Notes from the Southern Hemisphere

It sure is different down here at the other end of the world. The light is always the first thing I notice, so bright, its as if someone turned on a spotlight overhead. And the blast of heat as you step out of the plane straight into summer, still dressed in winter woollies. Instant meltdown!

Poor holiday travellers with all the flight cancellations because of airports closing – what a winter you’re having in the north!

Our first week here we spent in the Annexe Cottage at Kildare Guest House, a delightful haven in the best suburb in Cape Town, tucked away and secluded from the urban mayhem and shopping build up to the festive season, yet close enough to stroll to all conveniences, banks, post office, markets, and, most important, our favourite restaurant, The Wijnhuis where we are always greeted like long lost friends.

Yesterday we moved into the same house we rented last year and it felt like we were coming home – it was all so familiar – we knew where everything went, which cupboard was mine, which Tim’s, where the kitchen knives were, the cutlery, crockery and most important, the wine glasses. Which goes to prove that familiarity doesn’t always breed contempt!

Thursday was a public holiday here and we decided on a hike at Kalk Bay. We saw only two other people on the mountain in two hours. We took the steep uphill trail from the Ou Kraal signpost, up to brilliant views of False Bay on a path of white stepping stones and sand that meanders through the most magnificent fynbos, alive with birds, flowers and bees. Made my heart sing.

We took another hike on Sunday morning in Newlands Forest, closer to home, retracing familiar peopled footpaths. We call the forestry road down at the start of the forest "Dogs**t Boulevard" – seems some dog owners have no conscience. But as soon as we were in the higher reaches, traversing the  indigenous forest and stepping across sparkling streams, we felt surprisingly refreshed.

It might not sound as though we work at all, but Tim was in the office four days last week, and I have been setting up meetings in Cape Town and Johannesburg for the Sites of Memory class that Tim will be offering. More when all that happens, next month.

Nan and Daniel, Ayanda and Nathaniel visited on Saturday afternoon and brightened up the pool and garden.

Nathaniel swimming on the noodle with Ayanda, left. 

Nan, Daniel and Tim chatting, below, on the stoep of our home the day we moved in.

We're off to Johannesburg for Christmas with sister, Gillian McCabe and her large family. Looking forward to it.

On the road again

Broken fingernails and bruises are indicators of being on the road again. This time we are not flying light with five suitcases between the two of us, a backpack each and I carry my digital SLR camera in its case and heavy little bag of precious notes that can’t go in the hold of the plane in case the baggage is routed to Timbuktu, lost forever.

We are on our way back to Cape Town, at our first stop in Florida and a visit with Tim’s parents, Jim & Lucy, in Boca Grande. There’s an icy wind blowing across this little island and the heat is turned up high indoors. It feels cosy and warm and a huge relief to think there’s not another thing we can do regarding packing and cleaning the house. That’s all left behind for our wonderful house sitters to enjoy.

November was a frenzy of goodbyes with much sadness at leaving home again, so soon after getting back to Inverness. I confess we’re looking forward to summer and to seeing our southern hemisphere friends, and to welcoming any visitors. Please come and stay with us in our cute cottage in Newlands, Cape Town.

We arrive Cape Town December 12th. See you there!

A Year of Blogs

I wrote my first blog a year ago, after meeting the Stanford students who would be in Cape Town from January to March 2010. On Monday we'll be back at Stanford to meet another group of students on their way to Cape Town in early January for their academic quarter. So this blog wraps up the year.

A brief update since my stint on the jury. In September Tim was in Cape Town for two weeks of Stanfod work during which time I broke my brand new computer all of 5 weeks old.  It wasn't bad enough having my computers stolen in July, I took a month deciding on what type/model/price range I could afford as a replacemnt. Loving my new Sony so much I carelessly caught my foot in the power cable and yanked it onto the floor as I got up (in too much of a rush, as always!) Ouch. It didn't break then, clever computer, but one of the hinges popped and I couldn't close the lid so I took it to Sony last week for repair.

The weekend after Tim got back we drove to the Sierra Foothills to stay at Fitzpatrick wine farm for two nights. Fabulous weather, lovely countryside and lots of delicious wines to taste at Fitzpatrick and neighboring wineries. Here we are taking a break on a walk in the woods along Indian Diggings lane, in part of the Eldorado National Forest.

Our local baseball team, The San Francisco Giants, surprised us all by winning their division, the best of five games against the Atlanta Braves. Yesterday they beat Philadelphia 3-2, their 4th win in the best of 7 to take the National League title. So it's on to the World Series against the Texas Rangers next. The last time the Giants were in a World Series was 2002 against the Anaheim Angels. They lost after being 3-2 up. Not again, Giants! Watching these games is more nervewracking than any other sport I know.

Books -
I've been reading Tony Horwitz: A Voyage Long and Strange, about the years between Columbus's so called discovery of America (he didn't set foot on the continent) and the 1620 Pilgrims arrival at Plymouth. And now I'm reading Blue Latitudes, about Captain Cook's three voyages. Horwitz travels the routes of these early explorers, taking the reader along too. Fascinating and a lot of fun and a fabulous way to learn history!

Prior to that, I read The Devil's Highway and Francisco Jiminez's three memoirs about Mexicans crossing the border illegally, desperate to earn money to take back home. All four books were a shocking reminder of the inequality of these two countries. Jimenez tells his story in three short books. He and his brothers worked before school and after school and at weekends to earn money to help the family survive. And he managed to get good enough grades to go to college and do so well he went on to graduate school. He is now a professor at Santa Clara University.

Inbetween these non-fictions, I've devoured some good thrillers!

Winter is here, the rain has come. Soon we'll be heading to the southern hemisphere for long warm days. I hate to leave Inverness, but can't wait to be back in summer!

Consider Your Verdict

Growing up in South Africa in the 60's without television meant our entertainment came from the radio. Our family of six would gather together in the sitting room on Tuesday evenings to listen to "Consider Your Verdict." For an hour we'd immerse ourselves in a court room drama; we'd hear the evidence, and finally get a chance to weigh in our verdict with the announcement "... it's time for you to take your place on the jury ..." How I longed to be part of that.

My wish came true last week when I found myself selected as a Jurist after a routine call for Jury Duty. But, instead of one short hour of listening, this case took three and a half days, the first one and a half just choosing the jury from a poll of sixty Marin County citizens.

It seems most people don't want to do Jury duty and I'm sure this is understandable for those with jobs and other commitments. I heard many excuses, the best coming from a psychiatrist who claimed that his Jungian training would interfere with his ability to be impartial. His unconscious would be at odds with his conscious; he could not be a fit juror. Since this was a DUI case, several folks claimed they had friends or relatives who had been in accidents with drunk drivers and there was no gray area - "you drink, you're guilty." To the frustration of the judge (who claimed he'd never had to interview so many to get a jury) these people were excused.

Finally the Judge had his twelve jurors and I was one of them. We were sworn in, with right hands raised, reminding me of the ceremony to became a citizen of the United States; the silence, the awe, the seriousness of the occasion. But, instead of jubilantly leaving the hall with a crowd of new US citizens, I was here to sit quietly; to listen to and concentrate on the evidence that was about to be presented.

Police cars today are equipped with webcams so we watched a video of the accused driving her car, being pulled over by the officer, undergoing field sobriety tests, and finally being arrested to the sound of jingling handcuffs in the background. To me, she drove the car impeccably. I could see no sign of the weaving and unnecessary braking the officer insisted was prevalent. She didn't stagger when she got out of the car, she performed the tests adequately, to me, but the big problem was the breathalyzer test. She failed that abysmally.

