Evergreen Manor Guest House Stellenbosch

... at the US Embassy because Brittany’s passport was almost filled up and she needed extension pages. The US embassy is conveniently located on the outskirts of Cape Town where it is unsafe for three white women to travel to. We had our route planned out well and drove as fast as we could with the doors locked to reach the embassy. It turns out the area directly around the embassy is safe, it is only walking from the train station to the embassy ...

... me purchasing one but that may change if I see one in the next few days. I also have Eugene on a zebra skin hunt for me. I think they're cool. He has a hunting trip planned with his brothers in July so who knows. Anyway, as usually happens, day merged into night and we found ourselves in yet another bar, this one dark wooden English style. Suzy Q, Lindsay, Jamie and Barsby joined us. Was good catching up on what everyone had done since we'd left 6 weeks ago. Half the group then ...

... this point). That said, something caught my eye...namely, the word cheetah...eh? yaaaaaaaaa, Cheetahs! Needless to say I skipped and danced when I realised the "great experience" note to Spier on my MTM was actually going to make up for my slight sadness in Kruger. I looooove cheetahs and GUESS WHAT!?! WE GOT TO PET CUB CHEETAH! 4 of them> Chip, Belle, Disney and...err...his name escapes me now. Jammer! Chip was the poser but also the one who ...

... plastic sheeting. Apparently these were the site of the circumcision and initiation of Zulu adolescent boys. Our guide himself from the Zulu tradition spoke very positively about the practice telling us that when the boys returned from their weeks in the 'bush' they were responsible, well rounded and mature in every way, 'in the bush they are taught about all areas of adult life, when they come back they are prepared to be a man' he said. Myself I wasn't so sure about the ethics ...

... was the first to allow non-whites to enter. In the cloister of the cathedral, there was a large circular/clover shaped brick pattern on the ground. The pattern was actually a path that lead to the center. After walking the whole path, you were supposed to look up and make a prayer/wish. Kind of a neat tradition. Next we walked to and briefly saw the parliament building, the entrance to the city gardens, and a ...

Hi! I'm being a bit super keen with these photos aren't I :-). These are likely to be the last ones until we get home as we start our trip from Zimbabwe to Kenya tomorrow. Stellenbosch is an hour East of Cape Town and is one of the many wine regions around here. We went to Spier yesterday, a wine estate which also has a cheetah sanctuary as well as a ...

... door to the massive white owned mansions. One little room we saw had three beds - each was for a family of ten odd people. Robben Island was also tough going but fascinating - our guide was an ex political prisoner who had suffered first hand and shared a room with Nelson himself. On the lighter side we hit the V&A waterfront which was a great place to relax, and we hit the town with some friends we made from Joburg - great stuff!

Being a bit apprehensive of biking into a big city, we thought Sunday morning would be calm. If that was calm, I'd hate to see normal! We left Setllenbosch early Sunday morning to take the N1 into Cape Town. We asked many locals as to the safest way to bike into the city and they all said the N1 is the best to avoid Soweto exposure, Cape Flats having a negative reputation. There are crazy car drivers on all the roads, that that wouldn't be a deciding factor ...

... what I can tell so far, its really just a mixture of any kind of meat, any part of the animal, etc. Just like bologna but with some weird spices like cinammon or cumin thrown in for flavor! It is served with a heaping of fried onions, chili sauce and on a crumbly bread that falls apart and more reaches the ground than your mouth. Usually when we arrive home at the end of the night, our legs and hands ...

... I've had to buy are an african plug adaptor & a padlock (just to reassure the parents) and I've just put on my first load of washing today. Ahh, the backapckers life. I can't believe that for the next 4 months at least I'm basically on holiday. It's great! I've met some fascinating people, including a colombian who improts/exports (seriously, don't ask what), a dutch guy who has lived on the street ...