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| Erin's South Africa Journals - 11-08-02 to 11-09-02 Today I had agreed to go with Glenn's desire to hike Table Mountain. BIG mistake! We woke early, and were picked up outside our apartment by Renate (such a generous soul!!!) on her way to work. They have some nasty traffic into Cape Town in the morning, but we still got to downtown in pretty good time, where she dropped us off near the train & bus station. We found our way to the train directory and got helpful directions to the minibus taxis that would help us up to the hike point of Table Mountain. On the way, we stopped to buy some baseball hats, as our noses were absolutely charred due to the malaria medication. No more for me!!! We got the taxi up to the cable car station that goes up the mountain (why didn't we take that???), and walked to the starting point. The route we'd chosen was the shorter one, and meandered up the mountain via a natural gorge. Well, it was all nasty high steps cut into the natural rocks, winding back and forth up this gorge and occasionally wet with the stream that drips down the mountain. It was very pretty, lots of wildflowers just blooming for their spring season...but I hardly noticed!!! It was an UGLY climb for me, with lungs screaming for air, legs shuddering for strength, etc. The worst moment was about 2/3 of the way up, when we were overtaken by a couple who were clearly local bodybuilders. They were carrying on a loud vocal argument as they literally jogged up the trail, when Glenn and I could barely get breath in our chests, much less TALK!!! Anyway, we eventually made it to the top and discovered we'd only been torturing ourselves for 2 hours. It was only noon! We ate our picnic lunch at the top, watching the fog sweep up the mountain and suck back down into the valleys. We then walked around on rubbery legs to see all the views, then wisely took the cable car down. It too had great views!!! Why... Anyway, then we taxi'd back down to town and got out at the Green Street Market for some shopping. Most things looked like stuff we'd seen in Kenya, so we didn't buy anything, and found our way to the bus station for the trip back to the condo. We staggered up to get groceries for dinner, then made a snack and relaxed until Renate came to get us at 7pm for a play her friend was starring in. We picked up another friend on the way, then went down into the suburbs for the playhouse. The play was called 'Touch and Go' and was a cute British play about various couples having affairs with each others' spouses, and the various mayhem involved in the schemes to hide this. We were already tired, but by the time the play was over and we'd talked to the friend of Renate, we were very glad to see our beds around 1:30am!!! The next day, we took the day off. We literally sat around the apartment all day, reading and watching tv, and doing nothing else. What a luxury after so much get-up-and-go travel! The only thing we did stir for was dinner, and we did it well! We dressed a bit and walked across the highway for dinner at Maestro's, which had a wonderful view of the coast and Cape Town at sunset. We had a fantastic meal, and during the appetizer, Glenn started talking marriage! The scene was right, so I anticipated a proposal...but then the food came!!! I told him he'd missed a golden opportunity to ask, but he loves to surprise me, so he'd decided to wait. Damn! |
| Erin in her (un)sexy new hat, overlooking the mountains of the Cape Peninsula from the top of Table Mountain |
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| Glenn the mountain man, looking down from Table Mountain |