Cape Town

And so we begin the Chronicle of my South African vacation – let’s start at the beginning. To introduce the players - we have Myself, Natalie, and Heather. Since I’m a humble Peace Corps volunteer and not a playboy millionaire, we had to bypass the private jet full of caviar and dancers and was forced to hitchhike the length of the trip. We only got as far as Windhoek on our first day, but we really didn’t have any complaints. Our hike turned out to be a rather warm gentleman that offered us not only a ride to Windhoek, but lodging and dinner as well. I don’t know what it means that I’m continually surprised by the kindness of the strangers, but I will say I am enjoying being repetitively surprised. I was most moved by his reasoning and explanation on why he took us in. See, he’s the father of three (including the current Ms. Namibia :)) and he sat us down and articulated that as a father, he understands what its like to have your children out in the world alone, and that hopefully, someone would help their children in the same manner if needed. So there we have it. A good start.

It took four more hikes to get to Cape Town. Three from Windhoek to the town of Noordoewer on the Namibian / South African border, and then one from there to Cape Town (Thank God…) First impressions – South African is beautiful. Its green. Especially during the rainy season. Green rocky and rolling hills….very pretty. The following photo was taken from the back of a closed pickup truck outside the SA town of Springbok.

Now my apologies to those looking for incredible things that we should have done like shark diving, skydiving, and seal/dolphin tours, but alas, to reiterate - I’d rather spend my money eating. Our first day was spent acclimating to city life once again, and relaxing from far too much time traveling in the back of usually uncomfortable hikes. Spent most of the day walking around town attempting to take it all in and realizing that we’re not *really* in Africa (Gluten Free Tortilla shells? Please.) We checked into our Hostel, situated on Long Street (basically the equivalent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.) Dorm style, which in most situations would be a bad thing, but in our case we had all quiet roommates for the length of the trip. In addition, we had our own private balcony. Take a gander.

Great place. Anyway…like I said, for the first day, we really didn’t do much. That night however, was one of the most memorable for my sake, as well as one of my favorites. If you look in the above photo, you’ll see a red building at the first intersection, on the far right hand side. That’s Mama Africa, a bar and restaurant that’s one of the MANY venues for evening entertainment. Anyways…Heather and I were tired after our first evening and decided to hit the hay early, but seeing how Natalie was set on going out, she talked me into joining her for finding a cup of coffee somewhere. Why not – good coffee is hard to find in Namibia. So we pass by Mama Africa, only to see a Marimba band playing in the window. This cannot be passed up. We pay the cover charge, order some drinks, and settle into a vacant corner. For the musically interested, they played a combination of Afro-Cuban fusion and what sounded like Ska/reggae. Really interesting stuff. After about an hour, the band decides to take a break and I cannot contain my curiosity any longer. I find the bandleader, simply to ask where to find and buy a marimba. It comes out that the reason I’m looking for one is because I play it, along with almost every other percussion instrument they have on stage. Let me just say, one of the coolest moments in my life thus far was getting invited on stage to improve and play marimba and congas with a marimba band. They asked me to improv, and the band came in and played over me. Let me give an enormous thank you to Natalie, who upon hearing this news, sprinted back to the hostel to get her camera.

Now for the record, I wasn’t planning to go out that night, which explains the crappy t-shirt and my glasses. Definitely not one of my more attractive moments, but trust me – in situations like this, I’ve discovered that most women don’t care. Natalie also was able to acquire some video with audio of me performing. With any luck, I’ll get that up on youtube and I’ll notify you guys if and when it’s possible.

The next day was New Year’s Eve. Once again we spent the day wandering around the city, only this time to go down all the way to the beach to an area called Victoria’s Wharf. Ask my father how awesome (and expensive…) that place can get. Anyway, that evening we begun at an Irish Pub called the Dubliner…where of course, I got my long anticipated nourishment. See photo of me enjoying said nourishment.