Finally Climbed Table Mountain!

I have at long last climbed Table Mountain! I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get my act together, since it's literally at my doorstep. Either way, I finally did it, and let me tell you, this was no small feat. We didn't take the easy way up either...My friend and I signed up to do this hike with the UCT Mountain and Ski Club, but we were initially supposed to do the "Hole in the Wall" hike, which is an unmarked hike through the backside of the mountain. Since it's unmarked, however, it needs to be perfectly clear without a single cloud in the sky. This is because Table Mountain can literally become completely enshrouded in clouds in less than 10 minutes, even if there is only one ominous cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, there were two clouds in the sky, so we switched to the climb up Table Mountain via Skeleton Gorge.

Our hike began on campus and in order to get to Skeleton Gorge we had to climb to Rhodes Memorial and up to the Contour Path. This trail winds its way along the side of the mountain, but it rarely stays parallel with the roads below. It was constant ups and downs, and after a while it seemed like a complete waste of energy since we couldn't see that we were actually climbing up and over several ravines and waterfalls. Underneath the trees I kept being reminded of the trails in the Bay Area, and it was nice to see a bit of a familiar sight.

After a few hours we reached the bottom of Skeleton Gorge. At the path crossroads, all that could be seen of Skeleton Gorge was a winding staircase cut through the forest. I had read about this trail before when I was researching the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (World Heritage Site). The trail is in the garden's backyard and is a well known climb up to the top of TM, but it definitely isn't for people looking for a leisurely walk. The hike up immediately began with tens and tens and possibly hundreds of steps that wound up and around the mountain. Soon enough, we were climbing wooden ladders that had been nailed into the rock beside a waterfall. Suddenly, the ladders and trail disappeared, and it was only by looking up to see some other hikers scrambling up the waterfall that I realized where we were meant to go. So up we went, scaling rocks in the waterfall. This was easily the coolest hike I have ever done, and I can't believe that this is considered a "normal" hike around here. Everyone is always outdoors and moving around here when the weather is nice. It's so different from the states, where most people just want the chance to lie around all day. I guess it has something to do with the fact that Cape Town is already a really laid back town, so they don't need to slow it down anymore than it is.

After a couple hours climbing we finally reached the arid and sparsely vegetated mountain top. It wasn't at all what I expected, and rather than being a plateau with a grand vista, it was a series of jagged rock formations and several other peaks that you couldn't see around. There are also reservoirs up there, and on our way to the first one, I noticed some sand on the trail. I assumed that it was placed there for better treading on the trail until all of a sudden sand was everywhere. It was as if we were walking on a beach...except on top of a mountain...It was probably one of the most bizarre sights I've ever seen. We continued along the top for a bit to see the reservoirs and then climbed back down Nursery Ravine (a less intense, but still many many steps, version of Skeleton Gorge). When we finally reached UCT again it was 5 pm. We left at 8:30 am. My friend and I felt like we were dying so we hurried to a pizza place and ordered the large triple decker pizza with a loaf of cheesy garlic bread. Oh, and then we got fro yo....And I don't feel a single bit of guilt after probably doing the most physically challenging activity of my year.

I hope to possibly climb up Table Mountain again...but maybe on a different route...There's also the cable car, so I might just take that all the way up..and down... :)

Photo Links!

Hello again! First of all, we just received unlimited internet in my house today! So if anyone has a Skype account and wants to video chat just find me on Skype (jdejesse).

I realized that I never uploaded photos from my homestay so I've included those in my first album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2011446079636.2105952.1048260152&l=df98054659&type=1


Here's the link for my latest album, which will continuously be updated with my adventures around CT, so please refer back to this link :] : 


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2095635544320.2109998.1048260152&l=750568bd78&type=1

