South African Cheese Festival

Roisin and I with our lunch (curry in a cone)!

The wine tasting ...

Here we are at the South African Cheese Festival. A small fee to get in and you can taste as much cheese, wine and chocolate as you can get your hands on! Surprisingly to us, this didn't turn into a riot! Rather it was quite a civil affair with families and everyone making a day of it. Of course, no cheese festival would be complete without Helga's cheese fondue!

A late entry - the trip back from Namibia!

The road home ....

Rebecca and I

The English guy (obviously!) Rich, Rebecca, me and Judith

The service station

Sorry, I have been trying to keep things in order but just realised that I didn't post these pictures of our trip back from Namibia. One must be enlightened to the service station (gas stations) along the way! Thankfully we didn't travel back in the slow-vehicles with the rest of the group but we met up briefly to pass on a phone and take a few pictures! Unfortunately 4 days in the middle of nowhere did nothing for my clothes choice! And it was quite chilly when we set off early from basecamp!

The South African Flag and Goodbye to Ishmael!

The Spanish contingent with the South African flag!

Here's Judith showing what she's learned in South Africa regarding how to braii. We also found great amusement in the South African flag in the living room. Turns out this living room was where the new South African flag design was decided upon. Ishmael finished his English studies and returned to Spain the next day.

World Cup 2010!

I know some of you have been waiting for the World Cup update! Well here we are in the parking lot of the Green Point Stadium where the Cape Town games will be played. Hopefully between now and 2010 they'll add some seats for you all!!

The rest of the day at the wharf

Reminder of Glasgow!

Lunch with Craig, Katie, Olivia and Dale

Almost a full picture of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak ...

No trip to Cape Town would be complete without the sunset!

And a token brave surfer out at dusk!

Some Influencial Peace Prize Winners ...

Nelson Mandela and I! He's a bit bigger than I thought!

Beside the statue of Nelson Mandela it says "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will experience the oppression of one by another"

Nelson Mandela - Peace prize 1993

FW deKlerk - Peace prize 1993

Desmond Tutu - Peace prize 1984

Albert Luthuli - Peace prize 1960

The Cape Town Aquarium

Lots of Nemo's ...

Madelaine who I met in Stellenbosch who volunteers at the Aquarium ... who just happened to work at Stanely House in Paisley for a few years around 1995!

Here we are at the Aquarium in Cape Town. Most of the pictures of the creatures didn't turn out due to the flash of my camera. That includes the seriously large crabs which look like sci-fi film scary creatures (and to prevent nightmares I haven't included them here!).

Ohio University Reunion!!

There have been a few complaints that I don't post enough people on my blog :o) So here is a pic of our Ohio University International people reunion! Katie arrived to work in Cape Town in April and her and Craig came to visit Stellenbosch! Craig, Katie and I were all students at Ohio University so it's a grand reunion in South Africa! The only person we need is our dear helper Kyle or the bird cage to make the group complete! Tis lovely to have Craig and Katie close by!

Day 3 on the River!

Doug or Douglas (there were two) became our companions for trips into the more remote areas near our camp for the essential toilet trips! Nothing like broadcasting your moves ...

The end of the river!

We found it easier to stop at the end of the river than manouvering splits in the river on day 2! Here we are at the end our our 55km down the Orange River. Amazing, spectacular scenery the whole way. And not a drop of rain! Infact the factor 50 came in useful for more than just my Scottish skin!! Although I did return with some rather varied tan (or burn) lines!

Day 2 on the River!

Rafting partner on day 2 - Rebecca!
Camp on the 2nd night (South African side)

Day 2 on the river was a little more eventful! After lunch I rafted with Rebecca and evidently we managed to lose everyone in the group! We knew that there was a couple of rafts behind us (out of sight) and everyone else ahead (also out of sight). We enjoyed the sunshine and chat and managed to manouver without too many problems ... until the river split! Of course we took the wrong side and ended up walking with our raft. We graciously pointed out to the rafts behind us (which caught up) that they should take the other course, which they did. And sailed on by without offering to help! But we made it to the 2nd night's camp - only 2 hours after everyone else!

Needless to say when Europeans get together (even on a river in South Africa) there's always someone who brings a football!

Day 1 on the Orange River!

Setting off on the Orange River

Lunch-time!

We set off from basecamp on Day 1. The river was amazing - very peaceful (certainly no "white water" components). We spent the first night in Namibia. After climbing out of the boats, pulling them up the embankment we made camp. Little did we know that where we were sleeping was actually a walk way for the goat herders. The next day we found that they actually walk faster than we raft :o) There is always a token English guy on trips like this ... who brings his own tent! And who incidently wears a Batman outfit to raft down the river! The rest of us slept under the stars and rafted in our swim-suits!

Basecamp on the Orange River

Our sleeping area!
Toilets!
And the bar with a satellite dish to ensure sports can be watched!

The first and last night of the trip we stayed at basecamp. Beautiful surroundings! We stayed on the South African side of the river but the other side of the river is Namibia. We slept out under the stars (and the beasties) after a drink or two at the "local pub"!!

Heading North to Namibia!

Judith, Rich and Ishmael ... the back of the bus!

Here we are driving up towards Namibia to the Orange River. The terrain becomes more desert as you get further north in South Africa. We traveled in rather bizarre looking vehicles that didn't take the hills too quickly! Even at the "toilet stops" there wasn't much to hide behnd!! At each estimation the journey got longer ... and from Stellenbosch to the Orange River took about 12 hours.