I just returned from two weeks in South Africa this past Saturday, and figured I'd share some pictures and descriptions of what I saw and did...
Sadly, the trip was mostly business and work, so I had VERY little time to actually get out and see and do things, but I took advantage of every second that I could.
Even with just the brief amount of time I had to get out and the relatively small amount that I saw, I've gotta say... South Africa, and specifically the area I saw the most of, Cape Town and the area south east of it, is some of, if not the, most beautiful area I've ever seen. I will be back, somehow!
Brief background - Sadly, the trip was because I was being sent there by work to train the people that are taking my job, so it initially wasn't the happiest trip, but if you're in a case where you're having to train your replacements, at least I got to go somewhere cool for it. (And, I've already found a new position within the same company, just waiting for the paperwork for my transfer, and the new position is something I much prefer doing anyway, so... It all works out in the end).
I was primarily in Cape Town, specifically Newlands and Rondebosch, in the Southern Suburbs area of Cape Town. We flew to Atlanta, then the LONG flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg (15.5 hours there, 16.5 hours coming home), then from Jo'burg to Cape Town.
Having spent some time in at least one other part of Africa, Gabon, Cape Town felt more like Europe then Africa. It was very westernized.
So, having said that, on to some pictures:
Street scene near the hotel:
Table Mountain from my hotel window:
One of the tortoises that wander around the hotel gardens, shot from my window:
Crane Flowers in the hotel garden:
Some misc and random pictures from a quick sight seeing road trip around town:
My "guide" (And local resident and co-worker) pointed this out, and said it pretty much sums up the state of current South Africa... This is a large police station... And... The police station kept getting robbed, so the police have had to hire private security to protect the police station. Something's just not right with that!
There were so many whales jumping around in the harbor, it was unbelievable...
(That's not a rock, it's a whale... They're hard to get pics of!)
We walked out to an African Penguin sanctuary... Those buggers are LOUD! They make a baying sound like a donkey...
Firearms locker at the entrance to a bank:
The entrances to the banks were quite interesting. They all had these man trap setups. You opened the first door and stepped into a 4 foot or so hallway. There was a 2nd door, but that door would not open until the first door was fully closed. Once you opened the 2nd door the first door became locked until the second door was once again closed. Basically, it made it where anyone trying to leave the bank in a hurry couldn't do so, and I'm sure they could remotely lock someone in the man trap if they so desired. Also, the windows the tellers were behind was at least 4 inches thick glass.
My initial plan was to rent a motorcycle while I was there and take off for the weekend. But, the cost to rent a bike, and the selection of bikes available for rental (BMW Dual Sports and Harleys mostly...) plus the fact that some of my coworkers and friends wanted to see the countryside as well meant I rented a car instead. The car was about 1/4 the price to rent as a small motorcycle would have been, and I could split the cost of the car rental among everyone that went with us.
Sadly, I was the only one of our group that had the foresight to get an International Driver's Permit, so I was the only driver. It was a bit of an adventure, first time I'd driven in a left hand drive country. Took a few minutes to get the hang of it, but overall I did pretty well. Shifting with my left hand was a little awkward, but not bad either. I only bounced off the curb twice. I had a bit of a problem straying too far towards the left. I think that was more from not being used to driving from the right side of the car than it was from being on the wrong side of the road. Also, making right hand turns I tended to automatically try for the wrong side of the road, but never actually went there, just strayed a few times...
I'd downloaded the South Africa maps to my GPS, and programmed in a place called Cape Agulhas, which is the extreme geographical southern tip of Africa, and also the point of the meeting of the Indian and Atlantic oceans... Here are some pictures of the drive out there. First we went across Cape Town, then up and over a mountain, then through some GORGEOUS rolling hills farm land...
(We somehow got 4 of us into this this! (3 of us were over 6 foot too!)
The Indian ocean... And yes, the water really was that color, it was breathtaking!
And the "money shots"... A place I never in a million years imagined I'd ever be standing...
Walked down and dipped my toes into the Indian Ocean:
And then walked over and did the same for the Atlantic Ocean: (And yeah... The water was COLD!)
