Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
C-C-C-Cape Town
Yesterday we went cross country in a rented car, driving on the wrong side of the road. We had some misshaps, and destroyed a hubcap, but we finally made it to the Cape of Good Hope without killing anybody. The first problem happened when dad hugged the curb a bit to closely, and kinda destroyed the hubcap and dented the rim against it. the second was slightly less costly, but a lot more terrifying. He went on the right side of the road and nearly rand into another car head on coming from the other direction. He swerved away just in time, and we continued our journey with echoes of profanities following us.
our first stop was in Simon's Town, where we wen't to The Boulders to sea the african penguins. They're not cute like other penguins, but they're pretty funny when they waddle around. The Boulders were also home to some high winds, which whipped the glistening white sand into a furious storm for the enjoyment of the tourists. I'm still picking it out of my hair and ears.
Our other destination was the Cape of Good Hope, which is actually not the southern most point of Africa, though it's commonly percieved to be. There we were subject to wind speeds upwards of 50 miles an hour when you lean over the blockade to see the precarious cliff below, along with unpredictable gusts that pushed me into the bushes. We found these winds to be exilerating, probably because they didn't have sand in them (they might have had some sand after going through us though). We saw some interesting plants, and took a ton of pictures of the landscape. there were so many extreme and fantastic views, my dad actually complained about it.
"There are to many pictures to take..."
Man, what a dork.
Dad has also confided in me that he's about ready to kill me after spending a month of time with me continuously. I sent the message right back.
Today we went shopping by the harbor and enjoyed the fantastic aquarium they have here. There we enjoyed a closer look at rock hopper penguins, which are considerably more cute and funny that african penguins, and learned about the local ocean and river fauna. We learned about the plight of frogs, the plight of whales, the plight of sharks, the plight of albatrosses, and the plights of just about every other animal in water or around it that humans have managed to touch negatively. Did you know that there are over 100 extinct species of frogs? fun stuff!
our first stop was in Simon's Town, where we wen't to The Boulders to sea the african penguins. They're not cute like other penguins, but they're pretty funny when they waddle around. The Boulders were also home to some high winds, which whipped the glistening white sand into a furious storm for the enjoyment of the tourists. I'm still picking it out of my hair and ears.
Our other destination was the Cape of Good Hope, which is actually not the southern most point of Africa, though it's commonly percieved to be. There we were subject to wind speeds upwards of 50 miles an hour when you lean over the blockade to see the precarious cliff below, along with unpredictable gusts that pushed me into the bushes. We found these winds to be exilerating, probably because they didn't have sand in them (they might have had some sand after going through us though). We saw some interesting plants, and took a ton of pictures of the landscape. there were so many extreme and fantastic views, my dad actually complained about it.
"There are to many pictures to take..."
Man, what a dork.
Dad has also confided in me that he's about ready to kill me after spending a month of time with me continuously. I sent the message right back.
Today we went shopping by the harbor and enjoyed the fantastic aquarium they have here. There we enjoyed a closer look at rock hopper penguins, which are considerably more cute and funny that african penguins, and learned about the local ocean and river fauna. We learned about the plight of frogs, the plight of whales, the plight of sharks, the plight of albatrosses, and the plights of just about every other animal in water or around it that humans have managed to touch negatively. Did you know that there are over 100 extinct species of frogs? fun stuff!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Table Mountain and more pictures.
Today we got up early (again) and went up to Table Mountain by Cape Town. Table Mountain is a flat mountain at three thousand feet that towers over Cape Town and resides right above the sea. It actually doesn't look to high from underneath, but once you get up there by a fast moving cable car, man is it high. For those of you living in Ketchikan, Table Mountain is about the same height as Deer Mountain, but it feels much higher. The view from the top changes as you face different directions, from an above view of beautiful Cape Town, to a fantastic view of the expansive Atlantic and Indian Oceans, to a cloudy look of the surrounding countryside. We went on a short, brisk walk around the perimeter of the top (part of it, at least) and took some funny and silly videos of us singing "The Sound of Music" and making fun of Cory. Sorry Cory, but it wasn't my idea.
We also saw the City Hall, which is known as The Castle. We learned about the process of justice in the 1600's, which includes forcing people to confess through tortures such as lashings, being hung from the ceiling, being dropped from said ceiling, and being left without treatment for a day after these punishments in a dark, dank dungeon. We took a video here as well, but I'll show you that at home.
Our guide next brought us to a diamond shop that showed us the process of creating diamonds and polishing them. Sorry everybody, but we didn't get any souvenirs there. We also took a look at a very pretty and rare jewel called Tanzinite, which is only found in one mine near Mt. Kilamajaro in Tanzania. It's incredibly rare and very neat looking, in colors varying from blue to violet, and all shades of these colors. We've been told that the darker the stone, the better the quality. I'm not a huge fan of shiny rocks, but I thought that that stone was quite nice to look at.
Well, It's time for dinner. I'll write about tomorrow tomorrow.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Victoria Falls
I must say, Victoria Falls the sight of a lifetime. We only managed to see about a third of the whole falls, but the view was awe inspiring. And wet. VERY wet. The mist created by all that water continuously pouring into the gorge becomes torrents of rain coming from every direction for the enjoyment of the people viewing the natural wonder. We did enjoy it, the rain poured so continuously and with such power that all of the paths were creeks, and the steps were mini sets of Victoria Falls. The downpour is tropically warm and quite enjoyable, and we didn't even attempt to stay dry(unlike some people, who rented raincoats from locals). Anyway, We've decided that going through hell in various airports was worth the experience.
We also went white water rafting yesterday, over class five rapids (dad thinks they were 4, but whatever). I think that dad likes to take every opportunity to scare the crap out of me, because he is continuously doing things that I think are insanely scary or dangerous. For example, part of the white water rafting tour was a cliff jump from various heights. you could do the easy one, at eight feet or the medium one (which I did) at fifteen feet. However, there was another cliff at more than 35 feet that dad climbed up to, while the guides warned him against it. He jumped of first. He also walked out on a rock that hangs out over the Zambezi river about 25 feet from the falls, and posed for a picture. On the flight over as well, he kept threatening that the propeller would break off and saw the plane in half. Ah, good times.
Anyways, now we're in Cape Town, on the final leg of our journey. I'll be home in about a week!
We also went white water rafting yesterday, over class five rapids (dad thinks they were 4, but whatever). I think that dad likes to take every opportunity to scare the crap out of me, because he is continuously doing things that I think are insanely scary or dangerous. For example, part of the white water rafting tour was a cliff jump from various heights. you could do the easy one, at eight feet or the medium one (which I did) at fifteen feet. However, there was another cliff at more than 35 feet that dad climbed up to, while the guides warned him against it. He jumped of first. He also walked out on a rock that hangs out over the Zambezi river about 25 feet from the falls, and posed for a picture. On the flight over as well, he kept threatening that the propeller would break off and saw the plane in half. Ah, good times.
Anyways, now we're in Cape Town, on the final leg of our journey. I'll be home in about a week!
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