Before flying to Cape Town we spent one more day in Pretoria, checking out various things of interest. We then stayed in Stellenbosch for one night before moving into Cape Town itself for two days. Unfortunately, the weather prevented us from going up Table Mountain, but we still enjoyed our time there. We went on a guided bus tour of the Cape Town area and also walked around quite a lot in this beautiful city.

November 15, Wednesday

I woke up before 07.00 but just stayed in bed to read what the "Rough Guide" and "Lonely Planet" said about Pretoria and Stellenbosch. In the restaurant/bar we ordered some breakfast and it was really good. We talked quite a lot with the owner, who we assumed had just gotten out of bed since he was walking around in a bathrobe. As for our plans for the rest of trip, we decided to opt for the Kalahari desert and spent some time sending e-mails to the two tour companies to check if they were running a tour next Monday and had any vacancies on it.

Around 10.30 we went out to see Pretoria. The first attraction was actually located next door to Kia-Ora. The Melrose House is a museum that gives you the opportunity to see the inside of a house from the 19th century. We seemed to be the only visitors there. On the other side of the street was nice the Burger Park and we walked through it to get to City Hall, which was a huge and impressive building to look at. On the opposite side of the street was the Transvaal museum.

We then walked further down to the Tourist information in Church Street The woman who worked there was very happy when we came in. Apparently they don't have too many visitors, because she was very helpful and didn't seem to want us to leave :-)

The centre of Pretoria is pretty nice and it seemed perfectly safe to walk around during daytime. There are lots of other people there during business hours, but as in other South African cities, when the clock is close to five, most people go home and the town looks deserted and doesn't feel safe. However, on many corners there were guards hired by the city to assist people who might need help, especially tourists. I liked that arrangement, which made me feel safer.

In a shopping complex we found a cinema and decided to see a film. We chose "Basketball and Love" and bought tickets for the 14.30 show. Since we had some time before the movie started, we went to the Transvaal museum and had a quick look at the exhibitions there. Being short on time, we had a quick lunch (sausage roll) at "King Pie", a place I had wanted to try for a while, before returning to the cinema.

I liked the film. When it finished at 16.45, the streets were starting to empty, so we just went back to Kia-Ora. Our only plans for the evening was to check the e-mail and have some dinner in the restaurant. There were only a few people in the bar and we were again wondering if nobody else stayed here. We had to wait a while for the food, but it turned out to be well worth waiting for. We had baby chicken peri peri with fries and salad. The plate was the size of a small tray and it was too much food for us, but it tasted very good! We told the chef it was the best chicken we had ever tasted when he came to get our plates. This made him very happy and he wanted us to write in the guest book, something which we had actually done already on the previous night. Jan Arild had even written that the food was very good at Kia-Ora. The chef was very pleased and said he would look at it from time to time to remember us :-)

On checking our e-mail, there was a reply from Livingstone Trails saying that they had room for us on the Kalahari trip leaving next Monday. That was good news! It was 23.00 before we went to bed.

November 16, Thursday

We got up around 07.00, packed our stuff and went down to enjoy a good breakfast while we waited for someone to take us to the airport. The boss asked us if we just wanted to keep our safety box since we were coming back to Kia-Ora after the Kalahari tour. This seemed like a good idea and put all our rolls of film and Konrad the wooden hippo in there. We also decided to leave the airplane tickets, since we wouldn't need them for a while yet. We were driven to the airport at 08.30 and we got there at 09.15 for R75 p.p.

Check-in was fast, which gave us lots of time to walk around trying to find a Computicket office to buy bus tickets to Upington, where the Kalahari tour was starting. I was so sure I had seen one the day I met Jan Arild on the airport, but I must have been mistaken because we didn't find it. We did however find a tourist information and they gave us the timetable for the Intercape bus company. Just to be on the safe side, Jan Arild gave them a call and booked two tickets from Cape Town to Upington on Sunday night.

