Home at Last

We made it back to Nashville and are ready for Christmas, but are not ready for this awful weather. Girl is still struggling with jet lag and needs to be in bed by 9PM. We only left for four months, but many things have changed during our absence:
1. The price of gas - The other day, Girl filled up her tank for only $15.00 !

Girl took this photo before we left.


2. The weather. We left at the end of summer and experienced spring-summer all over again in Africa. Just last week Girl was laying on the beach in the 90s.

Beautiful Camps Bay

3. The price of bread. Well, food in general is more expensive in The States. We got a loaf of fresh bread for 70 cents in Africa and we're paying nearly 3 bucks now.
4. The price of coffee. We got a nice cup of Mocha Cafe for only $1.50 and now, it's back to $5 Starbuck!

Starbuck, African style


It's nice to be back, but boy it's hurting the wallet. Maybe it's just Christmas. But on good note, we are glad we're back in the Music City. Maybe an Opry show before the new year.

On a different note, Scott and Joy are online! Welcome!

Adult Content

The search for the Pink-Assed Baboon is officially over....

Does he qualify for PAB if his ass isn't pink?

Roaming the streets

Don't be fooled by the little ones. They appear cute, but are a menace to society. =) There's been reports of baboon breaking into people's houses then, get this...arranged themselves into an assembly line. They then passed the food from the fridge out through the window.
There's also accounts of baboons purse snatching for food. It is not advisable to walk around Cape Point with bananas in your hands.

Careful, baboon crossing!

The odd things they eat here

Since Guy is recovering from jet lag in Wyoming, I will be updating this blog until his sleeping habit gets reoriented. His last weekend was eventful! We spent 10 hours on Saturday at my prof's place. The first several hours were served for drinking and grilling.

My lab mate from Brazil who is also interning in the same lab decided to mix us some of her native cocktails. Whether it was the influences of alcohol or my bad memory, I can't seem to recall the name of the drinks. But in one pitcher, she added lemon, ice, sugar, and lots of alcohol that she packed with her from Brazil. In another pitcher, the same recipe was made with pineapple subsituting for lemon. The drinks were strong.

Renata and Prof's wife preparing the drinks.

The men waiting around for their drinks while the ladies slave in the kitchen.

The food menu included creepy crawly snakes. Yes, the slithering creatures that I can't bare to look at on hiking trips, but I don't mind them skinned and dead on my plate. You'll have to ask Guy for the names of them all. My prof. purchased the snake sausages at a local butcher shop where it is known for their famous ostrich, crocodile, and a couple other nontraditional meats.

Smells likes chicken on the grill.

I wouldn't say that there was not an inital struggle in getting me to take a bite of my snake hot dog. It required a little nose pinching, eye closing, and slow chewing. Hey, it isn't bad. I tried a little more, chewed a little faster...tastes like chicken. Especially on a bun with a little ketchup. It's not chewy as you would expect from all that muscles, instead, it was very tender and juicy.

The evening was reserved for Brandy tasting. Guy will have to write about this event because I am no Brandy expert to give it the proper attention and detail that it deserves. On another note, I heard they eat fried caterpillars here. Suppose to taste crunchy.

ttl

A walk in the Garden

Since the Prof was feeling a bit under the weather, we decided to spend the day (Nov. 8, 2008) at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. We had been there once before when we hiked up Table Mountain via Skeleton Gorge (see blog entry Hiking Table Mountain 2: Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Skeleton Gorge, Maclear’s Beacon, and Table Mountain), but we did not get to spend very much time exploring the grounds. Now we had pretty much a whole afternoon to check it out.
Being a garden and all, I will let the pictures do the talking for this blog entry. Enjoy the show:




half rock half plant...it's alive!

No, those designs were not painted on.


Girl inside of the Eastern Cape plants display

"Pink! it's my favorite color"




Girl made a new friend at the park..no, they are not related.


Girl taking a quick break under a tree



This park is huge!

Wait, wait, this isn't Africa.


Traditional Cape hut

The bees decided that it was a good day too

Almost paradise



The guinee fowl were a little photo shy



Weird-ass tree

It's Guy's turn to take a break under a tree

We are in a Grimm's Brothers fairy tale




Nothing beats sun bathing



It split


And they said there's no cure for herpes....

Herpe cure?


One of these plants cure HIV, supposedly

This information would have been more helpful during the wine tasting last weekend





Guy with Table Mountain in the background
We ended the day at a pub for some snacks and suds.


You believe she drank the whole beer?

Watching the Sun Set on Lion's Head

Lion’s Head
Since I only have a few weeks left in Cape Town, Prof. is trying to fit in as many hikes as he can before I leave. Today, after Girl and the rest of the lab finished work at 5:30pm, we hiked up Lion’s Head. It is a prominent rock outcrop on a small hill near the base of Table Mountain.


Looking up at The Lion’s Head from the trail
It was an easy hike compared to the usual mountain adventures. It had a steady grade contour path that wrapped around the hill, as well as a few rock scrambles that were necessary to tackle in order to reach the top.


Where the graded path turns into a rocky trail

View of Camps Bay and the Atlantic coast

The Water Front

Hiking along under blue skies

Girl, Constance, and Paul taking a breather
Some of the rock scrambling required the use of strategically placed ladders and chain ropes to make it up portions of the outcrop. One particular chain rope section was difficult enough that one member of our party could not/would not attempt the climb up and opted to follow a contour path to the top.


Girl making her way up one of the small ladders

Scrambling up the rocks to get to the chain rope section

Final rock scrambling section and ladder ascent before the top
We made it to the top with just enough light to get some pics of Signal Hill, Devil’s Peak, and Table Mountain and to see the sun set over the Atlantic.


Top of Lion’s Head

Signal Hill

Devil’s Peak (left) and Table Mountain (right)

Girl and me at the top of Lion’s Head while the sun is setting

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean

Girl striking her best Superman pose
Although we were able to see the sun set over the ocean, we still had to make our way back down the hill before it got completely dark. We hurriedly scurried down the rocks as the light faded away and made our way for the trail. Hiking down was somewhat of a challenge because the lack of light affected depth perception. Luckily we were able to get through the worst part of the descent while there was still just enough light to somewhat see. We hit the contour trail as the last rays of light faded away and made our way down the path in the dark.


Cape Town at night

When we reached the bottom of the hill we ran into two Canadian backpackers who had just came down from the top and were waiting to catch a taxi downtown. Someone had incorrectly told them that there were always taxis passing by and now they were left stranded. Lucky for them, Paul and Constance had room in their car (Bob) to give them a lift into town.

We ended our adventure at a restaurant on the Water Front with a cheese burger, coke, fries, and onion rings. Can’t wait for my DP when I get back to the States.