I was sorely remiss not to have posted a stream of updates and stories during my 10-day visit to South Africa in February. I was just having way too much fun to stop and blog!
My dear friends Steph and Scott invited me into their lives in Johannesburg and took me to visit Cape Town. I can't remember a more beautiful and relaxing vacation. With no hostels to book, minimal public transportation to figure out (we drove everywhere in their car, except the two days that I used the Hop-on, Hop-off City Tour Bus in Joburg), and a full but totally flexible itinerary, I just got to relax and take it all in. It was a much-needed escape from Beijing's over-the-top winter smog to big blue African skies and sunny weather bliss. Liberating.
Scott lent (or assigned?) me Alec Russell's book Bring Me My Machine Gun, a fascinating and careful look at South Africa's modern history and current state. I have read some things on Apartheid and studied Paton's heart-wrenching novel Cry, the Beloved Country and Desmond Tutu's reflection on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's proceedings, No Future Without Forgiveness - but Russell's writing gave me a wider and even more current lens through which to see as I experienced South Africa for myself for the first time. All of this reading helped to make the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill and the Old Fort prison, and Robben Island come alive, and gave me a framework for what I was seeing and hearing.
The natural beauty was stunning. We visited wildlife parks, Table Mountain, vineyards, and the coast...we scrambled up boulders, pet a cheetah, and swam with penguins. A feast for the eyes and senses.
It was difficult to select photos to share here out of the hundreds I snapped. Hope you enjoy these.
My dear friends Steph and Scott invited me into their lives in Johannesburg and took me to visit Cape Town. I can't remember a more beautiful and relaxing vacation. With no hostels to book, minimal public transportation to figure out (we drove everywhere in their car, except the two days that I used the Hop-on, Hop-off City Tour Bus in Joburg), and a full but totally flexible itinerary, I just got to relax and take it all in. It was a much-needed escape from Beijing's over-the-top winter smog to big blue African skies and sunny weather bliss. Liberating.
Scott lent (or assigned?) me Alec Russell's book Bring Me My Machine Gun, a fascinating and careful look at South Africa's modern history and current state. I have read some things on Apartheid and studied Paton's heart-wrenching novel Cry, the Beloved Country and Desmond Tutu's reflection on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's proceedings, No Future Without Forgiveness - but Russell's writing gave me a wider and even more current lens through which to see as I experienced South Africa for myself for the first time. All of this reading helped to make the Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill and the Old Fort prison, and Robben Island come alive, and gave me a framework for what I was seeing and hearing.
The natural beauty was stunning. We visited wildlife parks, Table Mountain, vineyards, and the coast...we scrambled up boulders, pet a cheetah, and swam with penguins. A feast for the eyes and senses.
It was difficult to select photos to share here out of the hundreds I snapped. Hope you enjoy these.
The closest I've ever been to a cheetah, a giraffe, and a lion.
Soweto
World Cup Stadium
Solitary confinement cells at the Old Fort prison on Constitution Hill
Vineyard Tour
"Kwetsa" in Cape Town
Penguins on Boulders Beach!
Hiking Table Mountain
Best sunset
