Rhodes Memorial Restaurant

            Having already finished classes on the 21^st of October, I’ve found myself having plenty of time to relax, amid studying of course.  I’ve been sleeping in a bit later, and enjoying reading books in between getting ready for finals.  This past Tuesday, the day before my first exam, my roommate SarahCatherine and I went on a nice run in the morning and then made our way up to school.  We walked along the outside of upper campus to the top right corner where a bridge over a wire fence sits.  Beyond the fence, up a short dirt path, sits Rhodes Memorial. 

(Hike to Rhodes)

(Rhodes Memorial)

Behind said memorial, sits Rhodes Memorial Restaurant. 

(Rhodes Memorial Restaurant)

The hike up to campus and up the path had made us sweat, but we quickly cooled off as the wind atop the mountain dried our sweat.  The view was immaculate.  Though the memorial hardly sits above the bottom of Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain, it is still high enough to rise above all of Rondebosch and the neighboring towns.  From where we sat, on a picnic bench resting on a cobble stone deck, we could see our apartment, and all along Main Road.  We could also see much further past Main Road to highways leading out to the townships surrounding Cape Town, and eventually to the mountains sitting across the way.  To our right we spotted the Indian Ocean far away, and to our left, the Atlantic, bordering the city.

(View from our picnic table)

We sat outside, enjoying the views from our table, and ordered breakfast.  I ordered a latte, and our waiter brought it over speedily.  As I’ve already explained in a previous blog, they let you make your latte’s yourself here in South Africa.  Thus, I was given a tall glass mug of steaming milk (definitely not skim) and a small pitcher of espresso.  I happily poured the espresso over the milk.  Though the latte got cold quickly because of the wind, it was delicious.  SarahCatherine and I both ordered Eggs Benedict, the item on the menu that had drawn us to this restaurant in the first place. 

(Eggs Benedict and a latte)

The dish was quite different than what I’m used to at home.  The English muffin had much more a bread-like consistency, with green herbs speckling it, the Canadian bacon much thicker, and the hollandaise sauce thicker and yet less creamy.  The breakfast was delicious, but is in no competition with the Eggs Benedict my mom makes at home, which I will gladly be eating in 22 days time!

After we had finished eating, I ordered a scone to go.  I was to stay on campus all day writing a paper and studying for my final the next day and had forgotten to bring up a snack.  The scones here are different as well. 

(Scone)

They aren’t filled with chocolate or fruit.  Instead they are just a big ball of dough onto which you can spread butter, jam, or this cream mixture.  I added condiments to my scone and let the waiter wrap it up.  SarahCahterine made our way down to the memorial and took a last look across Rondebosch and Cape Town, and then made our way back down to school.

(View from the Memorial)

Lion's Head

By 5:15 pm, a group of study abroad students and myself were at the bottom of Lion’s Head.  Downtown, in the city of Cape Town, sits a small mountain, Lion’s Head, much shorter than Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain.  On one side of the mountain is the city of Cape Town, on the other, the Atlantic Ocean.  It’s typical for people to climb the mountain just before sundown, sit at the top with their ‘sundowners’ (drinks) for the show, and then walk back down in the light of the moon.

The hike up took about an hour and was much more strenuous than I had expected.  The trail circled the mountain, the first bit on the side with the ocean, the second overlooking the city. 

(Atlantic Ocean on the way up)

The hike was full of traffic, bunches of people climbing up and down the mountain. 

(Traffic on the mountain)

At last we made it to the top.  The peak was already crowded with groups of tourists and locals sitting comfortably, eating and drinking and waiting for the sun to set.  We sat on the ledges of the mountain, drinking in the view. 

(Cape Town from the top)

As I sat, my feet dangling off the edge, a cold castle beer in my hand, the ocean melded with the sky to my left, the city lights turning on to my right.

(BC pic on the mountain)

Though we had chosen a cloudy day to climb the mountain, the sky began to turn pink by 7 pm. 

(Start of the sunset)

As time passed the clouds became more red, eventually reflecting a yellow pink onto the water.  7:15 pm rolled around and the sky was dark. 

(Sunset)

We began our way back down the mountain, much more cautiously this time as the natural light of the moon was covered by clouds and we had no flash lights.  The city was beautiful. 

