So the other day, Andrew, Danel and I hiked to the top of Lion's Head. It's a famous peak next to Table Mountain in Cape Town aptly named due to it's resemblance of a head of a lioness lying down (see below).
Lion's head is the peak on the left while the one on the right is Signal Hill (where apparently they still fire a cannon at noon everyday and have since the early 1800's)
Anyway, we were hiking up to see the sunset as well as the moonrise. It was a full moon and also the moon was at it's perigee (where it is closest to the Earth) so would be somewhat brighter and a tad larger.
There will be a quiz on Thursday.
The hike is pretty cool with some steep sections and great views. A lot of people do the hike during a full moon because it allows for an easier descent (the extra light from the moon) as well as an awesome view of the moon rising over Devil's Peak.
When we reached the peak it was like a small party up there. Everyone had some wine or beers and sat around first watching the sun set then switching sides to watch as the moon rose. It was really cool. We, ourselves, enjoyed some Sparkling Rose that Andrew had brought. It was pretty delicious (Graham Beck makes some quality sparkling). The walk down was like a mass exodus of people wearing headlamps. The cult of the full moon descending down the mountain (no spaceship came this time). Probably looked like some vigil to those on the ground.
Here are some photo's from the event (click anyone to enlarge).
From left to right: Cape Town, Devil's Peak, Table Mountain, 12 apostles, and Camp's bay.
One of a billion sunset photos I took.
At dusk. The clouds began forming on Devil's peak, where the story goes that some Dutch guy, who's name I can't remember, and the devil are having a smoking competition. Sounds like some story stoners tell, to me.
The supermoon, not like that fake moon that almost got me fired.
"When the light, go down, in the citayyy. and the moon shines on Camp's bay"
For those not aware, the movie The Gods Must be Crazy was
filmed in South Africa. Coca Cola is still very delicious and awe-inspiring as well.
How N!xau didn't win an oscar I'll never know
Speaking of "as well". South Africans have a funny dialect
when it comes to this phrase; They seem to put the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble.
They prefer saying AS well unlike the rest of the worlds as Well. Guess you
kinda have to be here. Anyway, other fun Afrikaans stuff: v's are pronounced like f’s,
d’s are pronounced like t’s, and they loooooove putting vowels together (i.e.
Boukenhoutskloof, Mooiplaas…two wineries btw).
Here his name would be spelled Baabbii Vlei
And for those needing that Toto fix:
On a completely separate note: I don’t think my Zimbabwe
investments are doing too well…unless I invested 10 googol (the correct
spelling thank you, go ahead and look it up on google...whoa) Zimbabwe dollars. Even
then I think it’s just like 20 bucks. With the Euro dropping I thought the Z
dollar was due!
Yes that is a 25 billion Zimbabwe dollar note...there was also a trillion dollar one.
As for myself, I am done working (and there was much
rejoicing) and have been busy going to many a South African winery. Current
count is at 53 visited as of May 3rd. Here’s my list of South
African wines that are really really really good:
Rust en Vrede – Single Vineyard Syrah
Le Riche – Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Jordan – Nine Yards Chardonnay
Luddite – Shiraz
Klein Constantia – Vin de Constance
Beaumont – Hope Marguerite Chenin blanc
Boekenhoutskloof – The Chocolate Block
Ken Forrester – Reserve Chenin blanc
Rustenberg – Five Soldiers
Simonsig – Red Hill Pinotage
Up next is South African Roadtrip 2012 or in Afrikaans: Lekker
Rooadtriip 2oo12. Trip entails stops in: Jeffreys Bay, Cintsa, Coffee Bay,
Hogsback, Addo, and Oudtshorn. Sidenote: Hogsback is supposedly where Tolkien
got his idea of the shire, land of the hobbits, my feet are kinda hairy so I
should feel right at home. Feel free to google some of these spots and become
jealous.
Me and you Frodo
Anyways, at my current rate, my next blog will occur in 2013…so
enjoy patiently.
Here's a cool photo:
Click for larger image. This is driving round Chapmans peak.
