Day 1 in Cape Town

The 11-hour flight from Germany was a bit grueling (good food, Lufthansa, but we were a bit squished!). When we arrived at the Cape Town airport, I was detained at the passport check because I did not have a printed copy of my return flight information. (note, this did NOT happen to my friends!) I had to sit on a bench while they called the airlines... the worst part of this was that they took my passport with them (rule #1: never let your passport out of sight!). This made me nervous - my friends had already disappeared, and the official had casually put my passport in his pocket! It was finally resolved, and I rejoined my friends at baggage claim.

There was another American waiting on the detention bench with me who was being detained because he didn't have a FULL page left in his passport for their 2 stamps! They refused to use a half page, even though the two stamps would fit. Apparently in South Africa, Beaurocracy is King!  They finally agreed to do it; no reason given, but he finally got on his way.

We are staying at 33 Backpackers Hostel (see link below), which is a funky place in the "Observatory" section of the city (there is an ancient Observatory nearby). There are loads of bars, clubs, funky shops, etc in the neighborhood; it's close to the University of Cape Town. We spent most of the afternoon walking around, trying to get our phones to work, getting money from the machines, and just seeing the neighborhood. (saw a couple of GREAT shops we spotted which we'll need to return to!)


A toast to Cape Town! (Barb, Larry, Ken, Karyn)

One of the women in Reception at the hostel recommended we go to a bar nearby which has 1/2 price drinks from 5 to 6; we went there, each had a Volcano (1/2 pina colada, 1/2 daquiri), and ended up staying for supper.  The food was Jamaican in influence; I had a "burger" which was jerk chicken, a huge slice of camembert, and cranberry sauce. Great!

We're going to bed fairly early; we're all jet-lagged, but I'm happy to be here; Cape Town is a mishmash of styles and wealth; we saw shanties on the drive from the airport, and our neighborhood is quite a mix. The architecture in this neighborhood is interesting; I'll take some pictures tomorrow to upload.

We don't have concrete plans for tomorrow yet; it was HOT today (97!), so it will depend on the temperature tomorrow. Yikes! I had thought it would only be in the 80's! What a shock!

Greetings from Germany!

I have spent the day in Germany - we landed at 9:30 AM German time (that´s 2:30 Connecticut time!) to a snow-covered scene. I spent some time trying to get my phone to work, but realized that my battery was depleted and I had no German connector. Sigh - can´t cover alll these bases! I went to an Internet kiosk (GRR..some of the keys are in different spts - hard to type!)

 

I was hoping to meet up with my friends from New Jersey, but I had been required to go OUT through customs, claim my bagat the Continental counter, then recheck in, and dropping my bag at the Lufthansa counter. At that point I was told there was no way I could go  find my friends (wouldn´t be able to get close to them).

 

I sent them an email, and waited an hour, then spotted a USO lounge, where they graciously agreed to charge up my phone for me...yay, USO! What a wonderful organization!  I put on my leggings under my travelin´pants (30 degrees out, not really dressed for northern weather!) and caught the train for Mainz.

 

I had done only a tiny bit of research on Mainz - I thought it was a quaint little town on the Rhine, but it´s actually a bustling small city, 25 mins from the airport. I love to go in old churches, and had my sights set on 2: the cathedral, and the much smaller St. stephens, where there are Chagall windows. I could not find a tourist office, so I set off in the direction of what I perceived to be the old town. Needless to say, I got turned around several times, but I did manage to make it to the cathedral (the "Dom", which is a magnificent structure (no Engglish information available, so didn´t learn much about it). The best part, thouggh, was that it commanded the old part of town, which was typical old German architecture.

 

I wandered around, looked in the shops, took some pictures (can´t upload one at thisi kiosk), and, as it grew colder and darker, made my way back to the train station. Suffice it to say that the route back was not a direct one! I would stop and ask directions, but nobody spoke much English, each person did manage to get me at least part of the way there!

 

I  bought some fish & chips from a kiosk (wieners looked waaay too suspicious, with waaay too much suspicious sauce). I´m now at the airport, where I have met up  with my friends Ken & Karyn. We´re going to get a German beer, and settle in waiting for our 11  PM flight to Cape Town - an 11 hour flight! With all of my exercise today, I should be able to get some decent sleep on thaat plane!

 

Thinking of you all tonight, and thankful for the kindness of the strangers who helped me today.

The Adventure Begins Tomorrow!

I'm getting excited - almost packed; tough to fit everything into one large/one small backpack!

I'm hoping the blogging will work - not sure what the Internet access will be in South Africa, but hoping to post often. There are a few links at the bottom, which will stay there, so you can read a little about each spot that has a link.

BTW, South Africa is 7 hours AHEAD of Connecticut, so subtract 7 hours from each to see what the corresponding time in Connecticut is...

Here's my itinerary:

January 3 - 5: Flights to Cape Town, South Africa (yikes, 33 hours total!)
Jan 3 Dep Newark 7:25 PM , 14-hour layover in Frankfurt, Arr Cape Town Jan 5 10:55 AM

January 5-10:   Tour/hike in Cape Town and surrounds
Accommodation: 33 South Boutique Backpackers

January 11-14:   Drive to Franschhoek, South Africa (wine country)
Accommodation: Erica Guest House

January 14: Flight to Johannesburg  Dep Cape Town 11:55 AM Arr Johannesburg 1:55 PM

January 15 – 22: Camp begins in residence, (learn music repertoire)
Accommodation: D'nyala Nature Reserve (about 175 miles NE of Pretoria)

January 23 – Feb 5: Touring/performing in towns and villages, mostly in the Northeast quadrant of South Africa. 

Homestays:
January 22-23 in Polokwane
January 24 in Haenertsburgh
January 25-27 in Polokwane
January 29 in Pretoria
January 30-31 in Soweto
February 1 in MIddleburg
February 2 in Nelspruit

Feb 6 - 7:  Fly home (26 hours)
Feb 6: Dep Johannesburg 7:50 PM, 6 hour layover in Frankfurt,  Arr Newark Feb 7  2:00 PM