(Cape Town at night)

All the lights of the city were shining brightly and the ocean looked like an abyss of nothingness.

Stellenbosch (Wine Country)

This past weekend, one of my roommates, two girls from my spring break trip, and myself traveled to Stellenbosch, wine country.  The day started out great and only got better and better.  I made myself a to-go mug of coffee, SarahCatherine and I walked to the local bakery for warm croissants, and we walked to the other girls’ house, Allie E and Laura.  It was already hot out.  We all jumped in a cab to the train station and then got a 9:31 am train to Stellenbosch. 

(Stellenbosch Train Station)

Once there, two other girls from our spring break trip, who study at Stellenbosch, met us, Allie D and Franzie.  They had hired us a van for the day to drive us around to as many vineyards as we could get in.  The sun was already hot on our backs, but no amount of heat would make me change out of my fancy dress and makeup.  Today was going to be a classy day no matter what.

The first winery we visited was called Bergkelder. 

(Bergkelder)

It did not have a vineyard, but instead had extreme supervision over which grapes it got from other vineyards, and had one of the biggest wine cellars in the country.  As there wasn’t a tour ready yet, our buddy from Berkelder poured us a glass of wine, an unfiltered 2009 Merlot, and we walked around the store, admiring the many bottles of wine for sale, and then making our way to a mini museum in the back, full of old machinery and wine glasses.

(First glass of wine for the day)

At last, it was time for our tour.  Henrich, our tour guide, led us outside, past the distillery building, past an old storage house and brandy barrel, to a cork tree.  He explained that while many companies no longer use real corks, they help wine age the best, but take a while to make, as it takes about 40 years and three layers of cork before the tree is ready to be used. 

(Cork Tree)

He then led us into the wine cellar.  It was freezing and dark.  

(Cellar hallway)

The walls were covered with full wine bottles stacked to the ceiling, and each room had a light shining down on a small table where our wine to taste stood. 

(SarahCatherine and the bottles to the ceiling)

Henrich first explained that of all the wine bottles in the cellar, only about 3% is still drinkable, and yet no one knows what 3%.  He then proceeded to name each wine we tasted, showing us the color against a white board, and explaining to us what nose, tastes, and undertones we should find in each. 

(Wine tasting station)

We tasted a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinotage (special to South Africa because of the grapes it is made with), Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Noble Late Harvest.  The Noble Late Harvest was a gold color, and tasted extremely sweet, like a mix of honey and peach jam.  Henrich informed us that this wine was extremely expensive to produce, as the grapes needed a certain pattern of weather to ripen, and each grape gave one drop of wine.  At the end of the cellar there were large wooden barrels carved with significant events of South Africa that are no longer used because of their wood to wine ratio, and then we saw the private wine tasting room where the chairs were more than R4,000 each because they are made out of the same material airplane windows are made of. 

(Private tasting table, expensive chairs, carved wooden barrels)

I must say, I sat in one and it did not feel like R4,000.  After leaving the cellar, we visited the distillery, and finally the storeroom, where all the wine was kept in barrels to age.  The room was huge and smelled of fresh wood.  Once we were finished taking pictures with the barrels like children, we made our way back to the main house, signed the guest book, and then headed out for the next winery.

(Storage room for wine)

Simonsig had a vineyard.  The dirt had a reddish tint below the grapes, and the mountains surrounding Stellenbosch rose up behind them.  It was beautiful. 

(Simonsig vineyard)

Here we tried five wines again.  There was no order, however, so we all tried separate wines, while sharing a cheese platter of bries and blue cheese.  I tried a delicious white wine, and only wish I could remember which it was. 

(Simonsig)

We had to move quick here, as there were more wineries to see, so after we had each enjoyed our five wines, we made our way back to the bus and Patrick drove us to Delheim.  At the Delheim vineyard we chose not to taste wine, and instead ate lunch on their patio. 

(Lunch at Delheim)

But again we were crunched for time, as all the vineyards close at 5 pm, so we ate quickly and continued on our tours.

The next winery was called Knorhoek.  It was a small winery with a little patio to sit on and drink wine, while at the bottom of a large mountain. 

