Squatter Camps

Mack's mom was fascinated by the squatter camps(shanty towns), and how far they stretched (also about the large amount of really prime property they took up). She was the queen of drive by shootings by the end of this trip. (nice pun ha?)

I these are pictures of Khayelitsha. (say that ten times fast)

Sailing the Waterfront

We took a catamaran boat ride out of Cape Town harbour, just to get a little wind in our hair, salt water on our jeans and catch one of the best views of Table Mountain.








Ethan - totally making my grandmothers day.

We got to watch a few tugboats helping this large crater ship into the harbour. It was seriously cool to see.

I saw the Sign

Montagu Tractor Ride

We drove for 3 hours to get to Montagu which is a really pretty fruit growing area. Here we ate potjiekos (dutch oven) and went on a tractor ride up the mountain. It was really fun. They have fresh fruit from the farm on the tractor so you can munch the whole way up, and at the top they give you a little liquor to warm the cockles. Hmmmm.

Pretty Penguins

There is a penguin colony on boulders beach in Cape Town. You used to be able to just walk up to the penguins and hang out with them, but some smart @$* decided that they could make money off the penguins and so they've cornered them off and now you have to pay too walk down to the beach and see them. I was really annoyed, cause the whole time I had been telling Mack's mom about how she could walk right up to the penguins, but lo and behold she couldn't. Anyway, knowing that they are wild animals and that they most probably wouldn't stay in their pay per view area (which was ocean on one side) I went over to the next beach and found penguins that you could still walk up to and get your picture taken with, without paying - yay me. (oh and Jeremy had also told me to do this).





Well this species of Penguins was originally named the Jackass penguin because of the donkeyish braying sound it makes, but they have found other penguins that make the same sound now, and have since renamed these poor little tykes - the African penguin.

Great White Shark Cage Diving

Yes I actually did this and here are the pictures to prove it. And yes I do recommend it to anyone and everyone. (the shark actually bit the cage twice while I was in it - fascinating)


The divers


The Cage


The bait


The beast

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...