Time out

So I've had a few weekends here so far and the evenings to see a little more of the social side of Cape Town and the area around Grabouw.

There is a country club about  five minutes drive down the road (it has all the things you'd usually associate with a country club - cricket, a pool, facilities for members) but it also has a beautiful lake with mountains all around where you can swim for free!

I don't know why you would choose the pool over a swim in the lake - granted, the water is a little brown and the bottom a little sludgy - but the view more than makes up for it. There have been trips organised to take the children from the unit there to swim, so hopefully they'll be another one soon.

The nearest beach is Gordan's Bay so on my second weekend here I got my first real look at the sea with a walk on the beach - It was very windy and a bit on the cold side but had I had my bikini with me I would have been straight in there! 

It wasn't long after arriving that I had my first braai and I'm glad to say it seems to be a regular thing. It essentially means lighting a big fire, cooking copious amounts of meat and sitting around the embers talking (but I'm not allowed to call it a bbq!) The evenings have been lovely and warm lately and the stars are incredible - there are different constellations to at home and the Milky Way stretches across the sky in a great cluster. There are two planets shining really clearly, one I think is Venus - but not being a proficient star gazer I'm not too sure! 

On Valentine's Day we went to a Mexican and then to a German bar for a beer – so it was a lovely multicultural affair. The waterfront in Cape Town is about as different as you can get from life back in Grabouw. The whole harbour was lit up like a fairground with music, entertainment, restaurants, bars and the sea coming right in with bridges that open and close to let boats out - all very attractive, but  a far cry from the townships I had been working in the weeks before...

...It has become more and more clear that while working here I am seeing two very different sides of life. Being thrown between the two is challenging in itself - enjoying the benefits of being in such a beautiful place but also working so closely with people who live with immense hardship. In some areas, when we go to the Spar to food shop or to some of the cafes and restaurants around you can be entirely surrounded by white South Africans; whereas on the school run, or when we do work in the townships, you can be the only white person in a whole community. It feels like two very different worlds living in parallel. There is a sense of guilt in enjoying all these lovely things, but I like to think it has made me value them all the more and treasure the opportunities I get.

One being climbing up Table Mountain this weekend...

Me, Jess, Lance, Travis

...we managed to time it perfectly to hit the hot midday sun and struggled up a very steep pathway. I was quite worried about my legs giving out on me trying to keep up with two big Canadian guys but they lasted - just! The view was stunning - an aquamarine sea merging into a clear sky, only parted by a line of cloud gently resting on the horizon. 

We hopped around from rock to rock on the top taking photos and admiring the panoramic views all around and then headed back by the far easier route - the cable car!
We then headed to Camps Bay, a very wealthy and attractive area where we went to the beach. We braved the powerful waves, had a seaweed fight, built a sandcastle, climbed on the rocks and generally behaved like children! 

Camps Bay

On the sunday we headed to the beach again and  had a lovely lazy day. I was in my element swimming in the sea most of the day, but managed to get royally sunburnt!  Some ridiculous tan/burn lines and a peeling face will be my punishment for the next week!

...One of my favourite moments was walking back from the beach on Saturday with this as a backdrop...