Wanderlusting in South Africa

So I came here with the intention of donating at least 80% of the clothing that I brought with me.  However, I think I may have not calculated correctly (or at all) because I’ve basically been wearing the same clothes in a three/four day rotation.  So if I seem to be wearing the same clothes in my pictures, it’s because I am!

Every time I see a goat here—which is pretty damn often, I think of you, Liz! (of course, you’re never far from my mind anyways:-))

Love ya!

I found this really great yoga studio in Cape Town.  It’s called Shanti Cape Town.  It is specifically an Ashtanga studio, so I was more than thrilled.  The teacher, unfortunately, (well fortunate for him, but unfortunate for me) is traveling to India in a few days, so I wont’ have the opportunity to take many classes with him, but he was a really terrific teacher.  He’s super stoked about his trip, and ultimately it will make him an even better teacher—but damn…  There’s another Ashtanga studio that I also want to check out—so I’ll keep you posted.  Between this yoga studio and going to the UU church—I didn’t even know that I was feeling very homesick, until in both of these places I felt completely comfortable and at home!

Also, Cape Town may not have it’s own Lululemon store (yet), but South Africa has done its own amazing job of creating its own yoga clothing line called Shakti Shanti.  I can attest that their clothing feels just as good as Lulu’s (though I do feel somewhat sacrilegious writing that).  And I’ll let you know how they hold up.  So let me know if you want me to pick out something for you, my yogi friends!

I was hanging out at the Ubuntu Festival for Mandela Day and walking around the Greenmarket Square and I am very happy to say that I am the proud new owner of my very own djembe.  For those of you who don’t know what a djembe is—it is an African drum—and mine is beautiful!!!  Odi is a great percussionist and watching him at the conference in Lesotho got me totally inspired.  So I did play a little in Lesotho, but not much.  The dude at the Greenmarket that sold it to me was also really nice and he sat with me for a couple of hours and we just played a bunch of rhythms.  I am also very proud to say that he was astounded at how quickly I picked up the rhythms.  Though I think much of it was beginner’s luck as I’ve never really played much percussion, but maybe some will stick? 

Went to the Unitarian Church in Cape Town on Sunday.  The minister, Rev. Roux Malan, was away, but he’ll return for next week.  The church is a fairly small building, but is housed right near the middle of downtown Cape Town—just off Long St, the “main” street.  The church building itself is beautiful with nice lighting and a great loft which doubles as the library.  Leigh, the president of the congregation was leading the service.  She led a wonderful conversation about how to keep the 2010 spirit alive in South Africa now that the World Cup has finished.  The World Cup energy was incredible with its way of breaking down barriers.  Everyone was talking to everyone and everyone had a common interest to discuss and care about.  It worked wonders in especially breaking down racial barriers that have remained all too strong despite the breakdown of apartheid.   Leigh advocated for continued dialogue, especially with those you would least likely approach—and to also not be afraid to show off your patriotism to one another—in an effort to be a reminder that we all, indeed, are part of the same country.  Well, except for me of course—but we sang “We Would Be One”—so I still got the message! 

While in Cape Town I’m going to try to take advantage of my free time to explore the city and all it has to offer—which is a lot.  Today I went to Robben Island, a decent sized island about 15km off the coast of Cape Town.  This island is where the maximum-security prison was operating, and is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.  I went on a tour of the island as well as one of the prison.  The island itself is actually quite beautiful and quaint and offers gorgeous views of Cape Town and Table Mountain.  Former inmates lead the tours of the prison. Our guide was great.  He had a great sense of humor and just a nice way in general of sharing his and others’ stories.  He didn’t try to shelter us as he told of the horrors and injustices that happened behind those gates.  But he also highlighted how the inmates worked together and learned from one another; they used their time at Robben Island to study (often into all hours of the night) and to build camaraderie instead of letting the apartheid laws break them down.  When they were released, they were quite a force to be reckoned with—including Nelson Mandela, with his often gentle giant approach.

our guide in the prison:

Mandela’s cell:

I’ve arrived in Cape Town.  Been here for two days so far and I love it.  It is different from just about every other city I’ve been in.  With Table Mountain rising out of its center—the landscape is incredible.  I went to the office today and met everyone that I’m to work with for the rest of the summer.  Everyone was very nice and I think I’ll settle in quite nicely here.  The specific projects that I’m to work on have yet to be decided—so more on that later.  I think I’ll be spending a couple of the weeks in the field in the surrounding areas of Cape Town, but I also think that for the majority of my time here I’ll be working in the office.

Sabelo came to Lomahasha to fetch me.  On the last day we were there, we went to the Hlane Game Reserve—the national game reserve of Swaziland—the one the king goes to once a year to hunt in in order to prove his dominance.  Our guide was a jerk at times, and was pretty careless at other times—but I think we all had a great time.  We saw rhino, warthog, elephant, nyhala, lion, antelope, giraffe, and hippos (though they were mostly underwater).  And we saw all of these just from our 4x4—with only a simple canvas netting between the animals and us.  Most of them we saw very close.  The hippos, like I said, were in the water—and pretty far away.  But everything else was just next to us—even the lion was only about 15-20 ft away. Me and rhinos:

Rhino w/ birds:

giraffes:

one of the best pics I’ve ever taken:

I loved this elephant.  He just stood there totally chill and kept eating:

lion: