Right after we said bye to Oved and the cousins, we discovered there was something wrong with the stickers they had given us on the tickets. After waiting for a while in the “defective ticket” line, we got to security and boarded the plane. Everything went normally until security in Ethiopia at our layover. A security woman with a really thick Ethiopian accent asked me, quite harshly I might add, if I had scissors in my bag. I replied no because, though I had two tiny pairs of scissors for my bracelet strings, no one had ever bothered with them before. Not this lady! She practically dumped everything out of my bag and then found my string bag. She opened it, saw there was string in it, and dumped them all on the floor! She then found my safety pin bag and the foldable scissors. She was so worked up over the one she found that she didn’t even notice the one right next to it! She held the tiny scissors up in front of me and yelled “what’s this?!!!” triumphantly. I said “scissors… I forgot!” She then marched away with them and left me to clean up her mess. Golly! Anton picked us up at the airport and took us to our old apartment. We’re staying there again, so it feels like home! We went out to dinner with Anton and his girlfriend Tria a couple of days later and the Farmers’ Market. We also saw the new Aladdin movie. Do NOT see the new Aladdin movie. You will be “speechless” (#the new song they wrote for Jasmine… *Shudder*). They put a super confusing Infinity War scene as well, so be prepared. And Jafar sounds like a pubescent teenager etc. It’s just bad. We also saw the new “what if Superman was evil” movie, Brightburn, but it wasn’t amazing. A few days later we went to an American school for our friend Mia’s high school graduation, and the next day we went to another Farmers’ Market. The first one, Oranjezicht City Farm Market, was better, so we browsed through some antique shops on the street instead. I bought a beautiful wooden piggy bank. I’m posting a picture here because I looked online for hours and couldn’t find it anywhere and I’m curious to know its history.
The sweet old man who sold it to me said it’s a collectible danish piece, but the only label I found on it said DENMARK. No brand or anything, so that was frustrating. Two days later we met Gareth and Francesca, Mia’s parents, and their relatives Vanessa and Stuart for a hike up Devil’s Peak. The round-trip hike took three hours, but we had a lot of fun. It was quite steep but we were talking the whole way. Their dog Luiji came with us and he was very very energetic. I especially had fun on the way down, as Gareth and I got left behind and talked about EVERYTHING. I say EVERYTHING because it was like we were trekking a mountain again! I talked nonstop, blabbering on and on. Poor guy!
Anyway, Vanessa and Stuart left and we stole Mia’s sister, Lucia, away from making pancakes, then went to the (good) Farmers’ Market. We had some delicious biltong and (again) had tons of fun. Their other friend, also called Vanessa, was with us too.
Throughout the next couple of days, we saw the movie Rocket Man (a sad disappointment), did homework, ate dinner out with Anton, and ate dinner at Gareth and Francesca’s house. There, we played with their dogs, Luigi and Lily! Both very cute and (at least Luigi) slightly neurotic. We also played Train or Mexican Dominos which Vanessa had brought. Asher and I play this all the time at our grandparents’ lake in North Carolina, so I was very excited. There were a few alterations to the game, but overall it was very very similar. And I won! Three out of three times! I don’t even know how, but it was awesome! Gareth even dubbed me the “Domino Queen”! I can’t wait to play with my grandparents again! Oh! And we also had our 14th birthday! Wahoo!!!
Ronit arrived on the 13th and we were all very excited to see her.
The next day, we took her touring! We went to the Harbor again to see the seals, Simon’s Town to see the penguins, Cape Point to hike and see Dias Beach, and Table Mountain to see the sunset.
A special point I would like to make about the penguins is that there are two areas where you can see them, one much more touristy than the other. Unlike last time, there were a few people on the non-touristy beach who had scared the penguins away. Asher and I scouted and shortly found their penguin safe haven! Aba and Troy couldn’t climb over and under the rocks they needed to so they stayed, but we managed to convince Ronit to come with us and we had an amazing view! It was wonderful because Ronit kept happily squealing at how cute they all were!
On the way through the rocks, we also found a colony of Marvins (Rock Dassies or Rock Hyraxes if you don’t remember from last year)! They’re so fluffy!!!!! At Cape Point and Table Mountain, I discovered that Ronit has acrophobia, but that didn’t stop her! Even though she was scared, she looked out at the views and didn’t panic, so we’re all proud of her!
At Dias Beach, we sadly didn’t roll down the hill, but we played and got wet and I sculpted a turtle out of sand! We also tried to write our initials big enough to be seen from the higher up trail, but it just looked like a tiny EATOR (Ella Asher Troy Ofer Ronit), not the best acronym.
Anton, who had guided us all day, drove us to the Kloof Street House where we had eaten with him last time and we had dinner. Coincidentally, we had the same waiter, Harry, who was very very nice and helpful. We all liked him a lot. He even says he’s going to read our blog, so hello!