So how could I judge the defendant not guilty of a charge when the machine proved she was? Expert witnesses for the prosecution confirmed the machine's calibration and accuracy. But my gut feeling was not guilty. I so wished the psychiatrist was one of the 12 Jurors. At least there would have been two of us squeezed between instinct and logic. The eleven other jurors seemed to have no problem with their decision: "guilty, guilty" they all quipped. It took them two hours to convince me I should record my vote along with theirs.

When I spoke with the defendant and her attorney after the case it was only to confirm my hesitation. The judge wouldn't allow their expert witness to testify that there could be other reasons for a raised blood alcohol level (BAL). Although I still have questions like why didn't they ask for a breathalyzer test in the courtroom to show us she has a naturally raised BAL? Or is her BAL not always raised? And if so in what circumstances does it get elevated, and could they provide evidence that this was the situation in the defendant's case?

I left the Civic Center with a swirling mind, feeling quite guilty myself: guilty for letting the defendant down, for letting myself down for agreeing to vote guilty when I 'felt' she was not guilty even though reason and logic dictated she was.

Next time I'm called for jury duty, perhaps my excuse to the judge will echo the words of the psychiatrist. The longing to be on a jury, evoked by my radio days, has ebbed, and I can see myself joining the ranks of citizens grabbing at any excuse to be let off the hook!

("Consider your Verdict" was written & produced by Michael Silver at the CRC Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa. You can listen to an episode.)

Summer at Last!

It's felt like midwinter since our return to California more than a month ago. Except for one sunny July weekend, temperatures have been around the mid fifties at 11 in the morning, maybe reaching 60F on a good day. We've clothed ourselves in many layers - protection from the gloomy fog that some days never lifted.

Two days ago the fog gave way to blue sky around 9am and we had our first glorious day. The last two mornings we've woken to sunshine - hooray!! Today, as I made tea at 6:30am the temperature outside was nearly 70F - it feels like summer at last!

In the meantime we've been keeping busy weeding and clearing the immediate garden around, down below and up above the house. Forget-me-nots, thistles, blackberries and other nameless undesirables grew like crazy in our absence.

After searching the internet for the best part of a month for a replacement computer for my stolen Sony, I ended up ordering the latest 14" VAIO. It arrived last week. While working on Tim's old Mac I twice tried to make a photobook of his mum's 90th Birthday party. Twice My Publisher crashed losing all the pages I'd created, the first time 22 pages, the second 45 pages. Not to be daunted, I downloaded My Publisher the day after my computer arrived, immersed myself in photos and organization and by the end of the day uploaded Lucy's book.

Next I got smitten by the Ancestry.com bug - mmmm - in the haze of foggy days I became fixated on recreating my family tree (that was on my stolen computer). First I ordered the latest edition of Family Tree Maker software because my 2005 version wasn't Mac compatible. In my enthusiasm I failed to notice that I pre-ordered a new version that would only be released and mailed at the end of August. So I spent another $30 for a month's subscription to Ancestry.com. Omigosh, Ancestry sucks you into an utterly addictive family member pursuit. Each time you add a person to your family tree, Ancestry searches its database for matches and sends "hints" in the form of census or other records that could belong to your ancestor, or a link to where Ancestry finds your ancestor on someone else's family tree. Quite a remarkable program!

But it's time to drag myself out of my mid 18th century ramblings from East Yorkshire to Lincolnshire to South Africa and over to the USA because the sun is out and it's hard to see the computer screen in such bright light and it's time for our three mile walk around our hill in the sunshine!

Reality Check

Tim and I got back from France/Florida last Monday to discover we'd been burgled and both my working computer and my backup PC were stolen together with an old Mac of Tim's. I have external hard drives with enough data to resurrect my files, but the hard reality is how vulnerable one is. And sad to realise that our 'safe' neighborhood is no longer that. For the past week every time we go out we either take all our valuables with us, or hide them in the house. It feels a little like living in South Africa!

The weather has been foggy and misty most days, damp and cold until the sun comes out, sometimes as late as 4pm. Such a difference from our time in France and Florida, both muggy and hot. I would far rather add more clothes to keep warm that sweat it out in humid climes. Being a tourist in Paris was quite overwhelming. It reminded me of Singapore. Not the architecture, but the heat and exhaustion walking down the boulevards or backstreets, looking at all there is to see in that wonderful city.

After Tim's Paris meeting we caught a train to Auxerre in Burgundy, arriving at noon to torrential rain. We couldn't help laughing at our poor planning. Even if we'd caught a taxi to collect our car, the Hertz office was closed - Siesta until 2pm. So we resigned ourselves to lunch in the station cafe which turned out to be an unexpected delight - tomato tartare and two Heineken beers.

We stayed at Domaine Borgnat a working wine farm for two nights, just outside Auxerre, with comfortable, unfussy lodgings and excellent dinners served at large communal tables. At 6pm each evening the vintner conducts wine tastings in this cave-like wine cellar. Check Trip Advisor.

From the north of Burgundy we made our way south, to Beune, the wine capital of Burgundy, a beautiful town surrounded by the remains of an old wall and moat, and, further out, acres of vineyards of the Cote d'Or, all green and lush in the July sun. We spent two happy days and nights at a delightful inn, Jardin de Lois, in their newest room, not yet even on the website, with views out to the large rambling garden. The first evening we ate a sumptious meal at the Auberge du Cheval Noir. Although the service was slow to get started, once we were 'in the stream' the food and wine got better and better.

Too soon we had to journey back by train to the airport to catch a plane to Tampa, Florida and make our way to Boca Grande to join all the Lucy and Jim Stanton children, grandchildren, wives, husbands, as well as three great grandchildren, two nieces and one grand-nephew. An amazing gathering to celebrate Lucy's 90th birthday - all the family below -

London

Ten gorgeous sunny days at home in Inverness, Califonia, and then off to London. A quick overnight flight and here I am in Gareth's house in Earlsfield, near Wimbledon Park where we walked the dogs this morning amidst the aftermath of tennis crowds and queues. The Park allows fans to camp overnight in an orderly queue waiting to buy tickets for tennis the next day. Today it was back to dog-walking normal, a haven for all species, humans and dogs.

My 4th of July celebration was meeting my nephew, Will, and his girlfriend, Jen, for a drink and meal on Sunday evening with Gareth and Naz. Thanks for the photo, Jen! And for the drinks and Thai dinner at Dusit in Wimbledon, Gareth, Will & Naz!

I'll meet Tim in Paris on Wednesday. Meantime, two days wandering around London - pretty nice!

Back home again!

It's a week since we left Cape Town and in another week we set off to France so this halfway mark is a good point to post an update.

There were some great highlights in our last week in Cape Town amidst the stress of packing up our rental house. We spent an evening with a few of the students staying on for the winter at Ganesh restaurant in Observatory, watching Brazil play North Korea on the big screen - by now we were all soccer addicts! And a last meal at our favorite local restaurant, the Wijnhuis, on Thursday evening, wishing Nan a happy 40th birthday for Friday June 18. I can't believe I have a daughter of 40!!

Friday morning we rushed to the airport to catch the flight to Singapore for arrival early Saturday morning. We headed straight to the hotel to catch up on sleep. Our host, Eddy Chong, picked us up, groggy with sleep, and drove us to lunch at Food for Thought - a restaurant with a conscience in this bustling capitalistic city! After lunch, Eddy dropped us at Raffles hotel and we walked around a bit before meeting up with him again for tea with a couple of his colleagues.

That evening we ate Peranakan food at our hotel restaurant, a fusion of Malaysian and Chinese flavors, which we followed with TV soccer until the early hours of the morning until we finally fell asleep. We woke on Sunday morning, too late for hotel breakfast, so made our way to a Starbucks for morning tea and coffee and bagel; boringly safe!

