The Rest of February

Hello! A lot has gone on since my last entry so I'll just try to highlight the good stuff.

A few weeks ago we drove to Hout Bay and took a ferry to see seals on what they call 'Seal Island'. Its basically a large rock with about 1,500 seals sunbathing and playing by the water. There were beautiful rock formations surrounding the bay making the boat ride enjoyable despite the sickening waves!

The following weekend a group of friends and I drove to a game reserve called Aquila to go on a horse back riding safari. It was an incredible day starting with a full buffet breakfast with all sorts of different African dishes. The safari left after breakfast, and for 2 hours we roamed the grounds and saw hippos, water buffalo, elephants, springbok, rhinos, zebras, and giraffes. The closest we got was about 50 feet to the springbok, water buffalo, and zebras. But we steared clear of the rhinos and hippos...not the safest creatures to get close and personal with!! After the ride, there was another feast prepared for us (this country really likes to eat, my kind of place). In the afternoon we took advantage of the pool for a dip before heading home back to city life.

Last weekend I got the chance to go on an outing with some of the kids from St. Josephs. They don't get the opportunity to leave very often, maybe once a month, so it was a pretty big deal when they arrived at the aquarium in Cape Town! They were fascinated by the tanks of fish, sharks, lobsters etc. All day they wouldn't stop talking about going on a boat, so we treated them to a ride around the Victoria and Alfred Waerfront on the oldest boat in the harbor. The wind was so bad though, that we couldn't make the full trip or else we never would have made it home alive. It was the first time the kids had ever been on a boat before...and they loved it. They didn't stop asking questions. At the end of the day we bought them ice cream and watched most of it melt down the side of the cone because none of them knew how to eat it.

The following day four us took a road trip to the southernmost tip of Africa, called Cape Agulhas. We stayed in a very cute hostel-style place called Backpackers. In the evening we went horseback riding barefoot along the beach before sunset. The horses were a little less tame this time, and actually let us trot along the water. It created quite a laugh because none of us knew what we were doing.

Last but certainly not least, this past Saturday we rented a mini bus and drove out to a remote beach for a 10 course fish braai (bbq) on the rocks. For 5 hours we ate seafood, drank wine, and swam in the ocean. Some of the courses were muscles, lobster, & fish with an endless amount of homeade bread and jams. It was a real treat.

Here's just a couple more pictures of the kids.