Journey to the Mother-In-Law Land: Part II Posh Digs, A Viewtiful Hike, and JAWS

So after we said our goodbyes Kim and I were on our way to have a little adventure on our own. I must say that I was quite impressed with our lodgings in Cape Town. Kim definitely did her homework and we reaped the benefits. An African Villa was very stylish and contemporary, yet still retained a coziness that was enhanced via the friendly and helpful staff. I pretty much felt like I was staying with my rich Aunt Bertha...and I don't even have a rich Aunt Bertha!



After settling into our digs we immediately ventured to Table Mountain for a long, arduous hike. Comparatively speaking, I don't know how this hike fares with other hikes, but for us non-hikers it was definitely brutal. I mean, it's pretty much like climbing several thousand steps while the sun slaps you silly with its hot death rays. I guess it didn't help matters that Kim's allergies were acting up and we had nary a tissue--so it was my crosswords to the rescue! Kim proceeded to blow her nose into the newspapers that I had brought in my backpack as one of my many travel distractions.



28 Across: Snot; 37 Down: Boogers



So after about 20 breaks in which we took in the picturesque views and caught our breath, we made it to the top. Despite all our doubts about accomplishing such a Herculean task, we made it relatively unscathed and rewarded ourselves with an overpriced mediocre lunch. Check out some of these views which made the whole ordeal all worthwhile:



So that was our hike in a nutshell (it was a really, REALLY big nutshell). Now, onto the Deep Sea Demons, the Titans of Terror, the The Masters of Gnashing Gashing and Thrashing, the mighty Great White! Read on about our encounter with these beautiful beasts....

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So the next day of our trip was without question to be the most exciting time that we had in South Africa. We woke up at the buttcrack of dawn and coasted through mostly empty streets to make it to the sleepy coastal town destination of Gans Bay (or Gansbaii). There we were to embark on a journey of Jacques Cousteau-ian proportions. Before I get into that, however, let me tell you a little something about Kim and I. Typically I am the more adventurous, spontaneous one and Kim is more of the even-tempered, rational/conventional type--we have just kind of implicitly accepted these designations for ourselves. Well, as if to demonstrate that our roles are not so rigidly determined afterall, Kim had suggested some time ago that we go on a Great White Shark cage dive. I immediately thought, "You must be mad" before almost soiling myself while contemplating such a terrifying endeavor. I thought, "Who in their right mind would want to come face to face with one of nature's fiercest predators?" Kim certainly did, I certainly didn't. For all of my capacity for rational thought I couldn't shake this phobia of sharks. Thanks a lot, Steven Spielburg!

So anyway, I've held on to this irrational belief that some shark was going to make me his chum, even though the statistics show that about 8 people died of shark attacks last year and over 700 people died toaster-related deaths. Now certainly this factoid doesn't take into account the non-fatal and unreported shark attacks as well as the people who purposely bathed with their plugged in toasters, but it definitely hints at the absurdity of the fear, and further illuminates how our perceptions of sharks are actually skewed by sensational reporting and emotionally-tinged ignorance. For the sake of conquering my fear I decided to go along with it. I mean, what better way to conquer your fear than to meet it face to face?

And meet it face to face I did. But you know something? I was more overcome by awe than sheer terror--these beasts from the deep were simply an awesome sight to behold! Don't get me wrong--I was pretty scared at first, especially considering that Kim and I were volunteered to be the first victims! Now there was no guarantee that we were going to see anything--I think the odds were like 60 percent. I remember thinking that I would've felt quite fine about not seeing anything thank-you-very-much, but in retrospect I'm so thrilled that I did. So anyway, after suiting up we immediately plunged into the icy cold waters. We were told that we were in luck, as a Great White was coming in to greet us! Now I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the recounting:

What the hell have you gotten me into?



The rest of our time at Cape Town included a penguin-filled beach (yeah, you read that correctly--peep the pic for photo proof), a visit to the South African Naval Museum (to find the honorary medal of Granny's deceased husband Paul which is proudly on display there), a gorgeous coastal drive, a few wineries, an aquarium, and of course plenty of shopping and delicious eats!

Leader of the tuxedoed bunch

In memory of Paul





Beautiful wine estate, beautiful woman

I've had enough of sharks


This is supposed to be for 2--more like 4!


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Of course, no trip to South Africa would be complete without a mugging. What did you expect? It's not all gawking at animals, sunny beaches, and beautiful locales all the time--there's the locals to contend with! Considering that there's a 50 percent unemployment rate and the government is in its relative infancy since abolishing apartheid, there's a lot of poverty not to mention the AIDS epidemic which is just monstrous over there.

Anyway, back to the mugging. Well, it's probably more accurate to say that it was a near-mugging as nothing was actually muggled. It happened towards the end of our stay on a particularly busy street in broad mid-afternoon daylight! Two teenaged youths approached Kim and I to hit us up for some cash. Now I don't mind giving to the needy on occasion, but not when they are particularly aggressive about it. These kids would just not give up and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. They proceeded to position themselves in such a way as to split me off from Kim who, in a semi-panicked state, was starting to pick up her pace. It all happened in a flash, but I soon found myself staring at a shiny blade which, until the time that the kid flashed it, had been concealed in his pocket. Luckily for me, I had my hands in my pockets--one hand was protecting my wallet, the other had taken ahold of my car keys. I instinctively whipped out the hand that was grasping the keys, but before doing so I arranged my fingers in such a way that the key stuck out between my knuckles. Now I've never been to prison, but I'm well aware of shanks--just about anything can be used as a weapon and can be a particularly effective deterrant based on how you wield it. I guess I was wielding the keys with such authoritative aggression that this kid backed down and turned into an alley as Kim and I crossed the street to safety.

Surely this was quite a harrowing experience, but it didn't taint our love for the land or the people. It pretty much expedited our desire to leave at that point, however, and return to our day-to-day lives.

The sun sets on our journey...

Do we haveta leave tomorrow?


All-in-all it was a wondrous time infused with the spirit of adventure and exploration and full of familial connection coupled with awe-inspiring moments with nature. Thanks for sharing in my experience. Until next time dear readers...