The Cape Town Blues

Cape Town, South Africa

I’m way behind in posting about my travels, but I’m jumping ahead in order to share what’s been happening in the last 24 hours here. Yesterday morning we arrived in South Africa in time to see a gorgeous sunrise over the continent. Unfortunately, that was the best part of the day. The winds were too high and the sees too rough for us to dock. We paced back and forth along the coast at Cape Town all day long. At first we thought things would die down by noon, but they didn’t, they actually seemed to pick up. Then they thought maybe by the late afternoon, but no. Then they said by 8pm, but same story – no. Finally, we went to bed sure we’d be on shore by early morning. Unfortunately, we woke this morning still at sea. It was a very disappointing day. We could see Cape Town, but couldn’t get there. The waves weren’t that bad, maybe 2-4 feet, but the winds were at around 40-50 knots yesterday.

Our path during the last 24 hours

Me with Cape Town in the background

Here’s how it works when we get to a port. As we arrive a small boat comes out to greet our ship and comes along side us, our crew opens up a little platform and a local expert jumps on our ship while we are still moving. This person is called the pilot. The pilot steers our ship into the dock. Apparently, the harbor at Cape Town is very narrow and rocky so they have to be more cautious then usual when landing.

This morning when I went out I was surprised we were still at sea because the waves and wind seems rather calm to me. Of course, what do I know about steering a ship? Anyway, it’s always to the pilot’s discretion if we can land or not. From what we heard our captain was getting impatient and trying to convince them to take us in. The latest news is the pilot is coming on board that we should be landed in a couple of hours. The biggest bummer about all this is that we miss a day and a half in South Africa, which for me it was one of the ports I was most excited about. I doubt we’ll get to make up the time on the other end due to costs. We have to pay for the berth space even if we can’t get there and apparently, it costs a fortune. I just learned yesterday that it costs a half a million dollars just to fill up our gas tank!

Staring out the window, wishing we were on land

Since yesterday was an unexpected free day I took two naps, played Apples to Apples with some students, tried to repair my broken camera (with no luck), wrote on my blog, took photos (with my functional camera), and generally lazed around. Everyone was doing the same thing. I’ve never seen so many card games and board games happening at once. I think everyone had at least one nap. For the most part the students were very patient and understanding about everything. However, if we don’t get off today I think there might be a mutiny. I might even participate.

Paddling the Wisconsin River

This past weekend Julie and I paddled the Wisconsin River from Spring Green to Muscoda. It was a wonderful, mellow weekend.

We got a late start on Saturday and didn't get to Spring Green until 2pm! I did the shuttle which meant driving our car to Muscoda and biking back to Spring Green. It was 22 miles and I was reminded that I'm out of biking shape! Next time I'm limiting the bike shuttle to 13-14 miles, otherwise we take two cars! I was so tired before we even got on the water. We finally got on at about 5:30pm. Our friends Jerry, Greta, and Lan Lan were in Spring Green for the weekend and had come to the boat launch/beach to swim. It was fun to run into them and they offered to take my bike back to Madison for me so I didn't have to leave it locked up at the boat launch. That was super nice of them.

Somehow we managed to paddle to the Lone Rock bridge by 7pm. 8 miles in 1.5 hours. That seemed fast even with the current, but it was a nice surprise to see the bridge. We camped a bit beyond it just as the sun was setting. Below is a photo of Julie paddling up to our campsite. Once in camp, Julie made some delicious chicken quesadillas for dinner and fueled us up for the next day.

sunset on Saturday night

We woke up to rain falling on Sunday morning and we waited for a lull around 8:30am to get up. Our timing was perfect. We were on the water at about 9:45am right when it started raining again. Paddling in the rain is much better than trying to pack up in the rain. With a paddling jacket and a brimmed hat you can barely tell it's raining on the water. Kayaking is a water sport after all, which means you're gonna get wet anyway!

We took a loungy break on a sandbar over the lunch hour and decided we much prefer outdoor vacations to city vacations. We were in Chicago a couple weeks ago and while that is fun, it's not rejuvinating like being outside is.

After lunch Julie learned to tow. Really it was just my excuse to get towed. hee-hee.

Julie practicing towing me

We finally mossied into Muscoda by 3pm. A great weekend!! Over the weekend we saw several bald eagles including one feeding it's babies in the nest. We also saw Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue Herons, turtles, a few minnows, and people tubing, canoes overflowing with garbage bags of gear, but mostly people just out having fun like us. On Wisconsin!