Cape Town Music

On October 26^th Kings of Leon performed at Green Point Stadium. Seeing a concert at the 2010 World Cup Stadium was one of the things I wanted to do while in Cape Town, and since I love Kings of Leon I was excited to check another thing off my list. 

Making our way over the pedestrian bridge on the fan walk to the stadium.

During the World Cup Cape Town started a tradition of doing a “fan walk” from downtown to the stadium in Green Point, and a year later fans still do the walk for big sporting events and concerts. I've even been told that the fan walk can be more fun than the actual show. After Jennifer and I got off work we packed into the crowded train and headed downtown to see what this fan walk is all about. We were unsure of the exact route for the fan walk, but from the minute we stepped out of the train station it was obvious where the crowds of people were going. All along the fan walk restaurants had specials and extra tables set outside. Jennifer and I were starving and decided to stop almost immediately at a Peruvian restaurant advertising pisco sours and ceviche. The owner of the restaurant told me that the juice in my ceviche is called tiger milk and people drink it out of the bowl after eating the fish. I was a little concerned he was pulling my leg, but I decided I better try it just to be safe. Not bad at all.

In South Africa? Might as well see a band from the United States and drink South American drinks.

Drinking the tiger milk.

After our meal we wandered rest of the way to the stadium just in time to see the South African opening bands Shadow Club, The Black Hotels, and Die Heuwel Fantasties. I didn't recognize any of the band names, but was really excited when Shadow Club played because I've been listening to their song Good Morning Killer on the radio for weeks now and didn't know who it was by. Also Jack Parow made an surprise appearance in the last opening act, which made the crowd go absolutely crazy. Jack Parow is a really popular Afrikaans rapper who always wears crazy ridiculous hats (see below). For all his silliness he is a great performer.

Jack Parow in all his glory.

Jennifer, Emily, and I in the stadium.

Green Point Stadium at night.

Also a couple weeks ago I went to see a South African band called Goldfish. Again I didn't realize that I knew any of their songs, but was so excited to find out that I have been listening to their songs for weeks and had no idea. One of their songs was even featured in an American car commercial.  I hear this song in restaurants and clubs all the time.Most of their stuff is super fun dance music, which made for a really great show. 

So far the music scene here in Cape Town has been really fun and I can't wait to see (or hear) what's next.

Random Happenings #1

Keeping up with blogging is difficult! Sometimes I get too busy to post and by the time I get around to writing about what I've done I've forgotten some things... or they are too random to fit in a normal blog post, so here is the first installment of things that must be shared! List of random happenings... part one.

To start off, last week's Friday VAC activity was a hike up Constantia Nek Trail in Table Mountain National Park. The hike took about ten minutes to get to the top and then about half an hour of taking pictures at the top.

The most fun was deciding what pose to do on the top of the white post.

Some chose sitting.

Standing.

Planking.

Owling.

I settled on yoga pose. The wind was picking up which made it... interesting.

 Some of the interns decided to hike Lion's Head again during the full moon. Last time I went was a day or two before the full moon and I couldn't believe how many more people there were on the actual night of the full moon. It was packed! The trail was so bottle necked at the part where there are chains and metal handholds to climb up that a few of us rock climbed up the side when we got tired of waiting. At the top was a big party with people bringing snacks and drinks to watch the sunset. Hiking down by moonlight was also fun with torches (what South Africans call flashlights) flashing all over the mountain side and the amazing view of the city.

Another amazing picture overlooking the City Lights.

Now here is something truly worth mentioning. Last Saturday while on the train to the beach we sat down next to a guy with a giant bag of dirt. Upon further inspection I realized that he had cactus in his bag of dirt, and after I complemented him on his plant of choice, he offered me one! Of course I would like a cactus! It got even better when Jeffery (cactus man's name) started telling us about his life. I'll give you the highlights. The first time he ever jumped on a bike he won the biggest BMX competition at only 16. For one year he never left his house and never saw the sunlight. He is a Leo. Apparently Leos are humble and nice, but if you step on their tails you get the PAW! He told us that he can't read, but when he insisted on giving me his number he seemed to write fine. Jeffery also gave us a short lecture about plants and life and something to do with the cycle of life. I would write more because we had a nice half hour talk, but it got kind of confusing. All in all, it was probably the best train ride ever.