We thought of all sorts of tours we could do after breakfast but finally settled on getting a taxi to Clarke Quay and walking up and down the river. We stopped at IndoChine restaurant for the most delicious fresh rice paper veggie rolls, sitting outside across the river from the row of quaint shophouses on Boat Quay, all that remains of the Singapore working dock of old. The buildings now house a long row of restaurants, each with eager staff tempting you to sit down for the special of the day. This is a 2003 photo but shows the shophouses against modern Singapore.

Sunday evening Eddy took us to his home where his wife, Yan, and their son Nathan, and Christine in the kitchen, treated us to a superb meal with little dogs, Buffy and Bella, sitting obediently on their chair, near the table, observing us patiently. A real honor to be guests in their home.

Monday was the work day, the reason Tim was in Singapore. But first, in the morning we met up with long time friends and colleagues, Cheng Chye and Hwee San, for a tour of the school where they now teach, School Of The Arts (SOTA). Cheng Chye and Hwee San were both at Raffles and were responsible for our great trip to Cambodia and Thailand at the end of 2006.

That afternoon Tim was to address students and interested philanthropists in a talk about Service Learning at the National University of Singapore's Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy where Eddy works. Eddy collected us around noon for lunch with the Director of the Centre, Albert Teo who had ordered the most incredibly scrumptious dishes for us to enjoy over an hour or so of good conversation.

Tim's talk was excellent, but somehow all that lingers of our three days in Singapore is the food we sample in that city. After goodbyes with Eddy, we met up with Wilson, another friend from the old 2003 days. Wilson whisked us away to a Chinese neighborhood where we feasted on countless incredible dishes - so very yum!

Next morning we rose at crack of dawn to catch our 7am flight to Narita and then back to SFO - a long day, but spent pleasantly relaxed over movies and more good food on United airlines.

We've been home 5 days now and it feels like we couldn't possible have been away for seven months. We're really enjoying the long summer days, the peace in our rural home, the sounds of the birds in the garden, and the long familiar hikes out here on the Point Reyes Peninsula. But we miss the vibe of Cape Town, the walks up Palmboom Road to either fetch the newspaper in the morning, or take off on a hike in Newlands Forest; the proximity to the shops and restaurants, all a short walk away; and of course we miss our friends and family.

In some way I feel divided, half of me is here, the other half in Cape Town.

Farewell Dinner and Soccer Frenzy

June 10th arrived, the last day of the program and the excitement of the Bing Farewell dinner at Addis in Cape is in the air. Everyone is looking forward to the Ethiopian food and ambiance, a super end to the 11 weeks in Cape Town for the Stanford Spring Quarter students. Some lovely photos tell the story of the evening.

The whole of South Africa has been awash with flags; on cars, windows, walls, wherever. All the different countries, on sale at traffic lights from street vendors and at most shops - it's the rage. I bought one US and one SA flag and drove to Welcome Glen to visit Nan and Daniel feeling proudly SA and US. On my way home, the US flag flew off it's holder - not even an hour old!

I'm not all that impressed with vuvuzelas, but it seems I'm in the minority on that score. As their populararity increases, we're bombarded with ear splitting eruptions at all times of the day and night, whether there's a soccer game on or not!

But, if that's what makes Bafana Bafana (ranked 80) play like they did against Mexico (ranked 16) in their 1-1 draw, roll on vuvuzelas! What an exciting game - the opening South African goal such a winner from Siphiwe Tshabalala, later named man of the match. How terrific to be the first to score, and how nearly that was the one and only. But Mexico, deservedly, retaliated, 11 minutes from the end, with their own excellent shot straight past Bafana's keeper.

That was Friday. Saturday saw us meeting up with an old Kent school friend of Tim's, John Watkins, and his partner and son to watch the US play England. Disappointingly, England scored in the fourth minute and we thought the US was in for a drilling. How jubilant we felt in this tightly marked game when the US scored the equaliser. We watched on a huge screen in a bar/restaurant called Arnolds in Kloof Street.

I'm hooked on soccer and can't wait to follow the matches.

The end is nigh!

Three weeks have zipped by since my last post and in two more weeks we'll be in Singapore for a few days, en route home. I am in my usual pre-departure panic at thought of packing up for 5½ months - what to take to California, what to leave behind here?

In the meantime, to catch up on what we've been up to these past three weeks, we had an unplanned visit to Johannesburg for a friend's memorial the weekend of 20 -22 May. Sadly, South Africa's former Leader of the Opposition in the days before democracy, Van Zyl Slabbert, died at 70. Seems so young for such a great mind to leave us, but he had not been well and was not improving. He had a wonderful birthday celebration in February which, with hindsight, was his farewell to friends, I guess.

We stayed with my sister and husband, Gill and Michael, in Joburg which was super, especially for Tim as he had not seen them for a couple of years.

The next week we had the last student dinner at the Wijnhuis,our favourite local restaurant. Followed by another student wine tasting evening, see pics at link, excellent again, thanks to Chris Wiehe. And, to end the week, the students' cultural evening - an outing to the town of Darling for "Koeksisters for Zuma", a show by Pieter-Dirk Uys. We got there early, in time to explore all the marvelous memorabilia he has collected and displays in this converted railway station that is now his very own theatre, "Evita se Perron" (He plays Evita Bezuidenhout, wife of the ambassador to Bapetikosweti, and Perron is the Afrikaans word for (station) platform - a play on Argentina's Evita Peron.)

Pieter has the wonderful ability of tuning his show to suit his audience and played up to the students beautifully. The theatre is very intimate, the stage a slightly raised part of the restaurant. The food is served before, during the break, and after the show. Altogether a fabulous evening's entertainment. Here we are sampling Darling Brew before the show started and with PDU after the show.

The third week, last week, and two highlights involving the Stanford program. One was having Tim's staff to dinner here - long overdue! The other was going to the Stanford Centre on Thursday evening to be an observer at the Financial Self Sustainability Forum that two of Tim's research students convened. Wow, what a great gift Craig and Ken gave the eight NPO leaders who were there - getting them acquainted, raising challenging issues in their businesses, thrashing out different ways to approach the issues - what we saw and heard was most inspiring. Here they are in the large lecture room at Waverley.

Sunday May 30th my aunt, Ruth Jeffery, celebrated her 96th birthday at a wonderful gathering at her farm, Timberlea, in Stellenbosch. She was surrounded by four generations of family on a glorious sunny winter day and spent hours basking in the delights of close relatives. Here she is looking not a day older than 80!

Each week these last three months I have fetched my grandchildren from school on Thursdays and taken first Nathaniel, who finishes earlier than Ayanda, for a bite to eat followed by some play on a jungle gym. After a couple of hours we go back to school to pick up Ayanda and treat her to a scone and milkshake. It's been a chance for good chats with them both and a lot of fun for me. And I have sure got to know the tea/lunch spots in the Kommetjie/Noordhoek part of the Cape Peninsula.

Friday next week kicks off the World Cup Soccer with one game here in Cape Town, and another in Johannesburg. On Saturday the US is playing England in Rustenburg, NW of Johannesburg. Tim and I will watch on TV with US friends at the Mount Nelson Hotel, cheering on our side who have a big team to tackle in their first game.

There are a bunch of "friendlies" being played as warm-ups to the competition and I see the US played Australia in the Johannesburg area last night and beat them 3-1 - good for the US!

Two games will be played in Cape Town before we leave: Uruguay vs France next Friday and then Italy vs Paraguay, Mon June 14. All around the country 20 of a total of 48 group matches will have been decided before we leave so I am sure we will be drawn into the excitement. Here's the link to the match schedule.

