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southrift-galaxy-safaris-blog · 5 years ago

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Reasons to visit South Africa

South Africa is one of the top countries to visit in Africa, South Africa is full of adventure, history, wildlife and delicious meals. Here are top ten reasons you need to visit South Africa as your ideal holiday ideal destination

1. Adventure

Are you a thrill seeker or looking to spice your life up a bit? Then South Africa is the place for you. Whether you are interested in going Shark Cage Diving, Paragliding off of a mountain over a capital city or blokarting down by the beach then South Africa is definitely the place you should visit.

Shark Cage diving South Africa

2. Safari

There are many countries where you can go on safari but there is only one Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in the world. (Which also goes into Mozambique and Zimbabwe along with being in South Africa). You can either drive through the park on your own or take private tours. There are also many lodges that you can stay over night at giving you the opportunity to do many game drives and see some of the magnificent animals on safari like those in the Big Five.

Kruger National Park wildlife South Africa

3. Penguins

Not just in any country can you go to the beach and expect to see penguins but in South Africa you can. There is a colony of 3,000 penguins that live in and around Boulders Beach in Cape Town, South Africa. Also if you are so inclined you can visit SANCCOB a sea bird rehabilitation centre with the majority of its residents being penguins and you can arrange for a private behind the scenes tour. You might get a chance to pet Rocky the resident rock hopper penguin and you can even adopt a penguin! You aren’t allowed to take it home though sadly.

Penguins in South Africa

4. The Blue Train

One of the most luxurious trains in the world, you can take a 27 hour train ride from Pretoria to Cape Town or in the other direction. The rooms vary from having two single beds to a full bed and some even have full sized bathtubs while others include standing showers. Each section of the train has its own butler, there is a turn down service, the appointment only gift shop sells diamonds and there is a cigar lounge with of course an open bar.

5. Wine

South Africa is famous for its wines with the majority of the vineyards being located just outside of Cape Town. There are many vineyards and wineries that you can visit for lunch, enjoy tasting menus, take tours and of course purchase some fabulous wines.

6. Language

There are no language barriers in South Africa as almost everyone speaks English and the country as a whole has 11 official languages. You might actually be surprised to find out that not only does everyone speak English but many are bi-lingual, tri-lingual or can speak even more languages.

7. History

If you like learning about history then this country has a story that you would be amazed to learn about. South Africa has a large tumultuous history and is one that people should learn about and understand if visiting. In Johannesburg you can visit the Apartheid Museum, Liliesleaf Museum and the country’s Constitutional Court to educate yourself on its past.

8. Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and the largest city in the world not located by a river, ocean or lake. A neat fact about this city is that it also has 10 million trees (more trees than people) and is home to the biggest man made forest in the world. Known for great food and shopping it is also home to the continents biggest airport and is where many people begin their trips in South Africa.

Inter-continental Johannesburg

9. Food

South African cuisine has a lot of outside influences like from Europe and Asia from colonialism times. They have some of the tastiest meats in the world and venture outside of the typical beef and pork. Ostrich is found on many menus as is springbok and if you are lucky you might even get to enjoy Kudu. They enjoy a good BBQ aka braii and one of the meats I liked most was biltong, which is similar to beef jerky. South Africa is also big on beer production with their SAB World of Beer tour in Johannesburg said to be the top tourist attraction in the country.

South-African food

10. Cape Town

One of three capital cities in South Africa, this seaside city is beautiful and picturesque with a great backdrop of the famous Table Mountain National Park. South Africa’s top tourist destination has lots of beautiful coast lines and beaches near by, many whale watching tours, amazing scenery, and it has a walkable waterfront area with tons of great restaurants and shopping and more.

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#sceneryholidaydestinationd #southafrica

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toddisadventuring · 6 years ago

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Cape Town, AfrikaBurn, and safari through Namibia

Over the past month I went on a trip to Cape Town, AfrikaBurn (Burning Man regional), and a safari through Namibia. Here are the highlights:

Cape Town

The first day in Cape Town was acclimating and getting supplies for AfrikaBurn. The second day I joined some friends to visit Boulders Beach where there are penguins

Some of the snacks I got on the trip were biltong and droëwors which are the South African form of jerky. It's lot less salty and a lot better spices. I already miss it dearly

AfrikaBurn

After 2 days in Cape Town, I rushed off to AfrikaBurn. Fun facts:

AfrikaBurn is the second largest Burning Man event in the world at 12,000 participants (Burning Man is 70,000)

