New photo-album published

See/Click attached photo-album for a quick summary of last weeks activities.

16-24. Mars 2007

A nice weekend

We've had a really nice weekend so I thought I could put out a few pictures of what we've been up to. On Saturday we had a braai (braai= a South African bbq) with our Information Systems master class at my classmate Simon's house. As you can see from the picture we are not a lot of people, we could all fit nicely in his pool:) From left to right: Professor Mike Hart, Mzwandile (Swaziland), Len (SA), Flora (Malawi), Me and Simon (SA). One other person was not able to join us and Espen is hiding at the bottom of the pool somewhere. After a dip in the pool we enjoyed some very good meat and South African wine!

On Sunday Mzwandile, Len, Flora and I went on a hike up Table Mountain via the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. We followed a route called Skeleton Gorge where you walk next to a riverbed/ water fall, climbing up ladders and generally giving yourself a good workout! Neither Flora or Mzwandile had ever been on a hike before. As Flora put it; "In Malawi, if you have a bike people don't expect you to walk. If you have a car, people will think you are crazy if you use your bike!" Walking seems to be an activity for the poor in some African countries, but we all made it to the top and was able to enjoy the views of the southern suburbs in Cape Town.

Update from South Africa

After receiving numerous complaints about the update-frequency on this blog, I figured it was about time to write something. Here's what's been happening lately, mostly in backwards chronological order:

1. I found out the bisquits is spelled "biscuits". We blame Betty Crocker for that mistake.
2. Anne's grandmother called.
   
3. We test-drove a Toyota Tazz, owned by a friend of our landlord.
4. Anne and I went to town to say good bye to Kjetil and Merete who just got back from a very exciting and fun overland tour.
   
5. It was very cold and the rain was poring down this weekend, so we cleaned the all the floors in the cottage. A very satisfying smell of citrus cleaner could be sensed miles away :)
6. We went to the big "Community Chest Carnival" in Wynberg. Could not find a good link explaining what that is, but it was basically about a wide range of food outlets many of which are organised by particular national groups such as the Dutch, Swiss and Irish who offer visitors their own national dishes and delicacies.
7. We went to another concert at Kirstenbosch gardens. This time we went with Emma, a Swedish girl that also studies at UCT.
8. As Kjetil and Merete did not have many days in Cape Town before going on their overland-tour we went on a tour around the Peninsula.
   
9. There was a very strange sound coming from the car, so the auto-repair shop recommended that we buy new back-wheel, new shock-absorbers and replace some thingies that has to do with the gear-box. A total of R5000 was paid (NOK4500, €500) and the sound is still there. We have now given up repairing the car and have placed an ad in the news-paper hoping to get a good price for it. We will at the same time look for a new car without scary sound and other defects.
10. I met a guy in Anne's class that believes in voodoo and black magic. It was very fascinating to hear him talk about spells and creatures he had seen himself.
    
11. After waiting at The Department of Home Affairs for a total of 12 hours, I finally got my Visa extended. I'm now allowed to stay here until my plane leaves on the 13th of June. Whoohoo!
12. We went to Stellenbosch with our Norwegian visitor Merete for some wine-tasting. This time we had focus on "Wine and Cheese". A very fun day (this time Anne was driving and I was drinking), but not all the cheeses met our expectations. The time Merete and I both tasted the same cheese (and liked it) and Anne yelled out "This tastes like puke", we decided to move on the the next place.
13. I bought myself a Polarizer Filter for the camera. The big advantage about using such a filter, is that it filters out reflected (polarized) light, and as such you are able to take a picture of the skies, and the actually look blue. Take a look further down for an example of a picture taken with the polarizer.
    
14. It's getting late now, and I'm running out of things to mention. I probably missed some important thing, and Anne will say "How could you NOT write about THAT?", so this list may be extended after a few days :)

One of the farms in Stellenbosch