The Ripple After the Splash

July 12 - The World Cup is Over

Got up fairly early because the girls wanted to get back so they could shower and what not. Took them home and Jeffrey and I headed for Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. A nice little drive. Hiked out as far as we could on Cape Point. Pretty good view. Then hiked to the Cape of Good Hope which is not the southern most point in Africa for any of you, like myself, were under a false impression of such. Geography class was wrong! Headed back up the other side of the peninsula and stopped in Hout Bay to get some fish, calamari and chips at a place that was recommended. Went to stay in Stellenbasch for a free night.

July 13 - Out on the Road Again

Got up earlier than I would have liked, but Jeffrey is all about gettin goin. Made our way to the actual southern most point in Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Cape Agulhas. Pretty decent drive. Did take the quickest way because we thought it would be more scenic. Ended up on gravel roads in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Nothing around. Some how we found our way to the Cape. Got a call that the shark diving that we had booked for the next day had gotten cancelled due to inclement weather. We decided to head east a little further. Spent the night in Mossel Bay.

July 14

Got up early after an early night. Headed out for a run. Ran a little down the beach. I kind of miss that about living in Ireland. Was quite nice. After a shower and breakfast, we weren't quite sure what to do. Stopped in an internet cafe quick to try and find something. Found a skydiving place nearby. Gave them a call and said we could go up as soon as we could get there. Headed out into the country to airstrip surrounded by nothing. Dinky little planes. Some guy flagged us down to come to him. Very informal. They were makin all kinds of jokes about how they were inexperienced and were just winging it basically. Amusing. Luckily we had gone before. Hardly any paperwork to fill out. Just basically have to put your address and sign. They didn't even look at it before we left. They said they only had us do that to get our information for promotional purposes. Went up in a single engine Cessna with no door. Jeffrey was jumping first so he was right next to the door. Great view from above. The Indian Ocean to one side and mountains to the other. Beautiful day. When we jumped out of the plane, we did some tumbles before we stabilized. Didn't remember doing that before. Pretty cool free falling while spinning all around. Landed safely and all was well. Got back on the road after that and headed for Plettenburg Bay for the night. Just walked around town and hung out at the hostel.

July 15 - Adrenaline Day 2

Woke up and got on the road after a good breakfast at a French market place thing. The highest commercial bungee jump just happened to be right on our way. Of course we had to stop. It was an amazing rush! Unlike skydiving. It was pretty scary walking out to the spot. It is a little dinky platform that every time you step in between the beams the floor sinks. You can see through the floor all the way down and it was really windy. Once we got to the platform all was fine. Then they told me that I was going first. Got strapped up and walked to the edge. They make you put like half your feet off the edge. 5 4 3 2 1 Bungee and they basically through you off. It was AMAZING! I mean unbelievable. Don't even know what was going through my head, but I jumped as high as I could and spread my arms. Felt like you were seriously flying. A lot different that skydiving because you are racing towards the ground and you don't really feel the bungee cord start to tighten until you slow down. Just kind of hang out and oscillate upside until some guy comes to get you. For the first bit while upside down, it is a bit serene. Then you get to thinking.....what if my foot slips. I have been like this for awhile. Shouldn't someone be coming. It is a great relief once you get back up to the platform. Shake the guys hands and what not. Euphoria! We got the videos of the whole thing, so you will be able to see it. Were spending the night in Jeffrey's Bay tonight. Don't know what that will have in store.

End of World Cup

Well, in case you missed it, Spain are the new World Cup champions. It also turned out to be our last night in Cape Town. We're currently in Mossel Bay heading up the Garden Route on our way up to Kruger. Since the internet access time is limited, the stories will probably be shorter but here we go.

July 6 -
Day of the Holland-Uruguay semifinal. Left Les' house and headed into Cape Town to check into our hostel. It was on the 6th floor of a building right on Long St. so it was a good location. Had an ostrich burger at a local cafe and then met up with the Brits to play some pool before the game. Made the walk to the stadium along the Fan Walk with a sea of Oranje to the stadium. Didn't seem to be many people from Uruguay and the Dutch came in force. Green Point Stadium was pretty impressive and we had good seats right behind one of the goals. The first goal from Holland, one of the best of the tournament, was scored on that goal so it was good crack. A good game but it felt inevitable Holland would win.