AfrikaBurn has the most burns at any burn. This year had 20 scheduled and I think most, if not all, of them burned

Here's some photos of art from the event:

Temple of Stars and Clan:

Be Hold (my favorite):

Temple of /Xam:

Space sheeps:

Octocrab:

Unmarked negative space art:

(all of these art pieces were burned, except for the rocks)

While AfrikaBurn doesn't need to be compared to Burning Man as AfrikaBurn is a fantastic burn in its own right, I'd like to provide analogues for those who are curious

AfrikaBurn is a lot smaller, city blocks don't take nearly as long to walk and you don't need to worry about walking an arc if you're in a hurry

You can see a lot of art from one piece to another, there's no large gaps (e.g. can see both the clan and temple in Octocrab photo)

You will see the same people much more frequently when out which builds a community feeling

While there isn't playa dust, dirt still kicks up and you will get dirty

A lot of art and camps were still setting up on Monday and Tuesday (event opened on Monday)

Safari in Namibia

After AfrikaBurn ended (8 days long), I departed with 11 other volunteers for a 2 week safari through Namibia. Here's a map of our trip:

While on this trip, we:

Saw Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world:

Climbed sand dunes:

Visited a cheetah sanctuary and got licked by them (very stratchy):

Visited Etosha National Park:

Here we saw so many animals (e.g. elephants, giraffes, springbok, zebras, rhinos, lions, leopards, wildebeest) and there was a watering hole near our campground:

Visited Okavango river delta:

Here we saw even more animals and foliage (e.g. a giant baobab, impala, roan antelope, sable antelope, monkeys, baboons, warthogs, water buffalo, hippopotamus):

Got visited by a honey badger at camp:

Hiked Waterberg Plateau Park:

End of trip:

At this point, we made it to Windhoek where our safari and my trip ended. It was a fantastic journey and I was super happy to have done it all =)

#capetown #afrikaburn #namibia

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 8 years ago

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Things to Do in Stellenbosch: A Guide to South Africa’s Wine Region

South Africa is one of my top five favorite countries — but it’s easily my #1 favorite wine country in the world. The wines here are extraordinary, shockingly affordable, and they have tastes that I don’t experience in any other country.

I don’t know what it is about South African wines. I’m more of a red wine fan in general, and love me some Pinotage, but South Africa’s whites are magical — they have warm, vanilla-y notes that enthrall me. No other whites are like that.

If you want to go wine tasting in South Africa, many people spend a day in Constantia or one of the suburbs immediately outside Cape Town. But if you want to do South African wine country right, spend a few days in Stellenbosch.

Introducing Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is a university town about an hour outside Cape Town. It’s one of the oldest towns in South Africa and it’s populated primarily by Afrikaners (Afrikaans-speaking people of Dutch descent). And it is world renowned for its wines!

Stellenbosch has a population of roughly 100,000, which makes it a great size for wandering. The downtown area is home to several top-notch hotels, restaurants, cafes, and shops. And because of the university, it has a laid-back, youthful atmosphere.

The #1 Reason Why You Should Spend a Few Days in Stellenbosch

Because South Africa is an exhausting destination and you’ll need a break.

Don’t get me wrong — I adore this country fiercely and whole-heartedly. But South Africa takes a lot out of you. You need to be much more cautious about safety, and not only in the cities (see my South Africa safety guide here). Going on safari is awesome, but game drives require pre-dawn wakeup calls and you may be out in the harsh sun or freezing cold for hours, often both on the same day. And if you’re diving into culture, much of South Africa’s recent history is painful and heavy, especially if you visit lots of Apartheid-centric sights.

In short, give yourself downtime.

One of the biggest mistakes I see travelers make is not leaving any time for downtime. Travel is exhausting under normal circumstances, and trying to see literally everything is a good way to run yourself ragged. So plan some low-key days into your itinerary no matter where you go, whether it’s a day chilling out at a beach club in Sicily or a day cafe-hopping and photo-taking in Paris.

For our two-week trip, my friend Beth and I started with a few days in Johannesburg. Next was a few days on safari in Kruger National Park. We then hit up Cape Town for a few days. Stellenbosch would be the final destination.

And that itinerary was perfect. By the time we arrived in Stellenbosch, we were ready to veg out and relax.

