Muizenberg and my last post!

Today is the day! This morning Jess and Conor and I drove to Muizenberg along the coast for a fabulous bohemian breakfast at Olympia Bakery in Kalk Bay. We had chocolate croissants, tea, meat and cheese croissants and Conor was given a cup of foam from the cappuccino machine to "eat" (play with). It was a fun little place full of humor and whimsy and it was right on the bay so we could smell the sea air and see the boats.

When we were finished eating, Jess humored me and ran me out to the penguin colony in Simonstown again so I could pick up a penguin for Collins since he is begging me to bring one home to him. Just kidding. I wanted to go out there again to get some shells for those Mooresville homeschoolers who are going to hear all about my trip in one of their programs. Sorry Collins!

On our way back the skies opened up and cried because I'm leaving, but they are all over it now and the sun is shining and I'm excited to start my journey back to the States. I was excited to see real rain in Africa though since we've had absolutely amazing weather this entire trip.

So, for those of you who have been avid readers, let's check your reading comprehension. Here is a little quiz on my trip. The answers are in the comments from my very first post:

1. Who dropped me off at the Indy Airport for my journey?
2. What service did I pay for in the London Airport?
3. Robben Island was a __________ before it was a prison. (Fill in the blank.)
4. What was the name of our tour guide on Robben Island?
5. What animal did we see on our ferry ride?
6. Where can you see two oceans at once?
7. What animal might sit on your head if you are bald?
8. Convert 150 Rand to dollars.
9. Convert 20 degrees Celsius to Farenheit.
10. What feature of Jessica and Suzanne did Fanie enjoy?
11. Who is Fanie anyway?
12. Where did Button Cat make an extended stay?
13. What is the oldest structure in South Africa?
14. What does Oom Samie Sa Winkle mean?
15. Who is Suzanne's favorite person in the entire southern hemisphere (if you answered the guy in the Indiana sweatshirt, you would be wrong).

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope the next time YOU go on vacation you write one too, so I can comment on your adventures!

Till then! Suzanne

PS: If you are interested in buying something from South Africa, try the Poly Nation site!

Muizenberg
Simonstown
Poly Nation

Last Full Day - Botanical Gardens

I can’t believe it’s today! Today is my last full day in South Africa with my McInerney friends. It is a sad day but I’m actually really missing all you people in the States (as they say here) if you can believe it. These are some of the questions going through my mind: How is Miss Sarah and Mr. Jackson Haynes? Have they learned any new tricks? Are they driving mommy crazy? And how was the first day of school for my mother? Did the students show up or what? And what about the library? Are things going fine without me? And what about the CYPD meeting? Was it hilarious as usual or are we really buckling down with the conference just weeks away? And how are those doctors doing? And what about dad? Is he working his tail off? And how is Collins? Is he ready for a night of dancing on Saturday? And speaking of dancing, how the heck is Dance Arts? And what about Doug and Alexa? Are they doing well?

See how much I miss all you people!

Anyway, today Jess and I took Conor to the Botanical Gardens here in Cape Town and I cannot begin to tell you of the beauty of that place. I’ve been to LOTS of gardens and I’ve never EVER seen one on this scale with such a wonderful a balance of manicured gardens and wild watery fairy-land. First of all it is at the foot of a mountain, but not just that…it actually climbs up the mountain and the garden is VAST and every inch of it is tastefully labeled, beautifully maintained and full of gorgeous plants, trees, and flowers. We had a lovely picnic lunch among the guinea fowl (those bold guinea fowl!). I loved the botanical gardens. They were just absolutely beautiful and we didn’t even see an eighth of them!

After the botanical gardens we were driving home minding our own business when we saw a guy hawking a newspaper at an intersection who was wearing an Indiana sweatshirt. We had seen him earlier in the day and were kicking ourselves that we didn’t get his picture and now we were given this second chance. I took his picture from afar, but that was not good enough for Jess who waved at the guy like crazy, spun the car around, hopped a curb and shooed me out of the car to get my picture taken with him. He was not actually a Hoosier. He said he got the sweatshirt at Port Elizabeth, a town in South Africa that is pretty far from here. Jess said she’s never seen one of the locals with an Indiana shirt on before this.

