Cape Town

So many people we met along the way told us how great Cape Town is, and how much we were going to love it. Especially the locals. They are so proud of this city. Us not being the big-city type of people were of course sceptical and took the advice in stride. We have spent the last three days in Cape Town and the surrounding area and can see how people fall in love with the place. The Cape point is some truly stunning, dramatic coastline and the city of Cape Town itself has a pretty amazing setting. Table Mountain looms in the background..... an awesome sight. The city reminds us of a bit of a cross between Portland and Seattle...not as big as Seattle, but has the same waterfront feel.

From Hermanus, we took the scenic route along the coast towards Cape Town. Beautiful coastline. It was a sunny Sunday, so the weekend warriors were out in hoards. We stopped in Muizenberg where we were lured in by the bustling market and fresh fish being sold on the street. It happened to be one of the more popular beaches along this False Bay route, and the parking lot was jam packed. We weren't moving anywhere, trying to find a place to park and started noticing lots of ambulances, police and even a helicoptor. We finally wormed ourselves in and asked what was going on. Answer? Shark attack! No kidding. A guy had just gotten his foot chomped off by a great white cruising in the bay. The irony of it is that the guy is a lifeguard and was out with his co-workers on a training exercise. We joined the gawkers and watched as he was loaded into the helicopter and flown away to Cape Town. Needless to say the beaches were closed for the rest of the day.

Some of the scenery we saw along the False Bay route to Cape Town:

From there we moved on south towards the point, pausing only to gaze at another whale right offshore for a while. We stopped outside of Simon's Town and walked around Boulders Beach. A beach wth lots of rounded granite boulders, bright white sand,turquoise water, and penguins. Lots of penguins! There is a huge colony of African Penguins living here that are now protected by the national parks. So we walked around and laughed at the cute creatures as they clumsily walk around.

Some of the penguins just coming in from a fishing expedition:


It was late enough in the day that it wouldn't be worth the trip all the way out to the point, so we found a campground close by and set up home for the night.

Here is a look at a typical meal and typical setting around camp:


The next day, guess what? We woke up to gale force winds (not quite) and lots of rain. Not going to be able to always have perfect weather, so we headed out to the Cape Point anyway. The Point is the most south-westerly point on the continent of Africa (not the same ring as the southern most point, is it?). The whole point is a national park with an array of hiking trails, a lighthouse and lots of great views. We donned our ponchos (turned out to be a great purchase we made way back in Laos!) and did the walk from the lighthouse to the Point and then walked around the lighthouse a bit. Really stunning views, even on a cloudy, rainy day.

On the way to the Cape of Good Hope and the south-western point of Africa.

And the southwesterly tip.


We headed straight north after that and after a bit of confusion with the roads, made our way to Sea Point which is a suburb of Cape Town just south of the city center. We checked into what was for us a deluxe backpackers (a whole small apartment all to ourselves!) and relaxed. Table Mountain is probably the most famous landmark in Cape Town, if not in the whole of South Africa. So of course, we had to climb it. You can take a cable car to the top, but given the amount of really big and tasty meals we've been having, we thought it better to walk. The mountain is famous for its "tablecloth" that usually covers the top, and the table was for sure set on the day we walked up. We had mostly fog-filled views from the top, but did get some breaks, and they were spectacular. The walk up was a bit of a calf-burner on the way up and knee-killer on the way down, but fun nevertheless. After that, we walked the streets of downtown a bit and took in one museum - the District Six museum that tells the story of the once vibrant community that was "relocated" during apartheid (i.e., the neighborhood was declared "White" and all the residents were forcibly removed to outlying areas and their homes razed). So sad.

View from the top of Table Mountain - looking West:


Yesterday, we took the ferry out to Robbin Island and did the tour of the prison. This was the prison where the political prisoners of the apartheid era (including Nelson Mandela) were held. The tour was very much a standard tourist tour, with the exception that the tour guide was a former prisoner, having spent 20 years on Robben Island in the same cell block as Nelson Mandela. That made the tour both very informative and personal. We caught a movie after that, "Thank You for Smoking", a book we had both read, then walked back to our room. Today we head to wine counry, Stellenbosch. I will taste wines and Keith will sample the cheeses.