Day One: Stellenbosch’s Best Wineries

We lucked out on our first day — my friend Charmain, who is married to my college friend Mark, offered to drive us from Cape Town to Stellenbosch, visiting three of her favorite wineries. Charmain is from Pretoria but she’s lived in Cape Town for a long time and I found that many locals agreed that she took us to the best places!

Fairview Wine and Cheese — Come here for the cheese.

When you arrive at Fairview Wine and Cheese, you’ll see a few goats hanging out by the entrance. Yes, they make their own goat cheese here! And lots of other kinds of cheeses.

The three of us sampled several wines and cheeses. And while the wines were good, the cheeses were exemplary. We bought a few to take home as well. If you are a cheese fan in the least, you need to come here!

Spice Route — Come here for the food.

Spice Route is a collection of eateries and restaurants near Paarl, just outside Stellenbosch. Theres a section for cured meats, there’s a deli, there’s a pizza place, and there’s even a brewery called Barley and Bilton that serves beer and biltong (South African jerky). And of course, they have wine tasting as well!

We tasted four wines with some cured meats. You know I enjoyed that pairing! After, Charmain took us for some South African-style pancakes, rolled thin like crepes.

Waterford — Come here for the chocolate.

Waterford is the winery I heard recommended most often from locals in Stellenbosch. It’s got a luxurious atmosphere and feels like a grand manor belonging to some member of royalty. Their wines aren’t half bad, either.

At Waterford we took part in their chocolate tasting! We each received three wines to pair with three little squares of chocolate. It was a stormy day and it felt amazing to curl up by the fireplace.

Day Two: Vine Hopper and Four Wineries

For our second day, Beth and I decided to try the Vinehopper — a hop-on, hop-off van visiting several wineries. They take several routes depending on the day, so you can take three different routes three days in a row if you’d like.

I found this to be the best way for people without a car (or people who all want to drink) to sample lots of places in Stellenbosch. What you lose in spontaneity you gain in convenience.

We took the Southern Route. Here are the wineries we visited:

Neethlingshof

Neethlingshof had a modern atmosphere with a fancy dining room for sampling. We tried several reds and whites and I bought a bottle of The Owl Post to take home.

Spier

Spier was next, and while we didn’t do a full tasting, we sampled their sparkling rosé and a cheese plate. I also bought a bottle of their chenin blanc to take home (and it’s the only bottle I have left after nine months!). Spier has beautiful grounds as well, so it’s a good spot to take some outdoor photos.

Bilton Wines

Like Waterford, Bilton Wines is famous for their wine and chocolate tasting! But the pieces we got here were much larger than the ones at Waterford. Each one was roughly the size of a Kit-Kat strip. They also have award-winning merlot that pairs well with the cardamom chocolate.

Kleine Zalze

Well, let’s be honest — by the time you hit the fourth winery in a day, your memories start getting fuzzy. I did enjoy Kleine Zalze, though, and I bought one of their bottles of red to take home.

Vinehopper has three different routes. A one-day pass costs 300 rand ($22) and a two-day pass costs 540 rand ($40). Wine tastings are not included in the price, but they generally cost 15-45 rand ($1-3) for around six tastes at each winery. Note that the wineries close at 5:00 PM, so you’re best off getting an early start.

Day Three: Day Trip to Franschoek

Franschoek is like a mini version of Stellenbosch with a French flair, about 45 minutes away by car. It’s a much smaller town filled with galleries, jewelry shops, and cafes.

We started with some wine by the fireplace at a restaurant called Dutch East. I’m pretty sure we were the youngest people there by 30 years.

Our one tasting of the day was at Franschoek Cellar, where we paired six elegant wines with six delicious cheeses. (Note: on the map it looks technically within walking distance from the town, and it was, but we were the only people actually walking on that road!)

When we were planning our trip, Beth and I discussed whether to stay in Franschoek or Stellenbosch. Overall, we were happy with our decision to stay in Stellenbosch. We would have been bored out of our minds after two days in Franschoek. If we had stayed longer, I’m sure we would have done their wine tram.

We took an Uber from Stellenbosch to Franschoek but couldn’t summon any in the area on the way back, so we had a restaurant call us a cab. The Uber cost us 258 rand ($19) and took 45 minutes; our cab on the way back cost 300 rand ($22).

Day Four: Unusual Stellenbosch Wineries

Our flight departed Cape Town late in the afternoon, so we were determined to get a few more tastings in before we left. Beth found a driver who would take us to a few wineries and then to the airport from there. It was the perfect way to enjoy our final day in Stellenbosch.

