Long time no see!
2013-03-20 @ 21:04:28
Luba surfing in Muizenberg!
Noncedo surfer from Masi
I feel that during our time in Cape town we got to know each other well. She is defiantly a person that I am missing a lot and will never forget. I see that Noncedo is also a good role model for the people around her.
Thanks, Ncera for sharing so much with us, inviting us to your home and becoming a friend. I have had so much fun hanging out. I hope to see you again sooner then later!
Trying chicken feet i Masi!
I am not finished yet!
So I am now at Istanbul Airport. I have eight hours between my flights and I am extremely bored. I managed to sleep on a bench for a hour or so but then realized that the battery on my phone had died. Now I am too scared to fall asleep again incase I don´t wake up and miss my flight, haha.
The flight here from Cape Town went pretty well. Luckily I had company from my classmate Laila. But she has now left on her flight to Stockholm. But is was also quite emotional, it was the first time since I got to Cape Town that I hade some time to sit down and reflect a little on everything that I have been doing and seeing these past two months. Yes, there were maybe a few tears..... Tip, do not listen to Mumford and sons if you are sad and do not what to cry in public on a airplane.
Anyway, I have been very, very busy with the project and haven´t really had the time to be blogging as much as I might have wanted. I still feel that I have more things to write about and that I need to type out of my system. So even if I am back in Sweden in a few hours there will still be coming posts here about my time in Cape Town, untill I feel like I am done I guess.
Hope you guys have enjoyed and will keep on enjoying reading. Thanks for following my trip!
Time to go
Thanks John!
Boulder´s Beach
The other day we manage to spend a few hours with the penguins at Boulder´s Beach, Simons Town. It was cool being able to be so close to these wild animals. They are so cute, but still you shouldn´t go to close. They will bite you, something a women showed proof of a with a bite mark on her leg from last week.
If you are in Cape Town this place is well worth a visit. The entrance cost was 45 R. You then get to come up close with the penguins and can also go for a swim. There is a path were you can also walk for free if you are happy with seeing them from a distance.
I get around!
So a mentioned a little in my last post about getting around in Cape Town. The cheapest way is to hop on one of the many bus taxis going around. These are mini buses with room for about 14 people sitting, then they will get a few more in and then a few more. Often there is one driver and a money collector. This person also sticks his head out the window the whole way, shouting at people you pass to see if they want to get in.
We have been taking mini taxis a lot between Fish Hoek and Masiphumelele. These operate a little different. They only have the driver and leaves the station once the bus is full. The passenger in the front is the one who takes care of all the money, gives back change, counts and then gives it to the driver. Martina and I managed to end up in the front recently, we are trying to not end up there again haha. A ride is normally around six rand, which is about five Swedish kronor.
It also took us a while to understand where the taxi actually stopped. We were all a little too shy to shout to the driver at the front so we would carefully poke at the person next to us and almost whisper "can you please ask the driver to stop for us....". But now we have got the hang of things. You just shout Enkosi driver! (thank you driver! in Xhosa) and they will stop for you. The first time I did this I was at the very back and everybody in the taxi laughed at me, including my team haha.
The other transportation we have been using is the train. It´s only two stations between Kalk Bay where we live and surfing in Muizenburg. This costs us 8 rand per ride. To get all the way in to town is 11 rand. So public transport in Cape Town is very good for me on a student budget. But we have been told to not go one the trains too late in the evening for our own safety. So far, so good.
Little time for blogging
A lot has been going on the last couple of weeks. More then I have had time to update you guys about. A lot of time has been spent filming, with interviews and just hanging out in Masiphumelele and down the beach. But I am trying to keep up. Prepare for posts about culture differences and couchsurfing as soon as I have time to type my thoughts. Hope you enjoy reading.
Good morning Kalk Bay!
Hike Lions Head, Check!
If you are going on a hike, I recommend you to find some information about the place first. Yesterday we took on the (what we thought would be a easy) mission of climbing Lion Head. There were a lot of people with the same idea. The reason was that it is now full moon. Sitting on the top of the mountain you will sea the sunset over the Atlantic ocean, on the other side the moon and city lights will show you Cape Town. These two views are also divided by Table Mountain. As you might understand, it was rather spectacular to see.
Anyway, back to the mission of getting there. A friend told as that we could just hop on a taxi by the central station and ask them to take us to the place were the walk starts. We instead got on a bus taxi, they are like mini buses that drive around a certain route and you just yell when you would like to get off. They are also a very cheap way to get around in Cape Town. So we asked a driver and he said that he drives close to where the path up is. So we got in and off we went. Long story short. We ended up near the bottom of the mountain like the driver said. But the actual place to start is near the top. Instead of the easy 40 minute walk that we expected it took us over two hours in the blasting sun.
It was tiring and hard work at times, I must say. But now we can say that we really did hike up Lions head! If you are in Cape Town I really think this is something you should do at full moon. Having two amazing views at the same time is not something I will see many times in life. Just remember a flashlight for the way back as it gets pretty dark. And try to start at the right place, haha.
Here comes a few photos from last night, the reason I don´t have any from the actual hike is because I was too concentrated on staring at the ground and my feet to not fall down and die.
Shall we stop for a glass?
Seal snorkeling at Hout Bay
Today Andy, Martina and I went with Steve from Animal Ocean to snorkel with seals. The boat left from Hout Bay and took us to "Seal Island". Do not mistake this with the other seal Island on the Indian Pacific Ocean side. That´s were it is nice and warm and were the sharks go for their supper.
As this is on the Atlantic side the water was freezing. Our wetsuits were thick with a hood and we also got boots and gloves. Still, it was pretty cold jumping in the water! But the snorkeling was great. We saw loads of seals and a few times they came up very close. It was pretty cool looking down and these big brown eyes would be looking back at you. They really are fast animals once in the water. Also very playful, jumping in the air and surfing the waves. For you who didn´t know, seals also smell. Really, really bad.
Sunset at Kommetjie
My team makes my happy.
The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic. Filming here, filming there, planning this and that, interviews to do, shots to get, people to meet. In all this you also try to have some time off to see as much as possible of Cape Town. Luckily the people we have meet and spent time with through our project are great so even if there hasn´t been much time for other stuff I don´t feel like I am missing out.
I would like to give a pat on the back to Martina and Hannah. We have spent almost everyday together for seven weeks now. I have to say that it has worked really well. We all have different thoughts and ideas which compliment each other. Something that is very positive for the result of all our hard work.
Living and working together so close for a long period of time can really be a challenge. I am very glad that all has been good and that I have such a good time with you guys. Thumbs up for team work, you guys make my smile! Fingers crossed it will be the same in a cold Sweden, stuck in a dark editing room for another eight weeks, haha!
