Adventures in East London, South Africa

Last night Iain and I arrived in Durban from East London on the South Coast of South Africa after a 10 hour bus ride.

We went to East London to meet some of Iain’s family. His Aunt, Uncle and one of his cousins live there. This was the first time I was able to meet the Crowder family and we were very happy staying with them over the two weeks we were in town.

The most memorable part of East London (aside from spending time with some of the Bundy side of the family) was visiting The Lion Park. We had the opportunity on the last day of our visit to hold a nine-week-old white lion cub named Sasha. What a beautiful creature she was. We got to play with her for about 20 minutes and even got to cuddle her. She felt like a warm, live teddy bear with white fur and blue eyes.

The Lion Park itself sells these Lions to other game reserves for about 50,000 Rand (South African currency), which is about $6000 CND. I wanted to buy one to take it home but unfortunately had nowhere to put it. Our appartment is a little too small and I don't think my parents want it in their back yard, even though they were talking about getting a dog. I also got to feed a giraffe and it kissed my face! I didn’t expect the giraffe to be so fearless and accidentally screamed in its face when it wrapped its foot-long black warm prickly tong around my hand. Poor thing. I didn’t mean to tramatize it. It lost its appetite for a while until I apologized and gave it a handful of yummy veggie pellets.



We were very happy to spend some time in East London and enjoyed a side trip to Port Elizabeth for a night to meet with another of Iain’s cousins, Mike. He’s 6’7”! There were quite a few relatives there and we enjoyed a nice lunch getting to know some of them. It had been 25 years since Iain had seen them.

What are we going to miss most about that leg of the trip? Obviously the family we left behind who welcomed us so wholeheartedly into their homes, but also the beaches, the little lion cub Sasha, and the three cats and two dogs that we became friends with while staying with Becky and Neville. Needless to say, with three cats in the house and Iain and I both being allergic to them, our most purchased item those two weeks was antihistamine.

Thanks Crowder Family for a wonderful visit and for some valuable family time.

We're now off to explore the streets of Durban. I hear there is a professional surfing competition in town this week. Maybe I'll enter to see if I can win... stay tuned to find out what happens to us next. Oh ya, and I ripped off one of my toe nail in a swinging door. That was really pleasant. Hopefully we have no more injuries for a while! Wish us luck!

Thoughts from Another Country

It’s interesting what happens to a person when they are away from home and have time to think. You get a chance to reflect on your life, your direction and what brought you to where you are today.

Looking back at everything that I did, had and was I find myself feeling two things. One, that I have had great fortune in my life. That God has looked down on me for some reason and gave me a life where I was successful in my job, had many good friends, precious time with my family, my own house and car, a loving husband, happy marriage and my health. Now I have the chance to travel the world and experience things that most people in their entire lives would never even dream of.

But then I realize that a lot of my success was also because of the decisions I’ve made along the way. My success came not from luck alone but from hard work, determination, faith in my abilities, an open mind and the willingness to improve and grow. My house, my car, my possessions and the ability to travel came from years of planning, making hard decisions and sacrifices to reach my financial goals.

When I was 18 years old I sat down and wrote a five year financial plan for myself, determined to have enough money to buy a house by the time I was 23. Did I have to give up a lot in order to achieve that dream? Not really. It just took more disciplined planning. I knew that my end result would be sometime good and that I would have earned it myself. But I also knew that sacrifices were going to be necessary in order to have something bigger in the end.

Now I’m sitting here again envisioning what I want for myself. I have nothing anymore. All my possessions are gone. We’ve sold our house, car, boat and are unemployed. This means that I get a fresh start at life. What do I want to accomplish in my life now? The most joy that I have found hasn’t come from the possessions I’ve owned. In fact, I haven’t felt true freedom until they were all gone.

My desires have changed from one type of success to another. I would like to start my own business when I get home. I would like to be my own boss. I would like to help my husband realize his dreams. I would like to raise some children who have solid values, understand the importance of hard work and determination. I want to allow them to dream and to support those dreams.

I want my kids to find kindness and love in the world, and show love and kindness to the world. When they are old enough I will travel with them so they can put into perspective the quality of their lives, their many blessings and the good fortune of being born and raised in such an advanced, safe and beautiful country with tremendous opportunities.

I want to share with the world the opportunities that await those who want to discover them and take those opportunities to learn something about life and more so about themselves. I will continue to push myself to achieve more, to learn more, to be more, because I want to know what my capacity for life is. Traveling has helped me realize one of my life goals, push myself to overcome fears that I wouldn’t have overcome otherwise, and to appreciate parts of my life that I had taken for granted.

While reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill I came across this poem:

I bargained with Life for a penny
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.

For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.

This poem reminded me that we have the power to choose where our lives take us. That our dreams and desires can be achieved if only we have the courage to seek and act on them. A person’s determination and vision of their achievements help them to realize those visions as reality, and the only person that stops you from living out those goals, dreams or desires, is yourself.

From someone who’s done it herself, I encourage you to take that leap of faith to realize your dreams if you haven’t already. If you have a dream of doing anything, whether it be to travel the world, write a book, be the next great inventor, learn a new language or simply take the cooking class you have always wanted to try, step up and do it. Life does not wait for us to get our acts together. It’s up to us, and us alone, to take action and get it done.

Cape Town Reviewed: My Scoring 8.5/10 and Two Thumbs up!

I have traveled to many places in the world and have never found a city I’ve liked as much as my hometown, Vancouver. Cape Town offers a great variety to food and wine lovers, nature lovers, adventure tourists and shoppers, culture and art enthusiasts and even history buffs. The scenery is breathtaking and the weather is sunny and warm. Almost every direction you look, you can see both the ocean and the mountains at all times.