Fleur du Cap — Come here for their salt tasting.

As soon as I heard that there was a wine tasting paired with salts, I knew I had to try it! Fleur du Cap offers a tasting where they give you five wines, five salts, and several little dishes for experimenting with the salts. One was a stuffed grape leaf; another was olive paste.

It was so much fun! This tasting is why I now use pink Himalayan sea salt all the time in my cooking. (It sounds more expensive than it is — you can get it for like $4 at Trader Joe’s.) Beth and I were also both horrified by Indian black salt, which smells like rotten eggs. Apparently vegans like it because it’s an animal-free way to get the taste of eggs. But isn’t the taste of eggs the worst part about them? It’s all about the texture, baby!

Salt tastings take place at 12:00 PM only and you must book in advance.

Cavalli Wine and Stud Farm — Come here for the photo ops.

Cavalli Wine and Stud Farm was easily the most scenic winery we visited. The grounds were so beautiful and the building itself was a modern masterpiece. All of their wines are named after horses. We sampled a few wines and a cheese plate and they actually gave us a free bottle of wine to take home because they were busy and took so long.

And with that, we were off to Cape Town to catch our flight to Johannesburg, then to Amsterdam, then home to New York.

But which wineries were the very best?

If you’re limited on time, I would prioritize visiting the very best of Stellenbosch. That would be cheese tasting at Fairview, chocolate tasting at Waterford, and salt tasting at Fleur du Cap.

Where to Stay in Stellenbosch

My recommendation is to stay in a hotel within or just outside the city center. That way you can get around easily by walking. Here are my recommendations for places at every price range in downtown Stellenbosch:

If you’re looking for budget accommodation in Stellenbosch, Ikhaya Stellenbosch Backpackers has dorms, private rooms, and apartment-style suites for a low price and a great location right by the center of town.

If you want a mid-range hotel, Stellenbosch Hotel has the feel of a B&B with the amenities of a hotel, right in the center of town.

If you want something high-end but not too expensive, check out Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel, a stylish Stellenbosch boutique hotel with a pool in the center of town.

And if you want to blow your budget, you probably don’t care about being in town because you can afford to hire a driver for your whole trip. If that’s the case, go for Delaire Graff Lodge — it’s pretty much the most luxurious property in the Stellenbosch area.

You can find more Stellenbosch hotels here.

Where to Eat in Stellenbosch

Many of the wineries serve food, but if you’re looking for restaurants in Stellenbosch, here are some that we enjoyed:

The Big Easy is an excellent yet affordable high-end dinner spot. I loved my venison, but the standout was Beth’s parmesan and mushroom risotto.

Hudson’s The Burger Joint is a popular upscale burger chain. And it has a bit of a New York theme, which didn’t hurt. Get one of the burgers with bacon jam! (Thanks for taking us, Kate and Alessio!)

Melissa’s the Food Shop is an adorable cafe and grocery store. It’s only open for breakfast and lunch, and they have adorable pastries. This is also a good place to stock up on food souvenirs.

The Bird Cage is a quirky café that does lovely breakfast dishes. Their main business is wedding cakes. This is one restaurant that will look great on Instagram, FYI.

Tiger’s Milk is a delicious casual chain with great pizzas. I didn’t eat here, but I ate at the one in Muizenberg in Cape Town. Bacon-avocado-feta is a mysteriously popular combination in South Africa and I highly recommend their bacon-avocado-feta pizza! (Thanks for taking us, Mark and Charmain!)

And don’t underestimate having a meal of wine and cheese back at your place!

How to Get Around Stellenbosch

The conundrum about wine regions around the world is that they are best to explore by car — yet driving is the last thing you should be doing while wine tasting.

You may want to rent a car and have one person stay sober. But if you both want to drink, look into hiring transportation!

You can summon Ubers within the town of Stellenbosch, but summoning them at outside wineries and in Franschoek is difficult to impossible. In that case, ask the winery to call you a cab.

I loved the day we spent on the Vine Hopper and it was a great way to experience lots of wineries without worrying about transportation. And hiring a driver from a tour company was the most logistically easy way to visit a few wineries, leave our bags with him, and go directly to the airport from there.

When to Visit Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch is a great year-round destination. Beth and I visited in the winter (July) and while I was a bit nervous, as winter weather is roughest on the Western Cape, winter ended up being a great time to visit.

