Gordon's Bay

This is the view from my brother's house in Gordon's Bay. We were so close to the beach that you could walk, except that the walk back home was gruelingly up hill. So, I used to pop Lucy (the most gorgeous pooch you've ever seen) into the back of the little Corsa lite rental car and nip down to the beach in the mornings for a quick 30 min run/walk, instead of feeling the burn walking back up the hill.

The Escarpment

Now I had read about escarpments and been taught about them in geography classes, but I had never actually perceived how truly phenomenal an escarpment really is till we reached this one. One moment you're driving on top of the world, and the next moment there is a sheer drop that stretches as far as the eye can see. I don't think these pictures do it justice, but at least it can give you a little taste of what we saw.


This is at the top of the escarpment.


This is at the bottom of the escarpment.


And this was about a third of the way down, when Ethan had to stop and pee.

Weaver Bird Nests

These are the communal nests the weaver birds build. They can get really huge, especially when the nests are built in trees. We saw a few where the bottom of the nest had gotten too heavy and fallen down, but the little birdies just kept on building.

From Augrabies to Cape Town

Augrabies is right on the border of South Africa and Namibia, which means its also the very edge of the Namib desert with its red sands. Its very dry and arid (being a desert) but still has a pretty unique beauty. This drive (although very, very long) is interesting, cause the landscape changes perceptibly the nearer you get to the coast. As we were driving we started to notice little wild flowers growing alongside the road. They were beautiful and very bright pinks, purples oranges and yellows. Then I remembered that we were driving through during the Namaqualand Daisy season. We never got very close to one of the huge daisy fields, but could see the masses of colour off in the distance.

Johannesburg - Augrabies Falls

After an incredibly long flight, we finally arrived in Jo'burg. We rented a car and started to drive down towards Cape Town. This drive was for the benefit of Mack's parents who were with us. We had all done the drive before, but it really is pretty so we didn't mind doing it again.









This is a Dassie (duss-see). Pretty much its a rock rabbit, but the coolest thing about it is, that its closest living relative is the elephant.



As we were leaving the park, we saw this klipspringer (rock springer) with a bird on its back silhouetted on top of this rock. It was really cool, which is why I'm posting this picture.

Finally Home

I'm Back!

Yes its true. I feel like I've been away forever, and coming home has been kind of surreal. Its also been a little scary - I've gotten so used to driving on the left hand side of the road again that now I flinch everytime Mack turns too the right hand side. I know I'll get used to it again, but for now I'm trying not to have to drive anywhere.

Well there is so much to tell that I think I'll just start at the beginning...