Inland and Back to the Coast

We stayed two nights at a very nice, one of the best for sure, backpackers in Oudtshoorn, a small ostrich town. I say ostrich because the birds outnumber the humans 3:1. Some 80% of the world's ostrichs are there. We had ostrich egg omlette for breakfast and ostrich steaks for dinner and ostrich jerky for a snack. We took the backpackers up on one of their outings and had them drop us off at the top of Swartberg pass with mountain bikes. The morning of the ride the clouds and rain moved in, but we were committed, so off we went. We rode very quickly off the mountian, to slightly warmer and less-frequent rain.

On the way down the pass, we were treated with a very nice rainbow. Here is Em forcing a smile as she is very cold....it was beautiful despite the weather, and it was fun to be on bikes again.


We made one stop at the local attraction of the Cango Caves. We did the caves 'adventure tour' that takes you the deepest into the cave, including several small chutes and passageways, one called the Devil's Chimney and the next the Devil's Coffin. The cave is noted for its dramatic formations, but we will spare you many pictures, as they never do the cave justice. The only ones worth showing are us squeezing through tight spaces. Here is Keith coming up through Devil's Chimney:


It was a nice cave overall, and if you are into caves and want a better look at it, you can visit this website: http://www.cangocaves.co.za/

From Oudtshoorn, we moved on to Swellendam, revered as one of the prettiest colonial towns in South Africa. We intended to stay at Bontebok National Park but their camping was closed due to renovations. We never did make it into the park, but instead went to the Marloth Nature Reserve and did a long day hike up in the Langeberg Mountains to the top of 12 o'clock peak (Twaalfuurkop in Afrikaans). Apparently another cold front was on its way, and although we had a delightfully sunny day, it was incredibly windy up there. Seriously, it was enough to knock you off the edge if you weren't careful.

Here is Em almost on the saddle just before the last scramble up to the top:

After the hike we drove another 100km south to the southern most tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas.

On the way we went over another spectacular pass of which the name is eluding me at the moment...starts with a Th....


We camped that night in a small fishing town close by to the point called Struis Bay, and huddled up in the local pub as the cold front continued to move its way in with more gale force winds. We woke to sunny skies the next day (although still quite windy) and spent a few hours walking around the southern tip and exploring the lighthouse. Agulhas means 'needle', and sailors gave the point this name because they discovered that their compasses pointed directly north here.

Here is Keith where the two oceans meet. To be any further south and still be on land, you'd have to move on to Antarctica!


The view from the lighthouse:

From there we officially hit the west coast of South Africa and started moving back north towards Cape Town. We drove on as the weather progressively got worse, finally arriving in Hermanus. Hermanus is famous for its whales. The southern right whales come here in the winter seeking warmer waters for calving and raising their young. Hermanus Bay is a particularly good place to watch whales as there are high rock outcroppings that look right out over the bay and the bay is deep, so the whales can come quite close to the shore. We looked a bit for them yesterday, but the weather was too bad to stay out for long. We huddled up in the backpackers for the rest of the day as we got a mini-repeat of the storm that visited us in Tsitsikamma.

Today we woke to much clearer skies and calmer wind, so we spent the morning walking up and down the coast and saw quite a few magnificent whales. They were quite close in and while they didn't do any dramatic breeching for us, they exposed themselves enough on the surface for us to get a good idea at how massive they are. Such a neat animal...I've always said that I'd like to come back in my next life as either a dolphin or a whale....seems like a nice, peaceful, fun life.

Tomorrow it's off to the much anticipated and much talked about Cape Town!

