The case of the missing golf clubs has been solved.  Heinz and Urszula found a tag on the bag with the name and address of the owner -- a young man in Johannesburg, South Africa, no less.  Urszula called the number and talked to the mother of the young man who is an amateur golfer who had the clubs hand made for him and they cost quite a lot.  The mother was so excited she was almost crying since they had been trying to track down the clubs for a week.  She has apparently been hawking South African Airlines since the clubs disappeared en route from Cape Town to Johannesburg.  The funny thing is that the claim ticket they had also had Urszula's name on it which is the same name that is on the tag that is on the golf clubs so the woman recognized her name.  It sounds like the woman will contact the airlines to make arrangements for the clubs to get back to Johannesburg. What a cluster!!

This is just too good not to share with you all.  When we arrived at the baggage terminal at JFK last Tuesday, 1/10, there was a page over the loud speaker for Passenger Ledzewicz (Urszula) requesting her to go to the end of the luggage carousel.  She and I walked down to the end of the carousel and a baggage rep tried to give her this set of golf clubs that was all wrapped up and had a tag with her name on it.  The number, however, did not match any of our numbers on our claim checks.  Urszula told this rep that these clubs were not hers and she didn't even know how to play golf.  We then walked back the side of the carousel to see if our luggage was ever going to show up.  In the meantime, there was another page for Passenger Ledzewicz and she ended up going through the whole thing again with another agent and declined the golf clubs.
This morning I got a call from Urszula and -- you guessed it -- United called and told her that they were delivering her golf clubs to her home today!!!  I guess the only thing for her to do at this point is to learn to play golf.  Now, if you know anyone who flew back from South Africa last week and their golf clubs got lost in transit, please let me know.  I know exactly where they are! 

Well, I think I am back to normal -- whatever that may be.  (We used to say in DSS that "normal" is the setting on a washing machine and I still believe that is the only true definition of that word.)  My house is semi-clean (can't get too crazy) and I'm sort of back in the groove at work.   Seems that like always, my laundry is belching back out of my laundry chute so I guess it's time to do that again.  If I ever find the person who comes in and dirties my clothes, they are in big trouble.  I can't believe that I actually wear that many clothes in a week but I guess that I do.  Wonder where I can go for my next grand and glorious adventure.  I will try to add some more pix from South Africa in the next few days.

All is good with the luggage except the wide neon green baggage strap that I use to identify my bag is missing.  What the hey, everything else is intact and here including all of the dirty clothes.
I took this picture last night so you can see "Edward" in his new home.  He seems so happy to be with his new friends.

 Have to add another picture of the penguins since they were so damned cute...

 Now you may think that the following is a traffic light and you would be wrong since in South Africa this is a "robot."  When we saw this in the mapquest directions it took a bit to figure it out.

The above photo shows the large adapter that you plug into the wall so you can use the european adapter so you can plug in an American appliance.  You damned near have to be an electrical engineer just to use a curling iron.

A baboon we saw at Constantia, one of the oldest wineries in Cape Town, while we were walking back to our car.  We steered very clear of this critter.

  This was the view from our apartment in Muizenberg.  We learned during our tour that False Bay (pictured here) which leads into the Atlantic is actually the No. 1 breeding area for great white sharks.  If  you would see all of the people who surf here, you would really doubt their sanity.

This is the explanation for the shark warning system.  The places that have large beaches hire shark watchers that keep an eye out and blow a horn when sharks are spotted.


I actually took about 800 pictures which I need to edit and will then post on-line and put the link on this webpage.

More to come....

MY LUGGAGE IS HERE!!!  It arrived at Urszula and Heinz's home at 3AM and was left on their front lawn by an unknown person.  "What a bunch of crap" in Urszula's words.  She actually saw it and went out and brought it in before the snow fell in order to keep it from being soaked.  Can't wait to go through it and see if everything is intact.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
I actually went to bed last night @ 7:30PM and I must have died since I don't remember a thing until my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning.   It felt so great to take a shower and get ready for work in my own home after living out of a suitcase for two weeks.  I can actually wash the make up off my face and there is something there to wash off.  The sea breeze in Muizenberg was sometimes so strong that I swear that when I went to wash my face before bedtime there was nothing to wash off.  I think that the little grains of blowing sand was actually exfoliating the skin on my face!
While I was driving to work this morning, it seemed so strange to be on the right side of the road.  After being on the left side of the road for two weeks, I had to think about the situation.  I do believe, however, that we are definitely driving in the correct lane.  Silly British!
I spent the day putting fires out at work and managed to hang in there.  Another night or two of decent sleep and I should be good to go again.  Went to the grocery store tonite after work because I had nothing to eat that did not require a lot of effort to prepare and I just didn't think I could handle that.
Hopefully, I will be able to download the last of my pix tomorrow night and get some more posted on this blog as well as on Facebook.  I took about 800 pictures and I know that some editing is needed before I put them together in final form on a DVD. 
Oh, yes, Urszula spent about two hours on the phone today and finally found our luggage which actually is in St. Louis now.  It is supposed to be brought out to their home tomorrow and they will drop my bag off to me at school.  I can't wait to see if it all survived the trip.
Oh, yes, Edward (my giraffe) has settled in very well and seems to enjoy that he is living with my plants in the living room.  I think he is even smiling...
More to come....

