T-24 hours till I head home...

We've all had a great time during our stay here, and I'm definitely going to miss Cape Town a lot. It's a bit hard to leave an area you've been living in for three weeks, but it's time to get back to life in the States--not that I have a choice. John left this morning and Gabe followed a few hours after. Jeff and I leave for the airport at around 2:30 in the after CAT (Central African Time) and split ways after check-in.

South Africa has definitely left a strong impression on me. Although Cape Town is a rich city, I've had the opportunity to see some of the smaller areas and experience life outside African tourism. And after meeting backpackers who've travelled to Nairobi, Mozambique, Kenya, and other African countries, I'm hell-bent on visiting as many of them as I can in the near future. The people here are very friendly and curious, and despite a few potential sanitary and government issues in certain countries, no one I've met has felt that the risks outweigh the benefits….and everything is so cheap!

With my savings being the only issue, it's only a matter of time before I'll be back. See everyone home soon. Kavin out.

Jaws & Co.

Friday was our designated shark diving day. Actually, Wednesday was our day, but a storm on Tuesday created high sea swells that prevented us from going to sea for the next few days. Before this trip started, everyone thought I was a nuts to suggest even trying this. The most common response was, "You go first, and if you come back alive we'll think about it." I'll tell you right now, it was one of the safest and most amazing experiences I have ever had!

We were picked up at 10:30 in the morning and shuttled over to Gansbaai (pronounced "haans-bye" with a little bit of phlegm-ness on the "haans" part) where sharks run rampant this time of year. It's winter and the water's pretty cold, but I guess that's the perfect condition for sharks to….you know.

Anway, the company we signed with, Marine Dynamics, is also a conservationist group that tags and monitors sharks so we sat through a few presentations about how they are mostly harmless but are still mistreated by fishermen everywhere. It was good information and I can't say that I didn't learn a thing or two. Little did we know we had a shark expert in our own group--Thanks to Shark Week, Jeff was spitting out facts like it was his day job.

After lunch we got on a boat to headed out to sea. So far, we've been on a couple of boats but none of them were as fast as this one. Most our trip consisted of us holding on the railings as is our lives depended on it, mainly because our lives really did depend on it. I made the mistake of taking out my camera before those rocket-jet engines fired up and was caught attempting to keep still with one hand and a pinky. I can't completely regret it though, I did manage to capture this:

This boat was cruising next to us at the same speed when a some sort of sea hawk flew next to us. One the crew on the other boat held up some meat and the bird flew over to grab it out of his hand.

And then another one came by and did the same thing!

When we arrived at the cages, the crew asked for the first group of six to get suited up. I would have been ticked if something cause the sharks to swim away later in the day so I volunteered our group first. Gabe and Jeff immediately sounded off a confident "NO!", but John was game. Armed with an underwater camera that I had been borrowing, I was able to snapped as many shots as I could while underwater. I ended up taking almost eight photos, and although a few of them are out-of-focus (listen, photographic composition was the last thing on my mind when some of the Great Whites were swimming right at me) I did manage to get a few decent ones. Check it:

The fish were everywhere. Like flies of the water, I had to swat some away when they got too close.

Look at the teeth...

There is something so intrinsically scary about seeing this come at you.

Probably the best picture out of the bunch. I really couldn't pay too much attention to the camera when a 15 foot fish with bear-trap jaws was within arms length.

The famous fin.

-kav

How does sand hurt this much?

Back in the States, most of us head to the snowy regions of the country for recreational skiing and boarding activities. Here, they hit the sand dunes for sand boarding. With nothing else on the books on Thursday, the four of us decided to give that a try.

SPOILER: this post ends with crash clips.

Fortunately for us, it had rained the day before and the sand was tough in some areas. That's me being sarcastic. But for the most part, the dunes were pretty forgiving to our learning curve. By the third and fourth run, most of us were pretty stable on the board. Except Jeff. That boy was just not built to ride a board down a slope.

"Bend your knees, Jeff!" our instructor, Moses, would yell out. "Lean forward!"