Field Trip in the Cederberg

When we cancelled the Cederberg field trip in February because of extreme heat, I was convinced that it would snow over the weekend of the rescheduled trip - what a pessimist!

The weather report said we'd have fine days but it was hard to believe as we set off on Friday afternoon and drove the first 150 km's in torrential rain. When we stopped at Kardoesie on top of the Piekenier's pass we were greeted with a cloudburst that kept us huddled in coats, shivering inside the farmstall.

Onward when the rain stopped, to Clanwilliam and an hour at the Living Landscape Project that our archaeology guide, John Parkington, began some years ago and where our students spent a weekend in 2003, 2006 and 2008.

This time though, we were not staying here. Instead we headed higher up into the mountains, over the Pakhuis pass, to Traveller's Rest, a large farm owned by the Strauss family, offering accommodation and food, with hikes to the many San rock art sites that are found here. We arrived, got the bed selection organized and headed over to the Khoisan Kitchen for our first meal, a huge three course dinner made by our generous host, Haffie Strauss.

After supper, John Parkington gave us a slide show of what we could expect to see on our hike in the morning, after which it was off to our cottages.

Saturday was a perfect day, sunny and warm - how could I have doubted those forecasters! After breakfast, we walked the Sevilla trail with John. I'm not going to describe it here - it would take too long - just take a look at the photos in the link below. After lunch, we walked to Salmanslaagte, another rock art site alongside a babbling river with cliffs on either side. Six of our party went on horseback - Traveller's Rest offers horse trails too. Back to the Khoisan Kitchen in the setting sun for another wonderful meal and pleasant end to the day.

Sunday morning John walked all but 9 of us to the Hollow Rock Shelter, set on top of a ridge with quite a demanding ascent. From the top we waved at the riders down below on their trail. We didn't meet up with them this time.

John explained how the Hollow Rock Shelter had been found and excavated. It was not a site for paintings, but a very interesting collection of stone tools. See this U-tube video if you want to find out more about the tools man used 70,000 odd years ago.

We had a slight panic on return when the horse riders were not back by 11:45 and we were due for lunch at noon. Tim waited for them while Sipho took the first bunch to Bushmanskloof  a Relais & Châteaux lodge that adjoins Traveller's Rest and has an extensive collection of rock art.

I guess the photos really say it all, so this is enough from me for now. Thanks to all who made this such a great excursion, especially the Bings!

Witsand and Hermanus

My brother, Thane, farms outside the seaside village of Witsand, at the mouth of the Breede River. He and his wife, Elize, have turned a ramshackle purchase of a few years ago into a fully working sheep farm called Melkhoutkraal (Milkwood 'enclosure'). I love a lot of things about my brother, but mostly I am so proud of the wind generator and solar panels he installed to feed 36 batteries and provide all the power they need. Well, not quite. All except a gas cooker and the HWC, but the latter will change soon. And the water collection tanks he uses to be independent of council supplies.. The really pleasing thing is they don't get the utitlity bills that the people in the cities dread to find in their mailboxes. Such freedom! I wish my parents were still about to see his handiwork. Here he is.

Last Friday afternoon, Tim and I drove to Witsand, three hours away. We checked into the Breede River Lodge and were soon visited by Thane's daughters, Natalie and Liza. Natalie was on her way to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. Fortunately Liza was on hand to fetch Thane and Elize because the clutch of his 'bakkie' (pick-up truck) had collapsed and we wouldn't have been able to have supper together if it hadn't been for Liza and her boyfriend, Jannie. They set off in a tiny little bakkie to rescue my stranded brother. On their way back to Witsand, they had a puncture! Repair had to be done in the dark by the light of Liza's cell phone. That was the second bad thing to happen to Thane that day. Fortunately, meeting up with Tim and me was not the third. We had a fabulous meal with non stop chatting and lots of education about the fishing industry in South Africa, as well as wind turbines, sustainability, etc.

Saturday morning we visited the farm, see back view, above, and walked over the scorched earth (no rain) to look at the geese, the sheep and the two hand built and brick walled wells - their source of water. The wells were made by a previous owner. After the tour we sat inside the house and chatted for a few hours and then set off for Hermanus, the seaside town where I spent all my school holidays, and where my parents retired.

My father's sister, Ruth, turning 96 at the end of the month, inherited her parent's holiday home in a beautiful position on a headland overlooking the rocks and sea and, in season, the whales. Ruth's son, Peter, and his wife, Muffy, invited us to spend a night with them and what a treat that was. Although the fine Saturday weather didn't last and Sunday we got a bit wet on our cliff path walk, I loved being in the familiar places of my childhood, walking past the beaches and cliff pools where we swam and sunbathed, smelling the heady scents of the fynbos, treading magical paths through arches of indigenous trees and shrubs. My childhood was definitely spent in heaven!

Home again and a picasa photo album posted. This week has been mostly preparation for the upcoming weekend. We leave on Friday for our long awaited Field Trip to Clanwilliam. The one that was postponed in February because of the extreme heat. It looks like we may be in for extreme cold this weekend. We've had a week of torrential rain. Hopefully it will not follow us to the mountains!

Trips and visits and an important birthday

I spent five lovely, chilly, days in Johannesburg, visiting my sister at the end of April. Funny, the weather was what I'd expect in the Cape, long, soaking rains. It was an excellent break from Cape Town routine, a chance to read, go to the movies with Gill (to watch (mostly in horror) A Prophet) and be treated by Gill and Michael to a superb dinner/night out at CasaLinga restaurant. Over the weekend we had visits from my nieces, Gill's Polly, and her boyfriend, Chris, as well as Michael's Bernadette, and boyfriend, Alan, and their children. Wonderful to catch up.

Back to Cape Town to enjoy another daughter's visit - this time Tim's Erin, all the way from California. She spent a week with us - a gorgeous sunny week, ratcheting up several kilometers hiking on the Cape's mountain trails. Twice above Kalk Bay, once in Newlands Forest, and the last, all the way from our house in Newlands to Kirstenbosch, up Skeleton Gorge and down Nursery Ravine to end up with weak and wobbly knees for lunch at the Kirstenbosch tea room. After huge, healthy salads, we walked home feeling very weary.

Here's our self timed photo on top of Skeleton Gorge - I'm already collapsed and we still had to get down the slippery, steep mountain.

On Friday we nipped off to the winelands, to visit the goats of Fairview Wine Estate's "Goats Do Roam" fame, and taste their fine wines and cheese. We had lunch in Groote Drakenstein, at Solms-Delta in a beautiful setting at a table with a sweeping view of the Simonsberg mountain - here's the photo.

Sunday morning was a special day for Nan's Nathaniel. He turned 5 and had a picnic party in the forest at Silvermine. 22 children and their parents engaged in a lot of merriment. Tim, Erin and I managed a quick walk along the river after the party, the last bit of exercise for Erin before she boarded the plane that afternoon, back to California.

This week winter arrived with a vengeance - it's been cold and very wet. I guess we can't complain about a few wintery storms after 5 months of summer. Our house is dark and cold, the fuzzy jackets and heaters are out, and we're working our way through some good books. My latest have been two thrillers, one by Scottish author Val McDermid, and a South African writer, Deon Meyer which was fun to read. It is so South African it was written in Afrikaans and translated into English. I rather enjoyed the familiar place names and a real mystery set in this country. Fun! I'm nearly finished another SA book, Trekking to Teema by Pieter Dirk Uys, the satirist who performs in his theatre, Evita se Perron, in the small town of Darling, about 90kilometers from Cape Town. Another homely read for me.

