Cape Town & The Cederberg Mountains

Most Excellent Family & Friends,

Photographer Carol at Kirstenbosch

Since last Tuesday Carol and I have been living happily in and around Cape Town, South Africa. The contrast between this latest stop-over and the rest of our African travels has been pretty stark, but in most enjoyable ways. For instance, we haven't seen a chicken for almost a week. Not that there is anything wrong with being around chickens, but there is something fun about not being around chickens once in a while too. We've also been enjoying noticeably cooler weather here on the coast, and the occasional precipitation which really feels good after another long stretch of dry hot weather. For accommodation, our friend Tanya and her two very gracious flat-mates (flatties), who have generously allowed us to camp out in their living room  for the past week. It's a comfortable and fantastic location for us to be based out of, just at the foot of Table Mountain in a suburb not far from the famous Kirstenbasch Gardens where we've spent quite a bit of time enjoying some truly amazing plants and scenic views. I've even managed to get a few morning runs in along the trails which run around the forested base of the mountain.

No, the colors are not courtesy of photoshop

Other highlights have included a day with the African penguins at Boulder Beach, another day driving the entire length of the Cape to Cape Point where the Cape of Good Hope turns out to be a slightly disappointing "Second Most Southern Point in Africa" or possibly more impressively "The Most South-Western Point in Africa". Anyway, the let-down wore off pretty quickly because the views and scenery were fantastic, and the drive past Chapman's Peak with panoramic views from the most precarious roads I've ever driven looking back into Hout Bay were just spectacular.

Breakfasting in the Mountaineering Club Hut

Another adventure was getting to spend the night on top of Table Mountain with Tanya and Mel, another good friend from Cambridge. Both are members of the Mountaineering Club, and are allowed to stay in the club huts whenever they want, so they invited us to hike up after work last week, and we had a great time playing games, cooking, reading, and checking out decades and decades of club history and pictures adorning the walls of the 100 year old mountain hut. The mountain was so covered in cloud for the entire time we spent on the mountain that we never did get a good view off the top, but the hike was gorgeous and so peaceful because of the dense fog that it really didn't dampen the trip one bit.

Carol climbing a route on Hueco Punk Rock in the Cederberg

Finally, the past three days we were given the most wonderful opportunity to head into the Cederberg Mountains with some friends of Tanya (Hein, Lydia, and two other rock climbing enthusiasts). Hein and Lydia are an amazing couple who inspired Carol and I in many many ways, and regularly spend time camping and rock climbing throughout Africa. They turned out to be not only expert rock climbers and champions of all things outdoors, but also terrific human beings in general and wonderfully lighthearted souls who had us laughing almost continually for the entire three days.

Over the weekend both Carol and I acquired new climbing experiences. Carol scaled some remarkably high walls (about 25 meters) and learned the differences between the US, South African, and European difficulty ratings, and I got to do my first outdoor lead climb on one of the same routes, which was awesome. We're both excited to get back home and take a few lessons from Cassidy on the finer points of climbing!

While camping in the Cederberg, we were treated to the most amazing food and wine, including traditional braai (massive amounts of meat) cooked over the campfire each night and fresh coffee in the mornings. My guess is that this is the first camping trip I've ever been on which has caused me to gain weight, and to be honest I hope it isn't the last. We even had a dip in the Nuwerust campsite pool where we were staying (which was a wonderful place to call home for a few nights if you ever find your way to the Southern Cederberg) after a long day of climbing around on Rooiberg which dominated the view from our campsite.

So much more to write about, but it's about time to figure out what happens next on this crazy adventure. We get on a plane tomorrow for quite a few hours of travel, and will be sad to say goodbye to Africa for sure. It's been an amazing few months here, and there hasn't been a single moment when we've felt too long in one place.

 Greetings to you all with the joy and peace that we are learning from our heavenly father,

Joe & Carol

P.S. Happy Birthday, Dad. You've always inspired me.