(Knorhoek)

We sat around a picnic table, having a little more time, and enjoyed another five wines.  Together we tried their Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc (Silver Old mutual award), Rose, Pinotage, and Pantere.  The Pantere was by far my favorite wine of the whole day. 

(Favorite wine of the day)

It was a mix of 30% Merlot, 30% Cab Franc, 20% Cab Sauvignon, and 20% Shiraz, and it was delicious.

(The group at Knorhoek)

Our last winery of the day was the second oldest family owned winery in South Africa, Muratie.  They say second oldest, and they mean it.  There were thick cobwebs decorating the windows and ceiling, sheets of dust across sills and unused shelves, and large spiders running freely.  

(Muratie)

The tasting room contained an ancient piano, dated comfy chairs, and a tinted lamp.  The ambiance was a mix of ancient England and grandma’s house.  Again, we tried five wines.  I tried a Port wine for the first time…and probably the last.  It was sweet and a bit grainy, much too heavy for my advance wine tasting palate.

After Patrick dropped us off at Allie D and Franzie’s dorm, Academia, we recuperated for about an hour.  Then it was off again.  Stellenbosch is too small to have taxis, so we were forced to walk everywhere, which is probably for the better.  We walked into town and the two of them pointed out cool places they like to hang out at or eat at, and then we made our way to the restaurant Gino’s for dinner.  There we sat for three hours.  I ordered a large pizza and most of the others did the same.  We ate, drank water, and talked.  By 9 pm, we ordered dessert to go and made the long way back to the dorm.  Again we talked, but this time lay down, and slowly fell asleep, completely drained from a day of hard work.

The next morning we got up slowly, drank our coffee and tea, prettied ourselves up, and then made our way to a small café in town called Java.  Down town Stellenbosch reminded me a lot of Hanover, the town where Dartmouth College is, and where I used to live.  It was a college town. 

(Downtown Stellenbosch)

The streets were clean, and all the shops along the streets were white, small, and family owned.  Outside at the café, we sat, ate our breakfast, talked, and began to sweat as the sun shone bright. 

(I had to make my own latte, pouring the espresso into the steamed milk!)

Franzie and Allie D, the girls studying at Stellenbosch, told us what they do in town, where they go, and the culture.  The town is predominantly Afrikaner, white.  It is where apartheid started and it still very racist.  The girls told us that most of their friends from Stellenbosch would never think of setting foot in the one township outside of the city, and still segregate themselves from people of other races.  After brunch, we walked around the town, visiting the shops, and getting ice cream.

Before we headed back to the dorm, we stopped at the Botanical Gardens.  The dirt paths were sided with loads of colorful flowers, leading to a square pond with fountains.  Towards the edge of the gardens sat a circular pond, pink water lilies floating on the water, sitting in front of a rusted broken sundial. 

(Pond at the gardens)

After perusing the flowers and trees of the gardens, we headed back to the dorms, cooled ourselves off, then headed back into town to the train station.  The ride back to Cape Town took much longer than on the way to Stellenbosch because the train had to switch tracks multiple times, but we all rested from the long weekend, drinking in the beautiful vineyards passing as we headed out of Stellenbosch.

(Zebras on the train ride home)

The Last Day of the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE

Before we knew it, it was already day ten.  Somehow, spring break had flown past us.  It was a lazy morning, or, at least, what we considered to be a lazy morning on the trip.  Breakfast wasn’t until 8:30 am and we didn’t have to be packed until 9:30.  We took a Team Elephant picture at the lodge, our first and last picture with everyone in it, including Trevor, Paul, and Elroy. 

(Team Elephant)

Then we loaded onto the truck and drove to the airport.

We had to cross over to Zambia to get to the airport, but this time the border patrol was a lot easier to get by.  We lined up to get our passports stamped, got harassed to buy some copper bracelets, and then were on our way. 

(In the aiport...but proof we went there)

Driving along the road we were hit hard by the most epic event of the entire trip.  We were driving in our truck.  We were listening to Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’.  We were stopped by a herd of elephants crossing the road in front of us.  I felt emotions of shock and thrill course through my body.  This was surreal.  I was in Africa with some of the greatest people I had ever met and the road was being blocked by wild elephants!!! 

(Epic experience captured in a photo)

As we continued to the airport we listened to more ‘African’ songs and played drums on the table.