Can you tell how excited I am about my new cactus?

Food update! A few weeks ago we were at a nice restaurant on the waterfront that had a "Duo of Game" on the menu. Because it wasn't specified what the game was that day we had to ask the waitress to find out that the duo was Kudo (a type of antelope) and ZEBRA. Yes, I ate zebra. It was delicious.

Kudo and zebra just asking to be eaten.

Also I had warthog ribs! I go into a local pub thinking I'm going to get myself a nice burger, and what do they have on the special?? I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat warthog and again I was not let down. Falling off the bone deliciousness with a nice warthog twist.

That's me.

We visited the planetarium on a VAC Friday activity for a lecture on stars. Unfortunately the reclining seats and dimmed lights lulled most of us to sleep, but I think my love of marine creatures rubbed off on the other interns (by the way, since when do planetariums have animal sculptures?).

Hugging a whale jaw bone and showing off our teeth.

Jumping for joy because we love whales!

That's all I have right now for random happenings, but stay posted because they are happening all the time!

Big News for Cape Town

First off, Cape Town was featured in a New York Times travel article! The most amazing part for me was reading it and realizing that I have done almost everything on the list. From ostrich burgers to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden I have made a dent on the list of things to do in Cape Town, but among other things I still need to visit Boulders Beach to swim with the penguins!

Also in exciting news for Cape Town, Table Mountain has just been named one of the New7Wonders of nature along with the Amazon, Halong Bay, Igazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, and Puerto Princesa Underground River. Everyone here was really excited about voting for Table Mountain (one of the oldest mountains on the planet) and now that it won a spot in the top seven they are predicting a possible 20% increase in tourism! Along with being named the 2014 world design Capital last week, Cape Town is obviously a special place to be.


And if that didn't convince you that Cape Town is the coolest kid in school right now, it is also the setting for a big movie coming out in February. The movie is called Safe House  starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. It was weird watching the preview and recognizing every scene shot outdoors (the first shot is of Lion's Head, which I've hiked twice now). 

Way to go Cape Town. High five.

Waterval

November 5th and 6th. was my first VAC weekend trip. They took us to Waterval, an amazing privately owned campsite and hiking trail. South Africa really knows how to do hiking right. It’s less cut trail and more climbing ladders, sketchy bridges, rocks, and trees. We had to follow yellow markers through trees and over the river to see the 22 or so waterfalls. We hiked for over 5 hours and covered at least 10k. I think it was the most amazing hike I’ve ever been on. The waterfalls were spectacular, the trails an interesting challenge, and at the top there was a fantastic view. It was a warm day so a dip in the freezing waterfalls felt great. And yes, Elisabeth we did drink the water!

Refreshing!

Thomas, Kelly, Matt, Jenna, and I at the top of a waterfall.

Near the top where we broke out of the trees.

Oliver, Kelly, Jenna, Matt, and I. Notice the rainbow.

Oliver on one of the ladders.

Taking a quick shower at the last waterfall.

This move is now named after me and requested at every VAC trip involving water.

Zombie Marathon

A majority of the VAC interns are from the States and everyone wanted to celebrate Halloween, but most of us weren't too excited about spending money on costumes. So, what do you do when you need a cheap costume and only have what clothes would fit under the 50 pound flight limit? Obviously you cook up some fake blood and storm downtown as the undead. 

I couldn’t find corn syrup and had to improvise a bit on the fake blood recipe, but it turned out perfect. Sticky enough to stick to everything and just runny enough to look real (and get ALL over the house… sorry Lower Main house). Luckily my small makeup collection is made up of all zombie makeup, so for the first time in my life I did other people’s make up. Over the weekend I turned about fifteen people into the walking dead.

