At the end of my time in East London, I made the (gulp) 18 hour Greyhound bus journey from one side of South Africa to the other - to Cape Town, where my cousin Paul and his wife Yvonne live. I spent a month with Paul and Yvonne two years ago when I was doing my MA primary research for my dissertation on Post-Apartheid Citizenship Education so it was nice to have the feeling of "coming home" after some of the challenges I had during my time in East London.
It's funny - before I started this contract I had grand plans to squeeze in as much adventure as possible during my leave time but nomadic life means that when I have time off, what I really crave is some normality, home comforts and (I'll regret saying this but) routine! So as well as really enjoying the company and generous hospitality of Paul and Yvonne, it's been great to do "normal" things like cook, drink wine, go running, play tennis, go out for meals and go hiking with Emile and Berta (friends of my Aunt Clare who I met two years ago).
Perhaps not quite such a "normal" activity was my cheetah encounter in the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch (just outside Cape Town) - something that I regretted not doing last time I was here. I love big cats and it was incredible to actually be able to stroke the 8 year old cheetah (very distinguishably named Hemmingway). Pictures below.
Next stop Zambia...
It's funny - before I started this contract I had grand plans to squeeze in as much adventure as possible during my leave time but nomadic life means that when I have time off, what I really crave is some normality, home comforts and (I'll regret saying this but) routine! So as well as really enjoying the company and generous hospitality of Paul and Yvonne, it's been great to do "normal" things like cook, drink wine, go running, play tennis, go out for meals and go hiking with Emile and Berta (friends of my Aunt Clare who I met two years ago).
Perhaps not quite such a "normal" activity was my cheetah encounter in the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch (just outside Cape Town) - something that I regretted not doing last time I was here. I love big cats and it was incredible to actually be able to stroke the 8 year old cheetah (very distinguishably named Hemmingway). Pictures below.
Next stop Zambia...
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| Ginger freckles and cheetah spots! |
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| With Hemmingway the Cheetah |
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| Helderberg hike with Emile and Berta |
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| Emile and Berta in the vineyard up to Helderberg |
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| Last grapes of the harvest |
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| Looking out at False Bay from Helderberg |
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| With Paul and Yvonne at Pigalles in Cape Town |
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| Mozambique Tiger Prawns |
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| With Jeeksie in Table Mountain National Park - Silvermine |
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| Paul thrashing me at tennis! I'm more interested in the views! |
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| Braai time. Lekker (-: |
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