We came home and laid Conor down for his nap and I decided to have some Sue reading and swimming time out by Jess’s pool so I borrowed one of her suits and dove in only to get right out and not get in again. It was so cold! It’s been in the 70’s during the day but it gets really cold at night so the pool does not get much of a chance to heat up, at least during the winter. But I laid out in the sun and read for a while and that was really nice.

Brian got home and brought a surprise with him…Button Cat! I was SO glad to have him back before I start my journey home because, for you bright ones at home, do you see what he sort of resembles? He is a great double for a pillow on the plane! So I’m really excited I get to bring my friend the Button Cat home with me. Thanks Fanie and Amanda! Well, I’m down to my last R 79.40. (This is about $11.00.) But my budget has been perfect and tomorrow the only plan is to have breakfast which is easily accomplished on that sum and to go to the beach to get more seashells which is free. Oh, and that picture with all the great African stuff? That is NOT a picture from a market. That’s actually all the stuff I’m bringing home!

Botanical Gardens

Stellenbosch

My time here in South Africa is rapidly coming to a close. Today Jess and I traveled to Stellenbosch through the Stellenbosch Wine Route stopping (of course) at a winery for a wine tasting. We stopped at the Ernie Els Winery. He is apparently a golfer and bought a winery here and named it after himself. We tried three wines and I liked the mid-range one. The other two smelled and tasted (to me) like mushrooms and old attic. However, we had a nice time and the scenery around us was beautiful. And the wine I liked was really good.

Today was the first day since I’ve been here that the weather has been kind of rotten. And it still wasn’t that bad. It rained when we were inside and was just overcast when we were walking about. After the winery we drove into Stellenbosch proper and stopped at this crazy “general store” type place called Oom Samie Se Winkel. They had crazy stuff including scary masks (like of Richard Nixon), vintage clothing, wine, dried fish (just caught last week-ish!), candy, antique hair brushes, and pictures of Jesus. Oom Samie Se Winkel means Uncle Sam’s Shop and it’s an old shop that I think used to be a trading post.

From there we parked the car and walked Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch reminds me a bit of Nashville, Indiana or Bloomington (for all you Hoosiers). It’s a quaint college town with Dutch Colonial architecture, lots of shops and restaurants, and of course, its own market. The market in Stellenbosch actually had a lot of fabric which was perfect because I wanted to buy a length of fabric to take home to make pillows with, so I bargained with this woman and got 60 rand knocked off her price for a couple of meters of fabric. Now I just have to decide what to do with it once I get home.

We looked around for a great lunch place and finally asked if there was any place that had ostrich burgers and we were directed to 5 Ryneveld, a restaurant that specializes in gourmet burgers. Oh yes…I had ostrich! It was good and tasted a lot like cow. Jess and I liked the ambiance of the place with its shabby chic black beady chandeliers and red cushions. After that we walked a bit more and found a great shop called Era where it seemed that everything was on sale and we both bought crazy funky gypsy skirts for just about $10.00.

We finished up our day at Stellenbosch by having Italian Gelato (basically ice cream) and I had the chocolate hazelnut. On the drive back to Cape Town we drove down the interstate that is bordered on both sides by townships. We were able to see children playing soccer in the small greens created by the interstate clover-leafs. I can’t say enough about the poor conditions of the townships, although the people who live there do appreciate the close-knit community atmosphere that living there fosters. I did not take the picture above of the township…I just found it online for you all. They now have electricity, but they do not have running water.

Tomorrow we are either going to the sea again so I can collect some more African sea shells, or to the botanical gardens. We will see what the weather plans for us!


Ernie Els Wines
Oom Samie Se Winkel
Stellenbosch Tourism

Museums and Gardens and Churches, Oh My!

Hello everyone! Wait no longer! Here is yesterday's post! Jess dropped me off around 11:30 AM in front of the Slave Lodge in downtown Cape Town. I paid my 15 R and got to experience this very cool museum. The Dutch East Indian Trading Company used the cape as a supplying station for their ships. I believe they were the first Europeans of note who settled here. Over time they discovered the the cape itself would be a great place for a colony. But, the native people who were already living here weren't too impressed with the strangers and refused to do the work required to get a colony going...building roads, digging ditches, etc. So, the Dutch East Indian Trading Company (VOC are their initials based on the Dutch) had to ship in slaves from the Indian Ocean basin. At one point there were more slaves in the cape than colonists! Of course, the conditions for the slaves were horrible and of course all the slaves were people of color. The VOC had to have some place to put the slaves so they built the slave lodge in 1679. This is where they herded the slaves every night and kept them locked in like cattle. The construction of the building is much like a prison and it is completely intact today. Along with exhibits on slavery, the museum also houses some other exhibits and I saw one celebrating women and some general exhibits on the cultural history here.