We reached the airport two hours before our flight from Zambia to Jo-burg, SA.  Everyone hugged Paul and Elroy, who were taking a later flight, and then shuffled through the lines at the miniscule airport. 

(Trevor, me, Elroy, Paul)

A group of us played ‘Asshole’ on the floor while we waited for our flight.  On the plane I studied my Differential Equations flashcards for the first time on the trip (I had a test the next day).  At the Johannesburg airport we all ate our last meal.  Everyone split off, but most of us went to Spur, which is kind of like South Africa’s version of Applebee’s.  My last meal of the trip was a cheeseburger, French fries (called chips in SA), and onion rings.  It hit the spot.

(Last meal of the trip)

Again I studied my flashcards on our flight to Cape Town.  Once there we collected our bags, said goodbye to the Stellenbosch girls, and hopped onto our bus to take us home.  What do you know, it was cold and raining.  Shocker.  The day was full of traveling, but it was still a great day, and a great end to the trip.  I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful last day of the best days of my life.

The Second to Last Day of the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE

            I woke up on my own this morning, nothing planned for too early.  I was wearing my swimsuit bottoms, nike shorts, and t-shirt.  The same outfit I had worn during white water rafting, on the cruise, and going out.  Why change now?  After breakfast I headed over to the market one last time with Colleen, Kylee, and Senta.  This time I didn’t bring any money with me.  If I couldn’t trade for whatever I wanted, then I didn’t need it.  Already having traded my sleeping bag and sneakers the day before, I packed my backpack with magazines, tampons, earrings, a t-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, socks, Pepto Bismol, and a UCT bag.  We made our way to the market, the sun already forcing me to sweat through my dirty clothes.  It was hectic once again.  This time, however, we ventured further into the market to the stands in the back.  There I traded my long sleeved shirt, UCT bag, a magazine, and tampons for my favorite trinket, which I cannot name.  I traded with a man named Doubt and asked if I took take a picture of his booth.  He excitedly agreed and then wrote down his address on a piece of paper so I could print out the picture and send it to him.  After taking one picture and agreeing to send it, I was doomed.

(Doubt)

            The rest of the time we were at the market I was continuously taking pictures of the vendors, showing them their picture on the digital screen, and then accepting their scraps of paper on which they scrawled their addresses.  One picture stood out above the rest.  Senta had decided to trade her watch, what for I don’t even remember.  She handed the man her watch and he immediately turned and placed the watch on the wrist of a young girl.  We came to find she wasn’t even his daughter.  But it was still the sweetest thing.  I took a picture of all of them, with their dad, and he proceeded to give me his address. 

(The man in the back is the one who traded and gave the young girl Senta's watch)

This time he also gave me his email and phone number, though I’m not sure I’ll need those, and suggested I could also send the kids presents at Christmas.  I didn’t make any promises, but ensured him I would eventually send the picture.  After trading a few more things and getting harassed a bit more, the four of us made our way back to the lodge.

            At 11 am Senta and I boarded a bus and rode to a gorge of the Zambezi River.  We were doing a tandem zip line across the gorge! 

(The gorge)

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t have a fear of heights, but if I had a choice I would rather not hang off a cliff.  Yes, of course I did actually sign up for this, but the thrill seemed a lot more exciting when I wasn’t near the edge.  A worker strapped Senta and I into our harnesses, making sure to scare the shit out of us with his jokes, and walked us to the landing for the zip line.  We climbed up to the landing and were hooked to the actual zip line part.  Things had been fine until now, but looking over the edge Senta began to freak.  As we stood there she continued to say she no longer wanted to do it.  The worker man ignored her, I assume they get people like that all the time, and had us sit on the ledge. 

(On the edge of terror)

As Senta continued to dismiss the idea of the zip line, I too became very frightened.  I had been before but kept my mouth shut.  However, with Senta voicing her fear, I couldn’t help but realize mine. 

(Before he let go)

At last I told her we’d be fine, the man told us to put our weight on our harnesses while he held onto the rope, and then he let go.

(Going...)

            It was one of the most exhilarating feelings of my life.  The wind whipped past my face as we dropped down the line, not in a free fall, but feeling like we’d fall forever. 

(...going...)

