Monday, October 31, 2011

The Garden Route - Kinetic Snapshots


From Cape Town, I hopped the Baz Bus to ride along the Garden Route. First stop - Hermanus. Where right whale watching can be done seasick-free from shore. Whales seen, the next stop was Mossel Bay. Wind swept coast around from the town. Those rodent-like critters are Dassis, whose closest genetic relative is the elephant. Next stop - Wilderness (cool name). Grotty weather till the sun emerged just before I left. Enroute to Storms River Village, we crossed the Bloukrans Bridge with the world’s highest bungy jump (I’d done my once-in-a-lifetime jump in New Zealand). Off the ground and into the trees with a canopy tour in the Tsitsikamma Forest. Taking a walk in the forest, I ran into some baboons - pardon the big foot fuzzy images. I finished in Port Elizabeth with a safari which is another video entirely. Backtracking, I ventured into the Kleine Karoo to Oudtshoorn. Driven up to the Swartberg Pass, I was tossed out with a mountain bike to make my way back. Passed ostrich ranches. A tourist show, where they paid thousands of rand, and which I secretly filmed from the road so you can view it for free. Then regretfully paid to enter an ostrich farm with ostrich riding - yee-haw! Finally, before returning to Cape Town, I ventured as far as I dared on a shitty bike in the vinelands of Stellenbosch.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cape Peninsula, South Africa - Kinetic Snapshots


South of Cape Town to Hout Bay. Hopped a boat to Seal Island for a look at...guess...seals! Then onwards to Boulder Beach to look at African penguins looking at us. A short bike ride on shitty bikes. Finally to the end at the Cape of Good Hope, the most south western tip of Africa.

Cape Town, South Africa - Kinetic Snapshots


Spring in the Mother City. On walkabout in the city, I stumbled upon Green Market Square. After climbing Table Mountain, sans cloud cover, I rode back down on the cable way. I was lucky, nabbing a hard to get ticket to Robben Island. We were shown the prison by a former political prisoner named Nande (apologies to the gentleman if I’ve mispelt his name). You’ll have to wait for the photo/video to see Nelson Mandela’s cell. The V & A Waterfront is gentrified and tourista-fied, though still a working port and ship yard.