After the Slave Lodge I took a stroll through the Company Gardens. This is a public park in the heart of Cape Town that was first established as a garden for the VOC. Now it is a dense botanical garden with statues, fountains, vegetation, huge trees, a large bird house, and a neat restaurant where, of course, I had lunch. The Garden is bordered by lots a great sights like the National South African Library, the South African Museum, the South African National Gallery, and Parliment.

I went to the National SA Library after lunch and was slightly disappointed by the small size and the fact that I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I was happy to note that they use Dewey and that they have their catalog on a computer and not on cards! Yeah! I think their cool book-type exhibits are at the South African Centre for the Book which I knew from my Red Bus tour was close to the library, but I couldn't find it. Once I got home I discovered that I actually did take a picture of the darned building but I thought it was a church! It's the domed building. So, maybe I'll try to get back there Thursday or Friday.

I thought I'd see if tourists were allowed in the St. George Anglican Cathedral and I was pleased and surprised that not only was I allowed, the lady in charge said to take as many pictures as pleased me and to walk everywhere. They have a labyrinth laid out in the stones on the floor of the courtyard, beautiful stained glass windows, and a huge organ. I had a pleasant 1/2 hour in this beautiful church and I was the only person there!

Just about this time I walked back to the other end of the garden to the SA Museum. It was about 3:00 and lots of students were getting out of school. They walked in packs and they all had really nice uniforms on with ties. Think our public school kids might behave in uniforms? I do! The SA Museum was large and had lots of exhibits but I think it's seen better days. There were a couple of exhibits that needed help and they used lots and lots of taxidermy, but I did see their newest offering which featured cave paintings and some of the very first evidence of humans using paint as a medium to communicate. This exhibit was sponsored by De Beers. Some of my favorite things I saw in the museum were the gorilla skeleton (looks very similar to a human), the whale skeletons, the mineral exhibit (I love looking at shiny rocks and crystals!), the taxidermied extinct quagga foal, and the case after case of African mammals. There was one really wierd thing though...the rhino on display was missing both its horns because someone broke into the museum and smashed the case and took them back in April of this year! Story is below. Unbelievable. They also had one display showing primitive African life and they also had commentary saying something about how museums don't like to portray native people as primitive savages anymore and so along with that exhibit were photographs of District 6 and other aspects of Cape Town history. Very interesting.

Okay, I was running short of time so I headed over to the South African National Gallery which was just going to be open for another 1/2 hour. This art museum had lots of Dutch painting (I didn't see any Vermeer) and some exhibits that were temporary. My favorite was the Albert Adams exhibit. He is a South African artist born in Johannesburg in 1930. His work has political and social themes and he even had a few paintings about Iraq that were painted in the last couple of years. I really enjoyed looking at his work.

I really have to get up and get going now...Jess and I are driving an hour or so to more wine country for a wine tasting! Of course, I'll let you all know how it goes!


Rhino Horn Theft Story
Slave Lodge
South African Museum
Quagga
South African National Gallery
St. George Anglican Cathedral

Castle / Gold Museum

Okay! It's now 8:30 AM and I'm going to get caught up from yesterday! After the District 6 Museum I waited for the Red Bus which came right on time (highly recommend City Sightseeing Red Bus Tours...they are in lots of big cities and you can ride on top!). I hopped on and took the bus to the next stop which was the Castle of Good Hope. I hemmed and hawed on the bus because I was worried about having enough time at the gold museum and it does get dark here at 6:00 because it's winter (70 degree winter) but I thought, well the next bus comes in 40 minutes and I can just hop back on if the Castle isn't worth looking at.

Boy was I happy I hopped off! The Castle is the oldest building in all of South Africa! The Dutch actually took back a lot of land from the sea and the castle used to be right on the coast with waves hitting the side of it. Now the sea is many many meters away (see how metric I'm becoming?). The castle is shaped like a star, similar to our Pentagon but not nearly as big. It not only serves as a really neat old structure (construction started in 1666!) it is also about four museums, all free with your 20 R (about $3.00) admission to the castle. They did not have tours, but they had maps for 5 R (about $0.80) and then you could take your own tour, so of course I did that.

