Cape Point- June 15th

Last Sunday we took an impromptu trip to cape point which is at the tip of the Cape Peninsula. We took the scenic route driving along the coast and we took lots of pictures along the way, stopping at any scenic point we found. We had all thought that there were penguins down at the Cape but I guess we were incorrect. What we found instead were lots of signs along the way informing us to beware of baboons and that they are dangerous and attracted by food. As we are driving and seeing these signs, I start to feel a little disappointed that we are not seeing any of these infamous baboons and wondered if they really were out there. Then we get to the park and start driving up to cape point and as we start to see where we are to park we see them. Baboons everywhere!

I am soooo excited. Dangerous or not, this was really cool to see. Some people did not like their presence as I heard a girl scream when she turned around and there was one sitting right behind her. They were walking around the parking lot, some sitting on cars or buildings, and others just sitting on the side of the road I'm guessing waiting for someone to drop their food or set it down unsuspecting. I missed seeing this happen, but Mitch said he saw this girl walking with a drink and saw a baboon and she screamed and dropped her drink. The baboon immediately went after this sweet drink, licking it up from the ground, pouring more out to drink until one of the workers walked toward it and scared the baboon off. Then the girl did the unthinkable. She picked the drink back up, put her straw back in, and DRANK IT. Ewwwww! Mitch and I were laughing as we watched her, hardly believing she just did that.
After this spectacle we then walked all the way up to the top to the lighthouse which we could not go in but it was tiny. Not large enough for someone to live in and just took in the view. We were still disappointed that there were no penguins and asked someone people about it and they informed us that they were actually in Simons Town which was on the opposite coast that we drove up.

So once we were done in Cape Point we drove to see the penguins. Even though the park was closed, we still saw a lot of penguins along another path and a few of them somehow escaped the fences and were running around the parking lot.

I have to say, it was a very cool day.

Wacky Wine Fest- June 7th

Saturday we took a bus with a group of locals to the Wacky Wine Festival. It was about a 2 hour drive (mostly because the locals started pre-gaming and needed frequent bathroom stops) but it was definitely a very scenic drive. We saw a lot more mountains and some had snow on top which from speaking to these locals this is not very common. They said prior to the climate changes it was more unheard of to see snow on the mountains. At the first rest stop we all piled out to use the restroom and as I was standing in line by the sinks I see a box on the counter with smaller boxes inside. They were about the size of travel Kleenex. Then one of the girls jokingly asked if we should grab some condoms for the bus ride. So then I grabbed one of the boxes and sure enough, it was a small pack of condoms. At first I thought that was so odd seeing how usually you have to pay for them in bathrooms like you would for a tampon. But then I remembered that I am in Africa and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is very bad here. I was reading something this morning saying that South Africa has the highest ratio of persons with HIV than any other country. So I guess that would not be uncommon to see and actually a quite necessary prevention method.

I took many photos of the landscape and along the way I saw a peculiar sign that said it was against the law to feed baboons. I am looking around widely at this point, wondering where on earth you would find a baboon in this area. Crazy. We finally arrive and only make it to three stops. You first buy your “passport” which is your wine glass and golden ticket to all the wine you can drink. Unfortunately for Mitch and I we only found two different kinds which were decent. Actually, at the last stop we ended up buying three bottles. It was sooooo cheap! Buy two get one free, and the cost was R30 per bottle ($3). One of the guys we are with here from Notre Dame was walking around the last stop with a bottle of wine (not uncommon to see at all) and offering it to all. I guess he wanted to buy a glass but at this particular location they only sold bottles after 5pm. So the guy told him R40, and our friend is thinking 4 bucks for a glass but it was really $4 for the entire bottle. Still not a bad deal.

While we are walking around I notice at the very first location that almost everyone is wearing boots. Ugg boots, fashion boots and rain boots (including the men). We ask someone if this is some sort of fashion trend and they tell us no. At the second location I see more people wearing boots, but mostly rain boots and I have never seen so many men in my life wearing rain boots. So then we asked a girl on the bus on our way to the third stop as she happens to work in fashion. She and her fiancé elaborate that last year the weather was horrible and rained a lot. As these events are located outside and in the middle of nowhere, it is often very muddy. Thus why everyone is wearing boots. I did snap a few photos of the boots everyone was wearing.

