Day 9: Table Mountain mist, and we say goodbye to two

It's going to be hard to top yesterday's shark adventure, but today we got up early (6:30 AM) because, sadly, today marked the end of our short trip to Cape Town. Our destination was Table Mountain, which I've already mentioned. Our guidebooks said that if you do only one thing in Cape Town make it to the top of Table Mountain. So we heeded that advice, and drove along the beautiful cliff-lined coast to the base of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway. All the other Hamzey kids were annoyed that I wanted to get up early, but it ended up being a good call, because we got there right as it opened. We caught the tail end of the sunrise on the way over and it was sunny and drizzly when we went up. Even though it's winter here in the southern hemisphere the weather has been amazing--dry, sunny, and temperate. But when I caught a glimpse of the board displaying the temperature at the top of Table Mountain as simply "VERY COLD" I headed back to the car to pick up another layer of clothing.

We sat at the bottom of the mountain and watched as the very first cable car ascended and disappeared into the gray morning clouds. We caught the next cable car, and lined the windows of the rotating enclosure, but we really couldn't see anything except for the cable disappearing into the clouds a few feet in front of us. The mountain reappeared when the sheer vertical face came through the fog a few feet away from us, and we were at the top.

The fog was eerie and we had to play Marco Polo if
one of us got more than 50 feet away.

I was lucky I brought that extra layer of clothing, because Alli and Tiffany
are behind me attached at the hip to keep each other warm.

After a walk around the short route of the hiking trail we welcomed the warmth of the small cafe at the top. When we looked around to realize that the cafe had emptied, we noticed that the clouds we were in had burned off and the view opened just enough to catch some of the spectacular views.

Irish coffee, hot chocolate, and a shield from the cold.
This cafe was a much needed stop.


The 'zeys (minus dad who's taking the picture) once the clouds
burned away.

The clouds are known for billowing off of the top of Table Mountain just like a table cloth, and we could see the clouds rolling over the crest of the mountain right in front of us. Actually, the mountain guest guide who stopped to tell us this interesting fact was also armed with a great story for the Americans whose accents he had probably picked out while we were arguing nearby. Derek, was older and had that weathered face that's full of wisdom. That face, together with the an accent that sounded like it leaned more toward an English one than the harder South African accent (a la shark boat skipper) drew me right into his story.

He started off by asking us if we knew that an American Civil War casualty had occurred in South Africa. The story as Derek told it was about a Confederate ship, the CSS Alabama, under orders to capture Union ships, got lost in pursuit of one. The ship found its way to Cape Town to restock, and the Cape people, known for their hospitality, ordered a celebratory hunt. During that hunt Lt. Simeon W. Cummings was killed by an accidentally discharged gun. The Confederate daughters of America bought a plot of land for burial and still return to South Africa to tend to the grave. Here's a slightly different account. After Derek charmed us a little more we did the short hike again to take some more pictures now that we could see the scenery, and headed down. When we got to the bottom, we realized the line was huge. Rami--1 point for advocating an early start to the day.

A soccer ball vending machine! This was even cooler than the Best Buy
one. Near the elevators on the way down from Table Mountain.

This is where the story gets sad. After Table Mountain, we headed to the airport to say our sad farewells to the beautiful city. Tragically the trip to the city we loved turned out to be just a fling as Jo'burg was calling us back. We like the thrills that come with signs that say hijacking hotspot. And for that, Jozi's the place to go. What can I say, it has more of that dangerous sexiness. The sadder part is that this is where we were going to part ways with Alli and Tiffany, who at this point still had no definite plans for anything over then next two and a half weeks of backpacking that they still have left to do. On the way to the airport, they finally got in touch with a contact they had in South Africa who offered them a place to stay, which made us feel better about leaving them alone in South Africa with no plans. We said our goodbyes, caught the flight back to to Johannesburg, and the car ride back to our house in Nigel felt a little more empty with our now 6-person party. Two more days before we depart. It's coming too fast.

Day 8: Great White Knuckles

This morning the alarm hit at 3:30 AM for our drive further down the Cape Peninsula.

