for anyone who's interested, I'm sorting through and putting the best pictures of the trip in a set on my flickr account (I am still figuring out exactly how it works):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjwalsh3/sets/72157627484002383/
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
27-29/07/11
Peter drove us to the bus station early that morning, but not before one last stop at McDonald’s. The trip to Maputo was long but uneventful and once we arrived we took a chapa to the USAID compound where Erin and I were staying at Polly and Moha’s. Originally we were only going to stay a night, but then Erin learned her best friend from her PCV group was going to be traveling through Maputo and so we decided to stay another day so Erin could meet up with her. I took advantage of the extra day to go by the immigration office and ask some questions about renewing my visa. We had already split up with Scooter and Ann as they would be spending the next week running the REDES conference.
Erin and I left on the third day, taking a chapa to the egde of the city and then hitchhiking from there. The first ride we got was great: a fast, nice, air conditioned car, with a Mozambican driver who had lived in South Africa for some time and so spoke very good English. We talked about politics and then listened to some of his music: American hip hop, but way before our time and he was disappointed when we barely recognized any of it. He took us to Xai-Xai and from there we got a second, much quieter ride with an Asian couple.
When I arrived back at the mission, it seemed completely deserted. It was the middle of a two week holiday so no students were at the school and all the orphans had gone to live with whatever relatives they had elsewhere. And Scooter was gone.
Erin and I left on the third day, taking a chapa to the egde of the city and then hitchhiking from there. The first ride we got was great: a fast, nice, air conditioned car, with a Mozambican driver who had lived in South Africa for some time and so spoke very good English. We talked about politics and then listened to some of his music: American hip hop, but way before our time and he was disappointed when we barely recognized any of it. He took us to Xai-Xai and from there we got a second, much quieter ride with an Asian couple.
When I arrived back at the mission, it seemed completely deserted. It was the middle of a two week holiday so no students were at the school and all the orphans had gone to live with whatever relatives they had elsewhere. And Scooter was gone.
26/07/11: Day 10 in Cape Town and Traveling to Joburg
It was pretty depressing as we spent the last morning in Cape Town slowly packing up our things and saying goodbye to a hostel that had come to feel very much like home over the past few days. Even the backpackers felt empty though, with all of the friends we had made already left. For breakfast we finished up any leftover food from all the groceries we had bought at the beginning of the trip and then for lunch we went to a Japanese restaurant from which the taxi picked us up and took us to the airport.
A smooth slight and a short wait in the Johannesburg airport later, a man from the hostel we would be staying overnight at picked us up and took us to the mall where John and Yvette would be picking us up again for dinner. In case there was any question of whether we were in Joburg or not, during our wait at the mall we managed to see a guy get arrested for robbing a store, the police handcuffing him to a shopping cart before taking them away.
John and Yvette took us to their friends’ house where we were gracious welcomed. We ate delicious butternut squash soup, vegetable lasagna, and baked apples and met Jesse Eyesensnorts, their cute rescue pug named for his cartoonish, bulging eyes and characteristic sniffles.
A smooth slight and a short wait in the Johannesburg airport later, a man from the hostel we would be staying overnight at picked us up and took us to the mall where John and Yvette would be picking us up again for dinner. In case there was any question of whether we were in Joburg or not, during our wait at the mall we managed to see a guy get arrested for robbing a store, the police handcuffing him to a shopping cart before taking them away.
John and Yvette took us to their friends’ house where we were gracious welcomed. We ate delicious butternut squash soup, vegetable lasagna, and baked apples and met Jesse Eyesensnorts, their cute rescue pug named for his cartoonish, bulging eyes and characteristic sniffles.
25/07/11: Day 9 in Cape Town: the Wine Tour
Paul, Carlos, and Samir were all headed out that morning so we said our goodbyes before we left on the tour. The tour guide picked us up right outside the backpackers and took us directly to the first vineyards. We had managed to convince Patrick and Dennis spend their last day on the tour with us rather than hiking up Table Mountain as, with the vicious winds that had been buffeting the city and the clouds that had been covering the plateau top over the last few days, they were liable to get blown off the mountain and wouldn’t be able to see anything even if they made it to the top. We turned out to be right; the countryside vineyard gave us a spectacular view of the city and mountain which was still capped in cloud.