As much as Jeff claimed to be doing both, our video evidence shows his knees stiff as a board while he leaned back. Meanwhile, the three of us learned to carve the dunes and make our way to some of the steeper slopes.

All was well until, I decided to aim for this ramp (more like a speed bump) that John built out of the sand. It was at the bottom of one of the steep slopes, but one that I had successfully ridden before. I waxed the board, strapped my legs in, and leaned forward to get myself going. I was about halfway down when I lost balance and face-planted moving forward. I remembered getting the wind knocked out of me and hitting my head as I tumbled.

Then I was in a white, windowless room. I was sitting at a square table holding a spoon with a bowl of milk and cereal in front of me. Fruit loops. I hate Fruit Loops. I scooped a spoonful and put it into my mouth. It was very crunchy and I chewed for a couple of seconds. I went for another spoonful. Then the top of the room turned blue like the walls were becoming transparent. The blue become brighter and brighter till I was no longer in a white room.

As I came to, the silhouette of one of the instructors became more defined with the sky in the background. I remember being very confused when I realized the instructor, Opi, was hurriedly unstrapping my board from my feet and asking me if I was ok.

Oh yeah, I'm sandboarding, I thought to myself.

Then I heard Jeff from the top of the dune:

"Hey Kavin, did you get knocked out?"

"…Yeah…I think I did."

"Awesome, man!"

He's a great guy.

Anyway, the day went on and we continued to do stupid things. Let me show you:

We felt everything the next day...

Pictures:

Waxing the boards...we had to do this after every ride

John getting ready to conquer a dune.

Going helmet-less...great idea.

-kav

Fun With The English

These videos are really late, but the internet's finally fast enough:

We've had some good fun with the English chaps here: We've taught them our games...

And they taught us their songs...

John got really into it.

-kav

La Furia Roja vs. The Bad Guys

Ok so you know how I feel about Cristiano. You might also know how much I love Team España. To me, the game had a clear winner before kickoff had even started. Lucky for me, my compatriots support Spain just as much as I do….except John. Impressed by the Portuguese women he's seen around here, the kid went and decked himself out in maroon and green while the rest of us covered ourselves in red and yellow. Considering he was not the only "fan" in town that day, I thought it was a pretty sad attempt at attracting some Portuguese bombshell.

Anyway, we made it to the game, saw Spain win (as expected), and headed back to the hostel bar for festivities. I love the atmosphere here on game days..and seeing Cristiano get sent home brought happy tears to my eyes!

And now, pictures:

We were all rooting for Spain. Except one...

Some of the Spaniards going nuts after the goal!

An attempted header by Portugal. Casillas stopped it, as expected.

"San Iker" congratulating the other keeper on a good game. Some would call this being blessed.

The best sign of the night...

-kav

Penguins and wine and cheetahs and whales (pt.4/4)

Jeff is dumb. I have a feeling that what he thinks are sharks are actually whales and what he thinks are whales are actually sharks. He's been ready to go shark-cage diving for sometime now, but when asked to go whale watching---and I mean whale watching--he gave me this excuse:

"Dude, a whale could just come up beside you and eat you, and it wouldn't even notice!"

…What??

How do you respond to someone as disillusioned as him? You say nothing, leave the sucker behind, and go find yourself some whales. So the three of us--Gabe, John, and I--booked a guide to take us to a few major whale watching spots around the Western Cape in hopes that we would all see our first big whale.

GROUP SHOT!

Bam.

After some trial and error, we got on a boat and finally spotted a Southern Right Whale at Hermanus Bay.

But it doesn't end there. As we were heading to lunch by another bay (by the way, South Africa is littered with scenic bays), we spotted a group of kayaks being followed by a whale. And then some seals came up to the kayaks. And then a school of dolphins started playing around the kayaks. There was an entire sea party going on by these kayaks and all we could do was sit dumbstruck with our mouths open like a couple of brain-deads. And just our luck, that was the last canoe ride for the day…sometimes you see nothing, sometimes you see every living animal in the sea, there's just no telling.