At the end of the night everyone was under these tents watching the rugby game which South Africa won by the way. Once the game was over the music began. Lots of American covers. I am not sure if I have ever heard actual South African music thus far. We were supposed to meet back at the bust around 8ish but everyone had drank so much by this point it took quite awhile to round everyone up and we didn’t end up leaving until 9pm. But we still had fun.

Parliament Tour- June 6th

Last Friday we went on a tour of Parliament which is only a few blocks away. There is a street full of all of the parliament buildings which you need permission to access. We all had to give our passport information ahead of time just to be able to go on the tour. The only pictures I have are the outside of the buildings as we were not allowed to take pictures inside the building. I heard the current president supposedly spent R250,000,000 (25 million) of the governments money remodeling his vacation home.

Although I am not particularly interested in the way government works, there were some interesting things that I picked up. First of all, the way the public votes for the president is different than the way we do it in the US and I think many other countries. Parliament consists of two Houses; the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly has 400 members of Parliament and the voters pick the political party whom they want to represent their country. By doing so they are trusting that the party will pick the best candidate whom is already part of parliament (all presidents must come from the parliament).

The National Assembly is divided by the percentage of votes it receives during the election. So if a particular party receives half of the votes, they will hold half of the seats in the National Assembly. Also, when parliament meets, the public is allowed to sit in on their meetings provided that they requested to do so ahead of time and provided their passport information. But you are there strictly as an observer. They also are able to keep their meetings to the allotted time, because each party is allowed only enough time to speak based on the size of seats they hold in the National Assembly.

South Africa has three capitals. The House of Parliament is located in Cape Town and is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital and is the seat of the President and Cabinet; and Bloemfontein is the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal which makes it the judicial capital, however the Constitutional Court of South Africa is in Johannesburg. Someone on the tour asked why South Africa had three capitals, and although I remember the gist of the answer, I found this online. “This concept dates back to the creation of the Union of South Africa, where conflicting views on which city should hold the capital led to this compromise. Much like the very idea of the balance of powers, leaders of early South Africa decided that having all government centralized in one place could give that place too much power, so it divided the branches among three provinces.”

 Information came from http://www.mapsofworld.com/south-africa/national-capital.html

Week 2 Forecast

It's cold!!! We went to a wine festival this weekend with some locals and they informed me it will only get colder and I really need a coat. I tried to bring one but Mitch didn't think I'd need. Why do I not just listen to my instincts? I bought a space heater and we keep it next to the bed, close the dividers and attempt to keep part of the room somewhat warm. Problem is once you open the dividers all the cold air rushes in.

Picture of the Mountain

I tried to upload a short video yesterday which ended up using all of the internet data I bought 6 minutes short of completion. So instead I will just show you this picture I took this morning. It is a very nice day out and Lynn and I (the other wife who came) are going to go out on a bus tour while everyone is at work. 

London is expensive

For those of you wanting to go to London one day... it is expensive. The exchange rate was about 1 pound to $2. While we were walking about Mitch was hungry and wanted a hot dog. He paid 4 pounds.... for just a hot dog. It did not come with drinks or chips, so that one hot dog cost $8. 

When we went to dinner we only had 20 pounds left and thought, OK, so about $40, that should be enough. Um no. We ended up coming under but only bought a tiny ass salad, some nachos, 1 fanta and Mitch tried to go cheap with water but yeah no. He had to pay for that as well. Bill came to 16 pounds. 

And lastly... as we were walking around the airport we saw a electronics store. Now granted, I get that airports are usually slightly more costly.. but what I saw was ridiculous. We walk over to the iPads and look at the price and it is around roughly 399 pounds. I'm pretty sure they are like $379 US. And then we see the Galaxy S5 which I bought one week before we left. And well.. just see for yourself. The first is the US version and the second is London one. 

Our apartment

First here are some pictures driving into town from the airport. The mountain is called "Table Mountain" and supposedly there is a cable car that will take you to the top.

These are pictures of our apartment:

Right as you walk in

The very ancient kitchen. I am afraid to use that oven. I also had a bigger mini fridge in college. 

Our bedroom.

 The living room. We get an astounding 5 channels on that TV.

The bathroom. Almost fell trying to get out of the tub the first day. It is really high up.

Lastly.. view from our room. Again it is very cloudy out and so you can't see the top of the mountain. When it clears up I'll get better pictures.