Oudtshoorn

850,000 ostriches, outnumbering people about 10:1.  Oudtshoorn claims to be the ostrich capital of the world.  I doubt anyone else is vying for that one.  The world's biggest bird is the oddly-named city's biggest tourist attraction.  Far removed from ostrich on safari, we have explored this African oddity to its up-close-and-personal fullest including feeding it, riding it and eating it.  Kirsten has even been bitten by it.  And while we've been tempted for weeks to purchase a beautiful ostrich egg shell as a souvenir, I'm glad we waited, having bought an ostrich egg, with the 'egg' in it that is, at the grocery for $2.75 USD:  the equivalent of two dozen chicken eggs and three dozen's worth of cholesterol in case you're counting.

We've visited the Wilgewandel Holiday Farm &  Cango Wildlife Ranch, both mega-tourist-African-petting-zoos of sorts, each boasting "supernatural encounters!" "sheer thrills!" and "great family fun!" that for us included a family camel ride, white tigers in Africa, meerkats (Chloe's favorite), and, in Kirsten's case, opportunity to be bitten by the aforementioned ostrich.

Chloe, who's never even been on a horse, had been expressing much interest in a chance to ride.  Her equestrian introduction...lessons?  No way.  How 'bout horseback safari!  We love Africa for its opportunities and no trip to Oudtshoorn

 would be complete without the "unique bushveld experience" of Buffelsdrift Game Lodge where one need not even ask if it's okay to bring an eight-year-old with no riding experience cantering

 along among wildebeest, rhino and buffalo.  Needless to say both kids loved it and neither was thrown, trampled or eaten.

Among the highlights of our adventures here, though, was a spectacular trip through Cango Caves.  The 20-million year old caverns are billed as an ecological, archeological and historical landmark; one of the "Seven Wonders of Southern Africa"

 according to the brochure.  Our tour is described as "challenging", "requiring a degree of fitness" and as being for "lean people

 only."  No exaggerations here.  It was tough, a bit scary and fairly physically demanding.  The kids loved it, scrambling from one cave to another, but, of course, they fit, so it doesn't count.  It sure looked like I wouldn't fit.  One can't appreciate the small, dark hole called "Chimney" from the tidy diagram pictured, a neat sign presented in the lobby after I had wedged myself up, not on the cavern wall next to the small, dark hole allowing normal-sized humans to make a rational decision about wedging.  But for illustration, let's review included statistics and descriptions.  Approximately "3,6 m upwards crawl" translates to way more than ten feet pretty much vertical.  "Chimney-like feature" resembles a chimney only in

 that it is tight, dark and vertical while the "like" modifier describes that it is wet, slick and irregular.  "Average diameter of 90 cm" means it averages 35 inches and I hope for some uniformity in the statistic such that my 34-inch ass doesn't get stuck.  Luckily I did fit, emerging from the other end exhausted, panting, soaked and battered.  This is one of those things they would definitely never allow you to do in the USA.  Not even with a license and waiver and hefty fee.  Especially not the eight-year-old.  She loved it the most!

Surfer's Corner

Traveling throughout Africa we've tried to be as informed about our destinations as possible.  Mostly to be sure that we make the most of our experience.  But also to ensure that travel's as safe and enjoyable as possible.

Friday's temperature in the Cape Town area was forecast to reach a whopping 42 degrees celsius.  I can't even convert that but I can tell you it is hot.  Hot enough that though we've been in equatorial Africa's heat for over two months we think it's hot.  Hot enough that the locals comment.

What better place to go on such a hot day than one of the many beautiful beaches surrounding the cape?  Having done our

 research, we pick Muizenberg, a wonderful community known for its surfing, which Sarah is eager to do.  However, while that research led us to "Surfer's Corner" a great beach with perfect waves and cool surf shops eager to help us out, it did not reveal to us the meaning of the flag pictured at the right.  I can assure you from experience that when this flag is flown at the beach you are surfing its meaning becomes immediately self-evident.

Posted on a cliffside outlook a hundred feet above Surfer's Corner there is a lookout.  Here, members of Sharkspotters scan the clear waters below for large, uninvited ocean predators lurking in the clear water.  If we had visited the Sharkspotters website, we'd have known that a "White Flag with a Black Shark, along with a loud siren, means a shark has been sighted and you should leave the water calmly, but immediately."  However, when the alarm sounds, and all the locals set off their car alarms in unison, and the lifeguard blows his whistle in some frantic recreation of a scene from Jaws, and everyone flees the water in some comical recreation of that other scene from Jaws and that flag is run up yonder pole you're pretty sure of what's going on.

Fortunately we don't surf very well and, thrashed, we were already on shore, merely spectators in the unfolding drama.  This did not make it any less impressive, though, and everyone was agreed we'd had enough of the ocean for a day and maybe we should try some lunch.

FYI:  Green flag = good, white flag with a black shark = self-evident, red flag = the white flag with a black shark had just been flying.  Surf's up!  Sarah will be back in the water.  Not so sure about Kirsten.

What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been

We're back in civilization!  No one is more impressed than Chloe, who, from the window of the plane exclaimed repeatedly "There's a real house!  There's a real house!"  and in the airport, in front of about a hundred people shouted, "look...an escalator...and it works!"  First-world all the way.

I head straight for coffee:  Vida e Cafe is a sort of Brazilian-flavored version of Dutch Brothers.  It's a party with dancing baristas and thumping Latin Music.  My perfect latte, best I've had since December, is $1.77 USD and we catch some free internet in the cafe that's so fast I can't keep up.  I love it here.  

And, hey, look:  there's white people.  Tons of 'em.  For the most part they speak plain English.  Instantly we blend in, no longer ridiculously identifiable, able to pass for locals.  Crazy.

Rental car:  Driver on the right, in the left lane.  Okay.  Manual transmission shifting with the left hand?  Hmm...no problem.  

Cape Town is an amazing destination and our first stop is in Camp's Bay.  Beautiful beach, gourmet restaurants.  It reminds us more of LaJolla, CA than Africa.  Dinner's at Hussar's where I enjoy Bontebuck, Kudu and Eland bringing my safari experience to a delicious close (cue "Circle of Life" from The Lion King).

There's much to de here but we're content to hang out in Camp's Bay and continue to enjoy Cape Town as we move to the next town over, Sea Point.  Sunday is the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, final day of the Giro del Capo bike race and with an amateur event bringing the total number of participants to over 35,000 it's billed as the largest cycling event in the world.  Our hotel room overlooks the course 1km from the finish and all day long there is a spectacular parade of cyclists passing by. 

Tale of Two Islands

We visit Unguja, the main island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, now referred to as the Revolutionary Republic of Zanzibar, or, informally, Zanzibar and formerly The Spice Islands.  The name Zanzibar is derived from the Persian "zangi-bar" meaning coast of the blacks but the island feels very Arabian and is very Muslim - this was the land of sultans and Sinbad.  The capital, Zanzibar City, is referred to as "Stone Town" and its 200-year old architecture and narrow streets feel very foreign to us.  Our stay is at a resort 50 kilometers from the city and it feels very foreign to us as well.  The warm blue waters of the ocean and endless white sand beaches are inviting but we are out of place as tourists; both our fellow travelers and the locals are decidedly less friendly than the people of Ukerewe and these two islands seem worlds apart despite being part of the same country.