New Weekend Plans

So...unfortunately, we couldn't hike this weekend because there weren't enough drivers :(. BUT, this weekend still ended up being great! Our house was pretty empty this weekend with 2 out of 8 people being gone, so two of my friends and I decided, on a whim, to take the train to Muizenberg Saturday. The trains are really run down, and move at a pace of about 5 mph, but we made it! There were supposed to be first and third class seats, with a difference of R5 (less than a dollar), but all the trains look exactly the same. When we finally got into Muizenberg we were greeted with a beautiful beach and an ocean filled with surfers. You are supposed to be able to go whale watching here, but we didn't see any that day. After walking around the beach for a bit (and seeing the iconic primary colored beach shacks that are all over postcards) we decided to just chill for a little bit before grabbing some fresh seafood. We ended up making friends with 3 South Africans from Jo'burg who invited us to lunch at a restaurant in Kalk Bay, 5 min. drive, called Brass Bell. Kalk Bay has a cute little town that I really want to go back to so that I can try the bakery and ice cream shop there :). The restaurant that we went to was really nice and extended out over the water and the surf would crash up at the windows. Our friends ended up treating us and also invited us over for a dinner party that night with their other friends from Cape Town, so we decided to go for it and break the American bubble that we're surrounded by.

When it was dinner time, they picked us up and we drove down to the marina near The V&A Waterfront and ended up driving into the residences that surround the One and Only Hotel. For those of you who don't know...this is a renowned 6 star international luxury hotel...There was a private marina where residents parked their yachts, and when we went into the flat there were platters filled with sushi from a popular restaurant called Beluga. It was so much fun to meet Capetonians and "seek rather than see" as one of them told me. The whole thing was surreal and just goes to show where a little spontaneity and friendliness can get you :). Pictures to be up soon...

Photo Update

It's been a while since I last posted anything! Honestly, not much has been happening for the last two weeks since I got back from our roadtrip. The reality of classwork is finally settling in, so I've been kept quite busy with essays and exams. Luckily, the course load isn't bad compared to what's usually on my plate at SC, so I still have plenty of free time. I'm going camping this weekend in the Cederburg Mountains, just 3 hours north of Cape Town, with the UCT Mountain and Ski team. It's supposed to be beautiful there (what isn't here?) so I'm sure I'll be able to take some good pictures. Speaking of which, here is the promised link for our road trip pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2071490220702.2108860.1048260152&l=178a6da45e&type=1




I still need to upload the photos from caving that I stole from my friend, so stay tuned for those. Our unlimited internet is supposed to be working sometime soon, so once that's all up and running I'll be sure to upload them!

Weekend Trip on Route 62

Just got back from our weekend in the Klein Karoo! Three days have never seemed so long (in the best possible sense of course). We began our drive a bit late on Thursday evening, due to some hiccups in renting our car, but we were able to make it into Robertson at about 9 pm. Since we were driving in almost complete darkness, the only sense of scenery that we were able to get from the drive was the black silhouettes of the surrounding mountains. Robertson is the first main town along Route 62, but we underestimated how small these towns really are. Although Robertson is claimed as one of the “largest” of the Route 62 towns, the main street shops probably only occupy one or two blocks of the downtown. Our hostel was a quaint country home nestled amongst the quiet homes of Robertson; we were lucky to have our own room all to ourselves where we could relax a bit. The next morning we began our drive over to Ladismith by taking a more scenic (although the entire drive looked like something from a storybook) route off of R62 and through the third oldest white settlement in South Africa, Swellendam. Before reaching this town, we stopped at a tiny cheese making farm where we were able to do a bit of wine and cheese tasting. The rain cleared away for us and left beautiful blue skies as a backdrop to the emerald hills of the Langeberg Mountains. Moving on to Swellendam, we pulled over to stop at a “faerie sanctuary” for a random roadside attraction. This sanctuary consisted of a garden that was completely covered in faeries, toadstools, gnomes and fairy dust. We weren’t sure of the two owners’ stance on faeries existing…but they seemed pretty convinced. The whole place was a bit overdone, but it had a nice message about peace and happiness. We drove onwards through some of the tiniest towns imaginable, where the only homes were the ones lining the highway. We rejoined Route 62 at Barrydale, where we stopped at the world famous Ronnie’s Sex Shop. While Ronnie’s is actually a pub, it was a quirky place to stop in an otherwise empty desert. The story goes that Ronnie was making a farm stall and his friends played a prank on him by painting “Ronnie’s Sex Shop” across the building. He never fixed it, so they suggested he just turn it into a pub and it is now a huge hit amongst locals and, of course, tourists. All of the walls are covered in writing, left by fellow travelers on their way along R62, and above the bar is a giant collection of past traveler’s bras. The whole place has the vibe of the weird roadside attractions that you see in the states, except that it’s in SA. We found a couple of blank spots on the walls and made sure to leave our own marks before driving on to our accommodation for the night. Friday night we spent the night in a farm cottage off the side of R62. Being several km off of the highway, we were essentially alone with nature in the Little Karoo. If I haven’t mentioned it already, the Klein “Little” Karoo is the name of the semi-arid environment that we spent most of our weekend in. I’ve always been mesmerized by stars and their ability to seem so close but simultaneously millions of miles away. The LK night sky was spectacular; because there weren’t any lights around us, the black desert sky was glittered with stars. I don’t think I have ever seen so many stars in my life (pretty sure we could even see the Milky Way J) and it was incredible to just get lost in the vastness of it all.

