weekend progressed. After lunch, Caine, Will, Roxy and I took a walk along the beach and it started to rain just about when we were turning around to head back to the hostel. It rained the rest of the afternoon. Apparently rain isn't that big of a deal for surfing (because you're going to get wet anyway), however, with rain and clouds come wind and the wind was the back breaker that made this surfing weekend just a weekend.


The next morning, we once again got up before the sun came out. Despite the weather conditions we just wanted to check out the surf first hand. We went to Buffalo's Bay,  about 20 minutes from the lodge, and the surf was erratic and ominous. It was my sense that everyone was a little relieved when Roxy and Tamsin decided to pass on Buffalo's Bay. On the way back to the lodge, we visited a local crafts market. The market was similar to the one in Muizenberg though it was much bigger. 


When we got back to the lodge, there was really not much to do. All the activities in Wilderness are, not surprisingly, outside and this was the most rain that they've gotten in many months.Instead, I got to know some of the Divas.We got into some pretty in depth conversations and I got a sense of  their perspective on American, South African, and local issues. Joining us that afternoon was a Canadian girl traveling South Africa and having people from the UK, USA, SA, and Canada all participate in a conversation about international issues was fascinating. 

Time passed slowly because we got up so early and by 3 o'clock, everyone was pretty talked out. A lot people went down to the bar to watch the rugby game that started at 5. I actually got really into the book that I brought and decided to finish a few chapters instead of watch the game (shocking I know). 


The evening carried out uneventfully with a solid dinner and an early bedtime. The next morning we got to sleep in until 6:45. We checked out the surf one last time at Vic Bay on our way out of the area. Th weather had changed and it was warmer and  a little sunny but apparently the wind was even worse and the waves were well beyond any of our expertise. Roxy called about three surf shops that we would pass going along the western coast and they all said that the conditions were similar. And so, for a variety of reasons, I did not surf on the surfing trip. I was actually not all that disappointed though. I started to feel, even before the weekend began, that surfing is not really my thing and I was quite content to stay dry and enjoy the South African countryside. 


As my flight approaches, I'm feeling more and more like I'm ready and wanting to go home. I feel as though I've accomplished everything that I've wanted to in South Africa and I'm ready to leave.That said, I am looking forward to the next few days where I'll be city exploring in and around Cape Town.


As you can imagine, there weren't that many pictures to take on the weekend but I did take a few:

The Diva's van. I found it hilarious because they're middle aged and they aren't very good at surfing

One of the shops at the market

The ominous sea

Our view from the lodge

Last Day of School

We're leaving for Victoria Bay at 5:45 in the morning on Friday and I have decided to stick with the plan of doing some day exploring next week which makes today my last day at Ukhonyo Primary. The day was filled with goodbyes and photography. In the morning I took the two kids that have had the most trouble with my reading class and I gave each of them some individual attention. Obviously, in one session we didn't make much progress but I've definitely seen great strides from all of my kids in just the two weeks or so I've helped them. After short break, at 10:15 I helped out my teacher pick which kids would get to go on a school trip. Because the money doesn't exist to send all the 5th graders, the kids had to pick out of a hat who got to go. It actually took a few hours to organize and get all the information from the children. At long break (around 12:30) Lolo joined me and Rosie for lunch. He has been doing that for a couple of weeks now and it has been a great insight to get his perspective. 

At the beginning of the week, my teacher suggested that I say something to the class at the end of the week. After lunch, he helped translate my message to the kids. I told them about my experience at the school, how much they meant to me, and how much they need to value their education. I then gave each of them a pen because many of them don't have one. I gave the class my email address as well and told them that when they travel the world and come to the U.S.A to contact me and I'll show them New York like they showed me Cape Town. 


After school, I played a little 1 on 1 with some of the regular kids that come to basketball. They have definitely gotten better since I've been at the school.I then said goodbye to everyone. A few of the kids I really got to know, Lolo included, wouldn't go and he literally walked me to the car. 


Ironically, Will decided to give me a tour of the township on my last day at the township. It was extraordinarily difficult to see the fire damage and to think that the kids in my classroom do not have a place to sleep tonight. We saw  all the different parts of the township. I felt as though I should have had Will take me on this drive around the township when I got there instead of when I'm leaving. 


I took a lot of pics today of both the school and the township I'm also including some picks of the library, before and after we started working on it. They are all kind of jumbled up together but whatever. Enjoy:

Rosie Aviwe Sammy Caine Lolo and me

What the library looked like before we started

Me cleaning the windows

Me helping Sukhosi, one of the kids I first started helping

Sukhosi Me and Vuyolwethu

Me and My teacher

The girls that helped me the most with my Xhosa

Me and all of the kids I helped learn how to read

Me and two of the coaches. Sia, the one of  the right I got to know pretty well while I was in the sports Program, He plays a lower level professional rugby.

No separation of church and state

Another grade 5 class that I helped out

India Neba me and Jen. India and Neba, along with Sia were the three main coaches in the sports program. Jen was from a different volunteer group but was at the school for most of the time that I've been there

Me Lolo and another one of the regular bball players (I forgot his name/ I knew it but I can't pronounce or spell it)

Most of the books I alphabetized

The Township

The local sports field

Entrance