As Whale Crier, his job was to sound his kelp-made vuvuzela when there was a whale at bay.

Still, it was a great day with great weather and great pictures. It got even better when we ended it with a local beer tasting!

Next event: Spain vs. Portugal!!

-kav

Penguins and wine and cheetahs and whales (pt.3/4)

On Sunday, a few of us took a tour around the region South of Cape Town. Ultimately, our goal was to end up at Cape of Good Hope--the southwestern most part of Africa. On our way we ran into some of these:

and these:

Have I mentioned how much I like penguins? I really like penguins. Going to Boulder Beach was like going to a toy store full of penguins…I seriously considered shoplifting one of the little guys.

The weather couldn't have been better, we ended up hiking by the cliffs, biking through the bay, and seeing a lot more animals than I expected! Here's what we else saw:

Ostriches:

Baboons:

The mama and the baby.

This guy was biting his toenails. I thought it looked hilarious!

Dassies (pretty much as common as squirrels at the bay, they look like gophers and are not shy to come up to you):

More photos:

One of the many scenic bays around Cape Point.

A baby seal! Haters, please resist your urge to club it.

Heeheehee.

I wish we had cooler animals walking around back home. Africa is definitely better about that.

-kav

Penguins and wine and cheetahs and whales (pt.2/4)

I bungee jumped on Saturday. I have no pictures. I have no video. I have nothing that proves it other than a certificate of accomplishment and stories of a very interesting car ride. Jeff, Ben, and I were the only three in the entire hostel willing to try a jump. Gabe, John, Sin, and Massi (i'm naming them individually for the embarrassment) couldn't muster enough manliness to join us.

Anyway, the morning started out normal as the three of us got ready to head out to Bloukran's Bridge, the highest bungee site in the world. The bad part is it's located six hours away from Cape Town so we had to rent a car to get there. Our plan was to drive out there, make the jump, and drive back before it got too late. We couldn't stay the night since we all had events planned for the next day. If we left at the 8:30AM--we reasoned--we could get there by 2:30, jump by 4:30, and get back around 11PM. Like all time-sensitive plans, this one went to waste.

The car rental company changed its mind about a single day rental once they found out how far we were going. You should have seen the guy's face when we told him we were planning on driving through the night to return the car by tomorrow…apparently, no one here does that. After he referred us to a different company (we didn't tell this one how far we were going), we were on our way at 10AM--much later than anticipated.

Driving on the wrong side of the road was…not as bad as I thought it would be. Left-hand shifting got pretty easy (although Ben hit the door once as he instinctively reached with his right hand), and even basic road rules were easy to pick up on. In fact, the hardest thing about driving in the left lane was using the turn signals. I don't know why this isn't standardized but the windshield wipers and turn signal levers are switched. You can only imagine how many times those wiper blades went off as we tried to let the other drivers know we were changing lanes. It's a good thing South Africans are very friendly on the road; we'd have been chewed out by Americans with some of small mistakes we made.

Along the way we stopped for lunch in small town by the mountains, stopped for gas, stopped for bathroom breaks--all these delays resulted in us arriving exactly at 5PM. What we didn't realize was that the bungee closes at exactly that time! On top of that, we were informed that the entire day was booked and they were not taking any more customers. This did not work for us as we had driven halfway across SA just to try it. After giving the sob story to one of the jumpmasters, we managed to get the three of us on a night jump, but we couldn't get pictures or video of it…the sun had actually set by this time and most of the gorge was getting very dark. To anyone who has not considered doing bungee, I highly highly highly recommend it. I can't describe all that was going through my head when I put my feet on the ledge and just jumped out.

We headed back to Cape Town once the other two jumped, but not before stopping over at a South African KFC for dinner. This wasn't my choice, but I can't say I wasn't curious to try it. Once we got home around 1AM, the adrenaline crash knocked me out. Definitely worth it though!