Weathering Out The Storm

The Garden Route is the famous stretch of scenic coastline in South Africa that runs from west of Jeffrey's Bay to Mossel Bay. We spent a good week there, and got hit with one of the worst storms this area has seen in years. It rained for a good four days straight, one of those days it was a torrential downpour the whole day. We spent most of that storm at Tsitsikamma National Park, which is a fabulous park set right on the coast. We camped the first night,then after learning about the half-off all accommodation in the Garden Route national parks for the month of August we quickly moved to a chalet. (OK, the loads of rain falling on our wimpy tarp also helped in moving us to the chalet, but we were thrilled at the half-off deal!) We spent a good three days in that chalet. The first day we had some decent weather, the second day it never stopped raining, so we hung out inside mostly except for one very wet walk, and the third day there were a few hours of no rain, so we did a short walk along a coastal trail. We were happy to have been at the coast for this storm as we thoroughly enjoyed watching the waves, which were massive.

A look at the main camping area of Tsitsikamma National Park. Beautiful, eh? Even on a cloudy day.


This sort of gives you an idea of how the waves were for the storm. The winds were kickin' this day but the heavy rains were still one day away.


After our rainy day walk. Like our ponchos?


The storm kicked up copius amounts of this sea foam. On the short hike we did, for a short stretch we were literally up to our hips in the stuff. It stinks and is quite dirty, but it was good fun anyway. Sadly, no photos of us running from the waves of the stuff or wading through it as we left the camera back at the ranch.


Next stop on the way to the Wilderness National Park was our long-feared stop at the Bloukrans River Bridge. I believe the bridge is touted as the highest in Africa and someone decided that it would be a good place to jump off from! Bungy Jump that is. Emily and I had read about the Highest Bungy Jump in the World in several of our trusty guide books as far back as Tanzania. We never really thought about what it would be like to stand on the platform when we got there.

Deciding whether to jump or not was easy. For Em and I, you can’t fly to Africa and not do it. Actually jumping was a bit harder. It is a good thing that the people running it basically push you off if you don’t go on their countdown from 5 … 4….3 ….2 …. 1…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. It is an amazing experience and adrenaline rush. And just so ya know, we both jumped on our own, no push needed, thanks.

The whole experience, including everything such as gear, procedures, etc, was first class and they are very proud of their safety record. It would be a bit hard on their advertising to if they had to say. ”Well there was this one guy, we forgot to…”
Em told me as she after she finished that she “….ran out of scream”. Mouth was open and the desire to scream was there, but no scream! Emily’s scream ran out.

Bungee Jump Photos....there's lots. And lots more, plus a video for you all to watch when we get home!
Keith getting strapped up. You sure this is going to hold?


Keith safely back on solid ground. Emily wondering how it went. One very happy, the other very nervous...


Again, one happy, one nervous. Emily wore this same nervous smile until she got pushed..errr until she jumped.. off the bridge...


The Push. These guys don't give you an option. It's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Bungee....and you jump as they push you off the bridge!


There is no turning back now...

Falling.....


Still falling...that was a LONG 7 seconds.


And finally, returned to safety. And smiling.


That is a lonnnnggg way down. But we did it!


We then pushed on to Nature’s Valley for one night, then on to Wilderness for two. We stayed in cabins all three nights and the weather cleared to beautiful clear skies by the time we left Nature’s Valley. We hired a canoe at Wilderness and paddled and hiked to a nice waterfall. That is about it for activities. We ate great dinners as we are still quite enjoying cooking for ourselves. Actually it’s the eating of the dinners we like, but the cooking is OK too.

We have now moved inland to the Route 62 and will take this east towards Cape Town. The scenery here is in stark contrast to the Garden Route. We are in what I’ll call high desert, with green valleys, dry plain, all surrounded by mountains.

A brief lunch stop at the Knysna Heads, on the way to Wilderness.


On the way up the Montuga Pass, heading inland.

Hiking Trails, Canoe Trails & Game Drives

Howzit? We've had a great last couple of days here in the midst of South Africa...