The Food
Never a shortage of variety and always the freshest ingredients, Cape Town is a food lover’s dream. A decedent freshly caught seafood meal with wine and tip in an upscale area costs around $10 USD per person. Indian, Thai, Chinese, African and various other nationalities of food types can easily be found. Best of all, most meals are healthy, helping you maintain your current belt size.

The Wine
Driving through the wine lands of South Africa makes you feel more like you’re driving through Italy in the 1800’s. We had the great pleasure of visiting about six different well respected wineries including Groot Constantia, Klien Constantia, Spier, Stellenbosch, Altydgedacht, and Durbanville Hills.

Of these, the highlights for us included tasting the Wine of Kings at Klien Constantia (Napoleon Bonaparte and Henry VIII drank these) and seeing the cheetahs and eagles of Spier. Over the years, Spier changed from a simple winery to an exciting and luxurious family attraction. Its beautiful restaurants, bird rescue sanctuary, cheetah reserve and picturesque picnic areas make it a winery next to none.

The Beaches
There are several hundred kilometers of beach in every direction around Cape Town. We had the pleasure of visiting several of these, most of which are accessible by train. Boulders Beach is famous for its wild African penguins, Simon’s Town for its naval base, St. James for its family atmosphere and Muizenberg for its Surfer’s Corner. The beaches are rarely crowded and if you can handle the cold water, you’ll find a brisk dunk in the ocean extremely revitalizing.

The Transportation
There are only three ways to get around Cape Town and its surrounding areas: by train, by cab, or by car. There is no public transit system and you'll find yourself walking long distances to get to your desired location or spending a lot of money on cabs unless you have your own car to get around. Iain and I took the train many days to get downtown and to various beaches (a feat that most locals who’ve lived in Cape Town would never try) and were fortunate enough to have made two friends who showed us around regularly. We are grateful to those people who were our gracious hosts and allowed us to thoroughly enjoy Cape Town’s many offerings.

The Culture
I found the people to be very friendly and expressive for a large city. Most times, I find people in major cities to be impersonal and conservative. Yet in Cape Town I found people to express themselves through their colorful clothes, friendly words, body language, mannerisms and free spirits. There are 11 official languages in South Africa so taking the train is fun because of the many dialects you’ll hear.

Unfortunately, due to many years of racism, civil and tribal wars and apartheid, there is still a pretty obvious separation between different races and languages. Overall, the people are lovely and you can see their sense of the pride in the way they present themselves.

We did get to experience one great night of culture at the Kirstenbosch Music Festival where many local artists played their songs and all people, regardless of colour, mixed and enjoyed a night of self expression and great tunes. The vibe was comfortable and happy and we enjoyed every minute of being there.

The Attractions:

Cape Point – The most southern point of the cape area that you can get to by road, Cape Point is famous for its shipwrecks and storms. This is a beautifully scenic place of rocky cliffs, beaches, parks and ocean.

Table Mountain – one of the most famous attractions in all of South Africa, Table Mountain is five times older than the Himalayas. It is believed that Table Mountain used to be an island millions of years ago and has become one of the biggest producers of flora in the world. There are an estimated 50,000 different species of flowers and plants in this area. Plus being above cloud level makes the views stunning.

V&A Waterfront – This is a hip and lively area by the bay in Downtown Cape Town. Here you can shop, eat, drink, boat, go to the aquarium and even watch movies for about two dollars. Fun markets, crafts and music can be found all over this area. It’s not uncommon to see people eating an ice cream while people watching here.

The Aquarium – Found at the V&A Waterfront, the Aquarium is a charming display of the many creatures found around the Cape. Everything from starfish and sharks to penguins and giant sea turtles can be found within. Though this seems to be a major attraction for kids and families, the Cape Town Aquarium is such a pleasure it shouldn’t be missed by anyone.

Kirstenbosch – Kirstenbosch was one of my favorite spots in Cape Town. This is a beautiful garden with walking trails, picnic spots, outdoor concerts, restaurants and happy people relaxing or reading under the trees. It’s a spot to enjoy nature, listen to some music or just spend a day picnicking with your friends.

Outdoor Recreation – If you want to shark dive, this is the place to do it. A two hour drive from Cape Town will give you the largest breading ground of Great White Sharks in the world. There is also great biking, horse back riding, hiking, surfing, windsurfing, bungee jumping, cliff jumping and a whole lot more. If you like outdoor sports and recreation, this is the place to be. The weather is practically perfect eight months of the year so you have a good chance to get out and about.

Shopping – Malls seem to be a specialty in Cape Town. If you want the latest in style and fashion, you can find it here. Cape Town is also a Mecca for bargaining markets. Long Street has the coolest vibe and is great for the 18-35 year old crowd while theV&A Waterfront is the most well rounded for the shopper who wants a little bit of everything.

Rhodes Memorial –Rhodes University was named after S. Rhodes who was known for being one of the most wealthy and ruthless South Africans to ever rule. His memorial was build to remind the world of his strength and power. Sitting on top of a mountain overlooking Cape Town, this monument is even more impressive in person so well worth a visit.

Improvements Required
Everything about Cape Town was enjoyable minus two things that stood out. With no public transportation system it became difficult for tourists to get around. Unfortunately the government hasn’t offered any kind of bus system, mainly due to cost and safety.

Safety was the other area that could be improved. Most people don't go for walks at night and there are many cases of muggings, break ins, theft and high jacking. We met two people in the two weeks we were there who had been high jacked in their car at gunpoint, taken for a ride and then robbed of all their money, cell phones and cars.

However if you can avoid getting yourself into dangerous situations (such as walking at night alone), are able to rent a car or get a ride, and simply be street smart, I would highly recommend Cape Town as a destination to visit. We had a blast and it had everything an outdoor loving city girl could wish for.