guguletu township

guguletu township, originally uploaded by suddenly.

all the guidebooks say DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ENTER THE TOWNSHIPS without someone who knows the area. probably because of incidents like this. so it was with some wariness that we drove to guguletu township with an expat friend who now lives in cape town. we were headed to mzoli’s, a famous butcher in “gugs” for some authentic south african BBQ. we made a wrong turn on the way and got to see how some of the locals live. i was expecting the shantytowns out of “city of god” but the part we saw was a step up. some folks were dressed in their sunday best to go to church, others were hanging laundry and newly-skinned animal hides out front, while others glared at the 3 non-blacks driving through in the car. we dodged a herd of goats trotting along the street, and eventually entered the carnivore’s paradise known as mzoli’s. more on that later.

stellenbosch-franshoek-paarl

stellenbosch-franshoek-fairview, originally uploaded by suddenly.

a glimpse of our trip to wine country, just a 30-hour drive from cape town.
stop 1: ernie els – superb shiraz and cab blends, swank estate, pricey for south africa but 1/3 what you’d pay for the same quality in napa
stop 2: hartenburg – knowledgeable and entertaining pours from robert, fantastic chardonnay (eleanor) and shiraz, lovely cheese platter with smoke snoek
stop 3: dieu donné – meh on the wines but stunning view of franshoek
stop 4: chamonix – german-owned winery where the brandy and schnapps steal the wine’s thunder
stop 5: seidelberg – great place to chill with a bottle of chardonnay and gorge on the cheese + charcuterie platters

it’s not the republican party

it’s not the republican party, originally uploaded by suddenly.

election day is coming up in south africa.

the colors of central cape town

the colors of central cape town, originally uploaded by suddenly.

camps bay

camps bay

and here’s my sad attempt at piecing together two photos.

camps bay has a beautiful beach. the atlantic is too cold to swim in now but you can still sunbathe — that is, until the strong wind which they affectionately call the “cape town doctor” starts blowing sand in your face.

fresh oysters from namibia

namibian oysters, originally uploaded by suddenly.

f*ck kumamotos and malpeques. these namibian oysters –bad pun alert–blow them out of the water. who knew namibia has such kick-ass mollusks?

i started with 6, devoured them, then had to order 6 more. creamy, plump, briny. they’re like crack from the sea minus the shakes.

at 8 rands a pop, a dozen of these babies were 96 rands (US$9.60)!
at ocean blue restaurant on the main drag in camps bay, cape town

going up table mountain

going up table mountain, originally uploaded by suddenly.

the weather in cape town is back to sunny and hot. we chose a clear day to ascend table mountain. 145 rand (US$14.50) gets you a round-trip on the cable car. and get this! the cable car floor rotates so you get a panoramic view on the way up and down. brilliant.

table mountain is probably the flattest mountain top you’ll walk (see photo below) which means less huffing and puffing, and more time to enjoy the stunning views.

table mountain

table mountain, originally uploaded by suddenly.

addis in cape

addis in cape, originally uploaded by suddenly.

i was never crazy about ethiopian food — that sour, spongy injera bread reminded me of carpet matting. but i thought i’d give it another try after hearing raves about addis in cape.

call me a convert. it was delicious and i especially loved their injera.

pretty yellow bird

pretty yellow bird, originally uploaded by suddenly.

in the center of town lies “the company’s gardens” — the company being the dutch east india company. the garden has seen better days. it’s a strange place where homeless people sleep on the grass, aggressive squirrels are ready to pounce on you, and sad birds are locked up in an aviary.

we visited the “slave lodge” museum, at the entrance to the gardens. the exhibits detail the history of slavery on the cape. more sadness.

the weather has taken a chilly turn in cape town. i hope it warms up again soon.

SA nobel prize winners

SA nobel prize winners, originally uploaded by suddenly.

nobel square at the V&A waterfront honors the four nobel peace prize laureates of south africa, (left to right):
Albert Luthuli (1961), Desmond Tutu (1984), FW de Klerk (1993), Nelson Mandela (1993)

can’t see the sausage for the trees

can’t see the sausage for the trees, originally uploaded by suddenly.

ostrich and springbok sausages, foreground
palm trees, background

my day of meats

game meats, originally uploaded by suddenly.

my jaw hurts. i tried some south african specialties called biltong and game sausages. they’re air-cured meats. the biltong is like jerky but tastier and not as stringy, with a flavor reminiscent of prosciutto. you can have beef biltong but i figured when’s the next time i’m gonna have a chance to eat kudu? (it’s an antelope native to africa, and also a good way to burn two U’s in scrabble.) anyway, kudu biltong is delicious! i chewed my way through half a log of it.

the ostrich and springbok sausages had a more pronounced gamy flavor and big globules of fat throughout. i wasn’t a huge fan of either.

when bad things happen to good macs

i am about to set a world record called “the most number of countries in which to have mac failure.” the first meltdown came in 2005, a couple of months after I bought my ibook in korea. then in july 2008, my power cord frayed to spaghetti in morocco. now i can add south africa to that list. yesterday, i rested my laptop on a 5-inch- deep ledge in the apartment in order to finagle better wi-fi reception. then trying to lower the blinds to shield the screen from the sun, it was DROP! CRACK! WAAAAHHHH! busted screen with LCD splooge.

of course, this occurred when the service department of the authorized apple dealer in cape town was closed so i spent the night with a lump in my throat (and copious amounts of alcohol trying to dissolve that lump).

at 9 this morning, i rushed to the authorized apple dealer. their quote to fix it: 10,000 rand ($1,000 US). my response: “are you f&*king kidding me? i can buy a brand new laptop for that much.” i wasn’t far off. they sell a new macbook for 12,999 rand. the tech person, sensing the desperation of someone who was about to either bawl her eyes out or choke the bearer of bad news, gave me the number of some guy who deals in used parts. his name is dennis at repairs.com and when i told him my plight, he said he could do it for 850. “eight hundred and fifty rand? really? where are you?” i found out the answer when i got there; he’s in a part of town where the men eye a lone girl like the last piece of meat in a competitive eating contest for vultures.

another day, another time zone, another continent

drum vendor, originally uploaded by suddenly.

after a long flight, layover in johannesburg (which gets my vote for the loudest airport eVAR), and another short flight, we finally made it to cape town. even with the S.O. doing all the heavy lifting, my body is finding it harder and harder to spring back from the hours cooped up in economy class. and south african airways has some of the worst airline “food” i’ve ever tasted. how to you manage to make something completely bland yet taste so freakin’ disgusting? if it weren’t for the house mini-marathon with the divine hugh laurie on my personal screen to numb me into oblivion, i think i coulda stabbed a bitch on the plane. ok…and… /end rant>.

as for cape town, the central business district looks just like any european city; twisty, narrow cobble-stoned streets, small sidewalk cafes, and an unbelievable number of pizza restaurants. then when you head into greenmarket square where dozens of local vendors sell art, crafts, and clothes under canopies, the colors and images are unmistakably african. i have my eye on a few masks and maybe a drum…

see more photos from the market here.