We'll be taking the students to Darling to see Pieter Dirk Uys's latest show, Koeksisters for Zuma at the end of May. A koeksister is a very sticky sort of South African doughnut and the show is a send up of our colourful politician's food fancies.Lots to look forward to this month. Four more student dinners, one each week, next weekend is the field trip to Clanwilliam, wine tasting the following week and we end the month with koeksisters in Darling.

Another week slips by...

Only nine more left before we leave Cape Town for Singapore. Still so much to do here. Thank goodness we'll be back in December!

Last week we had the first "Dinner with the Stantons" evening with the students. Instead of cooking up a feast at home, we walked to our local restaurant, The Wijnhuis, for a very pleasant evening with Bonnie Chien, Shelly Amieva, Lucy Litvak and Adriana Campos. Bonnie is from Taiwan, Shelly and Adriana are both from Texas and their families come from Mexico, while Lucy is from Mill Valley a few miles from our home in West Marin!

Tim took four students to Riebeeck Kasteel on Saturday morning, to Goedgedacht Trust where they are doing research projects. There are a number of fine wineries in the area where Tim enjoyed sampling wine and olives. Not in quite the same jolly vein as last week's ramble in the Constantia Valley, since he was the driver, but very pleasant to explore a new area. The town of Riebeeck Kasteel has an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants and Tim stopped at the Bar Bar Black Sheep restaurant for some gazpacho. The menu there has pretty fine food for a teeny town. Click on the link if you want to listen to some Afrikaans "boere musiek" (farmers' music, also called "tikkie draai") and check out the menu.

Saturday evening our friend Pieter Jolly launched two new books, one called Rock Shelter, about cave houses in Lesotho, and the other on decorated Sotho houses. The event took place at the Iziko Cape Town museum, in the rock art gallery where we took the students last quarter for the first part of our field trip when Pieter was our rock art guide. The displays there are excellent - it was a perfect setting to show off the  beautiful photos in these books. After speeches and sales quite a few of us carried on partying at Pieter's house. I took my camera along - click the link to see photos of the fun evening.

Last night we got the closest to Bluegrass we've been in Cape Town at the Alma Cafe where Blacksmith performed to an enthusiastic following. Lots of singing along encouraged, and Tim seemed to know all the words!

Today we woke to cold and rain. Winter is here. This evening we'll be environmental activists at a meeting at our old favourite, the Vineyard Hotel. We'll be protesting the building of another nuclear power plant near Cape Town. It will be a different sort of Monday evening compared to our old wine tasting nights when our friend Chris filled our glasses with generous samples of fine wines.

Constantia Wines and Sunday hike

We’ve been in Cape Town four months now and not yet ventured out to taste the blush of the vines, apart from the visit to my grandparent’s old fruit farm turned into a wine estate in Stellenbosch. So, last weekend, on a lovely clear Saturday morning, we set off with our friend, Pieter Jolly, in his 56 year old Citroen to explore our local Constantia Valley, a half hour from home.

The day was too short to visit more than three of the eight farms in this region, but I think we chose well.

Constantia Uitsig (uitsig = view) is much more than a mere wine estate, with three restaurants, a cricket oval, a hotel made up of guest cottages and spa, and, finally, rows and rows of vines. Sadly the tasting room abuts the main road and feels decidedly “touristy” leading into one of the restaurants.

Because Constantia Uitsig charges for their tasting (R20 for 6 wines) we only ordered two, one for Pieter and one for Tim and me to share. We started with a bubbly, the only estate of the three we visited to offer a Methode Cap Classique (South Africa’s name for Methode Champenoise). It was a good way to start our morning, but, ouch, the cost of this and all their wines was as unattractive as the setting alongside the busy road. The wines were very nice but a touch beyond our means.

Without being inspired to take any photos here, we piled into the Citroen and moved on to the next farm called Klein Constantia (= Small Constantia), winding our way along the back roads. We felt like we were miles from suburbia as we skirted the border of the original Constantia Estate, now subdivided into Groote (=Big) Constantia, Klein Constantia and Buitenverwachting (see below).

We passed through the guarded gates and Pieter led the Citroen along the dusty farm lane to the tasting room, passing ancient buildings that triggered old history lessons of Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival in the Cape and the early attempts to make wine.

The tasting room was situated on the floor above the cellar with glass doors to view what was happening down there. There was a buzz of activity here, lots of tasters, all very friendly. We loved the wines, although they, too, were a little pricey. The hosts were extremely generous ending with a small tot of their famous Vin de Constance, a dessert wine made in the same tradition as that produced in the 18/19th century enjoyed by the likes of Napoleon.

Another plus – there was no charge for the tasting at Klein Constantia – bonus! They produce a cheaper KC label, not on the tasting list, but available from our local distributor.

Klein Constantia gets a big thumbs up.

Buitenverwachting (= Beyond Expectation) is almost next door to Klein Constantia and also part of the original Constantia Estate. Another lovely farm road led us past beautiful old buildings to their tasting room where, again, there was no charge. The mood was friendly and we made our way through half a dozen whites and reds, served by a young woman who works at weekends with her husband.

We weren’t able to see the cellar from the tasting room like we were at Klein Constantia, but there were casual tables, chairs and couches that created a comfortable atmosphere.

Outside, a gorgeous long lawn spread out towards the manor house where, from a side building, the cellar master’s wife served delicious picnics. By this stage we’d consumed enough wine samples to need to feast ourselves back to sobriety!

Some photos of our day and also of our lovely hike on Sunday in Kalk Bay with Nan and Daniel.

Cecilia Ravine Hike

The weather here has turned distinctly wintry so waking on Thursday to a windless, clear and sunny morning was a delightful gift. A hike was called for, but by the time I was finished the morning chores it was after 11:30 – time for mad dogs and Englishmen.

I decided to go back to one of my old favourite hikes, the Cecilia Waterfall loop that starts at the parking lot in Cecilia Forest and follows a stream sheltered by thick forest, up, and up. Ten years ago I was able to do this circuit in an hour, but today I felt very unfit as I trudged up the steps. After 15-20 minutes the path leaves the forest canopy and traverses up the slope, in the open. It was very hot and I simply had to stop to listen to some bird calls and mop my brow and catch my breath - what was I doing hiking in the midday sun?

The thought of the waterfall ahead of me boosted my spirits and roused me to the task of gaining the final elevation before dropping down a bit to the cool sanctuary in a small canyon along the dry and dusty path. I stuck my head under the water rushing down the moss and fern covered rock face, gasping at the icy contact, withdrawing almost instantly, letting the cool residue drip down my neck. Bliss!

After the waterfall the trail makes its last long haul up to the highest point on this circuit, and then drops down a myriad steps into another gully of trees. A last small rise and then down more steps to the contour path.

I looked at my watch. If I jogged this next section I might be able to make my one hour target. I got back to the parking lot with a very red face, but not from embarrassment – I’d done the hike in 55 minutes! Thank you legs, heart and body!

I’ve posted some family pictures from the last few weeks – take a look if you’d like to see Nan, Daniel, Ayanda, Nathaniel, Gareth and Naz.

Tears, movies, a book, and Spring Quarter Orientation

Tim and I saw The Last Station over the weekend. Marvelous performances by Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and others. But a very sad ending and I left the theatre clutching a soggy lump of tissues.

On Monday evening we watched District 9 on video - terrific movie and so South African. When it came out last year the reviews were mostly good, but I'm not mad about science fiction and had little interest in watching creatures that look like a cross between a cockroach and a prawn acting out on a big screen. But I was swept away by the possibilities in this story and the analogies with political situations in this, and other, countries.

