South Africa - off again

And I am off again. I spent two weeks in Cape Town recovering and relaxing. I was more exhausted than I had realized and most of the first week I hardly did anything. Deva arrived in the second week on a direct 16 hour flight from nyc. We spent an amazing week exploring capetown and packed a lot into each day. Walking, wine tasting, sightseeing and eating.

One of the highlights was the tour of a township that we did. A township is a more politically correct name for a slum (also an informal settlement.) We were driven through some of the areas created by apartheid resettlement, the indian areas and the coloured areas (a term used by apartheid), and then we were dropped off in the middle of the Langa township which was the black resettlement area. A local met us there and walked us around. The township has several neighbourhoods, some of it brick or concrete houses and then the rest tiny shacks made out of all sorts of materials. The houses are tiny, with entire families sleeping in a single room with all their belongings. The day we were there it was voting day in the national elections and it seemed like a bit of a party atmosphere, lots of people sitting out on their stoops, music playing and people drinking. Even little kids walking around in way too large ANC tshirts. Our guide would ask everyone we met if they had voted and they would often give him a thumbs up to show their finger marked with the indelible ink they were marked with. Overall the walk through of the township was a positive, although a little depressing. Positive because we saw a lot of schools, good development and people were friendly, depressing because the housing is tiny, the township has had to come a very long way to where it is now and it shouldn't even exist in the first place.

My other top recommendation would be to visit cape point, the end of a large spit of land that sticks out into the ocean near Cape Town. Incredible views and walks looking out over the atlantic ocean. At the highest point we could see the clouds below us drifting out to the ocean across the land. Hopefully I will be able to upload the pictures somewhere. I recommend checking out the one of Deva with the 'dangerous babboons' sign. I miss Deva already, and it will be a while now until I see her again :(

I have started out with my dad in our fully equipped '99 toyota land cruiser 4x4. It is a beast of a car and has everything you could need. There is a rooftop rack with jerry cans and a rooftop tent, the front has huge bull bars and a winch, the back has two spare tires, multiple storage levels, a 60 gallon water tank and a fridge. Most importantly it has a cd player. With a car like this you need a good name, so I have been calling it 'Betsy.' It may need re christening at some point. We spent a day learing how to drive a 4x4 off road, sand, mud and big hills. I only almost crashed the car a few times, and I feel like I might need some more practice, which I will probably get along the way.

Our way right now is across South Africa to Kruger national park and from there through to Mozambique.
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Conor