View from Rondebosch Common

Thrice weekly Jim jogs early in the morning around Rondebosch Common, which is half a block from our place. And this is the view that he has. The peak of the right is Devil's Peak, and to the left is the part of the backside of Table Mountain. We're on the opposite side of Table Mountain from the downtown area. You can also clearly see the UCT campus on the hillside with its unmistakable red roofs. Yes, it's stunning! (and this is in winter!)

Price Comparisons

For our mothers, and any other semi-professional economists out there who are interested in some common prices here. The currency is the South African (ZA) Rand. Most of the prices for food here are very similar to the US. The exceptions for things that are cheaper are chocolate, coffee, and breads. So, if we’re running low on money, at least we can have toast and coffee!

1. Cadbury chocolate bar (large: 200 g/8 oz.). We like dairy milk; biscuit; whole nut; and top deck (half white and half milk chocolate) = R10 = $1.50
2. Medium cappuccino at a nice coffeeshop = R14 = $2
3. Jim’s favorite nut & seed bread loaf from the bakery = R7.50 = $1.10
4. Two fresh bakery scones/biscuits = R5 = $.75
   
5. Half-dozen eggs = R5.49 = $.80
6. 1 Kg bananas (2.2 lbs) = R6.99 = $1
   
7. 1 Kg tomatoes (2.2 lbs) = R10.99 = $1.60
   
8. 1 Kg fresh chicken breasts (2.2 lbs) = R32.50 = $4.75
9. 1 liter box of “full cream” milk (whole milk) = R7.50 = $1.10
10. Gallon of gas (about 4 liters) = R5.90/liter = $3.50/gallon

Saturday in Kalk Bay

Natalie, a lovely new friend from the Cedarberg weekend, invited us to take the train with her down to Kalk Bay (45 min. train ride or 25 min. drive) on Saturday morning to enjoy breakfast at the Olympia Café, along with a few other friends. Delicious coffee and croissants, and we reveled in the bright, clear day (after lots of heavy rain earlier in the week). The town of Kalk Bay is on the southern part of the Cape peninsula and is on False Bay, the bay facing east onto the Indian Ocean (rather than westward onto the Pacific).

A Weekend in the Cedarberg

Two weekends ago we were invited, along with a group of Fritz's housemates and other friends, to spend a night in the Cedarberg area. These rocky mountains are about 2 hours from Cape Town, and during late winter-early spring are filled with amazing flowering plants and bushes, many of which belong to fynbos, one of the world's six floral kingdoms and contained entirely within the Western Cape (more on that later). We enjoyed the quiet (compared to the city!), gnoshing on lots of fresh oranges and naartjies (tangerines), playing board games late into the night, bushwacking up the hill to get a better view of a waterfall, and getting to know some new people.

The New Car

No name yet for this spiffy little Toyota Tazz, but despite that it already has a lot of personality (largely due to the stick shift, which we love). Praise God for this provision! Used cars were more expensive here than we had anticipated, and we also had to have a fancy new security system put in, as this is considered a ‘high risk’ car (and the auto insurance company demanded it). Unfortunately car crimes are a frequent reality and apparently the more common cars (like this one) are more susceptible to crimes. But the Tazz is dependable and friendly to us, and she loves to hug that left side of the road like a good South African.