Our flight was one hour delayed (due to "rotation", whatever that is supposed to mean) and changed gate three times so we did a lot of walking before we could finally board. It was a huge plane with 10 people in a row! I had bought a book on different reptiles of Southern Africa and was planning to learn the characteristics of the most poisonous ones during our two hour flight to Cape Town.

Our main reason for going to Cape Town was that Jan Arild had scheduled a meeting at a company called Denel on Friday. He was representing the Norwegian Defence Establishment (FFI) and they were going to discuss some issues of mutual interest. A scientist called Frikkie was going to pick us up at the airport and he was waiting for us in the arrival hall, holding a sign that said: "Dr. Jan Teland". I think he was slightly surprised when Jan Arild introduced us, as he probably had expected someone older, or at least someone that looked older :-)

Frikkie was very nice and we had a lot to talk about on the way to Stellenbosch where we were staying at the Stumble Inn Backpackers. Frikkie was not very impressed with our choice of accommodation, and neither were we really. It was untidy and a little dirty but good enough for one night. We had a double room (R150) and shared bathroom with all the other people there. Before leaving, Frikkie invited us out to dinner that night together with his wife.

We had in fact been in Stellenbosch on the Drifters tour last year, but the city seemed to look different this time. Maybe because last time we came directly from wine tasting on one of the vineyards? :-) However, we did recognise the place we had eaten lunch - The Dros. Stellenbosch is a nice town with beautiful architecture in a wonderful setting. It must be one of the nicest South African cities I have seen, because usually they are nothing special.

At The tourist information they had an Internet café and we spent some time writing e-mails to family and friends. For a light lunch, we stopped by a pancake restaurant and had a snack.

Back at the hotel we waited for Frikkie and his wife to pick us up. Just as we walked out the front door ten minutes early they pulled up, perfect timing! His wife was very nice and outgoing just like Frikkie. She had even read a book by a late Norwegian writer called Sigrid Undset (of course very famous in Norway). I was impressed! They gave us a quick tour of Stellenbosch before taking us to a very nice restaurant called "De Wijnhuis".

They had both studied at the university here and had lots to tell us. Both of them were also very interested in Norway and life there, and much of the night was spent comparing life in Norway and South Africa. It was great to be able to ask all the questions we had about South Africa and discuss how things work there with someone having first hand experience.

The restaurant was very nice and luxurious, obviously a bit on the expensive side. Frikkie knew a lot about wines (not surprisingly considering where they lived) and chose wines which we both thought were quite good. To eat we had Kudu as appetizer, chicken breast for the main course and then chocolate cake for dessert. The food was delicious (but I still prefer the living Kudus) and the conversation flew well between us. It was the nicest dinner I have ever had with someone I didn't know before. They dropped us off outside the hotel at 22.40. Jan Arild and me then sat outside in the back yard for a while, talking and looking at the stars before going in.

While Jan Arild was in the bathroom I was lying on the bed looking out the open window. Outside our window was a porch, which everyone could easily access from the street. Further, our window couldn't be locked, so in principle anybody could just climb straight in. Anyway, as I was looking out, I discovered that a man was standing in the shadow of a tree on the other side of the road. I turned the lights off so I could see better what he was up to, because I thought he looked a little suspicious. He just stood there for a long time until suddenly he started walking across the street directly towards our window. I was afraid he was going to break in, and ran to the bathroom to fetch Jan Arild.

On coming back, the guy was sitting right outside our window and I didn't like it one bit! Finally I got the courage to ask him what he was doing outside our window at this time of night. It turned out he was hired as a security guard to look after the cars outside! Hmmmm... paranoid me? Probably! But, then again, you usually expect a security guard to wear a uniform and have a badge, but not so with this guy :-)

However, I slept well throughout the night with the window shut!

November 17, Friday

I woke up at 07.00 but didn't get out of bed. My brother got up at 07.30 because Frikkie was picking him up at 08.00. Today Jan Arild would be shown around Denel to see what they where doing and answer some questions on a paper he had written. Therefore I was spending the day on my own.