Monday, January 9 and Tuesday, January 10, 2012.
We left Muizenberg and headed to Cape Town to catch the first of our many flights home.  Max, Urszula and Heinz's son, had an earlier flight than we did so we got to the airport around 1:30 to get him there to check in and get everything squared away.  We found another Ocean Basket at the airport so we opted to have some more of the wonderful fish we've all grown to love.  Since our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 6:00 PM (10 AM our Illinois time) we had some time to waste so why not eat?!
We finally left Cape Town and got to Johannesburg for the next and longest leg of our journey.  The Jo-Burg airport is amazing.  I swear that they had this fabulous mall and then constructed an airport around it.  There are so many signs for the shops that you really have to look hard to find the gate signs.  After being patted down and having TSA go through our carry-ons, we finally headed out for our 17 hour flight to JFK.  We were on a Airbus 340-600 which can carry 317 people but I think we only had about 260 or so on board.  It's a big f----g plane!  Before we took off, a flight attendant came walking down the aisle with a spray can that was an insecticide.  I guess they wanted to kill off any malaria carrying mosquitoes.
By the time we landed at JFK, I had finished reading my book, watched two movies as well as several tv shows on board, ate dinner, a snack and breakfast and had maybe 2-3 hours of sleep.  I even bought a duty free bottle of liquor on the flight with plans to put it in my checked luggage (because of the 3 oz. TSA rule) when we had to open our checked baggage before going through customs.  This WAS a great plan and would have worked EXCEPT when we got to baggage claim to claim our luggage and go through customs, our baggage wasn't there.
After talking to many people, we did the only thing we could -- head to our next flight.  First, however, you have to go through security where you are mauled by TSA reps and made to feel violated.  I really felt that I've had some very amorous relationship that did not get personal as the TSA rep.  Since I had no luggage to put my liquor in, I surrendered it to the TSA people.  The only other choice would have been to put it in my carry on luggage that has my laptop, my chargers and cords for all of my electronics, my jewelry, and my make up and CHECK that bag.  Now, I ask you -- they had already misplaced this huge piece of luggage that I had so why give them another shot at losing the rest of the things I hold near and dear to my heart.  Not me!!!   Plus, I bought this really cool stone carving that was in the bottom of my carry on that the xray couldn't see through so we had to unpack the whole damned bag (that I had meticulously packed that morning so that everything would fit) in order to xray my carving.  I was so close at this point at going into my "bitch mode" that I had to keep telling myself that I could be in big trouble if I didn't shape up.  The one thing I have decided out of all of this is that I am going to avoid the JFK TSA people if at all possible.  I truly dislike being made to feel like a criminal by a bunch of very unfriendly people.
I finally escaped from the TSA people and met up with Urszula and Heinz at one of the food courts.  Urszula was also upset with the TSA folks since they were tossing around some of her jewelry like it was worthless crap.  Poor Heinz had to listen to BOTH of us rant and rave.  I'm sure he was wishing that he had a hearing loss at that point in time.  He is such a sweetie!
We did finally get out of JFK where we had to fly to Dulles Airport in DC and then on to St. Louis and home.
From the time we left Cape Town airport -- Monday 10AM Illinois time -- to the time we landed in St. Louis -- Tuesday 2PM Illinois time -- approximately 28 hours had elapsed and I was way past exhaustion.  Thank goodness for my sister, Sandy, and brother in law, Tom, who picked us up from the airport.  I don't think I could have found my way home at that point in time.
More to come...

