A warm New Year’s celebration – I should have been doing this for years

Getting started at party number one

When we arrived back from Tanzania, Andrea and I had about an hour to get through customs and checked into our flight to Cape Town for New Year’s weekend. In the US, this would seem to be near impossible. In South Africa, it took us all of 10 minutes to get off the plane, go through passport control, get our bags and get through customs.

An added bonus to our trip to CT was that we were able to convince Ilona to come. too. We even got her on the same flight as us! Except that she got the date confused, missed her flight, and arrived later on in the afternoon that Thursday.  This made for a hilarious situation as Ilona had Andrea’s keys to her apartment in CT. Luckily, Andrea’s friends bailed us out and gave us a place to hang all day before Ilona arrived later that night.

Trying not to fall off the balcony

As New Year’s preparations began, I was worried it would be a bust. This has nothing to do with my love/hate affair with CT, or Andrea, or Ilona. The way I wrote that sounds as if I have a love/hate relationship with Andrea and Ilona. That’s not what I meant. I have a love affair with them…just not always with Cape Town. Anyway…it has to do with New Year’s Eve and the inevitable disappointment that comes from an evening full of such hype. But, I will say this is one of the better New Year’s I’ve had in a long time. This is likely because it was summer in South Africa as opposed to frigidly cold, like I am used to spending the holiday. We hit up a few parties, went hiking in Stellnbosch (where I was forced into eating mince (dried fruit) pie and fruit cake – ACK!), went hiking up Lion’s Head on Saturday afternoon, and even went to a cricket match with Bryden, his friend, and his mom on Sunday.

Ilona and I got back to Jozi late on Sunday night so we were pretty tired the next day. I went to work, she stayed at my place…and pretty much stayed through the rest of the week, too!

With Ilona at the cricket match...during a four hour rain delay. Luckily, there was beer.

Not a bad last week to spend in South Africa before heading Stateside.

Alright kids, it’s official: Cape Town is crap.

From the top of the Knysna Forest, two flowers watch over the valley below.

Cue the sounds of people all over the world pshawing me and touting the amazing weather and scenery in Cape Town.

…

Has everyone calmed down?

…

OK. I don’t actually think that Cape Town is crap. Lion’s Head is really great. So are the wineries! And the scenery! I can’t say much about Table Mountain or Robben Island since every time I go to Cape Town the weather doesn’t permit me to actually climb the mountain or take a ferry out to Robben Island, but I imagine they are also nice.

Pretty, right? NOT Cape Town.

What else? The ocean looks pretty, but I’ve never been in it. In fact, I don’t really ever see people in it…I think it must be cold…not that that has ever stopped me before having grown up in New England. But this is beside the point. Yes, Cape Town is quite lovely. But it’s crap in comparison to the Garden Route, which has the best scenery I’ve seen in South Africa (so far).

Not to be thwarted by the rocky seas, we went to the whale watching place anyway. This is the only picture of a whale I got. DENIED.

Anyway, a week or so ago, Shira, Sonja and I flew to Cape Town late on a Friday night, rented a car, and began our journey east to Port Elizabeth along the Garden Route. We had the whole thing planned! Cape Town and wineries on Saturday, whale watching in Hermanus on Sunday, kloofing in Wilderness and hiking in Knysna on Monday, and off to Port Elizabeth on Tuesday to play with some lion cubs and catch our flight back to Jozi that night.

Upon our arrival in Cape Town, a storm had already set in…and proceeded to follow us the entire trip.

Like many road trip partners, the storm was sometimes quiet (overcast or intermittent drizzling).

Me and the famous King Edward VII Ouuteniqua Yellowwood Tree in Knysna Forest. It's over 650 years old!

Other times, the storm had to sing along to the music and bust a move in the back seat (lots of wind, low visibility, and pouring cold rain). Like with all road trips, we just had to go with the flow. So, what did this mean for us? Well…it meant no Table Mountain in Cape Town, or whale watching in Hermanus (though with Shira leading the pack, we did head down the shore and saw a whale just the same), or kloofing.  Sounds kind of awful, right?

Nope! It was AWESOME.

For the past five years, when I think of the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, I always think of the Grand Teton National Park. Michael and I were heading south to Denver from

This picture does not give justice to this scenery. Probably my most favorite view of the entire trip.

Yellowstone, and it was my turn to drive. As he napped in the car, and I drove out of Yellowstone, I looked west and saw the sight that almost single-handedly inspired me to apply to graduate school in Denver. The scenery I saw when I visited Montana with Kori is a close second. The Northwest is pretty nice, too. Oh, and of course, Vermont…which I believe is the overall most beautiful state in the US (quiet people from Colorado). Anyway, the point is, the scenery on the Garden Route, with the green valleys, the views of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the many mountain ranges you drive at the foot of and through, is like nothing you will ever see. I think the rain, and as a result, the sun peaking through the clouds passing overhead, made it even more beautiful.

The view from the top of one of The Heads in Knysna

The people we met were helpful and friendly, offering us advice, directions, and the opportunity to play with three week old puppies! Give me a puppy and I’m yours. I can’t help it. We didn’t get lost (except in Port Elizabeth)! We went to a berry farm and stopped by a fairy sanctuary! We saw a 650 (or more) old tree! And drove through Concordia, this Rastafarian township where the people who live there build their houses from the timber from the nearby Knysna forest as opposed to metal and tin. And we saw a seal! And baboons! And giraffes! And of course, we got to play with lion cubs.

When I think about it, I realize I must have always wanted a baby lion. But it wasn't until now that I knew it for sure.

Is it possible to get any better than that?

Well, Kruger National Park is my next big stop, so I’ll report back then. But so far: Long live the Garden Route.

http://www.hermanus.co.za/

Cheetahs, and penguins, and bunnies! Oh, my!

A view from the top of Lion's Head

After renting a car the Thursday before Easter, Janna and I hopped on the N1 South and headed to Cape Town for a weekend of beach going, and site-seeing.

Our first stop was in Bloemfontein, which as it turns out, it where J.R.R. Tolkien was born and lived until age 5. People in Bloemfontein like to claim that Tolkien’s legendary kingdom of Mordor was inspired by his time in Bloem, where it is hot, dry and barren. It was about 10:30pm when we arrived, so I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not Bloem is hot or dry, but it certainly is barren.