-kav

Penguins and wine and cheetahs and whales (pt.1)

These last four days have been busy. No, that's an understatement: These last four days have been hectic! Waking up at 7:30 every morning has not been easy considering how packed our days have been. Let me explain:

Friday was our wine-tasting tour, and what a tour it turned out to be. We travelled to the world-famous (so I was told) Stellenbosch region in the Winelands--home of the South African exclusive Pinotage grape--to start our tour off with some champagne. Bottles were popped by 10 AM. Yeah, it was gonna be that kinda day. Our tour guide gave us a crash course in Snobbery, showing us everything from how to hold your wine glass to how to taste the wine itself. However, he ultimately told us that the best wines are the ones we like to drink, regardless of price, and that the critics can go jump off something high. Decked out in his Portugal hat and jersey, I thought he was pretty cool. Especially since his version of wine "tasting" was more of a wine "everybody drink as much as you can before we head out to the next place".

After getting our buzz off more wine and cheese at another estate, we stopped by a cheetah farm. In the US, we farm cows and pigs; in South Africa, they farm cheetahs…just kidding, that's just what they call their cheetah rescue facilities. Since almost all of the cheetahs there had grown up or spent most of their lives in captivity, they were very tolerant to having human workers within their fenced areas. One lady even asked us if we'd like to go in and pet one of the them. Everything sounds like a great idea when you've had a few:

We headed home after one last visiting vineyard, but not before grabbing some wines for the road. Thanks to the lack of an open-container law, neither of the two open bottles made it back. I'd tell you more about the weekend, but due to a recent complaint from Rohit Kabra that he can't read more than 250 words in a single post, I will explain the rest in three more parts. Thanks for for you opinion, Rohit. I always try cater to those with handicaps.

-kav

4 day catch up

It's been a while…but I can explain. On top of getting a little sick from that rainy Portugal game and ruining my stomach with more chilies than I should have eaten in one sitting, we've been a little busy. Here, let me recount:

Monday night:

To celebrate the Portugal game we all decided to party at Mercury, a club on the other side of town. Our cab driver, however, thought we said "Maverick", a strip joint on a different side of town. What was supposed to be a fifteen minute ride turned out to be a chaotic trip around Cape Town's many neighborhoods at 11pm…we asked cops, cab drivers, and various passerby for any bits of direction to our destination but it seemed that no one had heard of this place. This went of for thirty minutes--we saw Parliament and a few other government buildings on this impromptu tour--before a cop finally said, "by the Ferrari dealership".

By the Ferrari dealership?? What kind of club were we going to? Contrary to what I was expecting, Mercury turned out to be this college-student-oriented, South-African-hipster club.

God, I hate hipsters.

And the DJ had the WEIRDEST song line-up: stupid techno followed by Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" followed by some weird rock followed by AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" followed by the Super Mario theme? Great music flow, guys. I love the consistency.

Regardless, we had a pretty good time and got back to the hostel around 4:30am. Needless to say, no one woke up the next morning until 1 pm.

Tuesday:

Given the previous night, we decided we weren't up to climbing Table Mountain that morning. Instead, we just took it easy until our 3 o'clock ferry to Robben Island--where Mandela was help political prisoner for 27 years! Unfortunately, we got there to find all ferries were cancelled that day due to high sea swells…I actually think they all shut down to watch the South Africa game at 4pm. I don't blame them, I would have done the same thing. So, we rescheduled the trip for 9am the next dayAs I waited in the gift shop, someone came up to me and said, "So it IS you!"

I looked over only to find an old high school friend, Tammer, standing there completely bewildered. Here's the thing about Tammer: I've actually run into him once before in Egypt--it's almost a habit that I see him in random places abroad! It's crazy to think we could have both been anywhere in Cape Town…I always like running into old friends. He told me he was catching the ferry the next day at 2pm; that's during the USA game…way to be a patriot, Tammer!!

Tammer's the one that's not me.

