Dave is…
Hiking Lions Head.
Alright so all you bitching about lack of photos or worried that I won’t have anything to talk about in SA her you go. Tell me that isn’t awesome looking.
Table Mt. from Lion’s Head
Yeah today we left work a little early to accompany exiting intern David on a hike up Lions Head. Located between the more famous Table Mountain and Signal Hill, Lions Head offers a decent hour long hike and spectacular views of Cape Town in all directions.
David, the wizened eight month veteran of Cape Town, took us by a liquor store first where I finally got to purchase my first South African beer, to be cracked open when we reached the summit. And then we set off. Lion’s Head offers a nice steady uphill climb till you get close to the top when you have to do a little climbing. His pace made Jen and I feel pretty out of shape but it was all worth it when we got to the top.
Man what a view. From the top you could see really all of the Cape Town area. From Signal Hill, where they fire off the daily noon cannon to Cape Bay the really ritzy section of Cape Town that looks like (at least from here) it belongs in Hawaii to the waterfront and harbor area of Cape Town, South Africa’s most visited tourist attraction.
Personally this is my favorite view. The mountains in the background? Called the 12 Disciples. I’m a sucker for religiously referenced mountain ranges.
The top saw a decent number of hikers come through, enjoying what is apparently an uncharacteristically beautiful day for this time of year and while some of them celebrated hitting the summit by doing sit ups, we marked the occasion with nothing more than a couple strenuous deep elbow bends.
We set off back down the hill with just enough time to make it back down to the easy incline before it got too dark to see.
Afterwards we cruised by the V&A Waterfront, which is Cape Town’s big deal. I must say on one level I was highly unimpressed. South Africa’s biggest tourist attraction is a mall? I mean it’s not even just a strip of overpriced tourist orientated boutiques and restaurants along the water? It’s just a mall?? Not to denigrate its impressive status in terms of malls. This is a very very high class, well designed mall. Not to mention it’s huge.
We were stopping by cause David had to use a gift card before he left so while he shopped for DVDs I discovered Bok van Blerk. Afrikaans have their own music here, I gather it tends towards crappy UK pop stylings, but seriously Bok van Blerk? That could be the greatest name I have ever heard. His music may be terrible but there is little chance I don’t buy at least one of his albums at some point in the near future. Shit I might name my kid Bok van Blerk. It just rolls off the tongue.
Once the shopping was done we rounded off the evening with the one thing I had been fixated on all day: the 2009 Champions League Final. ManU v Barcelona, arguably the two greatest teams in the world in soccer’s Super Bowl. Amazingly enough it didn’t seem like anyone here had any interest in it. Soccer (they call it soccer here which is baffling) is according to what I am told not all that popular amongst the whites, they prefer rugby and cricket. That combined with the lack of dodgy looking pubs here I was worried about my ability to see the game in an appropriate environment.
I love how the clouds just seem to sit on the water. Looks almost like an enormous ice flow
Ultimately I had heard about a bar called the Forrester Arms that was reasonably close to home. David had heard of it and was nice enough to give us a lift there and we got some grub in “Forries” beautiful beer garden before the game got started. Once it was rolling I confess I abandoned my football ambivalent companions for a spot at the bar and then just cabbed it home.
Sure ManU never really played well enough to make it an exciting game but a few more nights like this would go a long way to alleviating my concerns that my life will be boring here.