The big exciting HUGE bonus that I was SO LUCKY to stumble upon was that they had a Timbuktu Manuscripts Exhibit! Timbuktu Foundation This is a HUGE deal, especially if you are Muslim, which I am not, but it's also very cool if you are a LIBRARIAN which I am! The manuscripts and books were all hand written and some were really quite beautiful. They had copies of the Qur'an, notes on scriptures, letters about business transactions and lots of history about the manuscripts and how they are truly a world treasure that is disinigrating every day. I'm so lucky to get to see them because they are only in Cape Town for one month and the exhibit just opened three days ago! So that was really exciting.

The Castle also has a couple of rooms furnished as they would have been back in the day including a long table that seats 102! The longest dining room table and chairs (and indeed the room itself!) I think I've ever seen. They also had art work, silver, crystal, and china from the castle on display. I also jetted quickly through the military museum they had but it was mostly guns and uniforms and pictures of native people getting killed by Europeans so I didn't stay there long. They also had a gallery of contemporary artists but I was running out of time so I didn't go there. I did grab lunch at the castle (grilled cheese, ham and tomato, crisps and a coke for 28 rand which is like $4.00!) and took a lot of pictures.

Headed back out to wait for the Red Bus which was again right on time and the tour guide was my first guide and he was happy to see me again. I hopped back off at the Gold Museum and paid 25 R for a small museum of beautiful gold pieces that glorify the gold industry even though it uses and has always used child labor which wasn't mentioned and they did not say how old any of the pieces were. I was glad I went because I know I would have been always wondering how great it was, but I was a little disapointed in it.

After the Gold Museaum I walked (!!!) over to the V&A Waterfront. This was the only time in my day alone that I felt a little out of my comfort zone. I was very sure of where I was going, but it was around 4:15 and people were starting to get off work and there were a lot of people walking. I just walked with a purpose (Jess says my purpose is too fast!) and kept my bag close and arrived at the Waterfront safely and surrounded by good security and other tourists. There was one person who kept asking me for money after he saw me buy an ice-cream cone. I also went back over to the craft market where they have the Tea Bag merchandise and did buy my Christmas Ornament. I hung around the Waterfront for another hour and a half people watching, listening to an African steel drum band, eating my ice cream, and snapping a few more pics of the Waterfront. It was a gorgeous day and I was so blessed by great weather. Brian picked me up with no issue and I talked his ear off all the way home.

We had a great hilarious dinner at the McInerney's and I'm thankful everyday for these great friends who made this trip possible! Thanks guys!

Table Mountain / District 6

Today was the first day I’ve been on my own in Cape Town. Jess dropped me off at the Table Mountain Cable Car and I was flying high and fancy free and totally on top of the world. This is definitely a tourist attraction and even at 10:00AM there was a queue (line for you Americans). I rode the round cable car to the top of the mountain and was absolutely blown away by the gorgeous views of Cape Town. The floor of the cable car rotated so everyone can see everything and I was the smart one (sometimes I am!) who waited until last so that (guess what!) I could end up being by the window.

Once on top of the mountain, I did some brisk walking and also annoyed my sister Rachel (well…she wasn’t really there, but I know it really annoyed her anyway) by standing too close to the edge. I got some fabulous pictures of the view and it was really amazing because I could see all these places I’ve already been! Robben Island and the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and I could even see out over the peninsula to the Indian Ocean. Looking at the top of the mountain itself is pretty cool too, since it just looks completely flat and rocky. I spent about an hour and a half on top of the mountain taking pictures (and getting yelled at by English people for not staying on the path when the path was literally all over the place and beside no one was on the path!) and strolling around and finally descended on the cable car. Did I mention that the weather today was absolutely fantastic?

Once I reached the bottom, I scoped out the City Sight Seeing Red Bus bus-stop and was happy to see that I could purchase a ticket right there on the bus. It showed up right on time and I hopped on and stayed on for a good hour driving along the coast and learning about rock formations that look like the 12 apostles, beaches where men used to sunbathe naked (in the past, unfortunately), and one of the new stadiums they are building for the World Cup. Once we reached the District 6 museum I hopped off and headed into the museum.

