Baboons and Ostriches

2007-01-27 Cape Point

After an evening at home with Butler’s Pizza and Herbie Rides Again, it was time for another chapter in the misadventures of the Ens family Robinson. We decided early on to go look for a flea market and then drive down to the Cape Point, the southwestern most part of Africa. We didn’t find the flea market so we happily drove along the coast, did some hiking to the ocean (got wet), and climbed to the tip of the continent. What a beautiful view. We could see across False Bay to Hermanus, the whale watching capital and the Indian Ocean (not really but the claim it is) and also the Atlantic Ocean. It was also very windy there which you might be able to tell from the pictures. We didn’t drive to the Cape of Good Hope, we’ll save that for next time. Down along the coast we could see some gazelle like animals.

Along the way however we ran into a pack/herd/group of baboons. We could’ve stayed and watch these clowns all day. One of them (a one armed bandit) came up to our window looking for a snack. We’ve been told NOT to feed these so we didn’t since they can become aggressive. It was like looking in a mirror. They were all over the road, so we had to drive slowly. On the way back we drove by an ostrich farm so we had to stop there as well and check out these strange birds. They are very big…except for their heads which look very small upon their long necks. We then made our way back to Cape Town along a different more rural route then we’ve seen so far. There were small villages, some townships, and some resort towns. We were never too far from the ocean though and the views are staggering. Tonight is hamburgers with fresh buns from Mr. Rondi. We stopped to say hi to him and his friend and were then exposed to a lengthy history lesson on the Portuguese and the Cape point.

Once we loosed ourselves from grandpa portuguese, we hit the pool. Henry and Katy can go to the pool on their own now, just Harrison we need to be careful of, he loves to jump into dad's arms.

Swim Trials

Katy had her swim trials yesterday at the Rustenburg Pool. What a nice complex. There is an Olympic size pool (outdoors) with a small diving pool alongside. It is set up from the school about half a mile in lush surroundings. Katy seemed to do OK, there were some stronger swimmers and some weaker ones, so we’re not sure if she made the team. She is excited about it, but if she doesn’t make the team, she will join the social swimming club as an extra mural activity. Hopefully she can sing in the junior choir as well. At first it was hard to tell Katy apart from the other girls since they all wear Rustenburg swim costumes and hats. But there she was giving it her best in the front crawl, back crawl and breast stroke. She even did one length in a modified butterfly stroke (which I shouldn’t have shown her how to do the day before in our pool, since I have no idea really how it’s done). Luckily that one didn’t count, even though she passed the girl next to her doing the breast stroke.

Henry will start swimming tomorrow at his school. There they have to walk across the street to the high school to use the pool. The high school has a huge sports field with tennis courts, cricket, rugby, and more. For extra murals, he’ll be participating in cricket for now until winter comes, then I think it is rugby and Katy will have field hockey.

We’re expecting Ray Giesbrecht to show up within a week with his buddy. If they’re here by the weekend, I’d love to get to the SA/Pakistan cricket test match that is on at Newlands Stadium down the street. I might go on my own regardless, it’s supposed to be quite something. Liz, Carla’s advisor here, goes all the time, so maybe I’ll have someone to go with.

We got our first letter yesterday in the Post. It was from the Terreck’s in McCreary! They are coming to SA in 2008, so we’ll miss them.

Time to go visit Mr. Rondi’s bakery for some fresh buns…

It’s a hot one out today…must be north of 30. No wind either for a change and that makes it feel even hotter. Katy came home from school today and had not made the swim team. She wasn’t upset and will instead participate in social swimming, where the kids will practice their skills without any competitions. Henry had races today and finished second in his class.

Guess who’s back… Chariot’s back

We picked up the chariot pieces again and the new welds look very good. There is a fairly strong pull to the right still, but it is quite manageable as is. I might bring it back for him to bend it at some point. So today was the day Harrison and I tested it out taking the kids to school. It does take somewhat longer with the chariot than without but this gives Carla an earlier start to her work. We are out of the house by 7:20, back by about 8:30 or so.

Another set of neighbours are leaving today, back to Liverpool. They left us a little care package of matches, candles, power adapters and such. I’m sure we will do the same when we leave, somebody will need these things.

Harrison is enjoying a morning swim at about 9:30. For me it is refreshing after a long walk. He likes to sit in the live preserver and I tie it around my waist. Then we go back and forth across the pool. Harry’s friend likes to run around the pool without going in. Kellen is not as comfortable in the water and his mom Kelowna is amazed at how our kids swim.

Henry is enjoying his school. It doesn’t seem as challenging as what he is used to; so far he is colouring and cutting similar to what he did in kindergarten, but we hope that will change. In the meantime he has been enjoying reading Richard Scarry books that we’ve taken out of the library. In the morning yesterday he told me he couldn’t read, in the afternoon, he read most of the book on his own.

Katy is also colouring in her class, but they are starting to do other things as well. She has a part in the class play, The Jungle Book which she is already looking forward to in her debut as an Elephant. Her swim tryouts are tomorrow and she is hoping to make the team, since her teacher is the coach.

Well off the pool. Let me know if you have any questions about Cape Town and I’ll try to answer them in the comments section. I will take pictures on request. Also when you see a picture, click on it and you’ll be taken to a larger photo album.

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Signal hill

From 2007-01-21 Ki...

The weekend is now almost over however we have a lot to show for it. Friday was movie night, Saturday we finished up our school shopping with a trip by train to Claremont on the train. Woolworths and Mr. Price was the target and we found gym shoes and a few more shirts for Henry. After naps and a nice supper with fresh watermelon ($2.50 each), we took a trip to the cable car entrance to see what we could see (the cable car was closed due to high winds- we will try to get up there next weekend when Ray Giesbrecht arrives). What spectacular views on the west side of Table Mountain and then off to Signal Hill to watch the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. This sunset is a fabulous experience and we will be taking all our visitors to see this. We stayed until it was dark enough to see the comet. That was something you don’t see every day.

Sunday morning was our first church day down the street to the Mowbray Presbyterian Church. Service started at 9:45. We were warmly greeted by almost everyone in the church (it felt like it) and we had tea afterwards. People were very warm and friendly and the kid’s enjoyed Sunday school too. There was nice singing, and the pastor had a good sense of humour. We will probably go back.

After naps and a swim, we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for the 3 Tenors concert. We bought our membership into the society which includes free membership for the year. Here we met Dan and Yvonne Nighswander for a picnic. We also did some exploring, it seems like there are endless paths to traverse in this park.