For the tour, two South African tour guides took us and another group or tourists by five vineyards over the course of the day, teaching us about the history of the South African wine industry and how one properly samples wine with the 5 S’s (Sight, Smell, Sip, Savor, and something else).
It was at the third stop that the estate owner commented on Scooter, Erin, and Ann’s matching purple scarves that they had purchased earlier that week, asking if they were some sort of team. “Yeah,” responded a slightly buzzed Scooter, “Team Awesome.” “That’s such an American response,” he replied.
After a full day of sampling wine, our tour guides gave us a short quiz on wine industry trivia we had supposedly picked up on the tour. But while Patrick and Dennis got our team quite a few points for creativity, it was the other group that won the bottle of wine.
For the tour, two South African tour guides took us and another group or tourists by five vineyards over the course of the day, teaching us about the history of the South African wine industry and how one properly samples wine with the 5 S’s (Sight, Smell, Sip, Savor, and something else).
It was at the third stop that the estate owner commented on Scooter, Erin, and Ann’s matching purple scarves that they had purchased earlier that week, asking if they were some sort of team. “Yeah,” responded a slightly buzzed Scooter, “Team Awesome.” “That’s such an American response,” he replied.
After a full day of sampling wine, our tour guides gave us a short quiz on wine industry trivia we had supposedly picked up on the tour. But while Patrick and Dennis got our team quite a few points for creativity, it was the other group that won the bottle of wine.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
24/07/2011: Day 8 in Cape Town
Scooter and I tried going to church that morning, but the church she had thought to be Catholic turned out to be Anglican. While searching for another church, a window shattered some 10 stories up casting broken glass into the street, not far from where we were standing and apparently caused by nothing but the powerful winds that were blowing through the city. Later we asked a taxi driver if such an occurrence was common and he replied that, in fact, it was.
We spent the day "restaurant hopping" going from Thai for lunch, to another place with Belgium beer on tap, to Korean for dinner.
We spent the day "restaurant hopping" going from Thai for lunch, to another place with Belgium beer on tap, to Korean for dinner.
23/07/2011: Day 7 in Cape Town: The Old Biscuit Mill and the District 6 Museum
Saturday we went to the weekly "Neighbor-Goods" market at the Old Biscuit Mill. If you ever go to Cape Town, it is definitely worth planning your trip around this market that occurs every Saturday. There was every kind of food and delicacy you could imagine from pastries to samosas to pizzas to jars of different pestos to breads to poached eggs and on and on it went. Following the advice of a friend, we made sure to walk through the entire market at least once before we allowed ourselves to buy anything. It was a smart move or we could have easily spent all of our money in the first twenty feet.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
Afterward we went to District 6 museum which was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately we were still battling sleep deprivation from the last few nights and the having just ate tons of delicious food didn't help matters.
Hostels and backpackers are the perfect places to meet new people and that night we made several more friends: Samir (who Carlos originally mistook for Paul), a French/Tunisian traveler who had been on a bike trip in Namibia before he was impeded by a leg injury and hitchhiked to Cape Town, Carmen, a German woman teaching primary school classes in Cape Town for 6-8 weeks, and Dennis and Patrick, a pair of Harvard students coaching basketball for a kid's special olympics in Joburg and taking a brief vacation in Cape Town.
22/07/2011: Day 6 in Cape Town: Robben Island
That morning we took a taxi to the waterfront where we boarded a ferry for Robben Island. As the ferry pulled out of the harbor, we got a spectacular view of the city, sitting in the lap of Table Mountain which was currently covered on top by a strange, isloated layer of cloud that we learned was referred to as the "Table Cloth". Once we arrived on the island, we boarded tour buses which took around the small island, showing the different sites including the prisons, the lime stone quarry, and the modern day village. After that part of the tour was done, we were shown through the prisons by ex-prisoner who had spent 5 years on the island in the late 70's. The tour was concluded by passing Nelson Mandela's solitary cell.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
When we got back we had the afternoon to kill and spent it doing something the girls hadn't done in ages: going to the mall. We happened to run into Paul and Carlos in a toy store who were buying gifts for children back at their site. They were able to direct us towards the movie theatre which we headed to promptly. On our way, we were accosted by an enthusiastic Billabong sales man who promised a to do back flip if we checked out the big sale the store was having. A few days ago, this guy might have seemed over the top, but after hanging out with Michael, he was absolutely tame in comparison.
That night there was a reggae party on the roof but we were all way to worn out to go.
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