To everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn)

        As the leaves begin to turn their autumn hues, these lyrics to that old song by The Byrds come to mind.  It's fall here. To think- two falls in one year! Two summers! I'm lucky. What that does also mean is two winters. These Capetonians keep telling me that winters here are pretty miserable, but I don't think they've ever experienced a Nor'easter in rural Pennsylvania farm country. Maybe I'm just resting on my snowy laurels, but I think it should be okay. 

I've had kind of a strange week. The cool tinge in the air makes it especially hard to leave my bed in the morning, and classes are decidedly winding towards exam time. I will have three sizeable papers due within a week in May, so I am sure to become well acquainted with the UCT library before I jet back home.  All schoolwork will be on hold this coming week as I journey to my next destination in Southern Africa: Mozambique. Not too bad, eh? I look forward to being able to snorkel with sea turtles and all kinds of pretty fish. Sea turtles, sting rays, and whale sharks! Oh my! I will be traveling with the same group of trusty companions, and we're turning into solid backpacking pros now.  My parents would be so proud of my newfound packing skills. I'm thrilled to be getting a chance to visit these places that I never dreamed I would see. If you would have told me a year ago that I would visit Namibia and Mozambique, I would probably have questioned your mental state. But I have, or will! I've also seen Botswana from across a fence and landed in Senegal, but I'm not sure if these count, or if they're technicalities. At any rate, I'm soaking up as much of Africa as I can. 

I've been homesick this week. Not quite sure why, just hitting some sort of wall, I guess. While I can safely say that I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, I feel stifled by the need to constantly be on the lookout. As we all know, South Africa is not the safest of places, and I am perpetually on my guard. Tragically, a UCT professor was murdered this week as a result of a carjacking. This happens everywhere, sure, but it seems like South Africa in particular is desensitized to these events. I can only hope that South Africa post-apartheid can continue to make amends with its past in order to fix the present. More than anything (except all of you, of course!) I miss the freedoms of having a car and doing things independently. I have pretty much always been an independent person, so learning to rely on others for safety has been a difficult adjustment. 

As far as awesome things that I have done this week, I hiked the famed Lion's Head mountain on Sunday for something called sundowners. Lion's Head is a part of the triptych that makes up Table Mountain: jagged Devil's Peak on the left, with the flat plateau that is so recognizably Table occupying the center, and Lion's Head gently curving off on the right, seemingly into the Atlantic. 

The hike was not ultra-strenuous, but definitely a hike. There was one point where you had to pull yourself up a series of chains and basically scale the mountain wall to get to the top. It was pretty cool. I say this all too often, but it's always true: the views are spectacular. As the sun sets on your left, the full moon rises on your right, and all of the city is illuminated as the lights come on to greet the evening. Sundowners is a popular event, and every full moon, Lion's Head is full of hikers eager for that incredible view. Below is Ian, Evan, myself, Amy and Josh on the top of Lion's Head with Devil's Peak and the full moon in the background. 

      A semester spent in South Africa climbing mountains and exploring. I'd say I'm a pretty freaking lucky girl. 

Send Ramen!

I've recently booked a flight to Mozambique for a week's stay there! This is very exciting, as Mozambique is supposed to be gorgeous. Due to some coinciding national holidays,  there is essentially a week's break from school starting April 26th, giving study abroad students like myself another fantastic chance to explore. What this new freedom does mean, of course, is a reallocation of funds away from things that were once seen as important- namely food and clothing- towards other things- plane and bus tickets. Packages of ramen and easy mac would be greatly appreciated, as these next couple weeks will be decidedly sparse.

Just in case you forgot:

Christine Mutch

c/o IAPO

3rd Floor Kramer Law Building, Middle Campus

University of Cape Town

Cape Town, Western Cape 7700

Throw away your television

                                               

It has never bothered me that I don't have a television here; it's never seemed important, and in truth, it's very liberating to have less of a reliance on the comforts of the tube.  That goes until I cannot watch the final round of the Masters beyond minute internet clips. I was lucky enough to be in a local sports bar that was showing the Thursday round, but beyond that lucky break, I guess I'll have to rely on the good old internet for my updates. I'm hoping for the current leader Trevor Immelman to win. He's South African!