We drove to a natural hot springs location called Wermwatersburg Spa for dinner because of our desperate need for warmth. My friend, Sara, and I were far too freezing to get into the hot springs, but our two other friends went right in –completely insane –. Once again, this “spa”, was really a country camping spot that had created nice pools filled with natural mineral water from the springs, but it was nice to see other people around.

The next morning we began our drive out to the ostrich capital of the world, Oudtshoorn. First, we drove through a river pass that was carved out of brilliant red rock. The giant rock faces and sparse greenery reminded me a bit of Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Throughout the entire trip it felt like we were somewhere besides South Africa; whether it was driving through vineyards, or gazing up at snow capped mountains, I always was reminded of another, more familiar, place, rather than the place where we really are. Along the way we interrupted a couple troops of baboons that had been casually hanging out in the middle of the road. Once through the pass, we reached the port capital of South Africa, Calitzdorp. We stopped by one of the few, if not only, negative carbon footprint wineries in South Africa, named Boplaas. They have made several award winning ports, so we made sure to give them a try while we were there. Afterwards, we made quickly for Oudtshoorn so that we could get to the Cango Wildlife Park before late afternoon.

The Cango Wildlife Park is a bit zoo-like at times, but the best part of it is the encounters that you can have with the wild cats. For a donation, I was able to enter the adult cheetah enclosure and actually PET a cheetah! I don’t think I had ever seen a live cheetah before then, let alone get close enough to touch one, so I was in complete shock when I was able to stroke its back and hear it purr. YES, cheetahs purr!! It was definitely one of the craziest, most surreal, experiences I’ve ever had. Once we left the park we checked in at our hostel, where we got our own room once again :D, and headed to Buffelsdrift Wildlife Reserve for dinner. This private game park has an awesome restaurant situated right on the waterhole where you can observe wildlife coming to drink at dusk. Being in the ostrich capital of the world, I decided to have a salad topped with ostrich carpaccio. Ostrich is a weird meat to eat…although it’s a bird, when you’re eating it, it’s much more like beef than anything else. That being said, it was tasty! One of my friends, Marina, had the ostrich fillet, which was melt in your mouth fantastic, while my two other friends had kudu and springbok burgers (YUM). One thing I can say about South Africa is that it really hasn’t disappointed in the food area.

Today, Sunday, we went to the Cango Caves! These caves are awesome and filled with tons of stalactites/stalagmites. We decided to take the adventure tour so we had to do some crawling and climbing through tunnels that were sometimes less than 2 feet high! I loved the whole thing, and was actually disappointed when it ended, despite being a bit worried about claustrophobia before starting the tour. After the caves, we had intended on driving across the Swartberg Pass (listed as one of the best drives you can do in South Africa), but unfortunately, because of the heavy rainfall, and thus heavy snow fall, the pass was closed. So, we regrouped and decided to just drive all the way back to Cape Town today, rather than spending more at another night’s accommodation.