The main reason? Fireplaces. It seemed like nearly every winery had a fireplace or two, and it was so nice to bundle up near a roaring fire with a glass of Chenin Blanc in your hand!

Secondly, hardly anyone was visiting then. We were often the only two people visiting a winery. And because of that, hotel prices were lower, too.

Weather-wise, some days were sunny, some were rainy, and some were a mix, but a light leather or denim jacket with a scarf was all we needed. Pack an umbrella because the weather can change quickly.

You can’t go wrong any time of year, though. Fall is a popular time to visit, as that’s when the new bottles will be coming out, and summer is high season. Do be prepared for higher prices and bigger crowds in those seasons.

On Tourism and Race in Stellenbosch

One thing I noticed was that nearly every single tourist I saw in Stellenbosch was white. The only black people I saw were working. I noticed this often throughout South Africa, but it was more significant in Stellenbosch than anywhere else.

However, that changed at our final winery, Cavalli, where nearly every guest was black. (It’s worth noting that we were at Cavalli was on a Saturday, which is a popular day for Capetonians to visit rather than tourists.)

Racism in the wine tourism industry is not unheard of — a few years ago, a group of black women were kicked off a wine train in Napa Valley for apparently laughing and talking too loudly (aka #LaughingWhileBlack); they were met by police when they arrived at the station. The company claimed it was “acute insensitivity” and not racial bias at play; the women sued the company and reached a private settlement.

I’m not knowledgeable enough about race relations in South Africa to speak at length, but I will say this: Most non-South Africans assume that things immediately got better when Apartheid ended. That’s not true. Laws may have changed, but new injustices sprang up to replace the old laws. It’s similar to the United States — a lot of people assume things got better once the Civil Rights Movement happened, but the injustice only changed form. Now it’s in the form of criminal injustice and police brutality, among many other things.

What I do recommend is having conversations with South Africans about their lives. Talk to black people, white people, colored people (colored means mixed race and is a non-derogatory term in South Africa), Asian people. Don’t insist that everyone tell you about Apartheid, because it’s nobody’s job to educate you on their painful time in history, but you’d be surprised at how often South Africans bring up Apartheid on their own. Either way, I guarantee your eyes will be opened once you hear their life stories.

After seeing how white the wine tourism industry is in Stellenbosch, I wish I had made an effort to visit black-owned wineries. You should do the same. Here’s a list of black-owned wineries in South Africa; here’s a Guardian feature on black-owned wineries in South Africa.

The Takeaway

Stellenbosch was one of the highlights of our trip. Both Beth and I loved our time there and our three and a half days of drinking wine and eating cheese was the perfect way to wind down after ten busy days in South Africa.

Would I return? You absolutely bet I would! I only scraped the surface when it comes to wineries!

Oh, and one last tidbit:

I brought six bottles of my favorite wines home. I didn’t pay more than $11 for any of them.

Essential Info: To get into Stellenbosch, you can take a cab, bus, or train from Cape Town. There are also several private shuttle services. If we hadn’t had Charmain to drive us, we would have taken a private shuttle. Locals I spoke to recommended avoiding the train.

You can find hotels in Stellenbosch here.

I recently read Trevor Noah’s book Born a Crime, which is about his childhood during and after Apartheid in South Africa. It’s an outstanding, gripping, fascinating book and I urge you to read it before you visit South Africa. I actually recommend getting the audio version because Trevor does tons of different accents, languages, and voices.

South African power adapters are hard to find outside South Africa — get one before your trip.

Don’t visit South Africa without travel insurance. Whether you get appendicitis while on safari and need to be hospitalized, or your phone gets stolen in Cape Town, or an injury means you need to cancel all or part of your trip, travel insurance will help you out. I use and recommend World Nomads as travel insurance for trips to South Africa.

Have you been to Stellenbosch or gone wine tasting in South Africa? Share away!

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2qnWl1Y

#IFTTT #Travel Blogs

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senegirl · 8 years ago

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Quiet Thunder

FIRST NOTE: So the old blog on my time in Senegal still has the same RSS feed, I've been informed. Feel free to unsubscribe or keep subscribed! If you have a new email, feel free to subscribe on the side form.

NOW - THE BILTONG AND POTATOES:

The trip to Pretoria started off with boarding a plane, sitting down, getting settled and then having an announcement by the pilots that something was wrong with the fuel system. The mechanics attempted to work on the problem for a short stint before they decided we would take another flight.