Luck was with me because that particular museum closes at 2:00 on Mondays! I got there at 1:30 so they didn’t charge me for entering and I was able to see pretty much everything in the ½ hour I had…I sure didn’t get to read everything, but I was able to learn about District 6 and how horrible it was…

District 6 was a part of Cape Town lived in by a huge variety of people. It was a poor section of town but it was also a part of town full of vibrant human interaction. People did not have a lot of space for their own families, but the whole neighborhood was the family so it didn’t really matter. In 1966 the government declared District 6 a “white” area under Apartheid rule and began the forced removal of all the “non-whites.” Over 60,000 residents were forced to move elsewhere, many to substandard housing or townships (slums). The government gave many reasons for the need to move all the non-whites including the fact that the buildings in District 6 were in need of repair and some just needed to be bulldozed all together. The irony is that no white people ever moved to District 6. Most of the buildings were bulldozed, the street signs were removed, and the area was simply let go. It is now green space and nothing has been build there because it is still so controversial. The museum honors the families, businesses, organizations, life-style, and architecture of the District 6 that was lost due to the forcible removal of all the residents of the neighborhood. I was really happy that it worked out for me to visit this museum.

Okay guys, I’m really tired so I’m going to go to bed but I’m write more in the morning which will be your middle of the night so you’ll get more soon!

I miss Button Cat!

Whipstock Guest Farm

Oh! I just don’t know where to begin! Jess and I said about a million times over the past two days: “Remember this for the blog!” and now it’s time. So here goes. It’s a long one!

We left for Whipstock on Saturday morning around noon. We drove through lovely scenery (some of it was the same that I saw on the way to my safari so I was able to say to Jess… “oh, yes…those mountains had snow on them the other day too!”) and of course we had no problem talking for the two hours it took to drive to Whipstock Guest Farm. Conor and Brian had to stay home since Conor was still not feeling well. That was really sad and we were sorry they missed our farm adventure.

I noticed on the drive that life in the country seems a little more equitable than in the city. People of all colors live in similar conditions and crime seems to be much lower than in the city. We drove through a couple of really cute towns on our way to Whipstock and followed our directions carefully and arrived without incident (we did, however have to drive on a dirt road for quite a ways).

Once there we were welcomed quite cordially by Fanie (Fah-nee) and Amanda and shown to our unit. We stayed in the unit called “The Barn” which used to be a chicken coop. It did not feel like a chicken coop, except for the Indian Myna baby birds that were living in our ceiling. We met Mary the lamb who still gets a bottle a night and is very loud and happy to follow you everywhere and Joseph the dog (big St. Bernard) who was very quiet and happy to follow you everywhere.

We unpacked and freshened up a bit and then got back into the car and drove to one of the little towns (McGregor for you atlas people) where we had a lovely lunch (really good and under-budget!) on an outdoor patio and then poked around the town a little. We found a great shop where I bought a 22R piece of pottery (about $3.00) a wooden spoon with an elephant on it for my Samantha doll (yes people…I do love the American Girls!) and a bunch of rooibos tea soap (rooibus is native to South Africa).

We then followed our instincts and a sign that said Pottery→. We found a wonderful Pottery shop ran by Paul de Jongh and his wife Nina Shand called Mill Stone Pottery. Potter Paul was right there working in his very clean combination workshop and shop and was more than happy to teach us how to tell a real kiln-fired pot from an electric-kiln fired pot. He also shared a little bit of his philosophy of life with us (how we should all be able to roll out of bed, walk ten steps, and be at work doing something we love). His work was lovely and Jess bought two pieces…a bowl and a planter. I bought a miniature building (just about an inch across) that he said local women make from leftover clay and stick in the small nooks and crannies of the kiln. They sell them to raise money to take care of the local reservoir so all the neighborhood can enjoy the clean, fresh, mountain water.

After the pottery shop we headed back to Whipstock where we settled in, got our fire ready for the night (no heat in our unit and it probably got down to 40 degrees in the night) gathered more wood and took our books over to the “game room” where a Cape Town family was enjoying the ping-pong and a warm fire. We read for a little while and then both fell asleep. Whipstock has that effect on people! We awoke for dinner and joined the other guests in the dining room where we were served by Fanie and Daniella, the 6 year old daughter of the Cape Town family. The Capetonians had a bottle of wine that they shared with us and it went very well with our lamb shanks (the meat literally fell off the bone…I’ve only heard about that in books!), broccoli, butternut squash, rice, and good brown bread. We had ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. When it came time to clear the plates, Daniella came over to our table and Jess said to her (she’s 6, remember?) “Can you please tell Uncle Fanie that I’m finished with my dinner?” and Daniella replied in her English accent (because Jess still had a bite or two on her plate) “No you’re not!”