This was a really long post…but I had to make sure I covered all of the main bases of our weekend! I’ll be putting pictures up soon, so check back for a new link within the week.

My Home Stay in Ocean View

I have so much to write about that I feel like I am going to end up forgetting to include something in this post. This past weekend our program participated in a home stay with the Ocean View community. This colored township is the same as the one where we ate lunch during our Cape Peninsula tour, and our arrival dinner ended up having a similar theme to the performances we saw a couple weeks ago. Our arrival in Ocean View was greeted by all of the home stay families with a delicious dinner while singers and dancers showed off their talent on stage. Another girl, Annie, and I were placed with a family of five; the parents, Althea and Reuben, had three children who were 13 (Simone), 9 (Joshua) and 2 (Hannah). After the performances, we hopped in their car and drove about 5 minutes to a quieter part of the township where their home was located. Their home was very modest; entering through the living room, where there are only couches and chairs (no dining table), you can essentially see the entire house’s floor plan. A small and basic kitchen joins the living room, while the three doors for the two bedrooms and bathroom are plainly visible. As soon as we put our things down, Hannah was busy at work showing us everything about the house about five times over. She was an endless burst of energy during the entire home stay, and one night she stayed up until 3 am! We went to bed around midnight and woke up the next morning to tv and cereal. I definitely wasn’t expecting the first time I watched TV in South Africa to be in a township, but sure enough, we were watching Paula Dean and the Disney Channel on a Saturday morning. Later in the afternoon we went to watch the basketball game between the Ocean View team and our team. Surprisingly, we weren’t completely slaughtered and we were able to keep up! Then…it was time for the braai! A group of families joined ours as we went over to our neighbor’s house at 6. As soon as I walked into our neighbor’s house I was shocked. His house had tile floors, leather chairs, a flat screen TV and a spacious kitchen. The exterior of the house is completely unassuming, potentially to prevent people from breaking in, but it was a huge shock to see such a nice house next to our humble home. This really changed my perspective on the families that live in Ocean View. Before seeing Mark’s house, I thought that everyone was in relatively the same financial situation; however, there is actually a huge range of people living in Ocean View. The wealthier families tend to stay in the township because they have family members there, and they don’t want to leave them.

We didn’t end up eating until 10:30 (typical African time), but in the meantime, we talked about politics and post-Apartheid with the adults. It was fascinating to hear about their position on the current president, JZ, as well as the effects of “reverse Apartheid”. During Apartheid, colored people were considered to be in the middle because they were not as poor as black South Africans, but they did not have the status of white South Africans. Now, that view has negatively affected their political power, as black South Africans are continuing to use the past to their benefit. After Nelson Mandela, the past two presidents have not been nearly as qualified for their position and tend to only help black South Africans. The same works when it comes to job applications. During interviews, job applicants will be asked what their nationality is, i.e. are you black, colored or white?

Furthermore, we learned more about the poverty of Ocean View, and the struggle of unemployment. If I remember correctly, the rate of unemployment in the township is around 60%. Most of these people have high school degrees, and around 40% of those who earned a college degree were unable to find a job. Thus, this leads to boredom and crime in Ocean View. The main drug that is abused is called “tuc”, which is similar to crystal meth. This drug was once used by the army to keep soldiers alert, but now has infiltrated the poor suburbs and is ravaging the young and old.

There is really too much to mention in this post, but I wanted to give a little bit of insight to South Africa and the township where we stayed. The braai was amazing, as always, with lots of boerewors, chicken and pork. Sunday morning we went to Long Beach, which looks like a shot taken from an old Hollywood movie. The white sandy beach and endless waves for surfing are stunning against the backdrop of Table Mountain. All of this beauty has to be taken with caution though, as our host dad reminded us of the dangers of sharks in these waters.

We said our farewells at 3 and made sure to exchange contact information. Sunday evening was pretty low key as we were all exhausted. This past week of classes has been same old same old, and now a group of friends and I are preparing to go on a road trip on Route 62 for the holiday weekend! I’ll be sure to post about it when I get back, so expect some details on wine, cheese, cheetahs, caves and ostriches!