We were in the Hogsback mountains for a couple days and stayed at a place called "Away With the Fairies" (I'm sure we'll get some comments on that alone!). It was a nice place with great views, although it did pale in comparison to being in the heart of the Drakensberg. We took a couple lovely walks through some really nice forests to a couple waterfalls. Lots of monkeys in those forests, that we might have missed if we didn't have three dogs along with us to bark incessantly at them.

Here's a look at one of the waterfalls. Sorry, Gracie, I've been playing with other dogs.


From there we drove south to Port Alfred which is on the coast and on the mouth of the Kowie River. We came here solely to do a two day canoe trip up the river to a hut. It was a random thing we read about in our guide book and it sounded like a nice change of pace. So we set out, 20 km up the river silently winding our way through the sleeping hippos and fending off the alligators with our paddles. Just joking. The most we had to contend with was a lazy seal that followed us part way up the river. Being so close to the coast, the tide has influence on the river for the entire journey so we had to time our paddling around the tides to make it easiest on ourselves. It was a lovely two days. We were pretty much the only ones on the river and once we got out of the residential parts of Port Alfred, it was nothing but us and Mother Nature at her best. We paddled through a couple nature reserves and while we didn't see much wildlife, the sounds of all the birds was amazing. It was a very relaxing time. At the end of the 20km we arrived at our hut for the night, where we ended up sleeping outside anyway as there were a few too many spiders inside for our liking (I know....spiders live outside as well...).

Here's what the scenery was like on the river.

The canoe did the job, but it was kinda small. I'm not sure how well you can see Keith in this picture, but this is the morning we headed back down the river (it looks early, but it's really only 7:00), so the canoe is actually much emptier as we have eaten a lot of food out of it.

From the Kowie River we beat feet to the Greater Addo Elephant Park where we saw, well, elephants! Among lots of other game. The park was built around saving the elephants of the area, when at creation there were only something like 11 elephants left. Now there is around 400 and we saw plenty of them. Other game we were able to see was one far off lion, hartbeest, kudu, ostrich, and so many warthogs we were ready to have one for a bbq by the end of our stay there! We stayed at the campground for two nights and enjoyed three game drives (self-driven now, of course!). The park is very well set up. Fabulous camping facilities, and very-easy-to-navigate roads.

The main attraction. One of the many times a whole herd passed right by our car.


We really enjoyed watching the kudu. There are tons of them in the park, so lots of close ups and even a few locking their beautiful horns with each other.


We are currently in Jeffery's Bay, the surfing mecca of South Africa. Not very good surf right now, as we have yet to see a surfer in the water. But we had to come here so that we could say we've been to "J'Bay". From here we'll move a little further west to spend a few days at Tstitikama National Park (definitely did not spell that correctly...).

Wild Coast Beach Life

We have spent the last week traveling down the Wild Coast of South Africa at quite a leisurely pace….enjoying the scenery, seafood and surf.

But I think we left off in Pietermaritzburg….a stopover on the way to the coast. Before hitting the Wild Coast, we passed through Durban and the more populated, vacation destination of the South Coast. Originally we were going to stay a day in Durban, but we heard way too many stories of muggings in the city, and all it is is a big city, so we decided to pass through. We had heard nice things about the big market there and a popular local dish called bunny chow, so we talked ourselves into stopping for just an hour or so to check out the market and have lunch. Well, I think we have been thoroughly spoiled by the beautiful markets of SE Asia. This market was fine, and granted it was Sunday so it was a bit shut down, but it just doesn’t compare to the sights, sounds and smells of an Asian market. Nevertheless we bought a curio or two, had a bowl of bunny chow (a big chunk of bread with a hole carved out of the middle which is then filled with curry). We were nervous the whole time about the Land Rover parked on the street (it stands out slightly in these cities), but we made it unscathed and were off to the coast.