July 7-
Got up not knowing what exactly to do for the day or the night so went and got some breakfast. Checked out one hostel that didn't seem in best area/shape so we passed and found another one up the road. Pretty cheap and seemed like a good place. Squeezed a run in and then had a Caribbean Pizza for supper consisting of garlic, bacon, and bananas along with some of the best milkshakes I've ever had. Headed down to the FanFest to watch the Spain-Germany game and sat with some locals that recommended we try a Gatsby. This night in the hostel was home to the worst sound I've ever heard in my life. I couldn't actually call it snoring but it sounded like he was only breathing through 10% of one nostril. It will scar me for life.

July 8-
Figured we'd get up early and try and get a tour of Robben Island in but they were booked solid so we bought one for the 10th. Ate some curry for lunch and headed over to the District 6 museum. Learned about Cape Town's period of forced removal. Hung out at a cafe in Greenmarket Square for the next hour or two. Very chill day. Decided to try that Gatsby and could have had a heart attack afterwards but it was good. The main ingredients are steak, egg, cheese, chips, chili sauce and condiments. Prepared for the night with earplugs but he must not have been there again.

July 9-
Our intention getting up was to take the train to Stellenbosch and go on a wine tour. Got to the train station and they said there was a train heading that way at 9:54 so we decided to wait. As we waited, we noticed there was no train being boarded headed to Stellenbosch so Phillip went up to ask. It took them different route maps to figure out that there actually wasn't a train until 11. Grabbed some breakfast and boarded the train at 11. Got in to Stellenbosch about 13:30 and ended up deciding we'd just walk around to the close wineries rather than pay for the bus. The second place we went was closed but since it was Friday afternoon the lady working opened up for us and ended up staying there and chatting with locals for a couple hours. Met up with a friend from Montana and met a fellow Hoosier in SA for dinner and decided to crash in SBosch instead of taking the late train.

July 10-
Had to catch the 7:37 train to make it back to Cape Town in time for our Robben Island tour. Due to us not having planned on staying all we had on were t-shirts and naturally it was raining. We walked about 20 minutes in the rain and ran the last 10 to catch the train. Now I understand why the train (third-class) anyway was not advised. We definitely stood out and even more so that we were soaked and in t-shirts. Some of the people were friendly but there was one day doing flips on the handles for standing and punching the doors as his morning workout. Interesting experience to say the least but that early train wasn't even needed after our Robben Island tour was cancelled due to bad weather. Since it was raining there wasn't much to do but reschedule our tour and do a little shopping. Had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant and it was excellent. Figured we'd get to bed early for our hopeful RI tour in the morning. Side note for Papa & Gramma - I hope you see how much effort went into getting to that island!

July 11-
Day of the final and finally the Robben Island tour. Only snag was showing up for the 10 o clock and the guy asking 'didn't you get the text that it was pushed back to 11'? Had breakfast on the dock and then finally boarded the boat. I must admit that when we finally got there it was a good tour. First half was on a bus around the island with a very informative Capetonian that didn't beat around the bush. Second half was conducted by a formal political prisoner who had served 11 years on the island and was one of the last to be released. The ferry back was a little rougher. Picked up the girls in SBosch and settled on a pub to watch the game with a mixture of both sets of fans after the FanFest was full. Hard to believe the World Cup is already over.

Running out of time so will have to do the last couple days later. Hope it's warmer up there!

Great Game and New Place to Stay

July 2 cont.

The Ghana vs. Uruguay game was amazing. I don't know if you watched it but you should have. We were kind of between the corner and the goal on the side where both of the goals were scored and where the PK shoot-out took place. Pretty sweet. Luis Suarez is my new hero. I had always wanted to see a hand ball to save a goal in the dwindling minutes and have the guy miss the pk and the other team win the match. It was awesome to be there. We got in and out of the stadium with relative ease. Got back to our place 40 min after the game had ended. Didn't get back till one but planned to get up at 6 and on the road by 6 30 to Cape Town, we went to bed quite swiftly.

July 3

A day full of driving. We got on the road about 6 40. We surprised ourselves. There wasn't much to see on the drive. Pretty barren land. We probably spent about eight hours driving I suppose. Could have done more but tried to watch the Germany vs. Argentina game with no luck. Stopped at this kind of dive of a restaurant. Went in and asked if they had a tv for us to watch the game. Took us through the kitchen, down some back alley, around a dodgy turn and into this little bar thing with a tv. Turned it on and it had the right channel. Went back and ate. Came back to watch the game and the channel was not working. We missed the game. Life goes on. Stopped in Beauford West for the night. Nice little place. We each had our own bed, and we had our own bathroom. Quite nice after the last couple night's sleep in the noisiest beds I have ever spent a night and you could feel the bars of the bed.