Sunday, January 8, 2012, was our last full day in South Africa so we tried to make the most of it or "make the most optimal use of it" as Urszula would say. 
We headed to Kalk Bay, a village just down the road from Muizenberg, and did some shopping.  They really had some great shops and I managed to find a pottery bowl from Morocco for my collection and one for my sister, Sandy, that will work perfectly in our houses.
Heinz, who has been our chauffeur here, found the beach at Noordhoek Bay.  This beach has to be at least 1/2 mile or more from where you park your car to where you actually get wet feet.  Plus it seems to go on and on forever.
We ended up in Hoet Bay at the Ocean Basket which has become our favorite seafood place because of the fabulous kingklip and calamari.  On the outskirts of Hoet Bay we found a native craft fair that was sponsored by the "Lions Club" --- I kid you not.  Those guys are all over.  At the fair, there were some great pieces of pottery, batik, beadwork and fresh and dried fruit.  I ended up buying a hand carved two foot tall giraffe who is just beautiful.  His name is Edward because he is tall and thin as was Edward who was one of our Workshop participants.  I am finally getting the currency conversion now that we are headed home tomorrow.  Bummer.
More to follow...

Saturday, January 7, 2012, was the last day of the Workshop so there was a Farewell Dinner.  It consisted of a typical South African Braai which translates to mean BBQ.  There was curry lamb cubes, some sort of really good sausage and small roasted potatoes and onions all done on a huge grill.  In addition, there was a green salad and bean salad and everything was great.  No matter where I go I TRY everything.  What I don't like I spit out and what I do like, I eat more of -- works for me.  I will miss many of the participants who have rapidly become interesting acquaintances. 
Anyway, I met two of the kitchen people, Samatha and Virgil, who were two of the friendliest, nicest people I have ever met anywhere.  One evening we had a fantastic stew for dinner with white rice.  I found out that the spices they use in their stew consists of medium curry, coriander and masala (which is used a lot in Indian food).
Samantha and Virgil, as well as the AIMS crew, Rene January and Fadoua, her assistant from Morocco, told me about the four classes of people in South Africa -- white, Indian (from India), coloured and black.   Samantha and Rene January are colored and Virgil is black.  People who are called coloured have some white genes that may go back to when the early colonists had slaves and the Masters impregnated them.  The people who I've talked to are very open and forthright about the class distinctions and it seems to be accepted as just the way things are unlike in the States where the attitudes can sometimes be different.  People of mixed races are not considered a big deal nor are interracial marriages/relationships.
It was so interesting to talk to Rene January from AIMS.  She is actually employed through Stellenbosch College and was telling me that clerical workers have to be employed 2 years before they receive benefits.  Some universities/businesses require 5 years.
Did I tell you about the electricity in South Africa?  First of all, one needs a 3-prong adapter in order to plug in the european style adapter in order to plug in the US adapter.  What a cluster!   Also, in the apartment we were renting there was a meter up on the wall and I found out that one prepays for "X" amount of units of electricity by sending a SMS to the company with the info needed.  I would think that would really make consumers more aware of the costs and hopefully be more conservative.

