Cape Town continued...

Well, I am still in beautiful Cape Town and have had some great experiences thus far (and one not so nice-> keep reading). The weather is truely bizarre here. One minute it will be warm and the next, the wind will start whipping and it will turn cold in a matter of seconds. Sometimes there are warm winds called "bergs" that are really nice. The wine tour was amazing- gorgeous countryside and I learned (drank) a lot about South African wine. I have met a lot of really cool people from everywhere, but particularly a few from Denmark, Holland, Australia and the States. One of them acutually had a friend here in CT that was having a BBQ, or a "bray" as they call it and we all went to that. I have befriended the staff here at the hostel- great people. So for the most part, the people I have met have been great. Unfortunatly though, I did have first-hand experience with "reverse" racism. It wasn't a huge deal, but it wasn't pleasant, just a lot of name calling for no particular reason. It defiantly opened my eyes to how divided South Africa still is and how much anamosity still exists due to the color of your skin. But, never fear! I didn't let that dampen my spirits and the next day I climbed table Mountain with a group of people from the hostel. It was an intense hike but the view from the top was unbelievable. We all thought the top would be as flat as it looked from the ground, but in fact, it was awesome- really rugged with boulders, spotted with pools of water and really interesting vegetation.

Yesterday, I met up with Ingrid, who lives in Cape Town. I walked part of the Camino in Spain with her and have been keeping in touch over the years. She with took me on a tour by car around the Cape region. The roads go right along the cliffs and look down on the bays and it is just stunning. Her husband spotted a few Southern Right whales down below so we pulled over to get a better look. There were tons of them! It's mating season and you could see them swimming circularly around each other and then coming up for air. Today I went to the largest flea market around and there were lots of performers, including small children performing traditional dances. Tomorrow, I head to the Cape of Good Hope and then Tuesday I leave Cape Town for Wilderness which is on the Garden Route.
More later!
Cheers!