The zip line brought us across to the other bank and then we continued to glide back and forth on the line until we slowed in the middle, hanging over the river. 

(...gone.)

It was an amazing feeling.  The scariest part of the whole experience had been sitting on the ledge and looking over.  We sat there in our harnesses for what seemed like forever until one of the workers zipped himself down to us and then brought us back.  Though the zip line was a blast, it felt good to reach solid ground, and Senta and I quickly climbed down from the platform and behind the fences guarding people from falling down the gorge.

            We rode back to the lodge just in time for me to jump into the cab heading for the massage and Mani Pedi place.  As it turns out, the spa was in the backyard of the bar, Shoestrings, we had been to the night before.  Below a roof of sheets and walls of nothing, women pumiced my feet, scrubbed my arms and legs, filed down my finger and toe nails, and then painted them.  The nail polish colors in the basket looked like those a child would wear, but I humored myself and chose bright green for my fingernails and clear for my toenails.  Then came the massage.  After sleeping on the ground for a week and riding in a rickety bus, the massage felt great and I dosed off.  I had time to shower after coming back to the lodge, and then I had the lion encounter.

            About seven of us from Team Elephant and a few random people took a bus from the lodge about twenty minutes out to the Lion Encounter.  We were in the bush.  One of the guides gave us a talk about the different stages of ALERT, the program this lion encounter was a part of.  Basically, the lion population in Africa has dropped by 80% these past few decades.  This program’s job is to raise lions from when they are cubs and start to grow up until they are ready to be put into the wild.  While this program is in Zimbabwe, the guide told us they send these lions all over the continent when other countries request them.  The group then split into two; Team Elephant and a few other couples went with Paul.  We walked for about 45 minutes through the bush with two lions, a girl, Chete, 12 months old, and a boy, Chundu, 15 months old. 

(Chete)

Paul explained to us to use our walking sticks to tap the lion’s head if they started turning towards us, and to never get near the head at all.  We were all allowed to take turns petting the lions multiple times and took turns walking with them as well. 

(Petting Chundu)

Paul was extremely adamant about everyone getting a chance to walk with the lions and pet them.  He learned all of our names and proceeded to call us up, grabbing our cameras from us and snapping pictures with them.  Numerous times the lions sat down on their own accord and Paul hustled us behind them one by one to take photos. 

(Chete)

After the 45 minute walk we went back to the main house in the area, washed our hands, helped ourselves to Lion beer, and watched a video one of the workers had taken of us while on our walk.

            It was a twenty-minute ride back to the lodge where everyone on Team Elephant rested.  At ­­7 pm all of Team Elephant got on the truck and headed to Boma.  Boma is a restaurant that promises a typical ‘African’ experience.  Think of what you would consider to be a ‘typical’ African dining experience…and that’s basically what Boma was.  As we walked through the entrance a cloth was tied onto us like a sarong and our faces were painted, two dots below the left eye for girls and two slashes for boys. 

(Sarongs and face painting)

Inside the restaurant it was amazing.  There were huge wooden rods holding up the thatched roof, and decorations all around.  There was an impala cooking on a spit, men dancing in loin clothes and beating drums in the middle of the restaurant, and buffets of food to the side. 

(Dancers at Boma)

We were seated at a long table and then the employees washed our hands at the table.  We were each offered a drink of their homemade beer, which tasted like flour, and then we were free to feast.  There was guinea fowl, impala, crocodile, boerwors, ostrich, and warthog, and then your usual chicken, pork and sirloin.  There was plenty of other food besides the meats, but they were the most exciting.  I must say that boerwors (like a sausage), ostrich, and warthog were my favorite and were all very delicious.

(Crazy African meats)

            Also in the restaurant there was a man selling wooden carvings, a fortuneteller, a storyteller, and a medicine man who was going from table to table and offering to make his special drink of honey, cinnamon, vodka, and other ingredients. 

(Medicine man)

After most people in the restaurant had eaten, we were each given a drum and taught how to play.  After which the real drummers played while we all danced in the center of the room.  We were the last ones left in the restaurant, finally making our extremely full bodies walk to the bus.  Back at the lodge we all went to bed.  It was our last night together, and we tried to stay at the bar and talk, but everyone was much too exhausted to try and make conversation.