When you're not distracted by CNN or Man vs Wild reruns, you find some pretty amazing stuff to do. This past weekend has been one of my favorites here, so far. Friday night was spent at a popular local restaurant/bar called Mama Africa, where I had some really good Zimbabwean chicken dish in a peanut butter sauce. Delicious. I mean, peanut butter?! How could it not be? Mama Africa is also well known for its live music. The night we went, there was a marimba band playing, which sounded really cool. Think "Under the Sea" in The Little Mermaid. 

Saturday, yesterday, was a ridiculous day. It's not often that you get to pet cheetahs and go on wine tastings within the same afternoon. We went to Spier vineyards in Stellenbosch, about a half an hour outside of town. It's the most idyllic place- manicured rows of vines in patches of differing greens, sitting lazily on low and rolling hills. Spier was immaculate- the complex was designed around a lake full of swans, and there was plenty of open grass to picnic and relax on.                                                 

We first went to the cheetah preserve on the premises, which was founded as a means of protecting cheetahs and educating people about them. I got to pet Enigma, a three-year old male cheetah who was pretty sleepy and adorable. Evan, Josh, and Amy pet the 11-month-old cheetah cubs, which was about the cutest thing I think I've ever seen.     

                                            

After visiting the cheetahs we went to Spier's deli and bought some deli stuff to make sandwiches with. I had been missing a proper deli sandwich, and I have to say it was one of my favorite lunches to date. The scenery was beautiful, and the weather could not have been more conducive to a relaxed afternoon spent outside. We did a tasting of Spier's wines after lunch and reveled in the fact that 10 rand buys a tasting of Spier's select wines. I have to say it wasn't my favorite wine, but I wasn't complaining as I sat underneath the shady veranda, glass in hand. 

I felt sleepy on the short trip home, and ended up having a relaxed night in my apartment, reading a great book called A City Imagined. The book is a series of essays written by authors, poets, actors, professors, and other people who have lived in Cape Town. It's amazing to read an essay and to know the places that the author mentions, having been there and knowing its implications. The topics of the essays are as different as the authors writing them, ranging from an essay on Main Road, the oldest road in Cape Town and the one I live on, to getting lost in the Newlands forest at the base of Table Mountain, to performing in the local theatre. The coolest thing about it is that the editor of the book is actually lecturing in my literature class this week, so I can't wait to hear what he has to say about it. 

This morning, I awoke to a knock at my door around 10am. My friends Evan and Paul were waiting outside my door, backpacks at the ready, coming to get me for a hike in Kalk Bay. We took the train to Kalk Bay, one of the series of towns along the beaches of False Bay. If I were to live in Cape Town for the rest of my life, I would live in an earthy wooden house in the hills above Kalk Bay. Primarily for its laid-back and bohemian approach to life, but also for its breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean, this little alcove has become one of our favorite places in the whole of Cape Town. Paul, Evan, our friend Lydia and I explored the mountains behind the town, following a very well marked hiking trail that led to a type of ampitheatre amidst rocky outcrops at the top. 

                                             

The crazy thing is, once you reach a certain elevation, the condensed clouds become difficult to see though, and you hike through a cool, incredible haziness. We came across this little sitting area on our way up, surrounded by mossy vines. 

                                               

It was a breathtaking hike, and I'm so glad to have gone, especially after my relatively lazy day at Spier the day before.   

In With the New

I hope the new layout isn't too confusing. The theme of my week seems to be out with the old and in with the new. This past Friday, my friend Caroline and I went to the mall down the street and decided to get haircuts. We couldn't decide whether or not we wanted to get our hair cut really short, and so, we flipped a coin. Heads, it's short. Tails, just a trim. It landed on heads. What do you think?

