been a while...

So right - I havent written in over a month. Things got crazy but I'm going to do my best to cover as much as possible in this post on the end of my South Africa Project, traveling with Drew and now the two week Namibian project I just came back from. Here goes...

The last week of the South African project was really fun. We played lots of volleyball against another group on the reserve, EcoTraining, with a beautiful sand pit in a dry riverbed. None of us were very skilled but we pulled together and pulled off some amazing wins against the other crew and their very volleyball-serious leader. We also headed to a nearby school and did some manual labor (painting bathrooms and filling in ditches) before being soundly whooped in a game of soccer against pre teens. All it all it was a great time and I wish we had been able to do more community work while we were there. We had some great drives the last few days, seeing the reserve's only resident red hartebeest on the final day. Also, that morning we watched as a hyena took down an impala right by our clothes line. Their mode of hunting is to chase their prey for hours until exhaustion brings them down. Eventually the impala tripped and we watched as the hyena (foaming from exhaustion) started to eat the impala before it was dead. Gross but amazing. Oh, and my personal favorite was watching three bushbabies (very small primate that looks like a mix of an Ewok and a squirrel) jumping from clothesline to tree at dusk. All of that plus some slight scandal amongst other volunteers/interns at our final party night (theme was the letter "M" and I was a Mohican) made for a great wrap up.

From there I flew to Cape Town to meet Drew for two wonderful weeks. We spent a few nights at the Ashanti Lodge in Cape Town and partook of great food and a wonderful post hike massage. We rode the cable car up Table Mountain and hiked back down as a huge wall of fog rolled in and swallowed the mountain. We also took a ferry over to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept. The guided bus tour on the island was quite lame and we were left with only a few minutes to see the prison buildings themselves and to hear from prisoners who recounted how the cells were divided and brief snippets on life in the prison. Glad we went though. Drew also got his first taste of kudu and was none too impressed.

From there we rented a car and headed to Stellenbosch. Its a great small university town surrounded by vineyards. Our favorite by far was the first one we stumbled upon - Vriesenhoff. We had delicious wine on a veranda under an ancient tree, overlooking the rows of grapes. Following that we had an amazing lunch at Dornier Winery, with a stunning view of the mountains. That night we stayed at Zandberg Winery (a bit pricier than our normal tastes) but had a lovely meal and ended up with a free upgrade to a huge cottage suite and bottle of wine for there being small problems with our first room and the inability to get the tv to work (though it just took a little time). After that we spent another day wine tasting and stayed at a little guest house in town - De Oude Meul - to do some shopping, wandering and more indulging in food, wine and beer.

After that we headed down to Hermanus to meet my sister's fiance's family. We met his mom, aunt and uncle, whose home we stayed at for the night. They made us a great home cooked meal and Mike's uncle, Gibson, shared stories of the Angolan war and working security in South Africa during apartheid. Very interesting stuff. We also watched some strange South African tv and chatted with Mike's aunt about "waterbabies" and her birds between copious cigarettes. Great stop and great to meet some of Mike's family now that I believe, technically, we are related by marriage. We didn't do much in Hermanus due to poor weather preventing any boat trips. We saw porpoises from the beach as we looked for whales and watched hyraxes run around the rocks. We left from there to Montagu, a Lonely Planet recommendation that was a barren and somewhat creepy empty town. We stopped for a cup of tea and then kept on to Outdshoorn. The drive was stunning hilly landscapes with rolling clouds and curvy roads. We stopped offin the middle of nowhere at Ronnie's Sex Shop - a misleading namefor a small bar - to meet Ronnie himself and have a few Castles. Once in Outdshoorn (ostrich capital of the world) we went for a long bike ride down the Swartzberg Pass (I only did the smooth road riding) and back to our backpacker lodge. All in all it was about 56 km, though I skipped the scary, gravel pass itself and just biked the last 40 odd km. We stopped at the Cango Caves for amazing rock formations, roadside to greet fenced, locally raised ostriches and a tea garden for delicious toasted sandwiches just as a brief rain/wind storm picked up. Besides that we ate ostrich steaks, drank Castle and played some pool back at the backpackers for an all in all awesome time.

From there we headed down to Mossel Bay in the hopes of some decent time on the coast. The town was all but deserted and after having a decent breakfast at the Sea Gypsy, a restaurant/shack on the dock, we said farewell to the wind and whipping waves and drove all the way back to Franschoek for more wine and relaxation. It was a great idea and we thoroughly enjoyed the amazing food and wine of the area. We stayed at Chamonix cottages, simple houses set into the Chamonix vineyards. After struggling with the fireplace for a bit we were helped by the sturdy Afrikaaner groundskeeper enabling us to enjoy smoke-free warmth and days/nights of reading and tea in between wine tastings and long walks. We met a wonderful Greek man named Taki at his self named pub who gave Drew Castle and a Windhoek beer glasses to take home with him. We also had a amazing meal, three small but decadent courses, at Grande Provence one of the most stunning vineyards we have seen with art displays and a helipad in the back.

After that we drove back to Cape Town to a stay one night in a less that great backpackers, and the rest at a wonderful one across the street. There was more delicious food, back massages, a trip to the aquarium and haggling for masks, spears and other carvings at an amazing Pan African market with Malawians and Cameroonians. From there, Drew departed for home and I spent one last night in Cape Town, guided by Mike's old roommate Gregg. It was a long, drunken night as Gregg insisted on showing me the inside of half the bars in town. But I saw Hout's Bay and met some of Mike's wonderful friends and had a great time. Gregg was also kind enough to take me to a few sights the next day before dropping me off at the airport for my flight to Namibia.

Ok, first thing on Namibia - it is DRY!!! No joke. I landed in Walvis Bay and after 30 minutes of desert hit Swakopmund, a flat and relatively boring town though the guidebooks tried to convince otherwise. I met up with the electic group the first night for a brief meeting and then dinner. Then it was a five hour drive off to base camp on open Land Rovers, one of which broke down a few times. Base camp was gorgeous, underneath huge trees between massive rocky outcroppings. We spent the first night there then apcked boxes and drove off to the work site. We camped under the stars at night and built a rock wall during the day. The walls are community outreach to prevent elephants from destroying windmills or water points. It was great fun and hard work but within 4 days we had built a 5 ft high wall to be very proud of. From there we came back for a night in base camp then off to track elephants. Oh, the group is 12 individuals of varying ages and temperments. But all in all a great and amusing crew. Anywho, the elephant watching was amazing as these elephants are wild and not habituated to cars like the ones in the parks. There is quite a bit of human/elephant conflict so while generally they didnt mind out presence, at times they danced, charged and trumpeted which added to the excitement. We cooked over open wood fires and all shared cooking/cleaning roles. At night we ate and chatted around the fire before somewhat chilly nights and early mornings. Really, it was an amazing time. Good hard work and wonderful close encounters. All the photos and video will be up once I'm back which will give you a better idea. Now I'm back in boring Swakopmund before heading off with two project members to check out the dunes of Sousesvlei this weekend. It should be stunning and chill and I can't wait! Now I need to run off to pick up my fiiiilthy laundry and meet the group for farewell dinner and drinks. Such a great time but I'm still excited to be heading back. Hope this huge ramble made some sense. Promise to have one more post before I come home!!