Climbing Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge, 15 Dec

Okay, so it was a hot sunny day, and the hike was 3 hours, not the 1.5 we had been told about, but it was AWESOME! We started partway up the hill, and then hiked pretty straight up through the gorge to the top - 3,500 ft above sea level, with amazing views into the city and of the peninsula.


Below are three views from the top. Rachel and I were pretty beat at this point. Fortunately you can also purchase one-way tickets for the cableway down, so we took advantage of that option.

A Christmas Package from Hannah!

Any type of ‘real’ mail received from the States is always a big treat for us. Thus, when Hannah Hawkins (married to Matt, Julianna and Rachel’s oldest brother; they currently live in HI) informed us that she has packed a Christmas package for us, we waited with bated-but-not-quite-because-that-would-be-quite-a-long-time breath. A glorious day it was when a hefty box arrived stocked with chocolate chips, marshmallows, Kona coffee, macadamia nut treats (a specialty of Hawaii), and a few gifts to be opened on the 25^th. Thanks Hannah!

Carols by Candlelight, Dec 13

Each year the Kirstenbosch Gardens, an incredible gardens stretching along part of the eastern side of Table Mountain, hosts an evening of Christmas carols. Folks arrive early with picnics and enjoy munching bread and cheese, sipping wine, and chatting with friends until the program begins later in the evening. We arrived and met a few friends from church, but by the time the singing got underway there were probably 15 people bunched together, all connected in some way or another to The Message. It was a fun evening, especially to sing so many wonderful carols that really preach the truth about the meaning of Christmas.

Sunday Lunch with Fritz, 16 Dec

lIt is always wonderful to catch time with our good friend, Fritz van der Lecq. He is one of the big reasons that we are here in South Africa in the first place! It is strange to be here during the December festivities (such as the Kirstenbosch Carols, described/depicted in a previous posting), as it was exactly one year ago that we came to Cape Town for a week holiday, not only to visit Fritz and to see the sites, but also to discern more deeply whether or not this could be the next step for us. God is good – we have now made Cape Town home for six months!

Jim's Job: Short-term program with Union College

Whale-watching and shark-cage diving, 6 Dec

Very little has been said about Jim’s job on our blog, so it is about time to provide an update. In short, I continue to thank God for supplying such a job that is so well suited to my situation, skills and interests. Not only is it part-time and on-campus, but it is a fantastic opportunity for growth and experience in higher education administration/student affairs. I assist in the development and administration of short-term international academic programmes at UCT.

Our first group just departed after a 2 1/2 week whirlwind tour of Cape Town and its environs. It was a new kind of responsibility I have never had before and I definitely felt the pressure: if anything went wrong, it was basically my fault! However, aside from a few miscues, the trip went smoothly. We took them to Stellenbosch and South Africa’s famous wine region; small micro-enterprises in several townships which provide work for residents; a day-long tour of the Cape Peninsula; a visit to the old Slave Lodge (built late 17^th century); a walking tour of the city; and many other excursions, some academic and others not-so-academic.

One of the not-so-academic excursions consisted of a day-trip to Hermanus and Gansbaai, two small villages about 1 ½ hours east from Cape Town. Hermanus is known for its whales, Gansbaai for its sharks. More accurately, each year from approximately September – December scores of whales (mainly Southern Right) migrate to the southern tip of Africa to give birth to calves. One can stand on the shore in Hermanus and spot a dozen whales at a time during the season. We saw 4 when we visited, 2 of them within 40 yards of the rocks on which we stood!

Another seaside village, Gansbaai, is home to 8 shark-cage diving companies. This was very high on the students’ list, and 14 of the 18 elected to do it. I was going to pass on the experience, in part due to cost ( R1000 / $175) and because Julianna accompanied us on this particular day. But the shark-cage diving company said, “You must do it – no cost to you, or your wife! We want you to know what you’re groups are doing”. Obviously good business practices on their part; the students had a great time and I plan to bring future groups back to that company.

I say “the students” because Julianna and I did not particularly enjoy ourselves. The sharks were definitely impressive and there was a lot of screaming coming from the students, but the ocean was very rough and we were out on it for about 3 hours (it takes a long time to attract Great Whites apparently), and for most of it I was feeling very queasy and Julianna was throwing up.

She likes Coffee and the Beach

Rachel, that is! So here we are at Muizenberg, a nearby town on False Bay (the Indian Ocean side) about 25 minutes from our place. What a gorgeous morning! Yes, we actually got up early enough to drive down there for breakfast.


The tide was pretty far out this morning, so it was perfect for a walk in the sand. Next time we come here, it will be for surfing lessons! This beach is a popular spot for beginners.

