Scouting the West Coast

What does Saldanha, Langebaan and Paternoster have in common? Besides being weird names, these three towns are all found in and close to Saldanha Bay, a natural harbor of the West Coast. We've recently had a day-long road trip with fellow German volunteer Dana on the farm, starting through Goedverwacht (good expectations) to the little town of Hopefield around to places like Langebaan, Saldanha, Paternoster, Stompneus Bay, St. Helena Bay, and Aurora (quite a mouthful).

Passing through an area called Sandveld, our first stop was at Kersefontein out of pure curiosity. A beautiful and old guest farm near Hopefield, Kersefontein dates back to 1770 and is still in working order.

Sandveld scenery.  It is literally sand. 

Kersefontein  has been in the possession of the Melck family for 8 generations, and is now a National Monument.

In Hopefield we stopped at a recommended weekly Market for a drink, and then checked out the Simply Bee Center next to the market. It proved rather interesting with a display of a living/working hive behind glass.

At the market everyone was friendly, as so typical of small towns where everybody knows everybody else (and usually what they're doing too).

Watching the bees at work behind the glass. Safe from stings, you learn a lot more this way. 

Big church tower in Hopefield. 

A very old 'hartebees huisie', a specific type of house the first settlers in this region built. 

Onwards to Langebaan, where it's common for people from Cape Town to have a holiday house. We took a short walk on the beach - it felt more like walking on the shore of a lake though, as there were almost no waves (because of the natural harbor shape of the bay).

Just before Saldanha (the town), we drove past the Saldanha Works Steel mine. As a result of the mine everything in the area is reddish (I didn't edit this picture). 

Further on, we had a light lunch in Paternoster, possibly the quaintest fisher's village in the area.

Maarten approved of this sign at the restaurant. 

Table Mountain, a Castle, and Camps Bay

Last Saturday we once again donned our tourist hats, and set out to explore some of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa. We climbed up Table Mountain, took the Cable Car down, checked out the Castle of Good Hope, visited the old Company Gardens and even tried swimming in the freezing (but beautiful blue) Benguela ocean current at Camps Bay. 

The most popular tourist destination city in South Africa is Cape Town, but what makes Cape Town so special is Table Mountain, the curiously flat 'Guardian of the South'.

There are many hiking trails on top of the mountain itself, but one first has to get up there... Most people take the easy way out and ride the Cable Car up and down the mountain, but we decided to hike up Platteklip Gorge instead, and only take the Cable Car down. We were very glad about the Cable Car once we were on top though - the climb was only about 3 km, but it took us an exhausting 2 hours! 

Just started. 

About halfway up the gorge. 

The view was fantastic. 

We were very fortunate with the weather; there was barely a breeze, which is unusual for the Cape (and mountains). 

Headed down on the Cable Car, we had a good view of Lion's Head (on the left of the picture) and Signal Hill (which is supposed to be the rump of the lion). We also heard the Noon Gun firing at 12:00 pm from Signal Hill, which it has been doing every day for 110 years (since 1806). 

The mechanics of the Cable Car, imported from Switzerland. 

We made a quick stop at Signal Hill for some pictures. 

Next up was the Castle of Good Hope. Built in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company, it is the oldest colonial building in South Africa, and is still serving as a military building today.  

This bell tower was added by Simon van der Stel (Governor of the Cape) in 1684 (made from yellow, imported Dutch bricks). 

Both Sides of False Bay

Last weekend turned out most eventful, with 3 different outings Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We were all exhausted and agreed not to overload weekends again, but it was worth seeing both sides of False Bay since we are living here now for 2 months.

Google Maps to the rescue - False Bay (click image to enlarge).

Friday we went for a short 2-hour hike in Helderberg Nature Reserve (which is really close to where we live). It is a beautiful Reserve and we will visit it again.

View over the Strand, Somerset West and Gordon's Bay. 

Stunning King Proteas. 

Saturday we drove along the coast with friends through Muizenberg, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town into the Table Mountain National Park, where we stopped at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (these are 2 different places right next to each other, don't get confused between them).

In Simon's Town we checked out a Toy Museum. It was well worth it - everything from trains, dolls and detailed figures to a miniature circus were there. 

Inside the Table Mountain National Park - you can see the Dias Monument as a white speck against the ocean. 

An exhibition at the Information Center. 

