Uncle Sam, Ostrich beaches, and Baboons

Day 10
Happy 4th of July!! No fireworks but we travelled to Stellenbosch and Frankenhoeck. These places were insanely beautiful, but had a very European feel. It definitely did not feel very “African.” We toured some restored Dutch homes from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. What I discovered is that the Dutch loved taxidermy. Pelts, horns, stuffed creatures – even stuffed house cats! Ew! One of my favorite things was a child’s room in the house from the 1800s. There were old toys and books out, and one that was open was the Tale of Noah’s ark. Check out the last line… it’s my favorite! “Mrs. Noah stayed home and tidied up the ark.” HA!!!!!!!!!!

Later that night we went to a little hole-in-the –wall bar called Wine and Hearbreak. We met a South African and had a great time chatting him up. He showed us the South African handshake. If you are lucky, I’ll show it to all of you in person. What is interesting is that you do NOT make eye contact when you shake hands. It is considered rude. The only time you make eye contact is when you toast “cheers!” Raymond wanted to celebrate America’s birthday, so he asked us to go around the table and come up with 25 things we loved about America. We were giving funny sarcastic answers like “Taco Bell,” “Special effects in films,” “Roller blading,” “The Bush twins,” ect. He got a little upset and didn’t understand our sarcasm, so we had to give some serious answers. When we got back the hotel there was a wine tasting 4th of July party going on and we had a blast continuing our list. We are so far from home, but we all enjoyed a little taste of it.

Here is our most serious answer: The american taxpayer. Thank you for helping to fund this trip! : D




P.s. My new friends love to tease me about my accent, but as we were leaving the bar a South African complimented it! He asked me to say “You Rock!” to him, so I did. His whole group was freaking out! They loved it! Lol…

Day 11
AN AMAZING DAY!!!



It was so beautiful and we spent the whole day at the beach. On the way there we stopped at anostrich farm. There was no riding going on (sorry any West folks who may be reading), but I got to see them. They are a little freaky close up. They look kind of like angry little dinosaurs. They are kind of cute too. I find it funny that people go to see them, take pictures, and then go to the ostrich cook out and buy an ostrich belt at the gift shop. I don’t think they are running any cow slaughterhouse tours for fun right?! OK… lol…enough of that.
We went to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape point where we hiked down to a beach and had a picnic lunch before hinking around. We saw wild ostriches and a lot of baboons. There are signs to be VERY careful around them, and they are very brave. In fact, Jacob, another teacher on the trip was eating a sandwich when a furry hand popped out of the bushes and stole it away! We laughed at him, but I guess they can get fairly nasty.




We ended the day with a beautiful dinner on the water! It felt like summer today, but winter is lurking in the central and northern parts of the country.