The coastline north and south of Durban is a huge vacation/weekend destination for locals, and is consequently quite developed. We skipped the northern beaches and pushed on south for about 50 more km finally stopping for the night in Scottsburg. There aren’t any national parks here, so we had to settle on a very crowded/commercial caravan park, that had thankfully sort of emptied out as the school holiday is finally coming to a close. This caravan park acts as a bit of a retirement village in the winter. Half of the place was taken up by senior citizens that have set up quite impressive camps with no intent of leaving for the next 4 months or so. Our neighbor for the night was quite the friendly chap and gave up plenty of advice and his opinions about South Africa.

Upon reading our guidebook, we discovered that one of the top ten dive sites in the world (according to who, we are not sure) is right off the coast where we are camped. It is called Aliwal Shoal and is famous for its shark sightings, specifically the ‘Raggie’. So the next morning we decided very last minute to go ahead and do one dive. It was OK, but the current was really kicking and the group was a bit too big, so we spent more time fighting the current in order to stay with the group than being able to truly enjoy the dive. No sharks, but did see a turtle and an electric ray.

The next two days were mostly just driving days to get us to the start of the Wild Coast. The Wild Coast, also known as the Transkei, is 200 km stretch of coastline along the southern part of the Eastern Cape. It is deemed ‘Wild’ for its inaccessibility and rough coastline. While there are more dirt roads and the towns are quite a bit more remote, calling it Wild might be a stretch as it all becomes more and more developed and as roads get paved. Nevertheless, the villages are lovely, rural and peaceful. We thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring the area.

Here we are on one of our many short treks around the coast. This one in Mpande.


The first stop was in Port St Johns where we again stayed at a local campground. This time a much more peaceful and less crowded one. We took a walk up the bluff/hill/mountain overlooking the coast, and took a short walk through a very small nature reserve where we had beautiful coastal views and spotted two zebra. From there we moved on to a very small village called Mpande. There is one backpackers there called the Kraal, and is a very remote, eco-friendly, laid back kind of place. No electricity and stunning views of the bay. Right from the front deck of the main building we could look out at the bay and watch heaps of dolphins playing and surfing. Apparently there were whales out there too, but we never saw them. We spent three very relaxed days there where we bought crayfish from the local fishermen and cooked fabulous dinners, took many walks on and around the beach, canoed up the river/lagoon in a leaky boat, tried to surf for about 10 minutes (too cold and we didn’t have a clue what we were doing), and took a horse ride to a waterfall. We got hit with a cold front and a big rain storm while we were there, so it was a good time to just chill out for a while.

Not a bad campsite, eh? This is at the Kraal. We spent most of our time in the backpacker itself, and really only slept up here in the Rover:


Our next jump south was to Coffee Bay, named after a ship carrying coffee wrecked. The coffee trees grew for a while here, but have long since died out. We took the back roads here, which were all dirt, but still quite well maintained and only got a little lost. We stayed at a fantastic backpackers called the Coffee Shack. We still camped (i.e. slept in the Land Rover), but had use of really top notch kitchen facilities, and were able to take advantage of all of the free things on offer. One of which was a free surf lesson. It is amazing what the right equipment and instruction can do for your attitude about a sport. Not to say that we can surf now, but after 1 hour of instruction we were at least able to both stand up a handful of times (granted, it was a very big board and the waves were small).

Here is a look at what most of the villagers' homes look like. The people of the Wild Coast are Xhosa and their language (one of the 11 official languages of Africa!) includes that famous clicking sound. Pretty cool to listen to.