While watching the movie we munched on a bar of 85% chocolate which gave us both a sleepless night. Unable to nod off, I got up around 4:30am. I was nearly finished the book Marley and Me - being awake now was a perfect opportunity for me to get to the end.

I'm not sure if we are more susceptible to tears in the early dawn hours, or this was just a teary week for me, or the author, John Grogan, tells his story extremely well. I spent more than an hour sobbing through the ending pages and, for the whole morning, wasn't really able to think about anything other than the loss of one of my Jack Russell terriers, Popcorn, many years ago.

Monday was Orientation day for the new group of students. Over lunch the faculty and lecturers teaching this quarter outlined their courses followed by dessert and questions. Of course I was there to take photos!

Here's one of Tim explaining his course to students.

March ends and a new quarter begins

The first Stanford academic quarter is over and almost all the lovely students we met have gone home. All except four who have stayed to travel and take more courses here with the new students in the second quarter.

The African Genocide class I took has also ended. Our last seminar, where we revisited the definition of genocide, was held at Rhodes Memorial on a sunny wind-free day sitting around a table overlooking the city, far removed from possible genocidal atrocities. The five students taking the class ended the session with a spontaneous intense discussion re the complicated issues that the topic of genocide raises. A philosophically mind blowing experience that I was so lucky to be part of!

My son, Gareth, arrived with his girlfriend, Naz, from London on March 6th. It's been wonderful having them down the road, staying in a nearby guest house, popping in almost every day - a great treat for me.

The Farewell Dinner for the students took place last week at Moyo restaurant at Spier wine farm, about 35 kilometers from here. We all piled into the bus driven by Sipho Mpepho who has done nearly all the shuttling for the students. Of course I took photos and hope you enjoy them!

Here we are with our painty faces at the Farewell Dinner!

It's been a while ......

My first attempt to update my blog since the Field Trip a month ago - what is happening in Cape Town to keep me so busy?

Tim went away right after the Field Trip, back to the US to a meeting in Georgia, followed by a visit to his wonderful parents in Florida, then to Stanford for some work and to see his children and grandsons, and finally a night at home in Inverness; all the while waiting on tenterhooks for his passport to be processed by the South African embassy in Los Angeles, making him legal for work in Cape Town at last.

While Tim was away my sister, Gillian, came to visit from Johannesburg and we had a marvelous party weekend in the winelands celebrating two good friends' seventieth birthdays. Gill and I visited the farm in Stellenbosch where my father was born and where we, as children, went for regular Sunday visits while my grandmother was alive. This farm, Glenelly, has recently been bought by Madame De Lencquesaing, owner of a vineyard in France. Madame has converted my dad's old family fruit farm into a plush, modern wine estate and we were taken on a tour of the house, the vineyards, the tasting rooms and the cellars. We felt some sadness at the loss of our childhood haunts, but enjoyed walking around the beautifully manicured home.



And then the dreaded gastric flu attacked and left me feeling helpless and hopeless for close on a week. But it gave me an opportunity to read Stieg Larsson's The Girl who Played with Fire, the follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - a thrilling escape and just what I needed. I followed that with my first ever TC Boyle book, The Tortilla Curtain, which I loved even though the story is a tough one to digest. His writing is wonderful. And the last little book I devoured is called Wild Honey by Bookey Peek. Treat yourself to this read - such an inspiring story set against the depressing background of Zimbabwe's decline.

I got better, Tim got back, and we geared up for the Stanford Reception on Friday March 12th - what a good party! My camera was once again in action - click on the link to see the photos.

The Long Awaited Field Trip

Disaster struck last weekend - the weather gods must have been in a bad mood because they posted forecasts for temperatures in the Cederberg (where we were headed for the weekend) in the mid to high 40's Celsius, or over 110F. We had to cancel our plans much to the dismay of all eager to get away from city life for a bit.

Tim hurriedly consulted with staff and our rock art guide, Pieter Jolly, and came up with an alternative outing, keeping the emphasis on art of the San people (which is why we were going to the Cederberg!)

1:30 pm Friday we gathered around the bus with Pieter and set off for the Ixiko South African Museum in Cape Town where we spent an hour or so poring over the excellent rock art displays.

Back into the bus, always expertly handled by our driver, Sipho Mpepho, who has been driving Stanford students since the first pilot program in 2006. Down the peninsula we drove, to Noordhoek where Tim had arranged accommodation for all but four of us at Monkey Valley resort, while the four boys chose to stay in the lodge at the nearby Noordhoek Farm Village. These boys like sticking together.

After checking in and tea/scones, Grant held a class followed by some free time to explore the beach before dinner. Monkey Valley is set in a well established and secluded grove of Milkwood trees, one of my favorite coastal shrubs. They were in flower and the smell, for some, was a little unpleasant!

Our wooden cottages, with evocative names like Hornbill, Leopard, Falcon, Albatross and Dormouse, all seemed to be in perfect harmony with nature. What a treat after the disappointment of the cancelled Cederberg outing. Dinner was nothing to write home about but Pieter followed on with an outstanding slide show of some of his photos of beautifully executed rock art.

Saturday morning we hiked a short way to Peers' Cave which contains traces of human habitation dating back as much as two hundred thousand years. Unfortunately, modern graffiti blasphemes the walls today, but on the plus side, some cave paintings can be seen high up, above the defaced area. It's nice to know something from the Middle Stone Age remains in this much used cave. And it felt good to think that humans were living in this huge overhang so long ago, hunting small antelope in the fynbos, searching out edible plants, collecting shellfish and catching fish from the two water masses, False Bay to the east, the Atlantic ocean to the west.

Back for more meeting time with Grant, a fascinating session on South African humour with tea with delicious muffins. Lunch followed after which we lounged around the pool and deck until it was time to head off to Hermanus, the second leg of our improvised field trip.

Hermanus is a popular coastal village with sea, surf, beaches, mountain, lagoon and glorious walks. The bus took the students straight to Grotto Beach. Saturday was the hot day: 35 C at the coast and 45+ inland. Grotto beach, with stretches of white sand as far as the eye can sea, was the perfect antidote to 2+ hours in the bus on a very warm day. Lots of frolicking before returning to the village and checking into the Hermanus Backpackers.

Meanwhile, Tim, Pieter and I had driven to Hermanus in our own car. Grant and his family did the same and we congregated at the B&B we'd booked into, The Potting Shed. Pieter had been allocated the Loft room - oops, on the hottest day of the year? No, that wasn't going to work. Fortunately the owners were pretty flexible and gave us keys to an apartment they manage which was ok for the night. Not quite Monkey Valley, but it was cool and we were close to the sound of the crashing surf.

That evening we gathered for supper at the Hermanus backpackers. Chicken or Vegetable Potjie was the order and heaped platefuls were dished up to the hungry horde. The last activity on Saturday took place in a large front room at the backpackers that we cordoned off from other guests. It was a game of Double Jeopardy. Questions/Answers were setup by Grant and some of his students, and the whole game masterminded by Anna with a computer and LCD projector. Students got together in three groups and in this complicated game of "What question goes with this statement?" hands went up, voices too, answers delivered, and all the time Claire kept score. Lots of laughs!

During the night we couldn't believe it rained. And continued to do so on Sunday morning which put a damper, literally, on plans to hike in the mountains, although some of us managed a nice coastal walk in between showers. Others walked around the town, and Tim took a group to the town of Stanford to check out a community project there.

We all met for lunch at Bientang's cave. This was the final touch to a very pleasant weekend. Bientang was the last "Strandloper" ("Beach Walker" Khoi person) who lived in this cave, harvesting seafood. The rock shelter is enormous and the cave where Bientang is thought to have lived is tucked into a low crevice, behind the restaurant bar area. Whoever thought students were disappearing behind the bar for 'refreshments' was wrong - they were seeking solace in the ancient cave.