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Tiffany, true to her early-rising form, was ready to go with her underwater camera by 3:31. Nidal drove us two and a half hours to Kleinbaai where we had prebooked our dive with the eccentric skipper, Brian McFarlane (interviewed on the Today Show), at Sharkcagediving.net. Passing more than a few places with names like "Shark Fever" and "Shark Adventurers" I had a feeling we were going to see some great stuff today. We didn't want to miss this one, so we left early and got there a whole half hour before we were supposed to (Now, that's a feat, if not a God sent miracle for eight people) and it was still dark outside. I think the staff was still picking crust out of their eyes when we showed up, but they're used to getting up early. We got a quick breakfast while the sun broke the Atlantic horizon and we caught a glimpse of the docks and coast. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Remember, scientific research and made up statistics have shown
that pictures of anything amazing are at least half as breathtaking
as they are in real life.

I think this one marked the moment at which I'd officially seen more sunrises in Africa than I've seen in America. We got a pep-talk and a summary of the weather conditions from the skipper.

Great example of the South African accent.

Then we had to go through all the hypocritical nonsense that is the safety briefing. "Don't stick your tongue out of the cage. Don't cut your finger and dangle it out of the cage. Don't stick anything else out of the cage. Don't try to surf on the shark. Don't jump on off the boat and onto the boogie board-like seal decoy. Don't yadda yadda...boring." Kidding, of course. They did tell us a really interesting fact that great white sharks can turn a full 180 degrees in less than a body length and in less than a second. So that scared me enough to mind my limbs in the cage. And it's a fact that's even more breathtaking when you see first-hand how large these bad boys are. I was surprised to see that something so big could move so quickly. Then again they are made of solid muscle.

We suited up after snagging a few more apples from the fruit bowl and headed to the docks where we jumped aboard and hit the top deck for the best view.

The whole crew just before we boarded the boat.

Once we pushed off and were well on our way we noticed that seagulls started coasting along with the boat, which was clipping along pretty fast. Then we saw why. The crew was lifting strips of fresh fish high in their hands at the bow. The gulls struggled with the strong opposing winds but swooped from side to side at least 20 times. It looked like they had done it before, but what a struggle just for small piece of fish. If I were a seagull I woulda just said, "Eff-it, I'm not playing your games. I'll just eat french fries out of the trash in the parking lot of a Walmart." But maybe I don't have discriminating enough seagull-taste buds.

The seagulls get tasty fresh fish chunks.

The skipper told us that the conditions were great, but there was an early call time because high winds were forecast for today. The captain stopped the boat and dropped anchor to angle us directly out to Shark Alley, the most famous shark area in the world. Boats head to the mouth of the alley between two islands to entice and observe sharks as they head in to hunt for seals that sunbathe on the rocks. The skipper, with more than 10 years experience and a kinda OK safety reputation (Kidding. In 14 years no accidents), informed us that most boats were not going out because of the high wind threat. Indeed we noticed when we laid anchor that only two other boats had decided to go out. I trusted the guy's judgment; he goes out more than 300 days a year. And besides, more sharks for us! They started pouring their touted special formula of chum (If I had my own specially formulated chum I would call it Yummy Chummy, and I envision a jingle something like the Meow Mix commercial) into the water, and we could soon see the sheen of the fish oils spread out from the boat into the mouth of the alleyway.

One of the crewmen shredding fish for the yummy chummy.

It took about fifteen minutes for the skipper leaning over the bow to spot his first shark. So the first group went in the tank.


We waited til the last group so we could make sure we'd get a good view. We didn't want to be there in the water with only one shark. Reminds me too much of the awkward beginning of a college dance party where the guy you don't really know shows up first. We also wanted to keep the group together.

The four Hamzey kids and the two Sih's got fitted for and strapped on our wetsuits, masks (they were particular about calling them masks, not goggles), and weight belts. It should be noted that the two parental units dropped us off and headed to a local winery to kill some time while we were on the boat. Maybe they'll post their experiences. Since we were the last group, the crew had trouble finding a dry extra-extra small wetsuit for Rena and two smalls for me and Tariq. Then when they got to Nidal, they said we should eat like him. I've heard that before, so I quickly replied, "Now you know why I'm so skinny."