I didn't have to check out before 11.00 and was planning to stay in the room as long as I could since it was raining heavily outside and I had already seen most of Stellenbosch. When Jan Arild had left (through the window) I got up and took a quick shower. Unfortunately, one of the other guests appeared to have thrown up in the bathroom, which almost made me feel sick! I then packed our things and spent the rest of the time reading before checking out precisely at 11.00.

It was still raining heavily, so the first thing I did was to walk (very fast) up to the Internet café. It didn't take long but I was soaked when I got there. It took about one hour to dry up and do the e-mailing I had planned. It wasn't raining as much now, so I went to the centre of town to have a look in some shops just to pass the time.

When I found a cinema inside a shopping mall I got very happy. I asked for a ticket to a film that ended around 14.00 and the only film was "Coyote Ugly". This was a perfect opportunity because I had wanted to see it, but it was definitely not Jan Arild's type of film. The film turned out to be very predictable, but okay to pass the time with. However, I was a little nervous in the end when the clock was 14.00 and the film wasn't finished yet, but at 14.05 I ran out of the cinema and down to the Stumble Inn. Of course they were already there waiting for me! I'm usually never late, so Jan Arild had started worrying that I had been mugged or something. I felt really bad!

Well, anyway everything was fine, so we got our backpacks, said goodbye to Stellenbosch and headed for Cape Town. Another guy from Denel was driving us and he had been given strict orders by Frikkie to make sure we settled in okay in Cape Town.

Yesterday we had booked a room at St. John's Backpackers Lodge in Sea Point, where we had also stayed last year. We could choose between two rooms and got a nice one close to the bathroom. I was excited to see if they had gotten rid of the cockroaches in the kitchen from last year, and they were in fact working on it at the moment. An exterminator had been at work and the whole kitchen still smelled of chemicals!

Jan Arild told me that the meeting had been very interesting. There was also one amusing thing: Denel had turned out to be located near the highway into Cape Town. On arriving, Jan Arild suddenly remembered that on driving into Cape Town last year, our guide Kurt had pointed out exactly these buildings and told him that "You should go there, man, because this is where they do work on all the secret weapons and stuff, man....it's real cool." At that time, Jan Arild was not aware of Denel, so he found it quite amusing that he would, in fact, be visiting them only a little more than a year later!

First we had to find out if "Livingstone Trails" had answered our mail about booking the Kalahari trip and went out to find an Internet café. There was one close to the lodge. Everything was fine regarding the tour and they were going to pick us up in Upington 09.00 on Monday.

Jan Arild had eaten lunch at Denel, whereas I hadn't eaten all day, so I bought something at a supermarket and brought it back to the room. Jan Arild then called his boss at FFI to tell him about the meeting, while I enjoyed my Cantaloupe melon.

Around 17.00 we decided to go down to the Waterfront. The weather was quite nice now, so we ended up walking the whole way, taking us about an hour. Lots of other people were also out walking along the sea. Victoria and Alfred shopping centre was just like I remembered it :-) I love that place! However, It was a bit strange with all the Christmas decorations everywhere, since I had the feeling of being on summer holiday. It felt wrong. The weather is not supposed to be like this during Christmas! I have always felt a little sorry for people who have to celebrate Christmas in shorts and t-shirts.

We bought a CD each and then looked for somewhere to eat. It was quite difficult to decide on a place because there were so many nice places to choose from, but we ended up at Ardi`s and had a great meal. We also celebrated that Jan Arild had been here a week already and the time had just flown away! Must be because we were having so much fun all the time!

Around 21.00 we took the bus home and went to bed rather early because we were both tired. Slept well.

November 18, Saturday

I woke up early, but stayed in bed until 08.00. Unfortunately, the weather outside was bad, so we realized that there would be no point in going up the Table Mountain today. Tomorrow would therefore be our last chance to see the spectacular view from the top, and I was feeling quite optimistic about it. After all, this was our second time in Cape Town and we couldn't possibly be unlucky with the weather every time?