Tim left for the US on Tuesday afternoon - lucky him to be back home for a bit. Enjoy him, all who see him!

And now, what you've been waiting for, photo's of the field trip!

Oh, and one last titbit (we're in South Africa and that's how it's spelt here!) - we learned that on Saturday it was 45.5 C and Sunday 43 C in the Cederberg - big relief we changed the plans!

!Khwa ttu and Pieter Dirk Uys

The students got their first introduction to South African culture on Saturday when Sipho Mpepho, our wonderfully reliable bus driver, took us to the San Education and Culture Centre, !Khwa ttu, 70 kilometers up the coast, near Yzerfontein. We arrived in time for a lesson in the San Language, attempting all the click sounds with great enthusiasm!

!Khwa ttu has a most informative photo gallery where I could have spent much more time, but the tractor-trailer was waiting for us. We boarded and were taken to the start of a short walk. First we learned how to track animals from their hoof prints. Then we were shown how to trap animals. We learned a bit about plants that were useful to the San and ended our walk at the San village where we sat in a circle in the boma listening to San stories, some translated from different San languages.

On our way back to the craft shop we passed a sizeable herd of Eland, an animal important to the San people. Some zebra and springbok too.

Heading for 5:30 pm, it was time to move on to Darling, a small town where South Africa's famous satirist, Pieter Dirk Uys performs in the theatre he created out of an abandoned and disused railway station called "Evita se Perron" (Evita's platform) at Darling's old station.

At 7 pm on Saturday evening Pieter performed Elections and Erections beginning with a Hillary Clinton skit that got us off to a good start. He knew there would be US students in his audience and he interacted with them during the show. It was great fun to be in the cosy theatre, sitting at tables with drinks while the show went on right next to us. A buffet style dinner was served afterwards.

And then Sipho brought us all safely home again. We are so lucky to have him as our regular driver.

Here are the photos! Enjoy!

Coming up next is the weekend field trip to the Cederberg. Watch this space!

Disas in Myburgh's Ravine and Wednesday dinner

Myburgh's Ravine is not described in many hiking books because it is a dangerous route in the Cape's wet winters. But in the summer, when most of the Cape Peninsula looks extremely parched, perennial water drips down the craggy cliffs to nourish the moss and ferns and other plants, and you'll find many folks clambering up the rocks to see the Disa Uniflora thriving in this small, damp ravine.


On Friday, while Tim was hard at work,I persuaded my long ago hiking friend, Peter Rex, to lead me up the ravine. You would never guess Peter's age the way he scrambles up cliffsides and over boulders as sure footed as a rock rabbit. At 78 he puts me to shame. Peter and I met twenty years ago when we were neighbours for a short while. In those days, if there was ever a difficult hike I wanted to try, I'd ask for Peter's expert guidance. It was very pleasant to be able to pick up on our old friendship again. Photo below shows the steep ravine walls on the left, Peter in the middle and some Disas on the right.You'll have to double click on the photo to see it in a decent size - I can't manage to work out how to get a collage to look as big as a single photo.


One more photo from last week - the four students who came to supper on Wednesday evening with Claire Gibson, their R/A, and Mary Simons, UCT lecturer in Political History of South Africa for the previous program's students. Mary wasn't feeling well and left before this photo was taken.



So there you have, from the left, Andrew Linford, Claire Gibson, Tom McAndrew, Tim, Craig Dabney and Jonathan Rich. It was Jon's birthday so we celebrated with some candles and a big carrot cake!

Into February.

Ten days since my last post and time rattles on. Last week my African Genocide class studied the San extermination in South Africa while this week we looked at the Aborigines in Tasmania and Australia with thoughts of how the genocides in these two continents compare.

We've now studied the Germans extermination of the Herero people, the Dutch trekboers encroachment into San territory and their commandos that slaughtered the San; the San's attempt at resistance, and their eventual extermination after the British took over the Cape. The Brits also decimated the Tasmanian aborigines and were pretty successful at breaking down the Australian indigenous peoples' way of life and more.

Next week we're off to the Canary islands to examine the Spanish invasion of the closest of the seven Canary islands to the coast of Africa, and the earliest genocide of the modern era.

We are such a cruel race.

On to more cheerful stuff. Billy and Breda went back to Ireland on Monday so Tim and I hosted a great evening of fine food last Friday with Chris Wiehe our guest of honour. Since our arrival in December, Chris has been generously serving us wines in his role as the Vineyard hotel's sommelier at his Monday evening winetastings. We were quick to introduce Breda and Billy to these merry evenings, and have enjoyed Pieter Jolly's company there too. So the Vineyard support group got together with Claire, Stanford's student Resident Assistant who brought her boyfriend Joe (who runs the Stanford Sierra camp when he is not on holiday visiting Claire).

Friday's food: bruschetta to start from Claire and Joe. Geelbek (I hate calling it Cape Salmon, its "English" name) brilliantly braaied by Tim and checked for doneness by Chris, sauce of tomatoes,chillies, chorizo and prawns by Breda, veggies by Sherry. We wined and dined sumptuously with Billy throwing in the odd joke, and Pieter adding his stories. To end this wonderful evening, Breda had made a magnificent Summer Pudding - lick your lips delicious!



On Saturday morning it was drizzling so Tim and I decided to wait til Sunday to hike - who wants to get wet? But it poured with rain on Sunday, and this time we really should have stayed at home, but we'd arranged to meet a friend so we pushed ourselves up to the contour path in the drenching rain. We were sopping when we got home, but it felt pretty good!

Saturday night we hit the movies with Nan and Daniel. Up in the Air - we enjoyed it, but felt a bit sad at the end. So much more to life than collecting frequent flier miles!

Sunday I picked up Ayanda and Nathaniel and met Nan and Daniel at Muizenberg. We played Putt-Putt. Great fun, and not without a few temper tantrums as Ayanda adapted to failure at a few very naughty holes that kept jumping out of the path of her well aimed ball.

Tonight I am slaving at the stove again for another of our student dinners. There are only four guys in the group of twenty four students and all four signed up for "Dinner with the Stantons" on the same night, and that's tonight. I'm cooking a huge curry for large appetites.

All for now....

Invictus a Grand Finale to the Week

Dear William Ernest Henley,
Thank you a million times over for inspiring Nelson Mandela to such greatness with your poem Invictus.

"....
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
Last verse of Invictus by WE Henley

What would South Africa be today without Mandela's wisdom and vision?

I read the book, "Playing the Enemy", and couldn't imagine the film would do justice to John Carlin's account of how Mandela gathered his apartheid enemies into his fold. And Morgan Freeman was brilliant as Mandela - he looked like him, spoke like him, walked like him, he could have been him!

Invictus brought back such strong memories for me of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. I was at the first match with my son, Gareth, then age 15. (I still wear the shirt!) South Africa, host nation, played Australia, prior World Cup champions. No one thought South Africa stood a chance of winning that first game, let alone the cup, having been out of world class rugby for years and years.

So if you've seen Invictus you will know exactly where we are staying in Cape Town. The rugby stadium is minutes from us. The helicopter in which Mandela arrives to give the captain his handwritten poem, Invictus, flies right over our suburb and also shows the mountain we love to walk in. We're in Newlands, the centre of rugby and cricket. When Tim rides his bike to work he cycles past the stadium to avoid the main roads.