2 hours and then 15 hours later in the middle of the middle, I arrived with a total of 6 bags, 4 checked, 2 hand. I AM THE MASTER OF THE CARTS! Fine print: Official title of "Master of the carts" is only given to families with babies in tow and who appear to be moving their entire lives across 1-2 oceans

The first thing I noticed before entering my large Greco-Roman style room at the hotel was how utterly quiet the neighborhood was at around 10:30PM. I remember feeling similar after moving to Seattle from vibrant Washington, DC. So it was quieter than a quiet city. I had entered the suburbs!

Things I most love about development: being able to drink the water and taking a hot shower. However, I'm experiencing a bit of suburban culture shock, not unlike coming back to the south after living my car free, art-loving city lifestyle. I am surrounded by high-class malls and gated housing compounds. Everyone drives; if they're driving correctly, they're on the left side of the road. And most people drive nice smaller cars like Volvos, Audis, BMWs with even a Corolla here and there - a few drive approximations of my dream safari vehicle.*

My first outing in South Africa's version of suburbia that Sunday was to a bird park for a nice lunch overlooking a pond filled with soaring and squawking birds. I was finishing up my buffet procured lamb, when a large blue crane walking past my feet startled me. There was plexiglass to separate us thank goodness. This was also a start of a closer relationship to wine as the Chenin Blancs and Pinotages of South Africa are relatively cheap and suit my tastes.

Dinosaurs in the feather!

Most of my office time my first week was spent meeting people and trying to acquire goods, access, etc. Nothing new there…. Also, please note I might limit work chat in this blog for a variety of reasons. Feel free to email me or contact me privately if you really want to know.

On Friday, I settled in to my new apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. There's nothing to complain about in this high class lifestyle, except…it's amazing how quickly you forget that even a furnished apartment doesn't have TP or dish soap or any of those little touches we take for granted in our lives. Saturday was spent rectifying that, thanks to Woolworths which was described to me in Atlanta orientation as "Target meets Trader Joes" except it isn't stand alone, it's in the nearby large mall. I also went to Hazel Food market where my hipster bloomed into an Afrikaans space. I had my first instance of someone turning to me and asking something in Afrikaans only to be met with a weird look and have them follow up with "where did you get that drink?" Ah yes, lemon mint slushie, "by the front." Oh, and I had an amazing biltong everything omelette, because when in bougie Pretoria, get the feta, avo(cado), and veggies, but add the local jerky because South Africa! I spent the evening eating food delivered by an online service with my Seattle friend Gabi who is in town/the country working on thesis stuff, so it was great to break in my nice place to some hosting.

Yum, jerky omelette

Sunday I struggled with my front-loading washing machine not opening. I think the only other laundry machine related panic that would supersede not being able to access your clothes the day before the business week starts is being IN the laundry machine while the door won't open. My landlord and I disagree on whether the workaround is a faulty pressure switch that needs to be fixed or "just how that model is."

Onto slightly less boring subjects. I did my first visit to the local pool. I swam my ½ mile swim on a 50 m pool. So, out of shape me took a few more breaks than I thought I should, but I guess I'm doubling the length of nonstop swimming compared to Seattle YMCA's facilities. I'm going to try to figure out how to go during the week but I don't think the pool is heated until the winter season. The mornings are around 65 F, seems like a chilly dip. Remember geographers, it's summer here! I finished my evening trying to beat the supermarket sweep clock as most close around 5 or 6 PM on Sundays. I successfully bought some more dinner worthy ingredients as well as random things like Himalayan salt (the only small sized salt with a shaker/grinder available), biryani spice (because yaas South African Indian influence!), and muesli… So, there's no shortage of variety and choice here. One thing I really appreciated about the grocery store compared to the US is that the junk food is only about an aisle and a half and somewhat hidden, with a large fruit and veggies section up front. One thing I do not appreciate about the experience is my continued lack of ability to conceptualize Rand to Dollar amount.

Well, that's my first update from "Africa Light" as some people call it, pretty mundane stuff day to day. That isn't to say that I won’t experience more of South Africa’s diversity on my job’s field visits. My night and my note ends with thunder and lightning in the distance. Thunder is a sound I'm keenly sensitive to after living in Seattle for 2.5 years and only hearing it twice. I guess there’s different types of quiet. Until next time!

*1990s LandRover with a snorkel, a front pulley, maybe even a back pulley, tow bar and at least one spare. I'm convinced you can make it through anything in that vehicle; maybe even across the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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