After dinner we cozied up in our PJ’s, lit our fire (with the fire starter that Daniella’s family gave us…people seemed to think that we were really roughing it since we didn’t have a man), and played a card game called Phase 10. I was kicking Jess’s you-know but then she came back and smeared me. Our fire got so hot that we had to move our chairs back like five times.

Before we went to bed, I stepped outside and saw some great stars. We had a ½ moon and I swear I think I saw one or two shooting stars because of the Perseids showers. If you are in the northern hemisphere (unlike me!), go outside on the 12th and watch for shooting stars. You won’t be disappointed! The funny thing was that the farm horses were in their pen not far from our unit and Joseph, the dog, would not let me walk out further than about 10 meters because he was protecting me from the horses! He stood in front of me and would not move and when I went inside he barked at the horses.

Jess and I hit the hay around 11:30. She kept an eye on the fire all night so we were cozy, but at 6:00 AM we had to go out again and get more wood. The wood was free and cut and dry so we didn’t mind at all. We slept some more and joined the other guests for a full English fry-up around 9:00 AM. After breakfast Fanie told us that we had beautiful accents. We’ve never heard that before so it was kind of a treat! Our morning consisted of walking around the farm with Joseph, paddling in their small lake (that was hilarious), visiting the farm animals (chickens, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, sheep, doves, and horses) and reading (sleeping) in the sun. Fanie even took us around to see the other units. Ours is the one with the green door. The free-standing cabin was build in the 1830’s and was the first structure on the place. Fanie also told us that the buildings were constructed from clay and plaster. They had bamboo type ceilings under roofs that used to be thatch. Whipstock was absolutely glorious in its simplicity, beauty, and hospitality. We were especially sad to leave Fanie because right before we left his pet bird escaped and was perched way up in a tree! But good-byes had to be said and so we drove away after promising to stop by the next time we are in the neighborhood.

We had lunch again in McGregor this time at a cute lunch/shop place called Deli Girls (bought some South African candles that were 20% off!) and then headed back to Cape Town. Deli Girls was awesome because we are pretty sure that the building was made using straw-bale construction! This is something I've heard of before and something that Fanie told us about. After spending an hour at the car wash (don’t ask) we were welcomed home by Conor and Brian who were excited to hear about our travels. And everything was fine until we got a phone call from Whipstock…the bird came back to Fanie, but guess who decided to stay at Whipstock? Button Cat! Don’t fret…they are fast-mailing him or her (I’m not really sure, to tell the truth) back to us.

So, we are tired tonight, as I’m sure you are from reading this long entry, but tomorrow my travels continue! I have the day in Cape Town on my own! I’m planning on doing some of the things described in the below links, but you know, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow! Miss you all!

District 6 Museum
Red Bus Tours
The Castle
Gold Museum of Africa
Straw Bale Houses

Off to the country!

We are heading off to Whipstock Farm away from the city to today and tomorrow, so I will not be blogging until Sunday night. Button Cat is going with us! Hey, Rachel and Jenny! Send me your new addresses girls!

To market, to market...

Today Jess and I went to Greenmarket Square in downtown Cape Town. Yes, all you people hoping for something from South Africa, your dreams came closer to coming true today. I got a couple of good deals but also lost out a couple of times (most remarkable was when I paid 20 rand for a 1.5 inch beaded Zebra (zeh-bra remember...not ZEEbra) and then saw it later for 8 rand...this is like $2.70 vs. $1.08. Shoot darn!).

I picked up my dress and of course tried it on immediately when I got home. It's actually pretty formal...I think it might even be too fancy to wear to church, but I'm going to a wedding in Minneapolis in October and I will probably wear it there! It fits very well and the lady hemmed it for me so it's ready to go!

Jess and I stopped at the McDonald's here for two fountain cokes. This is Jess's special treat to herself since she loves ice so much and since fountain cokes are kind of hard to come by. The other night when I had duck, we ordered cokes and (it was a really nice restaurant too) they came in cans.