July 4 - Not celebrated in SA......?

Made the final leg into Cape Town, not much farther as we covered a lot of ground the day before. Went into Cape Town to walk around for a bit because the people we were going to be staying with said they would not be home until about 4. A much different feel in the city. Seems a great deal safer. Wouldn't mind walking around here at night. Headed out to meet Les, Brendon and Dean. All nice guys. When we got there they started the coal and were making a little braai. Quite nice. Some chicken and steak. Hung out with Dean, Brendon and one of there friends. Played some poker and watched a couple of movies.

July 5

Woke up after a refreshing nights rest. Looked outside and it seemed a bit overcast. Kind of put a damper on our plans to hike Table Mountain. Headed into town to go to Robben Island. All the ferries were booked for the day and it cost R200. Could be opting out of that one. The day started to clear up so we headed for Table Mountain. Were going to take the cable car up but decided to go with the free option and hike up. Quite strenuous hike. Pretty much straight up, but doable. No real problems. A good work out none the less. Some great views from the top. Ran into the Brits once again at the top. Strange. Walked back down and headed back to Les' house which we are now hanging out. Don't know what is planned for this evening but going to the Uruguay vs. Holland game tomorrow. Should be a good match. Looking forward to the atmosphere and the game.

Back In Joburg

To start, I changed the settings so you can now comment, Gramma. Also a few observations from South Africa:
- It seems the only law of the road is pay attention; well, and try not to get hit.
- Mostly people are incredibly friendly after you meet them but everyone walks down the sidewalks with a serious face.
- TIA (this is Africa) or 'it's South Africa' seem to find their way into conversation daily. This would be due to the fact that inevitably there is something every day that does not go according to plan. Oh well. TIA.
- In relation to Craven Week, there is a bar on site for high school sports. Can't say I've ever seen that at home or that it would fly with most people.
- There are people that show you where the parking spots are in parking garages. You also have to pay at a station before getting back in your car. Then, you put the ticket in the dispenser thing so the boom will open. Doesn't seem that efficient. Then again, TIA.
- If you don't ask for the bill at a restaurant, it will not come.
- Many places don't post prices. You are charged more if you're obviously a foreigner. Kind of sucks.

Back to the dates:
June 30 -
Gary picked us up about 11:30 and we went out to a taxidermy. Even though I see some of them all the time I've never actually been in one. Joe Regal gave us a tour of his place and said most of his customers are from the USA. While there, we met Tarlton who lives in Cape Town. Not sure who he was related to or how we people knew him but didn't matter. We went and grabbed some lunch at the club and then off to Craven Week. The u18 national rugby tournament was being held in Welkom. Rugby's actually pretty interesting when someone explains what's going on. Watched a game and a half. Back to the McComb's house and then to Siete's for supper. Herb Sirlioin was the best meal I'd eaten since we've been down here. Also, talked to Tarlton again and got some advice on Cape Town and said he'd phone his dad because we should be able to stay there a couple nights. Awesome time at the steakhouse with everyone we'd met in Welkom.

July 1-
Got up early to leave Welkom. Chris and Marilyn are headed to Joburg as well to catch a flight to NYC. Followed them up to Joburg and had a cup of coffee before heading our separate ways. We headed to the hostel and were debating whether to try and sell our tickets and drive straight through to Port Elizabeth for the Brazil-Holland game. Didn't seem to be hot tickets so we decided to stay in Joburg. You know you've been in a place too long when you run into three separate people that all recognize you. One guy from the first hostel in the mall, a girl selling stuff at a mall, and a few Brits we'd met a couple weeks ago. Seems like the Brits are on the same travel plan as us so we decided to caravan down to Cape Town together on Saturday. Went on a run and out to eat at an Asian place. Met a couple locals back at the hostel and called it an early night.

July 2-
Beds sucked but thats what you get when you're staying cheap. Went on another run this morning and got ready. At the internet cafe now before trying to find a place to watch the Brazil game. Then off to what is sure to be a mess of trying to get in and out of Soccer City for the Ghana-Uruguay game tonight.