Our second day there we took a drive out to the famous “Hole in the Rock” and had another unfortunate incident with shoes. What is it with shoes in Africa? Upon arrival to Hole in the Rock, we had two kids approach us: one wanted to guide us to the sight and the other to watch our car. This is very typical of any tourist spot and usually works well. The kid watches the car and you pay him a couple of Rand when you get back. We said no thanks to the guide, told them they could both watch our car for us while we were gone, wanting to do something to help these guys out. Keith had tied a pair of shoes to the roof, as they were quite wet from the previous night's rain. He thought about putting them back in the car, but thought, nah...we’ve got these guys looking after the car. So we scramble up a bluff, and Keith glances back at the car and sees someone on top of it! So he runs back to the car, and lo and behold, finds his shoes gone. One of the boys is gone now, but his shoes are there, and the other kid denies seeing anything at all and suddenly can’t speak any English. We tried our best to scare them into confessing (threatening to call the police and getting as many people from the village involved), but they were steadfast in their denials. Keith found the other kid guiltily coming out of the bushes and thrashed around in there a bit trying to see where he hid Keith’s shoes, but we couldn’t come up with them. We finally left with a very bad taste in our mouths. It’s not even the shoes. Keith had bought a different pair a while ago, and this was just a cheap Bangkok pair that he didn’t even like. The problem is that these kids know it is no big deal for us to replace them, but they don’t realize the longer term impact it has on their village and our perception of it and how it shapes how we behave towards locals in the future. If you can’t trust the guy you are paying to watch your car, who can you trust?

The Hole in the Rock. Pretty self explanatory.


Scenery around Hole in the Rock:


From Coffee Bay we took a larger jump down the coast to the near end of the Wild Coast to another very well equipped and well run backpackers in Cintsa called Buccaneers. More of the same beach stuff and another horse ride, this time running along the beach, which was great fun.

Us with our horses in Cintsa:


We got to 'swim' with the horses as we crossed back over the lagoon back to the fields:



It is truly beautiful scenery along this coast, and you could easily get lost along here, but we decided it was time to shake things up a bit, so now we are heading inland again. We’ll spend a couple days back in the mountains where apparently they just had Christmas in July (snow!)…..maybe it’s time to splurge on a real room and take a break from sleeping in the Rover, i.e it’s cold up there!

Land Rover 101 - Completed

OK. We're back in the city after a wonderful seven days of car camping....or Land Rover camping actually. Why, cause it not a car. It's a LAND ROVER. Not something we are used to in the USA. It's a three-way cross between a Willy's Jeep, an International Scout, and an Abrams Tank. John, the LRs owner, has set it up very nicely with fridge, sleeping platform, and all sorts of camping gear and the LR's condition is immaculate.

The Rig:


Upon leaving Pretoria, we headed for the Golden Gate National Park (NP) for our first two nights of camping. Beautiful park and very nice campgrounds. We did a couple of short day hikes in the surrounding hills and sort of got used to a new independence that we haven't had for a while. We also discovered, even after advice from several folks, that it is quite cold at night, but the days are warm and perfect for hiking.

Camping at Golden Gate.


After stocking up in the small town of Bergville, we headed to a backpackers place bordering the Natal NP. We watched Italy beat France in the finals of the World Cup. It was a great game, tied 1 to 1 after overtime and Italy won it with penalty kicks. After a tough sell job by the owner of the backpackers to try and get us to stay there for more nights, we headed to the actual park for better camping. We hiked up the to the base of the Ampitheater, one of the highlights of the Drakensburg area.

Ampitheater.


Then we headed for the Cathredral Peak area of the Northern Drakensburg NP. Cathredral Peak can be summitted in a day, although it is listed as a very strenuous, long hike, with several non-technical scrambling sections. It is listed correctly. It took us the full nine hours to summit and return to camp, but it was well worth the effort. The views are dramatic and breath-taking. Em and I started early and ended up in front of a larger, guided group. When we passed the group on the way down from the summit scramble section, the guide was very surprised we made it. He thought we must be locals who knew the route. Of his group of 9, only 4 made it to the actual summit, and Em was the only female!

View of Cathredral Peak:




Summit Scramble


Summit!


The Drakensburg is a mountain range running north-south and we had one more stop to make before heading to the coast. We chose the Injinsuti area for its great day-hikes and San cave paintings. We also saw the Eland, the largest of the antelopes. We must have seen about a dozen in total.

