This is Africa!

What a hell of a ride that was. Flying to Cape Town was less than simple.  After nearly missing our flight to Dakar from Dulles and than waiting on the plane for about 2.5 hours on the runway waiting for the weather to clear over the ocean it was for sure the start of a long slightly relaxing ride through the clouds.  When we landed in Dakar we sat in our seats for another 2.5 hours while someone was having a bed built in back of the plane for some reason. Followed by missing our connection in Johannesburg and FINALLY landing in Cape Town 4 hours later than expected. But as they say; “This is Africa.”

Once in Cape Town we got our Peugot and drove to the Fritz Hotel. It was so beautiful and quaint and quiet and perfect, and they serve the best Swiss breakfast! We hit the town did some dancing at The Dubliner Pub and met some cool people (can’t remember their names due to the Jagermeister and tequila shots, which I swore off when I was 16, Yuck!)

The following morning, beyond hung over and jet lagged, we drove around Cape Town for a bit and admired the amazing views of Table Mountain. Cape Town is stunning! It’s a city with a European feel but you can sense the work and history of it while looking over the port and seeing the huge ancient boats.  We than made the long but absolutely beautiful drive to Clanwilliam. There are wineries everywhere and rolling hills and mountains and untouched gorgeous country everywhere you turn.  I felt relaxed immediately besides freaking out from driving on the other side of the road and having the wheel also on the opposite side of the car while dodging swerving traffic.

We finally made it to Alpha Farms Excelsior outside of Clanwilliam where we were snuggled up on an amazing little farm all by ourselves for a moment. We were in a little cottage with a great little patio in the back with grape vines covering the roof and three adorable little dogs; Pinotage, Olive, and Shiraz. Pinotage is my fav! A sweet little black lab that we fed our scraps to from our first brai experience.

I’ve been waking up so early, around 5:30 a.m. or earlier and having breakfast, drinking Rooibos Tea and smoking Golden Virginia rolled tobacco outside and listening to all the birds sing to each other and drink out of the flowers, it really is one of the best experiences ever. I never thought that my night owl tendencies would pay off but I think that my clock has been on since we arrived because of it. Phil is actually the one sleeping in and not wanting to wake up.. haha.

The climbing has been a challenge, getting used to a new area, trying to find everything, and getting used to the elements here. The guidebook hasn’t been very helpful but I also think that we may be having a problem due to the fact that we are the only climbers here and there is absolutely no chalk on anything! We have spent most of our time here hiking around for like 7 hours at a leg. The hiking hasn’t been easy either. There are super steep hills to climb up, unmarked paths that haven’t been walked on since last season so they are over grown and the cairn markers aren’t as visible as the guidebook suggests. We also have a really small car that can’t make it to certain areas which leaves us with more hiking so at the end of the day I am so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open past 7:30 p.m.

 

I’m so happy and grateful to be here, I feel like all the long hours and hard work that I put into making this happen is paying off.. Now I just want to climb something!!