Take every preconceived notion (that I probably put) in your head about South Africa and throw it out the window. Cape Town is 360 degrees of AWESOMENESS!! From "TableMountain" with the clouds pouring over the sides, to the pristine beaches and the locals who are sooo nice (except for the two cabbies punching each other over passengers .. they didn't seem too nice), this place is nothing what I expected.

We had a couple of unexpected visitors join us here. Of all people it had to be Travis, our high school's "class clown" (four years in a row I might add!).  So for once on this 2 and a half month journey we look like the "typical Americans" (loud and always causing a scene) .. the "every time you masturbate God kills a kitten" t-shirt that Travis so proudly wore on our "Kloofing" trip did not go over so well with the locals.

"Kloofing" .. it's illegal in the states. I'm not sure why because scaling rock walls in the middle of the wilderness and then jumping from 40,50 and 80 foot high cliffs into black pools with no helmets, nets or harnesses sounds perfectly safe to me! Our guides on this little adventure, "Crash and Burn", as they like to be called .. are crazy! Their entire bodies are covered in scars. Apparently while we were playing hop scotch and kickball as kids they were catching wild animals with their bare hands. (for some reason, I believe them).  Before we hit the trail to these cliffs there are two very important safety issues we need to discuss (they had nothing to do with: if you slip, you will plunge to your death). Instead, we need to be very cautious of the cars on the roadway and the baboons!!  The strict instructions became a little foggy in my mind (it was 7am!) .. walk towards the baboons, throw your sandwiches at the cars if they come toward you, don't make eye contact with the drivers .. something like that. Thankfully, the baboons didn't bother us and neither did the drivers!

At night, like in any big city, the freaks come out to play. You couldn't walk down the streets of Cape Town without being offered "coke" "shrooms" or "weed" every 20 yards.  (if it were "crack" they would have had themselves a deal!). There are guards on almost every street corner wearing bright orange vests and armed with a night stick. They were about as lethal as a crossing guard. I want the kind of protection Nelson Mandela had when he paid the city a visit the other day. The streets were blocked off in a 2 mile radius and there were real guards at every intersection. (tip: don't tell a 300 pound black man holding an AK-47 and a bullet proof vest with the look of Mr. T in his face to "show me sexy" as you snap his photo .. let's just say I am thankful I have fingers to type this email!).

Who knew on a safari of all places we would hear those famous four words again .. "3,2,1 BUNGEEEEE!!".  This time we weren't playing around we hit the World's Highest Bungee Jump .. 709 feet (that's 52 stories high!!). What a rush! The safari consisted of traveling the Garden Route for 7 days and stopping at various points of interest ending with a day in the wild searching for the "Big 5" .. (Rhinos, Lions, Leapords, Buffalo and Elephants) .. we saw 3 of the Big 5, apparently the kitties didn't want to come out and play!

We now leave South Africa with the desire to return some day soon. But for now, it's Greece for some tall dark and handsomes!!

CJ