The first thing I did when I hit the water was gasp for air, the natural reflex when your body hits cold water. What wasn't natural was how many tiny bits of ground up fish guts and scales must have gone down with that gulp of seawater. And it happened twice. Luckily I didn't think much about it because I was so excited, but the thought of it now makes me a little woozy. Anyway, the cage had hand rails and floats and was dropped into the water against the side of the boat. It fit eight people side-by-side, and left just enough room above the surface of the water for you to bob up and down to breathe. It turns out the skipper didn't disappoint when he said we had great conditions and good visibility. The crew threw out fish guts on a line as a lure, and a seal-shaped foam cutout to bring the sharks close to the cage. They said we got about 15 views, I think, but time flies and I wasn't ready to get out. Here are some pics (and video)...

This guy threw out the bait and helped spot the sharks

I made Tiffany miss one of the best sharks for this picture. Oops.

Shark fights with seal decoy.

Check out the bites taken out of the decoy on this one.

Everyone got a second chance to go in the cage and all six of us went again. Then the skipper warned that the forecasted strong winds were approaching. I was thinking, "What is this wimp talking about. It's not that windy." We took two passes near the island to check out the seals jumping out of the water, sunbathing and barking. Ask Nidal to do his impression. He's pretty good.

Seal Island where tasty cape fur seals sunbathe and great whites (would)
lick their lips (if they had them).

Just before we turned to head back to shore one of the crewmen came up the ladder and asked Rena if her camera was waterproof. When she shook her head, he didn't skip a beat in saying comically, "just put it away then." To say the seas were a little choppy on the way back would be an understatement. It felt like the boat in the movie The Perfect Storm (I'm embellishing a little here). I felt my stomach hit the roof of my mouth when the boat dropped over the top of a six-foot swell, and since we were again sitting on the top deck of the boat it felt like I was riding a bull. To add to the potentially deadly experience, each time the boat splashed down, the water jumped over the bow, hung in the air for just long enough for me to watch them turn into little flying daggers aimed at my face. If only I had some Neo skillz. When we got back to shore, we rendezvoused with the parents again, then got suckered into buying the DVD, the cost of which we split with Alli and Tiffany. We warmed up with some coffee, and then headed off to the rest of our day. It turns out that after all this adventure, it was still just before noon. I would just be eating breakfast if I were in LA right now.

We then drove our sea salt-crusted selves (no time for a shower) to the V&A Waterfront in downtown Cape Town in an attempt to go to the Nelson Mandela Gateway Museum there (Robben Island ferries were booked solid), but it was closed. It was still a great atmosphere as Spain was about to face off with Portugal in a few hours time in Cape Town's Green Point Stadium. We didn't have the energy to stick around so we went to Superspar again to pick up some dinner and a nearby liquor store to pick up a lot of beer. Interestingly, while the drinking age is 18 here, you have to go to a liquor store to get beer. Still, they're not stringent at all on the drinking age. I wasn't carded for alcohol once; my baby face still allows me to get into some museums with the child rate. But I digress. We headed back to Sacred Mountain Lodge armed with a case of beer, ingredients for some baller grilled cheese sandwiches, and two frozen pizzas. We settled in to watch Spain vs. Portugal (Spain dominated, but only won 1-0, so they'll move on to face Paraguay in the quarterfinals in a few days). Now, one by one, we're nodding off early after an exciting day.

Day 7: Jackasses all over

The morning after the Argentina game had us leaving Jozi (Yeah, I've picked up on some of the vernacular) early in the morning as we headed to O.R. Tambo airport again and hopped on our Mango Airlines flight to Cape Town.

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The flight was uneventful and touchdown in Cape Town went off without a hitch. We picked up our baller ride (a Benz Vito), which meant that we didn't need to sqeeze in more people than we had seats available. It also meant that we dwarfed every single other passenger car on the road. Everyone was in a better mood most of the time now that we didn't have to squeeze three butts in to two seats, but one thing it didn't change was our periodic ability to forget to stay on the left side of the road or realize that the lever for the turn signals was on the right side. I'm just joshin'--Nidal and Dad are getting pretty good at weaving through all the minibuses, which are notorious for creating their own rules of the road. More on the minibuses to come as they are a unique part of South African transportation.