Breakfast at Empire Cafe. We were impressed by the big mugs of coffee and the tasty croissants. Rachel was obviously excited about the coffee, too.

A shot of the Kalk Bay harbour, down the road from Muizenberg. We sat and watched some fisherman cleaning their boats (it was a Saturday).

Have you even seen a black cricket like this? Jim was so excited he took about 12 photos of them chomping on leaves. Nice take, Jim.

Welcome to Cape Town, Rachel!

Rachel arrived on Monday, December 10, for a summer visit! She moved to Uganda this past March and has been teaching at a primary school in the small village of Fort Portal, so it's also her summer break. We are VERY excited to be together for Christmas and to hear about her life this year. Praise God that her travels from Fort Portal to Entebbe to Johannesburg to Cape Town all went smoothly. This entry is the first of several installments on her visit!

On her first day here, I (Jul) took her to a couple of Cape Town sights, including up to the John Cecil Rhodes Memorial - with a good view of the surrounding area - and to the Gardens in the 'city bowl'. The sky was pretty clear today, too, so we got a good view of Table Mountain.

Rachel is here!

Christmas season really is here, as are summer and sunny days, as is some holiday from work, as is RACHEL!! She arrived from Ft Portal, Uganda, via Kampala and Johannesburg, on Monday night. So far we've been loving sharing about our lives and laughing and eating and visiting the beach and making a list of all the foods we want to eat this month (like cinnamon rolls and smoothies). More stories and pics to come soon.

Some Neighborhood Signs

Welcome to our street, Alma Road, in the suburb of Rosebank! (These photos were taken on a rainy day last week. It's still early summer here, so some days are overcast and cool.)



Hey, Mom and Dad, this apartment building is just around the corner from us. Fancy a visit? You’ll feel right at home.

As part of the Rosebank neighborhood security, our community pays for a bicycle patrol round-the-clock. One or two men are always on guard and do regular circuits around the neighborhood. A lot of these signs are posted around the area, and this one is above our mailbox and front gate (that’s us, number 1!).

Can you guess what this means?
(Answer: “hooting” is “honking your car horn”. ‘Honking’ and ‘horn’ have very different meanings here, so you better say ‘hoot’ and ‘hooter’ and stay safe!)

Thanksgiving Dinner, December 1

We invited 8 friends to join us on Saturday, Dec 1 for a Thanksgiving afternoon meal, done potluck style. Everyone contributed a dish, and one friend even brought the needed extra plates, cutlery, and wine glasses! Since it was a lovely afternoon, we sat outside in the back garden behind our building. Our next-door neighbor, Mrs Bell (who looks out for us), also loaned us six folding chairs and some casserole dishes.

Yes, we were even able to have turkey, since they’ve recently begun being imported from the US and Brazil for the holiday season. This was Jul’s first time preparing a turkey (thanks for the tips, Mum!), and we’re happy to say that it was a success. Since we can’t get all the same ingredients here, we didn’t follow a ‘traditional American’ menu, but we stayed true to the ethos of coming together for a meal, having some time to reflect on the year, and enjoying each other’s company. We even went for a brief jaunt around the neighborhood between the meal and the pie!

(setting the table in our garden)

(the 10 of us around the table - you can see the windows of our flat in the background)

(meandering around the neighborhood on a post-dinner stroll)

(the 9 of us - minus Randy - front left to right are Heather, Jim, Jul, Tulani, Vuyi, Tanya, Mark, Blanche, and Fritz)

Visit to Jack and Marianne's new home

Our “African parents” (Fritz’s parents, who also hosted us upon our arrival here this past June) recently moved from Cape Town to Mossel Bay, a town about 4 hours east along the coast. Thus we hadn’t seen them for a few months and wanted to visit them in their new house. So this past weekend we drove over (along with Fritz and friend Mark) and enjoyed two nights and days with them.

Jack and Marianne’s hospitality was warm and generous, and we enjoyed our time – and all Marianne’s good food – immensely! It was particularly nice to be in a home over “Thanksgiving weekend”. Highlights include an evening walk along the beach, eating a traditional Afrikaner-Cape dish of ‘waterblommetjie bredie’ (stew with lamb knuckles, water hyacinth flowers, and potatoes), watching rugby (though Jul was in the other room marking/grading exam papers), and simply being in their home, sharing stories and gazing out the windows into the bay.

Jul and Marianne in the kitchen before breakfast - yogurt with muesli and fresh fruit (nectarines and apricots are in season), toast with lots of toppings (cheese, jams, figs), and coffee.

Mark just finished his thesis for a MA in Landscape Architecture. UCT has one of only two such programs in the country, and Mark graduated at the top of his class. Here he shares a few of his plans from his thesis project. Impressive and fascinating!