Friday, January 6, 2012....
After the morning session at AIMS, we boarded a tour bus with a guide. 
I am posting some of my notes that I took as we rode along so if they seems disjointed, they are!
We went to see the penguins again which is really a treat no matter how often you see them.  There are actually 3 large penguin colonies with the one we visited at Simon's Town the largest one.
On the way there, the guide spoke of the beach at Muizenberg where we are staying and said that the beach there is 36 km long.  It just seems to go on forever.  The average water temp is between 9-16 degrees CENTIGRADE which is 40-60 degrees fahrenheit.  No wonder you see so many people in wetsuits -- and not just the ones who are surfing.  Because of the wind that comes in surfers are in their glory.  There can be waves of 18 meters (approx. 55 feet) in the winter months of April through November with the cold wind that blows in from Antarctica it is just not pleasant.  Because of this, the beaches are basically abandoned in the winter.   
As we passed a "petrol" station, I remembered that when we refueled you are not allowed to pump your own petrol in South Africa.  Attendants MUST pump the petrol.  Petrol is 10 Rand 80 cents a liter which is at least $5.50/gal. with most of it being imported from Iraq.  There is no oil production in South Africa although they are starting to do some off shore exploration.  There is a group that would like to create wind farms since the wind is always blowing and it would be a great form of energy.  Our guide told us that Shell Oil is disliked here because of its exploration methods they have that could cause water contamination.  Shortage of water is a big problem in South Africa as well as other parts of the African continent.
Maize is considered the main crop in Africa, though not in this country.
The country of South Africa was founded by the Spanish, Dutch and British who all ruled at one time or another.  It is now it's own country.  Slavery was prevelant until the mid-19th century and then abolished.
There has been a pandemic in Africa of tuberculosis for the last 50 years with no end in sight at the present time.  Alcoholism is also at pandemic proportions.
The population of Cape Town has gone from 1.5million to 4.1 million in the last 5 years.  50 million people inhabit South Africa with 10 million of them being foreigners and 20 million of them being under the age of 18.  Family planning is desperately needed.  The lack of planning and the population explosion has created a lack of housing as well as problems in the school systems which need to be revamped.  The country suffers from a lack of scientists also.
Homes in South Africa do not have central heating as we do in the States.  If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford it, you can install heat panels on the walls that are powered by electricity which is quite expensive.  In winter, it can dip down to 1 degree C. which is about 33 degrees F.  However, here in Muizenberg it feels much colder due to the south wind that comes off False Bay.  
There are also a variety of snakes in South Africa with the mostly deadly being the Cobra followed by the Spitting Cobra and Puff Adder.  Haven't come in contact with any of them so that's a good thing.
According to our guide, white collar crime in South Africa is literally uncontrollable.  Does that sound familiar?
The official language in South Africa is ENGLISH since there are 9 provinces and 11 languages in the country this was the best solution.  In addition, they speak Afrikaans which is a dutch/german/african mix that was started by the slaves years ago.  Every once in a while, I catch a word or two that makes sense to me.
As to housing -- What we consider condos in the US is called an apartment in South Africa.  An apartment in Cape Town that would be 80 square meters can sell for 3-6 million rands while a 2000 square meter one can sell for 34 million rands.  1,000 rand is worth approximately $125 so do the math.  We were told that the real estate taxes here are unreasonable just as they are in the States.  Funny how some things don't change. 
All beaches are owned by the State and, therefore, open to the public.  Even those home owners who have a beach outside their door do not own that. 
We saw a lot of seaweed in the various bays but you can only harvest it in certain places.  This seaweed is then harvested and exported to various places in Asia for the manufacture of iodine and sushi. 
We got back to AIMS at about 7PM and had dinner and then went back to the apartment and crashed.  Long day.  During the night I woke up because the wind had increased and was making a whistling sound.  Too tired to recognize the tune so I went back to sleep.
Last day of the conference today.
More later...

The Zulu Dancers were a big success last night!  As we were sitting in the dining room at AIMS we heard a drum beat coming from down the hall that kept getting louder and louder as they approached.  The drummer and three dancers came into the dining room all wearing native Zulu costumes -- WOW!  Their performance was so energetic and really made you realize that "we're not in Kansas anymore" but we are in Africa!  Unbelievable.

These are not people that I would want to meet in a dark alley but they were very talented.
Since we have been here, we have noticed the security people have at their homes and businesses.  Most houses have gated walls and security systems that warn you they have "armed response" in the event of a disturbance.  I've talked to some of the locals and it seems that the area is much better now than it had been previously but one still needs to be "street smart" whenever you go.  Drugs are a problem here as they are in most tourist areas and big cities in the States so it is recommended that people travel in groups and be aware of ones surroundings.  To be admitted to AIMS and George Whitefield College, you ring a buzzer on the outside of the building and wait for the door to be released from the outside.  In some ways it's scary but in other ways there is a strong sense of security.  This morning I almost caused an accident on the sidewalk.  Not only do they drive on the left side everyone also walks on the left side of the sidewalk.  Being conditioned to be on the right side all my life I could easily get walked over.

More to come...

Back from lunch where we had a chicken and mushroom quiche which was excellent and flan for dessert.  I saw the events manager and talked to him for a bit and found out that macon is really beef sliced very thin and fried.  I would have sworn it was some form of pork but he explained to me that they have quite a few Jewish students who do not eat pork so this is a good alternative.  Each meal is served cafeteria style. Since we are in a school that houses 80 students which are fed every meal every day of the week, this is the most efficient way to serve meals. (Can you imagine having 80 mathematicians under one roof -- good grief!)
Our banquet is tonight which should be interesting.  Urszula and I hired some Zulu dancers for the entertainment so it should be interesting.  The ladies who work at AIMS snicker and giggle every time this is mentioned which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing.  I'll let you know on that one.
Yesterday afternoon I was in the apartment which I think I told you is across the street from the beach where I was people watching.

