Tanzania

Hello world. It's been awhile since I last wrote on this blog; I was still in SA. If I only had the motivation and time I would have written about a fantastic garden route road trip, Jeffrey's Bay ( the SA surfing Mecca), a fantastic 3rd v. 4th place match, the Karoo, Kimberley diamonds and more. Instead you get to read about my safari in Tanzania. Anyone who has been on an African safari knows the thrill of seeing you first wild animals. Baboons walk across the road and your guides urge you to close your windows when departing the jeep as those crazy baboons will gladly reach in and swipe your things. By day three of the safari baboons are like minus points, you don't even mention them to the others in the jeep. Other animals that lost their luster include gazelles, storks, monkeys and more gazelles. My favorite safari spot the Serengeti! Classic Africa and a lot like the lion king. Damn Elton John song was in my head for many days. The Serengeti plains are grassy and yellowed at this time of year. Despite the excellent camouflage of the animals we still saw lions, cheetahs and one very surprise leopard. Heck I was surprised too, it was merely a few feet to the side of me when we drove by around dawn. Later we noticed the Thompson gazelle that the leopard drug up the tree to save for snacking later. About 35 feet up the tree, there it was a dead animal limply hanging. That was as close as we got to seeing a kill. Though our group was blessed with following some stalking lions slowly in a caravan of other jeeps. Eventually the lions laid down and relaxed like all lions do... for oh about 20 hours of the day. Ah to be a lion, lying around. Expect more infrequent posts as I soon leave to try and conquer Kilimanjaro.

Capetown

I must say that Cape Town is far superior to Jozi. There is an active nightlife for locals and tourists based on and around Longstreet, the bourbon street of Cape Town. I have spent the last couple of nights with friends from Rosebank lodge including: Tim an American who took the effort to try and understand cricket last night, Chris the German/Portuguese Canadian in transit to a job in Oz, Tyler a Harvard grad who somehow still has collared shirts which look clean and pressed, and three British lads Dan, Scott and Silver; travelers on a shoestring with great humor and clearly up for the adventure. All of which I originally met in Jozi. This instant group of friends has made life easier and enjoyable. During my days I have been trying to see the sights and have seen many. The Castle of Good Hope was interesting though it lacked the grandeur of a European castle, it is more of a fort than a castle. I watched the key ceremony and "traditional guards" fire a cannon, though the cannon was maybe an unimpressive 10 inches in length. Table Mountain was also a pleasure, and quite a work out. I was about to kick myself halfway up because I was too cheap to take the cable car one way! The views are spectacular even with the low visibility that was present when I was at the top. Fortunately, I survived and am considering going again. It was the first real exercise I had in a month aside from constant walking. Robben's Island was a must see for me, and I worked my way onto a full ferry by purchasing a ticket from a tourist who had too many. The perks of being a lone traveler. The island itself is nothing impressive, but the stories present in the cells are worth the visit alone. My favorite being the one about a prisoner who actually created a master key and unlocked his cell at night, only to realize he had trouble locking it again. Thus he spent all night trying to lock himself back in his own cell. Needless to say I recommend Cape Town, like all the travelers I ran into before I got here. Soon, I will be heading to Port ELizabeth or PE for short to enjoy the 3rd and 4th place match, with Camilo and Ivette (two more Rosebankers; more about them later).

Escape from Jozi

I have finally departed Johannesburg for Capetown. The transportation nightmare of Jozi is not to be underestimated. Two days ago, I took a Brit with me to Pretoria (a simple 45 minute drive). We took the local transport, in typical Hurwitz style. It involved two kombis to get there and four kombis to get back. A kombi is like a collectivo in Sur America, essentially a van where they pack people in and drive off when full. To get to Pretoria it took us about an hour; to get home it took us two and a half hours! We just barely made it back for the Spain v. Portugal match. It really brings into perspective how hard and time consuming it can be for the poor to get to and from work in the city.