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South Africa
I'm now in Cape Town celebrating my 31st birthday but for now I'll just tell you what I've been up to the last couple of weeks. From Maputo I got a lift back to Sodwana Bay in South Africa with Anke and her mother Christina from Berlin. Sodwana is in the middle of the St Lucia World Heritage marine and wetlands area and I came here to get my Advanced PADI scuba certification.

Southern Africa - part 2

Stevemonty
2005-09-23 18:36:59

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the surrounding forests, rivers, ridge views and canoeing back along the river to the estuary. Rikky is a great character and has been dedicating the last six years to taking hikers on laid back educational walks. He knows the area so well that he shows you where a frog has layed her eggs on a leaf, how long a particular spider has been in one spot or explains how a strangling fig is killing another tree. Through his eyes the forest becomes a magical inspiring place to be.

I had chance to hire a mountain bike for a few hours and test myself on the hilly terrain running through the rural villages and township. The hostel there offers free surf boards and lessons too, so twice I headed out into the surf to find that all i could do was kneel in front of the waves, but still a great thrill. The second time out I was the only person on 2nd beach, surfing at 7am. It was a beautifull morning with the sun rising over the cliffs and warming me as I battled away in the surf like a true amateur.
I've now been in Cape Town for a couple of days and met up again with Anke whom I met in Maputo as she's been working here for an adventure company. With her friends Lara, Invin and Marlene we went clubbing one night and drove out exploring the local wine region and mountain passes that in the Winter weather here reminds me of Scotland in the Summer.
Today we visited the District 6 museum which used to be a vibrant but poor multicultural area near the centre of town. But the area was completely flattened under the apartheid era and it's black residents forced out to less desirable areas that now form parts of the huge townships built of corrugated iron that extend for kilomet res out of the city. Many of these areas are without running water, electricity or sewerage in sharp contrast to the affluent white lifestyle, although still inexpensive in comparison to the UK.

I'm going to spend some days exploring Cape Town before heading up north through Namibia.

Just thought I'd mention Derby Jon whom I met in Cape Town and only just found his website address. He is writing a travel diary based around football and is travelling around the world using the England team as an excuse, as if you need an excuse to travel!

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