Along the section of beach closest to their house there is a rocky strip between the water and the sand, which creates tidal pools. Because of some recent heavy rains, the crashing of the waves on the rocks created a lot of sea foam, which you can see in the photo.

View from our stoep

Stoep = Afrikaans word for front porch

A Friday morning view of the amazing clouds coming over Devil's Peak and part of Table Mountain. This is from our front steps - well, actually, Jim took it from the floor above us (we're on the ground floor) - you can see the red roofs of UCT at the base of the mountain. The area where we live is on the eastern or back-side of Table Mountain, so the 'classic' view (like on the header of our blog) is as seen from the west. Isn't this beautiful?!

Slacker's Camp with the Student Y

Two weekends ago was the Student Y’s annual end-of-school-year “Slacker’s Camp”, and we were able to join them for part of the weekend. The group rented a few cabins on the coast, near a town that is about a 45 minute drive south of our place, on the southeast side of the Cape peninsula. UCT is finished with classes and exams, but there are still two more weeks until graduation, so the Y had this four-day camp for students to relax together and celebrate the close of another year. [Reminder: the Student Y is the Christian campus ministry at UCT that Fritz is the director of, and that we have joined for a few activities this semester.]

Cape Town is situated on the southwestern edge of the country (and continent!), and it is also on a peninsula that has the Atlantic Ocean on the western coast and the Indian Ocean on the eastern coast. Thus there are miles of coastline to enjoy and explore, a mixture of sandy beaches and rocky coastline, and there are many small towns along the edges.



Two photos (above) of the small beach next to the cabins where we stayed. These three students put in some impressive work to create a sand sculpture! (sorry the photos seem to be a bi dark)

Yes, there really are PENGUINS here! There is a colony (right word?) of jackass penguins, protected by a national park located in the town of Boulder's. During an early Sunday morning walk, we watched six of them climbing around on the rocks and swimming around. There are quite small, only about 2-3 feet tall.

Since it's Slacker's Camp, much of the weekend was spent either on the beach, or sitting on the lawn near the cabins, telling stories, sleeping, kicking around the soccer ball, etc. In the photo above, Gerald (an international student at UCT, from Zimbabwe) was describing to us how to prepare a couple of traditional Zim dishes.

QUIZ: What's a geezer?

Question: Is this a geezer? …

Or is this a geezer?

Answer: Both! The first one is a Gieser (pronounced ‘geezer’), and the second is also a geyser (pronounce ‘geezer’ here in South Africa). And yes, our geyser is attached to the ceiling in our bathroom, above the bathtub. Just in case we need the reassurance of its mass.

When meeting people for the first time, we used to say, “Yes, it really is Gieser/geezer, like the old man.” Now we say, “It’s Gieser, like the hot water heater.” And people smile. Still. And no one mispronounces it ‘gyz-er’ or ‘guys-er’ anymore, like Americans often do.

(Note on the irony: The very word that we use here to help people learn the pronunciation of ‘Gieser’ would be the exact wrong word to use in the US. South Africans pronounce ‘geyser’ as ‘geezer’, while Americans pronounce ‘geyser’ as ‘gyz-er’. Oh the dread of the ‘gyz-er.’ Either way we’re still the geezers.)

Kite Boarding

Kite surfing/boarding is a very popular water sport here, and in driving along the coast and through some towns along the peninsula we frequently see guys out catching the wind. Because of the strong winds here, they really pick up speed and get huge air when they jump waves and do tricks. It’s fun to watch! Seems like these surfers stay in shallower water than regular surfers. Jim has decided that this sport is his new aspiration, but a Capetonian friend said to him, “Well, it’s really difficult. Requires leg, back, arm, and abdominal strength, and proper coordination of the kite, the wind, the waves, and the board. You need to learn to surf first.” So that’s the starting point. We’ll keep you posted on that one…

We watched the man in this photo, as well as three of his buddies on their own boards, one recent Sunday afternoon. It was sunny but very windy and chilly, thanks to the southeaster wind current. You can see part of Table Mountain behind him (rising to 3500 feet), as well as downtown Cape Town, Lion’s Head and Signal Mountain. The city is actually in a bay (Table Bay), and its harbor is one of the busiest in Africa. (We also sat and watched huge container ships coming in and out of the bay.) Our apartment is off to the left side of the photo, a 10 minute drive from this beach. Wow, a nice transition from the Midwestern prairie, and we hope to enjoy the coast more now that the weather is getting warmer!

Neighbor's Driveway

Yes, it's spring here. Isn't this gorgeous?! (I'm talking about the flowering bush, not the handsome husband.)