Sun, beach, wine, views, and hikes

What more could you ask for in a holiday? Happy New Year from Cape Town! Or as they say it here in South Africa, "Compliments of the season."

Pesky little rascals

I had a few (3 to be specific) vervet monkeys come after me while walking from my bungalow to the main lodge. They were in the middle of tearing apart a tree when they started walking toward me. I made the mistake of running. Guess what they did- yup, they ran after me. Lesson learned: Never run in the bush. Just stand still (or clap your hands at the monkeys).

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

OK, maybe there aren't any tigers and bears in South Africa, but Jeff and I sure saw a lot of animals. Unfortunately, we came short of seeing the Big 5 by one- the leopard. A great time anyway. Surreal to be driving along and have an elephant walk right up to you. We also saw the most magical sunset and (Full) moonrise. Merry Christmas from Kruger National Park!

(BTW, that's a cheetah in the picture. Does anyone know the difference?)

Wobblers and Wigglers 8K

I ran my first race here in South Africa.  The Wobblers and Wigglers 8K Charity Hat Race was a fun race where beer is served at the water station.  Also, people dressed up, most in festive hats (think Bay to Breakers without the nudity and a bit calmer).  Considering I haven't run much since I sprained my ankle in early September, I'm pretty happy with my result.  Plus, it was just for fun.  And, no, I didn't have the beer- I actually wanted to finish the race! 

Cape Town

I visited Cape Town for exactly 24 hours, 9 of which was spent inside Vergelegen Heart Hospital.  However, I was able to sightsee around the V&A Waterfront and have dinner the night I arrived.  Here are some shots of Table Mountain (look hard, it's behind the big cloud) and the langoustines I tried at Baia- a really good seafood restaurant on the waterfront.

Comforts of home...

I received my air shipment yesterday- 5 weeks later.  Well, at least it arrived and it appears that nothing was taken (Thank you South African customs!).  I was told that customs goes through every shipment coming into the country so I expected a mess.  The shipment came gift wrapped in a cardboard box that obviously had been cut open.  And when untied, the boxes came falling out.  Interesting...  I'm just thankful that I have my things although living out of 2 suitcases was not too bad at all.  But, there is something comforting about having my own pillows and being surrounded by pictures of friends and family.

"This is Africa"

Apparently the power outage is intentional.  It's called load shedding where Eskom decides to shed the load of power from one area to another leaving some cities without power for 2-3 hours.  There is supposedly a schedule, but really, you don't know when it's going to happen and you just deal when it does.  The reaction of everyone around me- [shoulder shrug] and the comment "This is Africa."