Since we had no other plans, we headed to our favorite sport's bar and cheered on the South Africans with a bunch of the locals. Unfortunately, the Bafana Bafana didn't score enough goals to win the point differential and will not be making it to the next round. It's kinda weird being in South Africa without South Africa even making it to the Round of 16…

Wednesday:

We went on the Robben Island tour in the morning…a very moving experience. Our tour was actually led by a former political prisoner who was held there when he was only 19! He educated us on the history of Robben Island, both before and during Apartheid, and shared a lot about what he experienced there. It speaks tons about his spirit that still gives tours so enthusiastically despite all the difficulties he faced…most people would not want to be reminded of those things. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience on the island, and my hat goes off in respect to all of those who were held there.

Our tour guide. I really wish I remembered his name...

After our three hour tour, we headed once again to our favorite sports bar to watch the most important game thus far: USA v. Algeria! If the intensity of my American pride was gonna affect this game in any way, I made sure there was no way I could mess this up for our boys . Hence, this:

Coupled with my US jersey and American flag handkerchief, I would have totally gotten a bit of air time if I was really at the game. I have to say though, I was very disappointed by our team's enthusiasm on the field. Not only did we deserve that one goal (I say it was onsides), we should have scored at least two or three more. Come on, fellas! Be more aggressive with the shots!!

But thanks to Donny, we scored in the 91st minute! This is why I love being American:

The gang.

Overall, a good day but I was feeling a bit sick so I turned in very very early.

Thursday:

Ok, Table Mountain time. We climbed it, but not without some difficulty. For some reason, none of us realized we were actually climbing 3000 feet worth of mountain. It don't know if you've ever seen a picture of this thing (google it), but it's pretty shear. Why I think this was gonna be stroll? And word to the wise: Think twice before you scale something like this with an upset stomach and a slight fever…neither help. about 1h45 later, we found ourselves at the top looking at a view that made everything we pushed through worth it. I think I must have spent an hour just soaking up the view. Check out the panorama! Jeff missed because of his own stomach problems--all three of us have our own troubles at the moment--but he can climb up on his own time.

Table Mountain and Cape Town as seen from Robben Island.

Mid-climb. This picture does no justice to the presence of the mountain

Massi looking over the edge.

These were interesting birds. Their wings were orange on the underside.

Either way, the last few days have been eventful. We have wine tasting tomorrow followed by a braai (it's what they call a BBQ) and bungee jumping the next day. Pics and videos for both to follow when I sober up and get off my adrenaline high. Cheers!

-kav

P.S. My apologies on not updating my flickr or videos page yet. Wifi at the hostel sucks and I have to use an internet cafe for heavy uploading. Soon come, soon come...

The Portuguese vs. The North Koreans: Will Communism Survive?

In all honesty, a small part of me wanted to see Korea "DPR" score a goal. An even smaller (and more secret) part of me wanted them to win the game. It's not that I like North Korea or that I hate the Portugal, it's that I hate Cristiano Ronaldo. A master diver, this man-diva is a true thespian on the soccer field--falling to the ground at the slightest tackle and holding his Achilles Tendon as if it was being ripped from his ever-so-tender heel. As he molds his face to mimic true agony, he often takes peeks to confirm the camera is still on him, further delaying the game and pissing off fans who paid good money to watch soccer not theatre . When he finally gets his free kick, he hops to his feet completely cured of all physical ailments. I swear, it's ghost magic. I'd like to see him get in a really fight: spit on him funny and he might convince you he's broken an arm.

Ok, I'm done now.

Back to the game--despite my cited hatred, I actually found myself cheering for the Portuguese. Credit where credit's due, they played a great offensive game. Even Cristiano received a satisfactory nod from me once--I know, right?? We had great seats this time around, fourth row in the middle section equivalent of being on the 35-yard line, which made it more fun to watch the goals in action! However, the one bad element to this game was the rain. Wow, it was wet…and cold! It didn't help that our seats were so far forward that we were getting drenched.

At halftime, Jeff and I went looking for something warm to drink. Hark! A hot chocolate stand in the corner! The line wasn't too bad so we waited…and waited…and waited. From the tv in the gift shop we could see that game had started again, but the drinks were so close! Then something happened to the cappuccino machine just as the Portuguese carnage began: 1 goal, 2 goals, 3 goals in 15 minutes!