Downtown Cape Town is so busy and if you walk through the market and stop to look or touch anything you are immedately accosted by the people trying to sell you stuff and they practially beg you to barter with them. If you ask how much something is they will say "240 rand, but I give you good price" or "240 rand, but for you it is 220" or "240 rand but that is negotiable." Jess is really good at the art of bartering, but I'm catching on. They also always say "beautiful __________. Your choice." Or they will say, "how much you want to pay?" basically asking you to name your price. I even had one guy who said (on the stupid beaded zebra)..."25 rand." And then I said "15 rand" and he tricked me by saying "no, you are supposed to come 1/2 way to me...I said 25, now you say..." So then I said 20 rand and he said sold and I ended up paying 20 rand for something I should have only paid 8 for. Double shoot darn. Can you tell I'm a little bitter about the darn zebra?

I actually bought the zebra because I want to do some South African crafts with my patrons at the library when I get back and I wanted some examples of things I see everywhere that people make. Beaded items are everywhere. Also are picture frames and little cars or radios made out of coke cans. We also saw purses made out of old LP's or old 45s. There is also a company that takes used tea bags and dries them out, empties the used tea and then uses the bag itself for a surface to do decorative painting on. These are cool and I'm going to have to really brace myself not to buy one. I'm sure this will be next to impossible, so ask me if I bought the tea-bag item next time you see me. You all could even take bets! I bet that I go back and buy a tea-bag Christmas ornament. I just hope I barter more successfully for that item than I did for the darned zebra.

Jess and I saw a rainbow on the way home! I took a picture (duh) but it is really hard to see unless you know where to look so I didn't upload it for you all. Did I say Cape Town is surrounded by mountains? It is and now I know where the rainbows end! Here in Cape Town!

Jess and I are driving two hours out tomorrow morning to Whipstock Farm where we will spend all of Saturday and part of Sunday relaxing and seeing the South African country-side. I'm excited! Some other things I have planned for the rest of my trip are: museaums in downtown Cape Town, libraries in downtown Cape Town, Botanical gardens, back to the markets to buy the darned tea bag Christmas ornament, Table Mountain Cable Car ride, and Red Bus Hop On-Hop Off Cape Town tour. So, I have a busy rest of the week!

I'm doing a great job staying under-budget because I've decided that using my credit card doesn't count. Isn't that cool!

Greenmarket Square

Rhinos!

Did you know that an ostrich can rip you in half as easy as opening a can of sardines? And that they are tremendously fast and can run up to 85 kilometers an hour? (Get my mother to do the conversion...I'm on vacation.) The only thing you can do if they decide to attack you is to lay flat on the ground. Then they will just do an ostrich dance on top of you and maybe break a few ribs (as opposed to ripping your small intestines out). However, if you are a bald man, it is a very good idea to hide your head because if you don't the ostrich is very likely to think that your head is an egg and sit on it for six weeks.

Did you know that a zebra is not related to a horse at all, but is related to a mule? If a horse is brought alongside a zebra, the zebra will run away. If a mule is brought alongside a zebra the zebra will stay and chat. Did you know that English and South African people pronounce zebra with a short "e" like in pet? And that they will laugh at you if you happen to be the first person on your African Safari who sees a ZEHbra and calls out (in a proper stage-whisper) "Look! A ZEEEbra!" It's true.

Did you know that lions with big manes were not around the day I went on Safari? Or cheetahs?

Did you know that today I saw: crocodiles, hippopotamuses, zebras, springboks (not actually known by the scientific "jumpy deer-ish thingys"), rhinos, a female giraffe, baby lions and mama and papa lions, two beautiful elephants, a lot of people from London and a boa made out of ostrich feathers that I cannot possibly afford? Well I did!

And the food was fabulous! I got dropped off this morning at a hotel at 5:00 AM and Moses, the driver, was there to pick up Miss Walker (me) and then we picked up our other crew from other hotels and we were off. We got to see the sun rise over Africa and saw beautiful mountains and got to drive through a 4 kilometer tunnel under a mountain! (See mother.) We arrived at the safari place and had a great breakfast with rashers (bacon), sausages, eggs, toast, croissants, cheese plate (!!!), fruit, cereal, and on and on and on!

Then we did the safari and stopped 1/2 way for a quick glass of.......CHAMPAGNE! And when we got back it was lunch and drinks at the bar and sitting by the freezing pool in the sun and then back again to the McInerney's! And Moses was very awesome and talked all the way home about Jesus.

Did you know all that? Well. Now you do!

Aquila Safari