The other highlight of the week was the wine tasting we organized for the students on Thursday. Our young friend and sommelier at the Vineyard Hotel, Chris, did us proud. We gave him money, he brought wines and words and we had a lot of fun. I forgot to take my camera, but here is one that Mililani Trask-Batti took of Tim and me at the very beginning - thanks Mililani!

Saturday morning Tim and set off on our normal weekend walk, up to the contour path in Newlands Forest. Something came over us at the point where we should have turned down to go back home for breakfast. We decided to go up, up and further up, right up Newlands Ravine, to the saddle between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain. It was hard work but the view of the city of Cape Town that awaited us when we got to the top was worth the effort.

Here's a photo of the route we took to the top of the saddle. Devil's Peak is on the right. Photo by Daniel McCrea



Once at the top we had a big decision to make. How to get down again? Tim's knees didn't fancy descending the ascent. Going down the other side would leave us carless in the city; the only other option was walking the circumference of Devil's Peak, along the upper contour path, and finally back to Newlands Forest.

We got home for breakfast at 2pm! It was a very short day.

Of Wine and Food and last week in Cape Town

If all the weeks ahead of us turn out like last week, I'll really need a holiday when we get back to California in June!

Every week we end Monday with a wine tasting at the Vineyard Hotel where sommelier, Chris Wiehe, holds forth on a few select wines, inviting hotel guests and members of the public to share his knowledge. We have been so impressed with Chris we've arranged for him to give a wine tasting to the Stanford students - to introduce them to the terms, the tastes, and some affordable wines they can buy in their neighbourhood.

The interesting snippet about Chris is that he is the son of Marc Wiehe who once owned the wine estate L'Avenir where, for ten years, I owned half a mythical "row" of vines, entitling me to 5 cases of wine each year at cost price. In the early days when Marc first bought the farm, he needed capital and raised some funds this way - "anybody out there want to buy a row in a vineyard and get cost price wines for 10 years?" It was a risk. We didn't know if the wines would be any good. But the risk paid handsomely and the association with Marc and L'Avenir was very special. Tim and I were thrilled to discover Chris Wiehe at the Vineyard.

The start of each week is also time for me to get to grips with the week's African Genocide topic, the class I am taking at the University of Cape Town with 5 of the Stanford students on Tuesdays. This week we had some dense and grim articles to read about the annihilation of the Herero people in German South West Africa over the period 1904 - 1908. Although you might think the subject depressing, I find it highly stimulating and such a privilege to sit in on a class with Mohamed Adhikari, history professor at UCT.

Wednesday evening we began our "Dinner with the Stantons" evenings when, for the next 6 weeks, we'll have four students over to eat with us. We also invite a couple of interesting guests so the students can meet locals. We had a marvelous evening on Wednesday, beginning with the students telling us about themselves, followed by our guests, Pieter Jolly (rock art archaeology specialist) and Jan Glazewski (Environmental lawyer), explaining what they do and inviting interesting discussion around lots of fascinating topics. Fabulous evening!

On Friday Grant Parker, our Stanford faculty in Cape Town, held his Western Cape Sites of Memory class at Groote Constantia, one of the 8 sites Grant has selected to discuss in his course. First, two students gave a well researched presentation on the history of the estate, after which we toured the museums. Grant had invited his dad, Dick Parker, to join us, as well as good friend, Dick van der Ross, known to many Capetonians for his appointment in 1975 as the first coloured rector of the University of the Western Cape. Grant's father was a teacher and a school inspector. Both Dicks had many stories to share over lunch at the Jonkershuis restaurant hosted by Grant - thank you, Grant, for a superb outing and delicious food and wine - a memorable day! See Photos.

In between these Stanford events, Tim has his own Community Based Research course on Mondays. And for the rest of the days during the week he needs to be at the Stanford Centre to direct the proceedings there.

We bought a couple of essentials last weekend. A Weber to BBQ on our stoep, or "Braai" as it's called here, and a bright yellow bike for Tim to cycle to work. That way I will have more access to the car. He gets fit and I get lazy!

A Hike in Newlands Forest

Tim and I try and walk in the forest as often as possible and today we were lucky enough to be accompanied by the son of our Irish friends who brought his camera, so here we are, the proof!



Of course it could be, since we don't look at all tired, that we are posing against a backdrop. So here is the view in the opposite direction, of the sprawl of suburbs. Way over on the far side, almost hidden in the smog, you can see the outline of the Hottentots Holland Mountains.

Africa Cafe Welcome Dinner

The students had their Welcome Dinner on Friday 8th at the Africa Cafe in Cape Town. Click on the link to see some photos

Wildlife trapped in our garden

Tim and I watched Guineafowl Drama for an hour or so this morning and decided that birds do indeed have teeny brains.

Ma and Pa Guineafowl brought their 5 chicks into our garden this morning, but then couldn't find their way out. It was easy for Ma and Pa to escape. They can fly. But the chicks were tiny, their little wings mere stumps of feathers on the sides of their fluffy bodies. They were stuck in our garden. Yippee, a replacement for the ravens I miss so much back at home in Inverness!

What made it worse for the babes is Ma and Pa abandoned them to the next door garden leaving their chicks squealing over on our side.

A fence separates the properties. It has wooden slats with a small gap between each slat. It begins about a foot off the ground, secured to a brick foundation wall. The chicks couldn't jump that high. New Balance to the rescue. I ran to fetch Tim's new shoe box and placed it up against the wall, hoping they could jump to that level and then get to the next. After a lot of false attempts, they made it - now all they had to do was fit through the gap in the slats.



Up and down the wall the chicks scurried, trying this gap,then that gap, with Ma & Pa on the other side of the fence, egging them on. First one was through, then two, then three. But the last two were just too chubby. Ah, wait, no, the fourth got pushed by the fifth and it was also safe next door.



Poor number five. It didn't have the strength in its feet to push itself across the gap. Sherry to the rescue - I tiptoed up behind it and gently eased it's little bottom, and plop, it landed on the other side to join the family.

We thought the rest would be easy - escape from the next door garden guarded by a big black gate across the carport. I figured the chicks could easily slip under and Ma & Pa could fly over. But no, Ma & Pa were determined to get through the gate posts which were far too close together. They tried very hard until "Ping, oh yes, we can fly."

I last saw the family trotting down our road. I hope they made it as far as the safety of the park and don't become roadkill after all that hard work!

The Work Begins

Monday January 4th began early for Tim, the day the Stanford students officially began their quarter at the brand new Bing Stanford Overseas Centre in Cape Town. Introductions and orientation and decisions on which courses to take was the flavour of the day. (Please note spelling - we're in Cape Town, communicating in the local brogue.)

All the faculty, including those from Cape Town University, came to an extremely yummy lunch on Monday, catered for by Lindi Kriel, David's wife. Each lecturer gave a brief course outline, at the end of which Tim and I wanted to sign up for all.

I posted some photos to a web album so please check it out and meet the students and lecturers yourself.

The University of Cape Town's Summer School is about to start with some courses I'd love to do. Added to all the Stanford classes I also want to take, this will not be a summer holiday!

Cape Town is windy this week with Tuesday the hottest day of the year (all 5 days!) It was only 36 deg Centigrade here in Newlands, but in other parts of Cape Town it got to well over 30 C! I wallowed in our teeny pool for the first time since we moved in.

Tim and I have been to two music evenings at a small venue/cafe not too far away from where we live. While it's been nice to hear live music in a similar environment as the Station House, the quality is just not the same as "Paul Knight and his friends"! We're very jealous of the line-up at the Station House this weekend. Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum and Nina Gerber - our very best favourites!

I've just finished reading Zeitoun - Dave Eggers gripping story about what really happened in New Orleans during Katrina. We're also reading South African literature (for one of the Stanford courses) starting with Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.