Eland just above camp:



Em and I are enjoying this part of our trip very much. It's a combination of having our own Rig (THANKS JOHN!), and camping and hiking in great parks, with great facilities. We are cooking our own food, driving where we want, when we want. Next, we head to the Wild Coast!

Sunrise and Moonset above the Drakensberg:

Misc Observations

Here are some random thoughts and observations that I have been making notes of as we've been moving along through Africa. Thought I'd get them onto the computer before I lose my little pieces of paper....

• Every single country we have been to, we have seen young boys pushing tires around with sticks. Funny how universal some childhood games truly are.
• Buying food through bus windows is such a reliable and cheap way to have a meal. Every time the bus stops to load and unload people, you are sure to be presented with the opportunity to buy a snack. Standard fare includes: boiled eggs (our favorite), fried bread, oranges, ground nuts (peanuts), and soda pop (that is if you can drink the whole bottle before the bus leaves - they want their bottle back!). The most entertaining stop we had was when we pulled into a rather major bus terminal but were only one of about 6 people on the bus. Upon pulling into the station, I stand up to stretch and just about die laughing as I proceed to get poked in the head with a bagful of bread suspended on a long stick (we were in a tall bus). I couldn't see the man selling the bread, just a bagful of bread persistently knocking me on the shoulder and head. Hilarious.
• In Malawi especially, there are lots of roadblocks. The minibuses usually fall victim to them the most often. And when the cops see us crammed in there, they invariably want to see our passports - just because they can, I think. Apparently, the minibuses get fined for being overcrowded.....so is it really profitable for them to cram us all in like that??
• Women are fearless about breastfeeding here. Babies are hanging off moms' chests everywhere we look and breasts are whipped out without hesitation to appease a hungry child. It is such a contrast to North America where we require private rooms or complete coverage with blankets. It is really refreshing to see it done so openly here.
• It will never cease to amaze us how frantically people will board a boat/bus/train when it may not be leaving for 2 hours!
• Men often greet each other with what I will call a lingering handshake. After the initial grasp, they continue to hold each other's hand while talking. It is not uncommon to see men walking down the street holding hands. Cute.
• One day sitting waiting for a bus, I noticed a very poor boy clinging to two very used water bottles trying to clean them out. I had just finished my water and instead of tossing the bottle, I handed it to him. Never have I seen a face light up so much.
• People constantly try to charge us extra on public transportation for our large, yes, but neatly compact backpacks. However they don't blink an eye at the local woman who climbs on board with two huge bags of rice, baskets of oranges, and bags of cassava root that are ripping open and spilling all over the place!
• Women carry EVERYTHING on their heads. Except for their babies which are tied onto their backs with a simple piece of cloth.
• In Tanzania, a lot of goods are transported on huge wooden wheelbarrows pulled and pushed by men. A very hard day's work indeed.
• South Africa may be a more modern country, but the evidence of crime is everywhere. Every single house we see has a complete security system - gates, security response, barred windows, and absolutely no cars parked on the street at night.

We are still in Pretoria. We spent the last two days stocking up on supplies for the car and getting familiar with the Land Rover. What is the deal with this car anyway you might be wondering? Well we have these very cool friends back home, John G. and Jenn, who own this Land Rover here in South Africa and keep it parked at John R.'s house here in Pretoria. They have given us their blessing to use the 1989 Rover for our journey through this region. So we spent the last two days with John R. who is an amazingly generous and helpful person. He is the 'caretaker' of the car while it is here, so he gave us all the in's and out's of how to run it and stocked us up on any incidentals we might need in any imaginable situation. Not only that, but he treated us to an amazing BBQ which included warthog ribs! Yum! So we are fully stocked, including petrol (which will be a painful endeavor each time we have to fill up), and will spend the rest of the day organizing and planning our route for tomorrow. We should be able to give you more regular updates again as internet should be abundant and cheap through South Africa.

Cheers to all, and go Italy! :)