For this I do apologize.
Things have been a bit busy. Not quite hectic like they were in Cape Town, but still busy nonetheless. This is mainly due to an immediate and steady influx of homework. Essentially we are trying to squeeze an entire semester’s worth of classes into five short weeks. My two courses here in Pietermaritzburg are far more intensive than they work in Cape Town and each assignment falls right on top of another.
I have more or less been doing schoolwork since we got off the bus here five weeks ago.
With the little bit of down time I have had, I’ve spent it completely absorbed in my beautiful surroundings here.
Basically what I’m getting at is this:
Climbing trees is far more important to me right now than any of you are.
In all seriousness though, the campus here at the African Enterprise Center is absolutely unbelievable. Anytime girls are showing up to class out of breath after being chased by a troupe of monkeys, you know you are in a special place.
I will have much more to say on Maritzburg soon.
But for now there is still too much to be said about Cape Town and my time there.
Several weeks ago our group went on a tour of the Cape Peninsula. Though it had certainly been highly advertised, at the time, we had still seen very little of the natural beauty surrounding Cape Town. In fact, aside from our historical excursion downtown and brief trips with Tom to Llandudno Beach and Kalk Bay, all of my time had been spent within a two-mile radius of Lansdowne, the industrial area in the Cape Flats home to Cornerstone.
That all changed on that Thursday afternoon.
By days end, we had seen over 150 kilometers of beautiful coastline highway, a half dozen whales, two oceans, and countless signs reminding us of the dangers of baboons.
Because Adam’s creativity with a camera lens is far superior—and more concise at that—to my long and painful butchering of the English language, I will let his talent narrate the journey:
Camps Bay. Just on the other side of Table Mountain. Simply gorgeous. We were to return.
Ostrich. We splurged a little. About half of the fries were consumed by birds. Apparently they are faster fliers than we are eaters. Seeing as we are not only Americans but also college students, this says a lot.
The clouds disappear at Cape Point and with bellies full of overpriced food we hike the trail to the lighthouse and the furthest corner of the African continent.
It was pretty—kind of.
After a bit of whale sighting we set our sights northward for Simon’s Town to see some penguins
Hey now.
I’ve seen Batman Returns.*
Lesson learned Tim Burton.
Lesson learned.
For me, this was close enough.
This, unfortunately, was not.
The day concludes in Kirstenbosch, a botanical gardens in Cape Town. Things didn’t look so bad there either.
Oh, Adam. I bet you just ate up all of Al Gore’s silly leftist propaganda.
Well folks, that’s all the visual stimulation I have for you now. I will soon be back to assault you all with the usual trite metaphors and obscure references to pop culture.
You will be begging for more pictures in no time.
*quote courtesy of Jordan Blackmer, 13 Oct. 2008.
