669 Metres Above Sea Level

This weekend was rather coldish and stormy for summer time weather in Africa, so we made the best of it and went to the Iziko South African Museum. This museum was a bit funny as some of the displays looked half finished and lacked proper labelling and/or lighting. There was some great footage of a freaky looking San woman dancing herself into a trance by a bonfire. She looked a bit like an alien. The museum is free every Saturday so we will have to return to see the rest of it and also see a show at the adjoining planetarium. It will be great to have a lesson on the constellations of the southern hemisphere.



This is a photo taken of the Great Synagogue from the Company Gardens. Devil's Peak is shrouded in clouds in the background. The Company Gardens are the central greenspace for Cape Town. It was originally the Dutch East India Trading Company's Gardens planted to grow food for the first Dutch settlers in the Cape.



On Sunday Rusell and I mosied up Lion's Head which offers gorgeous panoramas of the city, the ocean, beaches and Robben Island (which I am pointing at above). The Island is famous for having been the home of a prison in which political prisoners from the struggle against apartheid were locked up for decades on end. I have toured the Island and am happy to announce that european deer live there amongst elands, kudus and penguins.



Here is Russell climbing Lion's Head with a gorgeous backdrop. To the left of him in this photo is the "city bowl" while to the right is the part of town known as "camp's bay." Too bad we cannot upload a bigger and better version of this fine photograph. Do yourself a favour and click on the image for a better look at the Canuck in a strange world. It kind of looks like he is wearing leiderhosen.



On the way up/down we built our first ever Inukshuk. Actually, it was my first Inukshuk, as Russell had made one with Rebecca in his kitchen before. This is the one for public consumption. It is a slightly disfigured Inukshuk, but we are confident other Canadians would recognize the 2010 logo (?!) along their route and perhaps have a heart-warming chuckle.



Here is a photo of the "central business district" from our hike. We wanted to capture the photons reflecting off of the crazy yuppie floor-to-ceiling windows of our condo. Ours is the one with food spilled on the patio (where I sit) and coffee whiffs wafting from the air-conditioning output thing.



In case you didn't see our specific place above, we thought we'd highlight it for you.



Russell couldn't resist taking a portrait of me in the first "Glory Hole" known to man! We are in the cradle of mankind, you know!



Russell had a lot of fun reclaiming his adventurous spirit which has been a bit dormant since his days in Chilliwack. We will have to climb a lot more rocks and negotiate some kloofs before heading back to the other side of this beautiful planet.