Finally in Cape Town!!!
After 22 hours of flying time, not to mention a two hour layover, I have finally arrived in Cape Town, South Africa! I hardly know where to begin to describe everything down here...hopefully I'll be able to put pictures up soon and thus give you a better idea of what life looks like down here. For this entry, I'll try to just describe the area we're living at, Timberland Lodge.
First of all, 'Timberland' dosen't quite live up to its name. Although it's a lovely building and very unique, it is made largely out of stone and concrete and I believe has two trees on the property. the rooms are divided into a group in a separatebuilding, a group in the hallway attached to the living area (TV and four archaic computers), and then three rooms are lofted above this common room, mine being one of them. It's actually quite nice, albeit freezing (it's winter down here...days are around 60-65 and nights can get below 40). The window/skylight set into the sloping roof over my bed has a view of Devil's Peak (located right behind Table Mountain) and the other window has a view of the city in the distance as well as our front entry.
The neighborhood is nice by day and not far from the U. of Cape Town at all. Security here is definitely a priority, though, and all houses have at least one fence surrounding them and a security gate to gain entrance. Observatory (aka 'Obz', the neighborhood we live in) is no exception, and the Lodge is surrounded by a pretty hefty electric fence and a steep gate. We're only a couple blocks from some good little restaurants. hehehe...it was quite funny to see a guys' dog randomly walking around the corner restaurant we ate at this morning, trying to convince all of us to give him food!
Today summarized...riding in a combi (van/cheap transportation...will explain later) with classmates, downtown exploration, waterfront, dining on Ostrich (part of a dish called Boboti) and went through market square. Will update soon! Time for movie with Maureen (classmate) and Laurie (Scottish girl living here for another week).
First of all, 'Timberland' dosen't quite live up to its name. Although it's a lovely building and very unique, it is made largely out of stone and concrete and I believe has two trees on the property. the rooms are divided into a group in a separatebuilding, a group in the hallway attached to the living area (TV and four archaic computers), and then three rooms are lofted above this common room, mine being one of them. It's actually quite nice, albeit freezing (it's winter down here...days are around 60-65 and nights can get below 40). The window/skylight set into the sloping roof over my bed has a view of Devil's Peak (located right behind Table Mountain) and the other window has a view of the city in the distance as well as our front entry.
The neighborhood is nice by day and not far from the U. of Cape Town at all. Security here is definitely a priority, though, and all houses have at least one fence surrounding them and a security gate to gain entrance. Observatory (aka 'Obz', the neighborhood we live in) is no exception, and the Lodge is surrounded by a pretty hefty electric fence and a steep gate. We're only a couple blocks from some good little restaurants. hehehe...it was quite funny to see a guys' dog randomly walking around the corner restaurant we ate at this morning, trying to convince all of us to give him food!
Today summarized...riding in a combi (van/cheap transportation...will explain later) with classmates, downtown exploration, waterfront, dining on Ostrich (part of a dish called Boboti) and went through market square. Will update soon! Time for movie with Maureen (classmate) and Laurie (Scottish girl living here for another week).