Climbing Table Mountain for International Workers' Day

Yesterday we celebrated International Workers Day by climbing (literally) to the top of Table Mountain.  We met a guard at the entrance to the hiking trail who insisted that we purchase more water from him at a $3.50/L…turns out he was right.  The climb was easy for the first half hour…then just as we started to get tired…it became a cliff…literally stairs where I had to put my knee up to my chest and use my hands to climb.  It was a tough climb but well worth it, especially once we got to the top!  A view of all of Cape Town.  I would share some pictures but I pay per MB for the Internet here and anything but email is pretty costly.

Other things to note are my poor sense of direction here. I normally pride myself on being able to master a map in a couple of days and always know where I am…so far, I have a general sense but I probably couldn’t tell you which way is North unless the sun is out…especially when we go into the townships.

Also, I’d like to note how remarkably few stray dogs I’ve seen.  Though unneutered, many are kept in fenced in yards and are not roaming the street…I wonder if that makes the difference from the hoards of stray dogs I’ve noted in Latin American countries.  Mama Ivy, our tour guide, said that many people keep dogs as pets.  I’ve also heard rumors that they might need to eat dogs and cats but that’s yet unconfirmed.  Among other things, they keep in their yards—cows, goats, and sheep.