This is a picture of the apartment which is taken from the top of the stairs as you enter.  Not too shabby, eh?  Anyway, some of the people coming out of the ocean and getting ready to leave are not really too modest and will strip off their wet bathing suits or their wetsuits (that they wear for surfing) in front of everyone, towel off and put on their dry clothes (and, of course, I peeked).  Modesty isn't a real strong virtue in the area apparently.
More later...

A bacon cheeseburger that I ordered one day.  It was monsterous!  Thank goodness Max (18 year old) is along to help share the food I can't eat.

Back to the Workshop today.  It seems that some of the participants are not in attendance so I am assuming that they may be at the beach or in Cape Town -- good choice on their part.  We had an interesting breakfast this AM at AIMS.  We were served french toast and macon.  The macon is actually like canadian bacon or a very thin fried ham.  Not too bad.  I love the yogurt that is made in South Africa -- really great.  Wish I could figure out a way to bring home about a gallon of it.  The food overall is comparable to ours.  We had a beef stew at the safari buffet that was spicy but very good.  The beef here has a different flavor than what we are used to but I liked it a lot.  Wish I knew what spices they used in it.
Think I'll head to our morning "tea break."  More later....

Random things...

Have I mentioned how much the internet sucks here in South Africa?  Probably only about a dozen times, right?  It seems that it isn't too bad in some of the larger apartments and buildings but it is expensive and not very good in some of the smaller apartments (like the one we were staying in previously).  One of the other things I dislike is that there are no plug-ins in the bathrooms.  Up until a few years ago, you were not allowed by law to have them anywhere near water and basins.  Now this is probably fine and dandy if you are bald and don't use a curling iron or blow dryer but I find it to be annoying since I use both.  One of the rental ladies I was talking to told me that now it is allowed but too much of a pain to add the fixtures in older residences.  Makes me wonder if there were a rash of accidental electrocutions or an over reaction.
On the other hand, the friendliness of the people and the climate here at this time of the year makes up for these minor things.  Plus the kingklip fish are worth the trip alone.  ;-)   And, like I said previously, I have never even imagined that there would be a "Baboon Reporting Hotline"  for people who feed baboons.  What a country!

KEEP IN MIND THAT...when my posts say the time they are posted that time is Central USA time.  We are 8 hours ahead of you here in South Africa.  So if a post says that I posted it at 1AM it is really 9AM here in Muizenberg.  You know that I love you all but not enough to be up at 1AM writing a blog.  Besides, any time after about 9PM I am not coherent.

Let the games begin!  All of our mathematicians have invaded the town of Muizenberg.  According to one of the AIMS people, our group comes from 5 continents!  PRETTY COOL, EH?  I have been enjoying meeting everyone I've been dealing with for months -- Rene and Faduow (SP?) from AIMS as well as Clair Timlin who was our main housing coordinator.  To bring 60+ plus people from all over to a place few have been, and make all of these arrangements, was a massive headache for these people at times but they did an excellent job.  For some reason, a couple of the people I met last night thought that I was from South Africa and were surprised that I was from the USA.  I found that interesting because every email I sent had my office title and address at SIUE at the bottom.  Just goes to prove that people, not even mathematicians, read what you send them.  I also had a man who was originally from Israel and now teaches in Minnesota tell me that I have a "lovely southern accent."  Go figure!
Anyway, sessions are now going on and no disasters at present.
More to come. 

Yesterday was a glimpse of the upcoming Workshop.  We met with some of the AIMS people and toured George Whitefield College, which is a christian college around the corner from AIMS where the workshop sessions will be held.  GWC is a beautifully restored building that was built as a private beach residence for a family back at the turn of the 20th century (my guess).  It has wonderful walnut wainscoting throughout with well maintained hardwood parquet floors.  When you come in the main entrance you find a gorgeous staircase with a lovely stained glass window at the top.  It's so hard to believe that this was someone's home at one time -- lots of bucks.  Of course, with the beach right across the road, it was a perfect summer home.  The College now has the building with 100 students in attendance.
After touring and ironing out a few things, we headed to the bank to exchange money.  One thing we discovered early on is that no one hurries in South Africa -- except visitors from the rest of the world!  It reminds me of people in the southern part of the US which tends to make me crazy after a while.  No matter where you go, there are long queues (lines) where you wait to get into most places.  For example, we waited about 1-1/2 hours to get on the cable car for Table Mountain.  Shades of Disney World in South Africa. 
After waiting a good while at the bank, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  I truly enjoy going to grocery stores in different countries and checking out the different food they have as compared to ours.  The South Africaners are very conscious about plastic bags at the grocery and encourage everyone to bring their own bags.  If you do not, you have to buy a plastic bag which costs about $.03 which to us doesn't seem like anything but is costly for some of these people.  The disparity in the economy is substantial and the way some of the people live is not something we are familiar with in our world.  I plan on hugging my house when I get home because I truly live in a mansion compared to some of the places I have seen here. 
We did see a great sign yesterday at a used car lot.   Here they are called "previously cared for cars." The British/Dutch influence is definitely still here.  Another great sign we saw was "Leopard Toad Crossing."  We watched for them and they must have already gone across so we were SOL on that one.
More to come...