The first thing I've noticed about Cape Town is that its much greener. Johannesburg, at least during the winter time, is dry, which I have a feeling had something to do with all the brush fires popping up in and around the city. Once I stopped looking at all the grass at my feet I looked to the sky at the icon of the city--Table Mountain. Citizens of the city use "The Mountain" as their almighty reference point. It really is a spectacular icon and we plan to head to the top of it in a couple days. Cape Town is also much prettier than Johannesburg. So much so in fact, that within five minutes of our drive Alli said she wants to move there. We were brought back down to Earth when we noticed the characteristic corrugated metal structures that make up sprawling shanty towns for acres along the side of the highway just near the airport.

Here, in Jozi, but these characteristic sprawling communities of shantytowns
still spread through the beautiful Cape scenery.

Again our GPS led us slightly astray but we were able to find our accommodations at the Sacred Mountain Lodge, which is made of a small group of cottages in a preppy area of town called Noordhoek.

At the Sacred Mountain Lodge. Alli and Tiffany chillin'
before we head out for the day.

The owners of the cottage are really nice and mentioned that they have a few students staying with them from the U.S. This is how I think the conversation went. "Yes, we have a few university students from Richmond with us. I think they go to University of Virginia." Unfortunately, with our busy schedule and limited time in Cape Town we haven't been able to meet them, but we did offer to bring stuff home for them since the 'zeys live all of 30 minutes away from Richmond and Charlottesville.

After our early flight into Cape Town and an early check-in we had the whole day ahead of us.

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It seems like a lot of polo is played here in Noordhoek and the per capita sun bonnet rates must rival Churchill Downs (we had to swerve around a few people riding horses on the way in). So, you can imagine that the area was beautiful, and the quaint little cottages in which we stayed fit the area perfectly. Probably not a huge night club scene here though.

We drove down to the coast on the western side of the tiny Cape Peninsula where Tiffany's guidebook tipped us off to a fish and chips place called the Salty Sea Dog in a fittingly picturesque coastal town.

Waiting for some fish and chips at the harbor in Simon's town on the Cape Peninsula.
Tiffany is securing our plans for tomorrow. Shark cage diving!

Once we fixed the rumblies in our tumblies with some hake, snoek, and chips we jumped back into the Vito for the highlight of our day: Boulders Beach, where...wait...did someone say PENGUINS!? Indeed a stroll down a beach road and past a few craft vendors takes you to a boardwalk and the sandy/rocky coast where you can see jackass penguins, named for their characteristic donkey-like sound.

This at the entrance to the beach. It's so funny when you see that they have
to specifically mention vuvuzelas on their signage. Happened on the flight
too: "the use of vuvuzelas on the plane is prohibited. Please enjoy your flight.

It's an unfair name because I dare you to look at a penguin dry his tail and call him a jackass.

The jackass in front is a little bashful

Unfortunately, some party poopers have officially renamed them them more PG-acceptable African penguins. We snapped some pictures and watched them swim and sunbathe. I guess penguins are supposed to smell awful, but it happened to be windy enough on the beach that the little guys didn't stink one bit.

Penguins surfing!

Nidal is hiding his excitement. Penguins are his favorite animal.
He was giddy like a schoolgirl.

We then hit our favorite Superspar supermarket to pick up ingredients for our makeshift spinach salad with mandarin oranges, toasted almonds, and chicken breast. Now, after the quick yummy salad, we've all crashed and called it a night to get ready for shark cage diving in the morning!