New Year's Eve 2015/2016, Cape Town Waterfront

As the end of 2015 approached, we were visiting family in McGregor (whom we will be seeing again soon) and getting ready for the cultural experience of the year. Cape Town is one of the biggest cities in South Africa, and the most popular tourist city as well. The Waterfront was hosting a massive New Year's Festival, and we decided to go. 

Picking up where I left off in the previous post, we left Swellendam on the 30th and visited distant family in McGregor, a beautiful little town in the Riviersonderend Mountains. 

The Tradouw Pass on the way to McGregor. 

Lunch at a lovely restaurant next to the road (effective advertising as 'lunch in a vineyard').

On the 31st we left for Paarl where we had a place to stay after the party.

Many vineyards - the Cape Winelands. 

Once in Cape Town, we checked out the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Quick snack before we start with a look out onto a section of the harbor. 

"Oh hey Nemo".

Box jellyfish. 

Mermaid's Purse (we could see the developing sharks move inside). 

Honeycomb Moray Eel stare competition. 

One mad Samurai Crab. 

Anemones. 

An Outsider and Exhibition Concerning Light

On the way to and in Potchefstroom (for a two week stay during which a lot is happening), we've recently had some interesting and quite beautiful experiences connecting light and the nearing festive season in an unique way. 

The first was at the Owl House by Helen Elizabeth Martins in Nieu-Bethesda (a quaint little village lost in time, near Graaff Reinet). Helen Martins is what's called an outsider artist, as her artwork does not conform to any normal art standards or categories. The story goes that one day, sick, old and alone in bed, watching the moon through the grayness, she decided she'd had enough of her boring life. So started a personal obsession with light and color that inspired Miss Helen to recreate her entire house and garden into one vastly different-from-the-norm work of art. It is now a museum and unique in style and atmosphere. 

She loved owls (thus the name Owl House), and beautiful colored-glass owls were everywhere. Helen grounded glass in a coffee grinder, washed and sorted it, and stored it in bottles in her pantry. She splattered sun faces, owls, stars and moons with the glass on ceilings, doors and walls. 

Inside the house - abstract colors and mirrors placed strategically around the house create light effects. At night she lit many candles and lamps, whose light then reflected on the mirrors and glass. 

In the yard (named the Camel Yard) there were strange little 'hideaways' made from bottles and cement... 

....as well as many statues. 

I was taller than (some of) the giraffes (ha). 

Mom outside the yard at the supposed (but rather dangerous) welcome arc. The reason we're all wearing winter jackets is because on the way to the Owl House we drove through rain and snow (in November). So much for summer. 

Pulling back time...

The second event was in Potch itself – a Christmas Light Festival ('Liggie Fees') hosted by the Abraham Kriel Children's Home. They really put in a lot of effort and the result was worth a look. 

Trees, and statues and structures made from wire were decorated. 

We went with 'ouma' and 'oupa' Kruger. Photo booth!

Auction Time

A while ago, there was some commotion down the road and when we went to investigate, cattle were being loaded onto a transport truck. 'Oom' Jan was taking sheep and cattle to a nearby auction the next day, and we decided to go check it out. We've been to auctions before, but all auctions are different and we figured it would be a fun outing. 

Loading the first bunch. 

Monkey tactics. 

The second bunch. 

Done!

 Sheep business.

It was a cattle and sheep auction (there are different auctions for different animals), and before they started, we walked around and checked out the process of how the animals got into the pens. First, the entire transporting vehicle including animals are weighed, and then the animals are unloaded and put into their pens. The vehicle is weighed again (minus the animals) so the total weight of the animals can be determined. 

Que for the (giant) scale. 

Empty pens awaiting occupants. 

A (literal) leap of faith for the sheep. 

Some brave ones who weren't supposed to jump. 

Chased to their pens. 

Groups of animals are sold by average weight (dividing the weight of the group by the number of animals). If an owner is selling animals in different groups but all of them were brought to the auction on one vehicle, once one group is unloaded the rest of the animals still on the vehicle has to be weighed again.

Before the auction started, we took a look at some of the livestock already in pens. From tiny calves (sold with their mothers, of course) to huge bulls, rams, ewes and lambs of different breeds of sheep; all awaiting their fate. 

Photographer and assistant (in the making). 

Soft and fuzzy...