Table Mountain and Clifton Beach

My last organized excursion was a hike up Table Mountain.  I must say, given the heat, and my lack of eating dinner the previous night, I wasn’t 100% confident I’d make it to the top without developing some sort of heat exhaustion.  However, by going along very slowly, I did make it, and there was lots of interesting plant life on the way up.   

 

taken from the highest point, looking towards the cable car with lion's head in the background

 

we took the cable car down, given that it was sunny, 35˚C, and 3PM

 

clifton beach #4, where I spent my last full day. the water is FREEZING!

Cape Peninsula

My second day I went on a bike tour of the Cape Peninsula.  By car my guide, Jason, took me along the coast to Boulder’s Beach to see the colony of African Penguins, to the Cape of Good Hope, and to Cape Point.  From there, I biked (with the Cape Doctor winds at my back all the way along the other side of the peninsula through the Cape Point Nature Reserve.

 

African penguins mate for life

the cape of good hope

 

there are quite some number of baboon colonies within the cape point nature reserve. after we got out of the car to look at them (leaving the windows rolled up...), the alpha male opened the car door, got in the back seat, and starting rooting through backpacks looking for picnics!

 

biking through the nature reserve

 

wildflower season was getting started

 

being in a protected area, this one won't wind up an ostrich burger!

 

i passed 2 herds of bontebok

 

the dassie is a close relative of the elephant due to it's foot bone structure. they way they live in families in the rocks running around reminds me of rocky, coastal prairie dogs.

 

black girdled lizard - looks like a tiny alligator

 

road out of the nature reserve

i guess this means baboon and gazelles?

 

the "tablecloth" forms during summer afternoons due to the Cape Doctor (strong summer winds)

Lion’s Head

Lion’s Head is part of the Cape Town backdrop.  It’s near Table Mountain, although not nearly as high.  Two British guys I met cage diving invited me to walk up it with them the same afternoon.  The panoramic view was amazing, and the walk was satisfyingly tough, but didn’t kill us.  Afterwards, we stopped at their hotel bar for much deserved mojitos.

 

This is a puff adder. They are actually quite dangerous due to their fast strike. Luckily, we left it alone (as we didn't know what it was at the time)

 

Looking out to the West on the way up

 

once you get almost to the top there's a little climbing

 

view from the top

 

my british hiking buddies and me on top of the world. robben island is in the background.

 

yikes!

Cape Town – Shark diving

I kept myself busy in Cape Town, hence the lack of recent posts.  Overall, Cape Town was my kind of place.  Pretty much any extreme sport you can think of is available, plus sun, nature, wine, and a fun bar scene too.  I could easily spend 2 weeks in the region, so I guess I’ll have to go back sometime.

The first thing I did was cage diving with Great White Sharks.  The cage sticks out of the water and takes 5 people at a time.  The noise of scuba equipment sometimes bothers the sharks, so you just take a deep breath and go under whenever a shark is coming.   To be honest, although it was really neat being in the cage and seeing them underwater, the surface viewing from the boat deck was actually better.

 

swimming towards the boat

they all swam really close to the cage

going for the bait

Back to civilisation

Don’t take that the wrong way.  I’m not saying Madagascar’s not civilised.  not by any means.  However, I am currently sitting in the Joburg airport, writing emails and posting on my blog.  And it’s fast.  And there is a latte stand about 20 feet away.  I have so far been miraculously lucky with my baggage.  I have 2 giant duffle bags (thank you Karen).  I haven’t been charged extra yet.  I actually wasn’t able to post this from the airport, because the flight started boarding early!  (left and arrived early too!)  

I arrived at my hostel to find out that my shark trip was leaving at 5AM today.  Pretty early after not getting settled into the hostel till midnight….   However, the trip was absolutely amazing!!!  Only 10 minutes after anchoring and chumming, we saw our first fin!  We saw 8 sharks total, which is a really lucky day.  Water visibility wasn’t great, but being in the cage it was SO impressive when they swam by only a few feet in front of us!  Pictures to come soon!

Sahambavy and leaving Fianar

On Friday, Maribeth and I went to Sahambavy, to the Lac Hotel for a relaxing night in the country.  Gabe was supposed to go too, but backed out.  We got there on a taxi-brousse, and  Maribeth picked up 2 packages at the post office before we left, which made us look rather like vagabonds as we entered such a nice hotel.  Since we’ve met the owner before, we managed to score an entire cottage.  It slept 7 at minimum, and had a kitchen.  It was a little slice of heaven for a night.  On Saturday morning, we went for a walk to visit the Sahambavy Tea Plantation.  On the way, some farmers in a rice field yelled out in Malagasy (joking) that we should come help them weed their rice.  So, we took off our shoes and climbed on into the rice field.  It was pretty neat, and the farmers sure got a kick out of it.  Pictures to follow.  Returning, we wound up in the back of a pickup truck with benches in it.

Saturday afternoon, my host family came to my room to thank me for the support I’ve given them (in the form of rent), and to give me a small going away present – an embroidered tablecloth for an end table.  We all cried a little, and it was a really neat moment – it’s a really matriarchal family, so it was just Mme Elysoa, Mama Tendry and her sister, and her little daughter Kenia.  In the evening, I had dinner with Karen and the girls one last time, and then we went to Karaoke.  I haven’t been in awhile – it’s usually pretty busy.  We were literally the only ones there for quite awhile.  Gabe, Haddie and I did a pretty awesome rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Sunday was the drive to Tana.  Mariette packed me a big lunch, and I had a person per bag help me get things down to the car.  A Peace Corps volunteer named Haddie needed to go to Tana too, so she came along with us.  It was nice to have her along.   We stopped for a break in Antsirabe and checked out the gemstone market – pretty cool stuff!

Now I’m in Tana, and feeling much more relaxed now that the goodbyes are over.  I can’t wait for Cape Town, and then to come home!  Tonight we’re making a Thanksgiving dinner – I helped Theresa’s housekeeper make pumpkin pie today (from actual pumpkin, not the canned stuff!).  I fly out on Wednesday, and it’s off to see the beautiful sights of Cape Town.