Let's have an impromptu safari

ostriches at the Cape of Good Hope

After skipping my morning run due to torrential rain here in Somerset West (a suburb of Cape Town), we all decided to head down to Cape Town to go to historic Robben Island, the site where Nelson Mandela was held during the apartheid era. Upon arriving at the Robben Island Ferry, we were told that we could not purchase tickets for today, and would have to come back tomorrow.

At this point, we decided to head for the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwest point on the African continent. Along the way there were some truly magnificent views, as the rocky terrain of the landmass dropped precipitously into the ocean below. When we got to a place called Simon's Town, we saw a sign alerting us that there were penguins to be seen nearby. We had to go down and have a look. Without paying the extra fee to get closer, we saw a number of individual penguins on the walkway down to the beach. They're pretty cute in person.

A little bit closer to the Cape, we started to see signs warning us about the presence of baboons. We drove on, and as we drove, we decided we would feel cheated if we did not get to see baboons. We had almost reached the Cape when we finally saw a few. A couple of the baboons were clutching babies and there was another baboon in a tree acting like a lookout. It was very cool, but monkeys are a dangerous lot, so we moved on.

Soon we had reached the Cape of Good Hope. When we got there, we were greeted by ostriches. These ostriches were very impressive in person. They looked fit to be descendants of the dinosaurs. It was cool to be at what is sort of an end of the Earth with my friends at the Cape.

It is not my priority on this trip to see animals. The main priority is football. That having been said, the chance to go "on safari" in an unplanned context was very rewarding. There is a lot to see here in South Africa in the way of animal life, and I was happy to appreciate a tiny bit of it today. Until next time...

The gang at the Cape of Good Hope

The first Memory of our trip

At long last Lars, Joe and I reached South Africa. We arrived in Johannesburg's OR Tambo Airport on Egyptair flight 839 from Cairo. After some minor logistical hurdles we decided the best thing to do next was to eat at Wimpy. You could maybe say that Wimpy is equivalent to Denny's in the USA. Our waitress at Wimpy was a nice young woman named Memory (pictured above with the three of us). 2 of her other colleagues were named (according to their badges) Charity and Prince, so maybe people like to make an impression with names here. Wimpy was good and cheap, especially for an airport. Memory was hoping we would take her back to the USA with us when we left, and we told her that we would pick her up when we came back through Johannesburg. Watch this space...

After eating at Wimpy, we flew to Cape Town. We had come to Cape Town from San Francisco via London, then Cairo, and then Johannesburg. 37 hours of transit (with stops in 3 Business Class lounges and a trip to downtown London just to get breakfast) made for 3 very weary travelers. After we collected our bags, we met the legendary Fawzi right at Cape Town Airport arrivals. It was now official: the trip had truly begun.

Everything went smoothly today, my first in Africa, from the flights to getting cell phone service, to getting our match tickets printed at the FIFA World Cup kiosks, to picking up the car, to getting the keys to our apartments. One small note: driving on the left side of the road is doing my head in! It takes all my admittedly inconsiderable powers of concentration to stop myself from killing us all. Anyway, time to rest, more to come...