The Last Holdout of some Formerly Imposing Mountain

We seem to have very little time left. As of today, we have 22 days left. But before I complain about how quickly a few weeks can fly by, I'd like to show what a little imagination and ingenuity can do.

We created a scrabble board out of a pizza box lid and used wine corks. That's right. It's actually quite a good scrabble board that is contained in a Casa Fiesta Tortilla Chips box. It just happens to do the trick quite well.

Last week we did a couple of wine tastings in Devon Valley near Stellenbosch. J.C. Le Roux makes only bubbles, which is a very dangerous thing for someone like Erin and myself. We had packed a lunch consisting of some bread and cheese, as well as some salad.

So we pulled off into the vineyards to sit and enjoy our lunch in the baking sun before heading down to Clos Malverne, which is a small production winery that makes great wine. We had our tasting with the owner's daughter's fiancee, which I guess is something. But the highlight was talking with him and getting an in-depth cellar tour, where he talked about the old techiniques that they were keeping alive, including basket pressing. Very cool.

That weekend (Nov 23rd and 24th) we went down to the cape peninsula to see what was there. We had an excellent ride down in beautiful weather, passing alongside the ocean with waves breaking into a multitude of fisherman plying their trade. Experiencing this ride on a bike was amazing, with the waterfront drives, the mountain twisties and small towns nestled into the hills wherever possible.

We stopped in at Groot Constancia for a wine tasting, but the beautiful grounds were marred by swarming busloads of tourists. Not exactly our scene, so we headed over to Steenberg, where we relaxed under a veranda, looking across the landscape to view the backside of Table Mountain while quietly enjoying our tasting. We had purchased a loaf of bread earlier, so we picked up a cheese tray from the restaurant and ate at the picnic tables setup there.

We then proceded to Simon's Town, where the South African Navy is based. We found a fun hostel to stay at, so we dropped our belongings off and walked around town for a bit. We managed to make it down to Boulder Beach, where the African Penguins are located.

Definitly was a strange site to see penguins in Africa. That night we met two Indians who were travelling around, and since we were sharing the dorm room with them, we decided to immediately become best friends and hang out as much as possible for the next 18 hours. We succeeded in enjoying a long raucous night, as we often seem to in those situations.

The next day we headed straight down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. The park was absolutely beautiful. The sight was incredible: narrow strips of cliff rising from the sea, jutting out into the ocean like a last holdout of some formerly imposing mountain range sinking slowing into the ocean.

The only downside were the baboons, which are known to attack people for their food. Unfortunately, we were carrying a feast on our backs, replete with mozzarella, camembert, bread, pate and coppa di parma ham which made us feel like we were a jackpot waiting to be hit. We sneaked down over Diaz's beach and scoped out for baboons before opening everything up and diving right in. We may have been slightly paranoid in our scouting for the lunch thieves, but we exited without being attacked by primates, which is something I'm quite happy about.

From there we hopped on the bike and Erin started her first major trip on Tito. She did beautiful navigating the coastal curves and mountain passes, as well as keeping us safe and secure. Being on the back is completely different from driving in both good and bad ways. The pillion (the person on the back) is able to actually pay attention to the scenery and see what is going on, what the scenery is, etc. But it terrifying to not be in control. Being on a bike leaves you so open to everything. This is both the good and the bad, but relegating control of such a situation requires quite a bit of trust in the driver as well as relinquishing that control in general. It's quite a strange concept. Both Erin and I decided quickly that for the South America portion of the trip will definitely be on two bikes. Two up will just not work for us.

This weekend we've decided that we aren't going out on a trip, we'll just cross a few items off the todo list. Yesterday was our last market, this week is our last week working on the farm, everything seems to be starting to be a last something. The last last will be on December 22nd, when we leave Africa. It will be a bittersweet day, certainly. We're very excited to get home and see all the family and friends that we miss while we're here. But Africa has thrown it's shawl around our shoulders and invited us in, hiding neither the beautiful nor the ugly. It grows on you in unexpected ways and changes the way you view home. It will be interesting to see what we notice upon return. I'm in anxious suspense, which will be held with white knuckles until we return.