Life In Cape Town

Candle lit dinner on the beach. Kayaking down Breede River. Dinner at a restaurant looking over a ferocious ocean, with the waves pounding against the window. Living in awe of the magnificent mountains that lean over the city. Weekly hikes with my CRAGS group and my Sunday morning girls. Running along Muizenberg beach. Swimming. Drinking. Eating. Meditation classes. Being amazed at how open and friendly people are – contrae to what people will have you believe. Being so welcomed and looked after by Craig and Nikki. Walking through shacklands. Braai’s [BBQs] in both Gugeleito [super poor area] and in Constantia [super rich area] – and being welcomed into each with open arms. African penguins at Boulders beach. Being amazed at how outdoorsy the people in this city are, wondering if it is a rebellion against the bars or the result of the mountains reminding them there’s something bigger. Wind. Wind, Wind! Loving working with genuine, loving, super smart people. Having the amazing oportunity of working on one of the most interesting & largest CocaCola/Soccer World Cup projects going. Dancing for 20 hours straight at my first trance party, absolute bliss, there will be many more to come! Jumping in the car, driving 140ks, steering with one hand, lonely planet in the other.

Struggling to learn to literally live behind bars. Living in a house with an ‘armed response’ sign on the front gate. The last sounds at night and the first sounds of the morning being the house alarm. Shopping at a supermarket that has a warning at the entrance 'no dogs, no thongs, no guns'. Looking at the color of my skin for the first time within the context of ‘what it means’. Reading doom & gloom, listening to people rag on about doom & gloom – at the same time as feeling completely happy and stable in the exact same country. Conquering a manual car [yes that one deserves a round of applause thankyou very much!].

That pretty much sums up my life in Cape Town over the past couple of months. Africa is getting under my skin. One takes the good and the bad. It buzzes. It's alive. I love it. "We are but one people" is a quote that got stuck in my head when being led through Nelson Mandela's old prison cell by an ex-prisoner.

I thought I would be staying longer, but in true Kirsty style I’ve decided 5 days out that I’m going to be packing up and moving on. I’m going to jump in a 4x4 and travel up the east side of Africa with my new friend Volker. He has just quit his job and is off for an epic adventure – driving al the way from Cape Town to Germany! Amazing and so inspiring. So, I’m going to join him for a while. The idea at this stage is… Cape Town through Zimbabwe, Mozambique along the eastern shores of Lake Niassa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia. I will be living out of the 4WD, digging my loos & burning my loo-paper [yah!], no blow dryers [arrrrghhhh!], showering out of a bucket on a tree. I am so excited about seeing Africa! I feel so hugely fortunate that I have the opportunity to do something like this. It’s not everyday someone opens their car door to you and says jump in :-). It also feels a bit surreal to be packing up so suddenly. The first two weekends of the trip will be Easter and then my birthday!

Ohh. And I’m thinking about shaving my hair! I’ve always wanted to. And now seems like it would be the time to do it if I’m ever to. But I’m scared. I’m sure mum would be happy to know that I’m more frightened of shaving my head than of traveling to these “crazy African countries”.

So that’s it for living, breathing, eating, sleeping in South Africa.
Now on to living [outside for at least two months], breathing [in the energy of Africa], eating [around a camp stove], and sleeping [in a tent on the roof of a 4x4...cant sleep on the ground, a lion might eat me, or i might get bopped on the head my an elephant! That's Africa baby!].

Ride it like you stole it.
Kx