We were so far south that even the birds spoke with a twang!

The group on top at Cape Point.

The wind was blowing but it was about 80 degrees so it felt really good.  Don't you all hate me being in the nice, warm climate?

Another busy day.  Urszula, Heinz and I met with Rene, the coordinator here at AIMS (African Institute for Mathematical Sciences) to iron out some things prior to the Workshop starting tomorrow with registration in the afternoon.  If you are interested in the Workshop, go to www.siue.edu/CAS/AIMS for further information.  I actually met 3 of the participants for the workshop today - one from Africa, one from Michigan and one from New Jersey.  It's nice to be able to put faces to names after all of these months of planning
After our meeting, we headed to the west coast of the cape region to a lovely village called Hout Bay via Chapman's Peak.  The road going there was hugging the mountain and very twisty with many ups and downs.  The view from the top looking down over the bay was breathtaking and I was really glad that Heinz was driving especially since everyone here drives on the left side of the road.  Since I was sitting on the left side in back I had a very interesting view the entire time -- wow!
Found  another Ocean Basket restaurant in Hout Bay for lunch/dinner.  We ate at one of these at the V& A Waterfront in Cape Town the other evening and had the kingklip fish again.  Max did some checking on google and found out that kingklip fish are found in the southern hemisphere around Africa, Australia and South America.  I wonder if any of these are available in the States.  I will try to find out.

Left out Hout    Hout Bay and headed to Cape Town again to see Kirstenbosch Gardens which is one of the largest botanical gardens in South Africa.  It actually started getting cool and cloudy so we did a quick tour and headed for home. 

Urszula, Heinz and I finally got to the beach and took a walk along the strand.  I had to walk into the Indian Ocean just because and the water was not even too cold which I found surprising.  The beach was unbelievably clean after all of the people there yesterday which was also surprising.

Signing off for now.  More later….

Today we had a really great adventure.  We went on a safari to a place called Fairy Glen Safari in Worcester which is about 1 hour northeast of Cape Town.  See www.fairyglensafaris.co.za
It was so cool sitting in the 4X4 and stopping about 15 feet from a lion so I could take a picture --  Wow!  We were lucky enough to see elephants, ostriches, rhino, zebras, wildebeast, oryx, springbuck gazelles, west african buffalo as well as the lions so we could take great pictures. The animals are on a 2000 acre piece of land that is surrounded by mountains; they are free roaming but there are electric fences all around the grounds.  Included in the price is a great buffet lunch.  It was an absolutely amazing experience that lasted 2.5 hours and well worth the time and money.
When we got back to Muizenberg with our beautiful beaches there was a crowd of Africans that numbered in the thousands -- I would say at least 3,000 if not more.  I don't think I have ever seen that many people anywhere.  (Keep in mind that South Africa is 80%+ black.)  We asked one lady while we were stuck in traffic what was going on and she said that it's a holiday so everyone goes to the beach. We found out later  that it is a tradition here in South Africa for all of the residents who can to go to the beach to celebrate New Year's Day and I think they were all in Muizenberg.  We were definitely a minority.  The one advantage to being in South Africa is that everyone speaks english since there are so many dialects here in the continent of Africa that english was the only way to go.  The only problem with that is that the english is British english which can be mixed with the africanese that can also add to the confusion.  Just tends to make things more interesting.

The penguins and me!

Happy New Year to all!  We brought in the New Year by going down to the beach @ False Bay (which leads into the Indian Ocean) and watched some amateur fireworks and drinking sparkling juice.  With the breeze coming off the ocean it was probably 55 degrees which was cool compared to the 80 degrees we had yesterday all day.  Glad I brought along sun screen since the sun is pretty intense with the sea breeze so I think we all have a bit of a sunburn from being on the mountain yesterday (except Heinz who tans and doesn't burn).  Have to go get in the shower and get ready to go on our safari with cameras.  Urszula is afraid that she will be eaten by a lion but I told her that I know they would spit her out since she's even more spoiled than I am!