After we had spilt enough blood and sufficiently ripped our shirts, it was time to head downtown to Long Street for some zombie dancing.

Some people on the street were pretty freaked out when we were carrying the pot of blood to the other intern house. I took it as a complement to my blood making expertise. 

Fist time I've ever done anyone's makeup. 

This is what you get when you Google "zombie."

The picture would have been a lot scarier without Happy Pumpkin and Random Boy Without a Costume.

Zombie intern hoard.

Jen and I looking FINE.

On Sunday there was a Zombie Charity Walk from the Company Gardens downtown to the Waterfront. What better way to dress up for a Zombie Walk than to never take off the zombie make up from the night before? After staining my sheets with zombie blood I went to breakfast at Hello Sailor with my roommate Jen. The waitress could have cared less that I looked like I had crawled out of the grave to order eggs benedict. She never said one word about it, not even a strange look. After breakfast I met Kelly, Alex, and Danny for some pre zombie walk margaritas. After wearing dancing the Macarena in the middle of the restaurant we were ready to zombiefy and jump in a taxi. We were worried about being late, but I think the driver was in a hurry to get the undead out of his car and got us there just in time for the start of the walk. There were so many zombies! The estimate was between 800 and 1000 walking dead. There were zombies carrying around zombie dogs, zombies with axes in their heads, and zombies carrying an assortment of severed body parts. There was such an abundance of blood we left a trail behind us as we walked. The last stop was at a pub on the waterfront where a portion of the proceeds went to a charity for dogs called "Lucky Lucy." We had such a great time. It was a great way to get involved in local culture in a very unique way. 

Pre-walk margaritas at El Fiesta.

Zombie walk!

Zombie with a solar powered boom box bin. We followed him for most of the walk. Thriller was on the playlist, of course.  You can see rest of the playlist on their facebook page.

We stopped along the way a couple times for zombie dances.

Safety first.

Hanging out with the organizer of the walk at the last stop.

Lucky Lucy (notice the leg... or lack of).

Deciding what to order FOR CHARITY!

Zombies love baskets of sausages and fries.

There were a lot of axes. Danny chose a stick as his weapon of choice. Smart?

Danny leading the hoards across the bridge. 

Along with these pictures there are also a couple videos on youtube in which our group made quick appearances. Watch for us zombie dancing and more zombie dancing!

Danger Beach Friday and Totally Safe Surfing Saturday

Friday October 24th's weekly VAC activity was a trip to Danger Beach. The weather was a bit chilly so we had a small turn out, but we had a good time snapping silly pictures. After we had taken about a hundred photos we headed to Cape to Cuba, a Cuban style bar nearby. Along with some nachos, I had a “passionate kiss,” which was a blended drink made with a passion fruit spirit and mint. The bartenders couldn't hide their smiles when we ordered them, but they were delicious!

Peaking out of the beach huts.

Jen and I were the only ones who got in the water. It was surprisingly warm, but the only other people in the water had full wet suits on.

That week we had another fantastic Saturday morning spent at the Old Biscuit Mill followed by a great day of surfing in Muizenberg.  The weather wasn't perfect for Old Biscuit Mill. While I was waiting for my pancakes rain started coming down in sheets pouring through the cracks in the tent. I couldn't help, but laugh as people were screaming and trying to save their delicious food from being flooded. Despite the rain my ricotta pancakes and bacon were delicious and I got a blue cheese and onion tart for later. The waves this week were a bit bigger and Matt and I got 8 foot boards instead of the 10 foot, so it was a bit more challenging but really fun. We lucked out with no shark sightings again!  We had a few photo shoots this time. Enjoy. 

Jen and Hanna enjoying their breakfasts despite the rain.

One of my favorite stands. French cheese and bread!

"May I have one of each?"

Blue cheese onion tart!

No better Saturday activity.

Blair, Other Julia, Matt, Samantha, Jenna, and I.

Jenna and I riding in the last wave together.