July 15, 2013

Day 2 (the fog misbehaving)

Walking around Cape Town this morning felt like I had been dropped into that GeoGuessr game, where you're placed at a random spot on GoogleMaps Street View of the earth, and you have to look around to figure out where you are.  Wide, nicely paved roads, an embarcadero along the waterfront, delectable bakeries.  

Beach Rd.

Fog sneaking...

Everything familiar, but... just a little bit wrong.  Cars on the wrong side of the street, and the fog misbehaving.  In San Francisco, fog rolls in like a wave that you can spot from a distance.  In Cape Town, it sneaks up on you like steam in the bathroom, where one minute you can see yourself in the mirror and the next you're lost amid the molecules.  

Fog snuck

I putzed around the V&A Waterfront, which (like nearly every waterfront in the world these days) is comprised of shops and a large Ferris wheel.  Then after finding out that Table Mountain was open for a day between the sequential weeks of gloom and rain, I headed up.  

Indian Meets Pacific Ocean

And it's nice to know, again and again, that you can still be blown away.  I'd seen Table Mountain in pictures and movies, but to actually be there (as they say) is something else.  And I remember that the Earth is a very very beautiful place, and that I am a very very lucky person to see as much of it as I have.  And that, really, this is just the beginning.  Day 2. 

Above the world

Table Mountain

The sun sets over SeaPoint

The sun sets over the world


Postscript
As I've noted, these blog entries are retrospective, drawn from my memory and journal entries.  My journal entry from this day describes my trip to Table Mountain, but also includes a section that I labeled "Other Items of Note," under which the following notes appear:

1.) Benevolent strangers vs. charming serial killers-- How do you know?
2.) What comprises narcissism?
3.) Love Bill Murray.

That's right.  Love Bill Murray.  A shorthand note or a command?

2 comments:

  1. Hi!!! So happy i found your blog!! I am an american, looking to volunteer in kenya for a month or so. I found a great organization so that is settled, but wanted to maybe travel a bit afterward and your trip sounds fantastic. Can you tell me the name of the tour group your are using for the trip? thanks!!

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  2. Hi Kristin,

    Glad you've liked the blog! I did my overland trip with Africa Travel Co (ATC): http://www.africatravelco.com/

    However, I would STRONGLY recommend that you get in touch with our tour guide, Mat Dry, directly. He was amazing, and you should definitely see if there are any tour options with him. He's begun his own business at This is Africa Safaris (TIA), and his contact information is on there: http://tiasafaris.com/

    You can tell him I say hi.

    Good luck and have fun!

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