bloukrans jump video - USA!

the name of the video on youtube is "Blaukrans jump by Hal Sandstrom". You can find it by searching youtube.com for "Blaukrans jump". The real name of the bridge is Bloukrans, so my video should be near the top of a fairly short list of me & some Germans who also think they know better how to translate "blue cliffs" into pidgeon dutch.

I have to say I can't stand how I look in all the various closeups, but I thought my dive form was not bad. My jump happened during a nice weather break in an otherwise stormy day. They gave me a free shot of tequila and a cup of coffee in the "Cliffhanger's Cafe" before setting out. The views of the snow-covered Tsitsikamma mountains from the catwalk & jump site were at once uplifiting and calming. Despite how I look in the video, I was not overly scared. I'd watched roughly a dozen people jump before me. Once airborne the feeling was amazing. My jump group was fun and mutually supportive, and the face-adrenalin staff were fantastic. This should not be missed if you're ever driving the Garden Route.

football update: we caught the final 30 minutes of USA - Algeria at a Logan gate area bar this morning upon completing 24 hours of flying (Cape Town - Jo'burg - Atlanta - Boston). we were so psyched! Some Logan travelers seemed to know why Raisa and I were blowing our vuvuzelas (plastic "impala horns") in the terminal at the moment of victory, but generally mercans are still oblivious to world sport.

well done Landon! now we must get our revenge on Ghana for what happened in '06. hopefully later on we'll get revenge on Germany for what happened in '02.

This will most likely be my last posting on this blog. I hope it's brought a little South African winter cool to my vast and adoring readership. send comments! Ayoba!

The Cape Peninsula

Again, hard to describe how absolutely stunning the land and seascapes are here.



At left, flying the stars & stripes atop Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town. Vertigo has new meaning for me now.

Sad to be leaving this country tomorrow, but still have our township visit in the morning to look forward to.

I'm in the midst of uploading the bungy video but it looks like it will take all night. If it completes ok I'll try to post the link before heading out. otherwise,

see y'all stateside

while waiting for a whale sighting...

... I pirated this whale photo from the hard disk on the guest house's public computer. what a beautiful place, Hermanus. not quite the southernmost point in Africa, but darn close. the southern right whales are just starting to appear for their winter layover and the town's all aflurry. it's pretty hard to spot them this early in the season though, and so we don't hold out much hope to see one in the morning (only here one night) before our very punctual guide Eric spirits us away to Cape Town.

talking football, the country is in mourning after last night's 3-0 loss to Uruguay. some English guys in the guest house this evening said kids were bricking cars on the airport road in Cape Town this morning (eye witnesses). everyone's still looking forward to Mexico - France within the hour though. with a draw in that match S. Africa remain alive.

tomorrow night we'll see England vs. Algeria in Cape Town - Africa needs wins. once in town we'll try to catch up with Santhosh and Rashmi.

this country is indescribably beautiful, everywhere you turn

my phone number in south africa

at long last I'm at a computer and have my number on me:

+27 073 09 39356

hopefully you'll see this Santhosh! if not we're staying in Huis Haarlem near Greenpoint as of tomorrow (Friday the 18th).

bungy jumping is great, video forthcoming on youtube

world cup commences

in durban now, caught the south africa - mexico match at the fan park at the beach last night, what a scene

here's Wanda on the patio in front of our "tent" back at Zulu Nyala, sporting her new mama ti africa cap

st lucia estuary

St. Lucia estuary is nothing less than spectacular. At left is a Giant Kingfisher (probably about 8in length), gorgeous. Plenty of hippos performing all sorts of humorous antics, especially showing off their huge teeth to each other at close range. Also saw crocs (one monster), a water monitor lizard (about 4 ft long), river eagles fishing next to the boat, hornbills, hoopoes, herons... in a beautiful setting of hibiscus and mangrove.

Wrapping things up here in Zulu Nyala, it's been amazing. Missing out on lions is somewhat disappointing, but not what I would call a "regret". Saw plenty of leopards and cheetahs, and hyenas were great too. Lots of male animals fighting over females.

I got my in country phone number but don't have it right here now, will post it next time.

hluhluwe-mfolozi

no picture today, just a quick update:

- almost got charged by a rhino during our walking safari yesterday evening
- spent the day at Hluhluwe-Mfolozi National Park today - stunning. missed out on the lions, but saw baboons and some impressive male elephants, a group of four rhinos, and a vast, beautiful landscape of hills, mountains, and four rivers
- viewed a fight between two male giraffes this evening, close range, brutal

go Celts!

day 2 at ZN

This is our ranger William. We're very fortunate to have him as he is a local guy and most of the other rangers here are European. He is amazing. In a day and a half he's exposed all the major animals the ZN reserve (7 square miles) has to offer: elephants, cheetahs, leopards, white rhino, cape buffalo, and "general game" as he calls the rest. His depth and breadth of knowledge about the animals and plants is impressive. He was especially amazing last night during our leopard drive, managing the wheel while holding a spotlight and spotting all kinds of nocturnal animals.

here we are

we made it to Zulu Nyala Safari Camp. yay! it's awesome. first game drive was yesterday, fantastic. internet time is expensive here, but just thought you'd enjoy this mom-to-be giraffe holding her head high. the weather is here, ... etc

AWOL

there's always an x-factor lurking out there - in this case it's a daughter (I won't say which) who disappeared about 12 hours ago - she's still not here but she called in this morning to say she's on her way - won't say where she's been - thank goodness we're all adults now - I think can actually feel the hairs going grey

ETD 2:30pm today

update: she's home! turns out she had to go to Worcester where there's a guy in charge of reforesting the city after the Asian horned beetle fiasco. all systems go!

preparing to leave

with seven airports in our itinerary I've decreed that there will be only carry-on luggage. this is causing some stress... I mean, the hair products alone...

thanks in advance to Gordon H. for the chauffeur service to Logan - a happy start

revs 3 red bulls 2, burpo's broken leg

the beautiful game. sometimes not. strangely the match between the revs and red bulls last night in Foxboro was both.

the ugly: revs' keeper Preston Burpo's horrific collision with Dane Richards, his tibia snapped, the sickening sound, the foot flapping in the air, Burpo waving to the sidelines before he even landed - I never wanted to see or hear that again after experiencing my own daughter's similar injury in a club match at Noble & Greenough back in '04.

the beautiful: Shalrie Joseph returns to the revs, leads them to victory, two beautiful assists. four great goals and one own goal by the red bulls.

regrouping now, getting ready for South Africa, our flight is Thursday. wondering if Sonya's titanium tibia will set off the metal detectors at all the various the airports we'll pass through - Logan, Atlanta, Jo-burg, Richards Bay, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town.