"Yeah, f*** the hot chocolate," Jeff said as he stepped out of line.

At this point, I was cursing all coffee drinkers for their selfish dependence on caffeine that was denying me my right to enjoy a hot drink at a soccer match…but I still waited in line. Finally, with chocolate in hand, I rushed back to my seat to catch not one, not two, but three more goals by Portugal.

O.Ver.Kill.

We all agreed that a score like that deserves celebration. Late night antics? Yes, please! If you need me tonight, you can find me at Club Mercury partying with the Portuguese...

-kav

Cape Town's Waterfront

Here's some catch-up over the last two days:

Jeff, Gabe, and I spent most of the yesterday at the V&A Waterfront. Capetownians--it's what I call them-- are very lucky to have such a bustling harbor with a great view of Signal Hill and Table Mountain. Just a few minutes East of the main dock is a very peaceful pedestrian walking route that, for the most part, gives you time to enjoy the day undisturbed. Every now and then I'd run into a some friendly locals who were more than happy to tell me about the evolution of the city or have me take their picture. And then there were the seals…very big seals.

Sitting confidently on one of the smaller docks were five fat furry seals (smelling heavily of dead fish) sunbathing while a few others swam nearby. You appreciate the weight of these animals when one of them scuttles to the edge and drops back into water and the entire dock leans quickly to the opposite side.

After watching the Ghana-Australia game in a designated "fan zone", the three of us headed back to the hostel for dinner. John, who had gone partying way late the night before, had only enough energy to brush his teeth and shower when he woke up that morning. He slept all day but not without his share of stories from the previous night…ask him about his close call at the club with a dude dressed as chick. If he's confused as to which one (there's been multiple instances), just ask for the six-foot-fiver. It's hilarious.

Today, we finally laid out our plans for the rest of the trip: Wine tasting, sand-boarding, whale watching, etc…A few phone calls and security deposits later, we were looking at a pretty packed calendar. More on that as it happens!

No, this is not a napkin. It's actually our lunch bill. The food was good, the paper quality...not so much.

The fan zone. Everyone was given one of those stupid yellow soccer ball hats.

This is what people driving around this traffic circle get to see everyday.

On the bottom right, Gabe and Jeff. On the bottom left, sunbathing seals.

Percy and Tommy, two random harbor workers I met. Good people.

Look at these things! They were sooo fat! "Hunger" is definitely NOT a word in the seal dictionary.

-kav

P.S. Still trying to upload videos! Wifi at the hostel is abysmal and I keep running out of time. One of these days…

Day 1

So Kavin, what did you learn today?

I learned that the English have an insatiable appetite for beer on game days. I learned that they have ridiculous soccer chants. And I learned that no one in our group of the World Cup can win a game…I mean, seriously--we tied England, Slovenia tied us, and England tied Algeria! This World Cup has really smacked us all with crazy upsets, crazy blowouts, and crazy uncertainties. Whatever, I'll just keep yelling what I've been yelling all morning:

"U-S-A! All-The-Way!"

We are definitely not afraid to be American, and it just might get me in trouble :P

I'm kidding. If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that the people here are very friendly. And I'm talking about the native South Africans, not the tourists. So far, my random acquaintances have told everything from where's a good place to eat to how to properly play my vuvuzela. I'd have trouble not getting along with everyone here.

On to my day:

1. Went to a tavern for lunch and were surrounded by the English.

2. Drank with said English till we were all singing their fight songs.

3. Went to the game and cheered for the English some more (if the US gets second in our group, we get to see them play here!)

I'd tell you more about the day, but here's pics (videos to come):

My vuvuzela outfitted with a sweet "sokzela"

Us with the English. Spot who's drunk. Hint: Not us...yet.

Mussels in lemon-cream sauce and chicken livers Peri-Peri with ciabatta.

Ron Weasley. 30 years older. Wasted.

Fans by the stadium.

It's Wayne Flippin' Rooney!

Check out the rest on Flickr and the video page…as soon as I can add them.

-kav