Safari + Julia= Fantastic Easter Vac

           They call Spring Break Easter Vac here, which is cute, if not a little reminiscent of a pastel-colored vacuum. It seemed like everyone had a great trip planned; a big group of my friends went on safari in Kruger National Park (about the size of Israel, if you can imagine), another big group did an agency-sponsored trip up to the Ocavango (sp?) Delta in Botswana, hitting up Zambia and bungee jumping off of Victoria Falls as well. Cool, no? For my vacation, I was thrilled to have my Aunt Julia and KT, her friend and co-worker come visit me here all the way in Africa. For the first leg of our trip, I flew from Cape Town to Jo-burg to meet them both at the airport and spend a night in Jo-burg (eek!) before taking off in a little plane for Madikwe Game preserve up in the Northwest province of South Africa, literally across a fence from Botswana. The one-hour or so ride in the twelve seater plane was a lot of fun, if a little intense at times, and when we landed on the red dirt runway, I felt like I was in another world. We were promptly greeted by khaki-clad safari rangers, driving impressive Land Rover combi things, and they took us to our lodge.

            The Madikwe Safari Lodge, where we spent the next four days, might be my favorite place on earth. The staff was overwhelmingly nice and helpful, the food was inspirational, and the lodge itself was breathtaking. Each guest had their own house kind of thing, each equipped with a swimming pool, indoor and outdoor showers, and really anything else you could ever want or need. Not really roughing it at all, we enjoyed the bushveld immensely. 

    Every morning we woke up at 5:30 to go on the day's first game drive. We hauled ourselves out of bed, a feat made easier by the promise of coffee, and climbed into the combi for a morning look at nature's glory. For some reason, our morning drives were not as stellar as our 

evening drives, which we took from about 4pm to 8pm. We always did manage to see something, though, thanks to our fantastic and adorable guide Greg. Over the four days we were there, we saw lions, elephants, rhino, giraffes, hippos, impala, wildebeest, kudu, springbok, gennets, monkeys, and many exciting and rare animals. That does not, in fact, include the foot long millipede that Greg made me hold. He said I needed to get over my fear of bugs. 

I'll let the pictures that I post do most of the explaining for me- we got really, really close to the animals. Often, just a couple feet away. They often posed for us, too. 

   My most favorite afternoon was our last one. A really great family from Australia was on our safari with us, and they had two adorable boys, ages 6 and 4. Marcus and Liam were really great little boys who loved doing all of the little boy things, like collecting bugs and driving through mud puddles. Greg willingly did all of this, as I am convinced that he is a perpetual little boy himself. He decided to take us fishing on his afternoon off, so he grabbed some fishing poles, put them in the combi, and picked us up from the lodge. The little boys were clearly thrilled about the prospects of fishing and having to catch grasshoppers for bait. When we got to the fishing hole (which was actually outside of the reserve), we were greeted by some guests who were already enjoying the spot. 

Five hippos were lazing around in our fishing hole! We let them be, not really wanting to take our chances with Africa's most dangerous animal. No fishing, but still a great afternoon. 

          The next day we said a sad goodbye to Madikwe and made our way back to the mother city- Cape Town.  It was nice to come to the city and have it feel like a home. The hotel that we stayed in was right in the middle of town, which made it really easy to get around. We went to Cape Point, Stellenbosch, Hermanus, and all around Cape Town. It was really fun to show KT and Julia around a place where I had been living. We ate well, as all of the restaurants around town are really great, and enjoyed spectacular weather (besides the strong wind that prevented KT from abseiling down Table Mountain, sadly). It was a blast having them both here, and I sincerely hope they enjoyed South Africa as much as I do. 

           Now that vac is over, it's schoolwork, schoolwork, and more schoolwork. There is a little chill in the air, and it seems like Fall is right around the corner. Maybe the cooler temperatures will keep me from going to the beach when I should be studying, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how you look at it.