Day 6: Kudos to Kudus, and mopane worms = yummy

We started off day 6 like most days here, ruffling through one of our three guide books. We ended up deciding on the Rosebank Market, which takes place on the top level of a mall's parking deck and continues into the shopping center. One thing we've noticed while being here is that they love malls and shopping centers. They're about as numerous as Starbucks. It looks like South Africa's favorite stores are Woolworths, a grocery called Pick n Pay, Wimpy--which is kinda like Denny's, and Chicken Licken (Click the link. You won't regret it. Verne. Troyer.), which proudly proclaims that it sells soul food. At the Rosebank Rooftop Market local vendors set up shop every Sunday to sell a range of wares--hand made African crafts, antique records, handbags made from old billboards (Tiffany bought a cool one), Polish sausages. There were magic shops, fortune tellers, performers limbo-ing under fire, people playing tribal sounding music, a lady walking around on stilts. My favorite spot was near a vendor selling herbs and spices in huge bags. Smelled so good there.

The area with food vendors smelled amazing.
No doubt this herb vendor had something to do with it.

The market and attached mall were bustling with locals and tourists. I bought some cool art made by dripping shiny car paint onto a wooden board to create abstracted soccer players.

After we played "Find a person, lose another" for about forty minutes, our group was finally ready to go, and we were hungry. Since we were in Jo'burg--that's what the cool people call it--we wandered to Newtown again for some grub...literally. Our choice--Sophiatown Bar & Grill, just next to the SAB World of Beer. Fighting off the urge to go on the beer tour again, we headed to the grill where we sat to watch the England vs. Germany match just next to the large Jo'burg Fan Fest area.

Drinkin' Some Castle and Windhoek beers at the Sophiatown Bar & Grill

While there were lots of both, I'd say the English fans had the edge in the restaurant, and they filled the room mostly with jeers and grunts because England got OWNED by Germany and lost the match 4 to 1. England did have a clear fair goal disallowed by the referee, which made the fans less happy. Still, England got worked over by Germany. Once that game was over we looked down and realized that we had food in front of us.

Here's where I checked off lots of new stuff on the list of foods I'd never eaten. We started with a Fear Factor challenge. Tiffany ordered a helping of roasted Mopane worms and kindly offered the rest to the table. I grabbed a fat one and chomped down while The Lion King was playing in my head.


It wasn't slimy, and it wasn't very satisfying. Go to time 2:07.
While they've traditionally served as a significant source of protein for many Southern Africans, they were chewy and their crispy shells (think the shells on shrimp) cracked and lingered stuck to my tongue and in between my teeth.

Nidal putting a mopane worm down the hatch. Rena looks so
excited because it's her turn next.

I ordered Kudu, which we had seen only the day before sitting on grass, not a plate. It tasted not much different than venison (big surprise), but was served as a really tasty dish with butternut squash cake (like cornbread) and some awesome rosemary sauce and other deliciousness. The other kids ordered Ostrich, which tasted more like chicken than anything else and was just as tasty. Dad, keeping with his regular form, ordered the weirdest thing on the menu: Crocodile. He said it was kind of tough, but I still took a bite that I spent a little time chewing down. After checking at least 4 new items off of my food bucket list, I was thoroughly satisfied, and we headed to our game at Soccer City.

I was really excited about this one. We saw Argentina play against Mexico in the first knockout game that was sure to be full of some famous Latin American football flair. We split up the tickets and then headed in separately. Mom and Dad had tickets in the raucous Argentina fan section that was responsible for throwing streamers on the field every two minutes and jumping and chanting. Nidal, Tiffany, Alli and I all sat together in the corner of the second level, with Rena and Tariq one section over. They were great seats and we could see the whole field.

So, we sat down just in time for the ending of the Mexican national anthem, christened our new vuvuzelas with the kickoff, and the game was on.

I've said that I hate hearing these on TV, but it's fun in the stadium,
and when you're there the sound is not so bad.

The fans were mostly Argentine and the mood was great after they won 3 to 1. There were spectacular goals, especially from Carlos Tevez, whose second goal was the highlight of my night.

The whole group reconnected outside the stadium after the game.
The last time I got to gaze at one of the coolest stadiums on Earth. Bittersweet.

After the game the parking headaches caused a driver to get out of his car to scream at the attendants and lie down in the middle of the exit road, stopping all traffic. He looked kinda like a turtle stuck on its back trying to flip over. I hope he was the last person to leave the lot.