Pictures from Table Mountain

Here are a few pictures from our hike up Table Mountain two Sundays ago. It was brutal but gorgeous.

Pictures from Clifton Beach No. 3

Here are some pictures from a trip we took this last Sunday with our friends Arrie & E, whom some of you have met. Their oldest daughter is Janna (pronounced Yanna). I will post pictures of their youngest (5-week-old) baby soon. It was a beautiful day. Clifton Beach is in Cape Town.

Pictures from the road (literally)

Notice the "Stay Left" sticker in the windshield...

Sweets, rain, and a brutal hike

Well, we have officially completed one full week here in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It’s been a great week. We’re finally sleeping the normal 8 hours instead of the 10+ hours we were sleeping when we first arrived! We’ve joined a gym and are working out regularly (burning off all of the calories we seem to be enjoying in the form of warm cinnamon rolls, coffees, Cokes, and wine). We’re feeling like we’re getting into a bit of a groove. The weather seems to change every few hours. Lately, it’s been rainy and cool. It reminds me of Oregon winter weather, sun breaks and all. It’s perfect for holing up in little cafes, sipping on hot drinks and talking. All in all, it’s lovely.

On Sunday, we ventured into Cape Town to climb up Table Mountain (http://www.tablemountain.net/). A storm seemed to be blowing in but we made the hike up anyway. If we could just get to the top, we could take the cable car down as we normally do. However, about 2/3 of the way up, a guy stops us on his way down to say that the cable car isn’t running due to the weather. This means that we have to hike back down. (You must understand that climbing up is like climbing up boulders for about 1.5 hours!) We decide to head for the top. When we get there, we eat our sack lunches, take in the views, and head back down beating the rain storm by about 10 minutes. It was a brutal hike but well worth it.

We also made it to Boulders Beach, home of the Jackass Penguins. They bray like donkeys and for some reason remind us of our dog. It is great fun walking the beaches with them! We then had dinner in Simonstown on a little balcony across the street from the ocean. This is truly a beautiful place.

Today, we ran 10K through a gorgeous park in the mountains. It's amazing.

Thanks to those of you who have been emailing us and leaving posts on our blog! Keep them coming. We hope to post some pictures sometime in the next few days so check back.

Our love to each of you!
k+m

We are here!

K & I have arrived safely in South Africa! After about 26 hours of traveling, we arrived in Cape Town. Then, after about 14 hours of sleep last night/this morning, we are feeling more human. It has been lovely. Blue skies and moderate temperatures. We managed to make it to a vineyard already and have two yummy wines chilling.

We are on our way to the movies in attempt to stay awake a little longer tonight. (Last night, we crashed at about 8:45pm.) We are seeing Madagscar...the animated zoo-animal flick.

More later. Love to you all.
m+k

Countdown

We are in our final days of preparation before departing for Cape Town. We finallly received our visas back from the South African consulate so now we are officially set to go.

I'm still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of how to maintain a blog so please be patient. I hope to add links and additional information to the blog before long. Any ideas are welcome.