Anyway, Gareth stopped by for drinks and after dessert (Ronit tried Malva pudding, a traditional African dessert that I recommended) we went home, watched an episode of House of Cards, and went to sleep. Oh! And one more thing. My friend Una got a cat. His name is Avery and he looks ridiculous, so welcome to a weird life, Avery! (Sorry, Una! Thought I should give him fair warning!) The next day, we went back to the Oranjezicht Farmers’ Market and Ronit was just amazed. She loved all of the styles of food (especially biltong) and the outdoor space.
She even wants us to open our own market in Boulder! After that, we went to the V&A Waterfront and mall.
We gave her the tour and then Asher and Troy went home, leaving the rest of us time to go shopping! Ronit and I both bought some cool shirts and I bought a notebook. For dinner, we went to Mojo’s. However, on our way out of the apartment, we met a man called Rooel who has also been traveling a lot. He came with us and we learned that he also speaks French, Hebrew, and some other languages, that it was his birthday, and basically his life’s story. He was an interesting guy to meet. In the morning, we took Ronit to the Winelands. It was almost a repeat of our trip last year, so for nostalgia and to save time I am mostly going to quote this day from Ducks and Cheese: Ella’s Perfect Day and The Glass Penguin Fits! A New Princess Is Crowned! Written by Ella. First, we went to the Duck Run winery again.
In the morning, we took Ronit to the Winelands. It was almost a repeat of our trip last year, so for nostalgia and to save time I am mostly going to quote this day from Ducks and Cheese: Ella’s Perfect Day and The Glass Penguin Fits! A New Princess Is Crowned! Written by Ella. First, we went to the Duck Run winery again.
“On the way back to the main building of the winery I noticed that we were walking on very interesting ground. It was a dark, dulled purple, and I thought it made an amazing walkway. Then we realized that it was all peach and apricot pits! I thought that was genius. Then, we waited. We had not come here for wine, but for ducks! At this winery live 1700 ducks” (there are actually more now) “and they get fed three times a day. This results in what is called a “‘Duck Run’”. That’s right. A Duck Run. There are handlers with flags and a running track that the ducks charge through to get to their food! The result is absolutely hilarious. In the end, all the spectators get a bag of food and the ducks eat out of our hands. It’s really great.”
After that, we went to see some singing stones. We actually saw them last year, but apparently I didn’t blog about them, so here it is! They are basically ash lava stones with metal running through them so that when someone’s hand comes into close proximity they hum or ring. They make different sounds depending on the rock and the person, and Ronit was pretty amazed.
“Then we went to a jerky” (biltong) store where we got some” okay “beef jerky” (biltong). What was cool about this place was their garden. There were many sorts of plants and herbs and it was very large and green.
For lunch, we ate at a nice new place and golfed. Terribly. It had a terrific view and we had a lot of fun.
“We then went to the little town of Franschhoek where we” bought Ronit a pair of fake cheetah skin shoes that would get me skinned (pun intended!) if I wore them in Boulder! Next, “we drove to a place that makes goat cheese, called Fairview. As soon as I opened the car door I knew this place would be magical. As we walked up the path to the main building we saw” a pen of goats.
“We proceeded to go into the main building where we all tasted some amazing African cheeses and wine” for the adults. In honor of His Majesty Rapunzel, I highly recommend that you go back to The Glass Penguin Fits! A New Princess Is Crowned! Written by Ella to see the princess. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your beard!” After eating a steampunk breakfast,
Monday was the day “we went to a Township called Langa. There, we cycled around, stopping at interesting places such as a school, church, sacred ground, graffiti contest site, craft center, and traditional healer” (Goodbye To Africa From Ella). This traditional healer or witch doctor was one of my favorite parts this time around. For one, he was much more talkative and told us more, but Ronit was really scared which is what I loved (sorry!). She didn’t like the dead animals hanging in his dark alley tent or his gravelly voice or his skin hat or animal tail whip. We had seen it before so we weren’t creeped out, but Ronit was terrified!; clutching my arm and leaning away from him! I know it’s wrong to laugh, but it was really funny. Anyway, “everyone was very friendly, and even the children greeted and waved at us.” Something new this tour was seeing redeveloped houses vs older ones. The distance was astounding, but neither one of them would be accepted as livable for even one family in the USA. Here, multiple families live in them. In the neighborhood we saw, we had fun with some little kids who wanted us to pick them up and swing them around. They were very very sweet.
“Then, we had lunch at a restaurant called Mzansi. We ate many different types of food, but the Malva Pudding was absolutely wonderful. We listened to a fantastic live band who taught us how to play their marimbas” “and listened to the owner’s (“Mama’s”) story of how the restaurant came to be” but from her son, Samu.
She told the story better as he droned on and on and made it and the band seem very touristy, but other than that it was good. They all speak “Xhosa, an African language filled with very loud clicks”, but our guide Mike actually speaks nine languages. Tomorrow morning we are flying out of Cape Town to the Kalahari Desert for another safari! Wish us luck on finding animals!
Ella
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