The Cape of Good Hope

So we took an awesome tour of the Cape Peninsula this weekend. It was a big group trip that the whole group of students here took. I helped organize it actually, I've been feeling like a travel agent lately, what with planning this and the safari I did also for a group of us. But luckily this one was already paid for by all of us with our "activities budget".
We got on a bus at like 9:00 on Sunday and drove down the Atlantic coast to Hout Bay. It was amazing weather, no clouds and warm with just enough wind to stay cool. There were some great views along the way of the coastline and the beaches we've been going to lately. In Hout Bay we stopped at the harbor and got out to board a boat for the first part of the tour. We rode out in the boat for like twenty minutes to Duiker (Seal) Island. Its called Seal because it is literally covered in Cape Fur Seals. They were piled all over each other and all in the water around it. It was really cool. There were also some really great cliffs to see there and a big castle up on the hill.
We then boarded the bus again and drove across the peninsula to False Bay and to Simon's Town, where there is a colony of penguins. We walked down the hill to this little sheltered beach, surrounded by big rocks and there was a whole bunch of little tiny penguins. They were all just chilling out on the beach. It was very cool to see them. One of the things I wanted to do as soon as I knew I was coming here. So I am happy to have done that now.
Our next stop was to drive down to the Cape Point Park. We got to get out and ride bikes on the road then, which was really great. I miss riding my bike back home. I had a pretty bad problem with this one though, because I didn't realize until I stopped for lunch that my back brake was rubbing the whole time and slowing me down. It was like riding an exercise bike the whole time! But it was a really great way to see everything around there, and I got to see a big black snake on the side of the road.
The cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Point (which are separated by like a mile or so) are amazing. I got to climb around a bunch on one of them. The water was very clean blue and there was kelp everywhere in the water. It was pretty hard to imagine that area was the most dangerous part of a sailing journey around Africa. It seemed like a pretty beautiful great place to be on Sunday. We also got to climb up some stairs and a path to see the two lighthouses at Cape Point. And I can now say I have been to the southwestern-most point of Africa, which I think is pretty cool.
I also went to Muizenberg Beach on Saturday. That was my first time in the Indian Ocean. I have now swam in three different oceans. Not too bad. It was much warmer than the Atlantic beaches here. Very windy here. But another really awesome beach. Can't argue too much with all the sun and sand around here. Be sure to look at all my pictures from this weekend on my picasa site. And next week I get to go on a safari! But for now, its back to work on my project.

Settling into this place.

So starting off my third week here now tomorrow. We're really starting to get pretty serious into the project now. We've spent a lot of time talking to residents of the Park about how they use electricity and other things to cook and heat their homes and to watch tv. Its been really surprising, a lot of them actually have fridges in their shacks that are bigger than the one in my apartment. But they get electricity by either pre-paying for it like a pay as you go cellphone or by running little cords from someone who does have a box and just paying them. So it is all really inconsistent and goes down a lot. But everyone says that the most important change they would want is just to have their own box and have more reliable electricity, which was also pretty interesting. But having good electricity does make a lot of things simpler and safer in their homes.

We've also been working on building some little cheap and simple solar water heaters and solar ovens. There are a lot of designs out there, so we've found a few and are going to build them and then do some sort of a workshop with the community to show how they work. I think this is a really cool way to help solve their energy problems by just using simple devices that don't cost anything to run to cook and heat water. They might not be able to work for all of their needs, but they could go a long way in saving how much they have to spend on grid electricity and other fuels.

So now that we've done that initial work here, we have to start now analyzing all of it and to start developing a plan for improvement and redevelopment of their energy uses. This part is the most confusing, because none of us have any experience in this and it is really something that people are struggling with all around the world. But as our advisors say, it gives us a chance to really come up with whatever we want and make it something creative. And our sponsors and advisors are really pushing us to do just that, think creatively about this and come up with something new. So that part is exciting, but of course also quite a bit confusing and a big unknown. Hopefully we will bring together something good for the area and make a difference in the place, and also of course something that will get me a good grade on this project since this is a big part of my degree at school. That is an interesting balance I've been thinking about lately, but it seems that our advisors are gonna pre pretty flexible with the grading, and as long as we work hard toward making improvements and putting a lot of effort into our work in the park, we will get a good grade.

On a lighter note, I got to take a really great tour around a lot of Cape Town with on of the sponsors. The picture here is from that trip, when stopped on the coastal road along the Atlantic. That was really cool, just touring around the countryside and seeing everything from the road. Well thats all for now. Hopefully I get some good work done this week and I can update you all later on.

Devil's Peak and Table Mt.

So today was a very busy day for me. I got up early with a few friends and went to hike Devil's Peak and Table Mt. It was looking like really great weather this morning, sunny and warm. We got there about nine or ten I think after a crazy taxi ride up the winding mountain road. We then proceeded up the goat path of a trail that was there. After hiking about fifteen minutes we stopped to turn around and were amazed at how far down the road already was. That feeling persisted for most of the rest of the way up it. There was a really awesome ridge line off the side part way up that we got a lot of really great pictures from. Continuing up from that we scrambled up to the summit and spent a good while up there in the sun. The clouds started to move in a little though, but it was still great up there. After plenty of goofing around and lots of pictures, we made our way back down the peak, walking along the ridge and looking down into Cape Town the whole way. It is an amazing view of the city from up there. After making our way back down almost to the road, we decided to summit Table Mt as well even though the clouds had moved in pretty thick. It was still looking like a good hike. We got to hike up this crazy gorge in the picture. Most of the way up it was thigh high stairs of rocks with a lot of chicken wire holding them together. We blasted up this trail to the top in about an hour. I have not been that tired in quite a while. But once there, we walked over to the tram to get our nice ride down. I never thought walking down was very fun anyways. I will certainly be back there again soon when it is clear, because we walked by a lot of lookouts on the way to the tram that must be stunning if its clear. After getting down and back to the lodge, I also went out to the aquarium at the waterfront. Pictures of all of this are up on my site now.

Back to work in the settlement tomorrow. The project could be changing a lot because 8 shacks burned down near the community center in the Park over the weekend and we may be reorganizing our plans to redevelop the community a little quicker now that this opportunity is here. Everyone was ok in the fires, but there are a number of people without homes now and we will be trying to work all of that out this week. Hopefully we can find a good solution. All of us are still struggling a lot to get a solid focus on the project, but we are confident it will come soon. Just have to keep gathering info and experience in the area and do what we can. Can't believe its already week 2. I feel like its gonna fly by. Bed time now, talk to you all soon.