We needed to wash our clothes before the Kalahari trip and conveniently they had a laundry room at St. John's. The washing instructions on the machine were rather difficult to interpret, but luckily a cleaning lady was there and showed us how things worked. While waiting for our clothes we looked at some brochures and read the information that was hanging on the walls. There was a lot of stuff about things to do in Cape Town and the surrounding area, but also about different tours around South Africa. The people who ran the place were also around and were more than happy to suggest things to do in Cape Town on a rainy day.

While the clothes were in the tumble dryer, we wrote postcards to friends and family at home. Finally, around 10.20 our clothes were clean, or at least cleaner, and we went out to find a place to eat breakfast. We found a café in a nearby street and sat down outside, but it was windy and after a while it got very cold.

We had decided to do a sightseeing tour of Cape Town with a "hop on, hop off" bus, so we went down to the Beach Road to catch the bus at 11.25. We waited together with some other people, but when the bus finally arrived, it just drove past us without stopping! All of us were a little surprised, but knowing that the bus started down on the Waterfront, we decided to go down there and try our luck. Conveniently, a minibus taxi to the Waterfront arrived and we got in. This was our first ride in a minibus taxi and it was no problem at all. It cost us R2.50 to the Waterfront and the guy drove very nicely.

At the Tourist information we complained about the bus not stopping, and were told that they had received other complaints and would do something about it. A two-hour tour with Topless tours left at 13.00 and we decide to try this one. We bought tickets on the bus (R60) that would take us to and past everything worth seeing in the city. It didn't rain, but it was a little cold and windy to sit on the upper deck.

We were only 8 passengers on the bus and could choose from the best seats. However, after 20 minutes, three people got off, and it was almost embarrassing how few we were left. Especially since the guide was very good. We sat on the roof of the double decker with hair blowing in all directions and it didn't feel much like summer, but it was worth it! We drove through downtown and saw lots of interesting and important buildings, before climbing Signal Hill and stopping to look at the view. It was still cloudy, but sometimes you could see the city centre and even as far as Robben Island.

The tour then continued down to Camps Bay and Clifton Bay, where all the rich people live. I'm seriously considering getting a holiday home there! :-) The tour ended back at the Waterfront and we felt it had been definitely worth the money.

I was hungry and Ardy`s from yesterday was close, so we paid them another visit. They have so much good food to choose from and eventually we decided to buy two different meals and share them. From the window we could see straight out to some Zulu dancers performing in the square. We saw that in Zululand last year, but it was still fascinating to see again.

To burn some calories we walked around in the shopping mall for a while. At 17.15 a film called "The Replacement" started and we bought tickets for the show. It wasn't very good, but at least we laughed one or two times.

We then had some slices of pizza before taking the bus home. At St. John's all the other backpackers were watching TV, and we thought it must be a good show since they choose to stay home instead of going out. Slept well again.

November 19, Sunday

The first thing I did when I woke up was to look out the window to see what the weather was like. It didn't look too good, so it seemed there would be no trip to Table Mountain this year either. Consequently I would have to come back another time for that!

After taking a shower and packing, we were ready to check out at 09.30. However, there were no people in the reception so we sat down to read some magazines and wait. We also called home to remind them that we were going to the Kalahari for a week and probably wouldn't get a chance to contact them for a while. Finally, we called Yebo Backpackers in Upington to ask them to pick us up at the bus station. The woman said she had already arranged to pick up some other people from the bus who were going on the same tour, so this was no problem.

Eventually a girl that apparently lives permanently at St. John's woke up and said that she could check us out. We also arranged to leave our backpacks at the hostel and come back for them later. Before going out, we wrote in the "memory book" about St. John's. It was a shame the exterminator didn't manage to kill all the cockroaches, we wrote, other than that we were happy with our stay.

The weather was suddenly much better and the sun came out. We found a nice café to eat breakfast at (chicken and mayo sandwich) which was really good. Today we had decided to visit Camps Bay on foot to take a closer look at the scenery and the houses. The sun was shining and it was really hot (not a good day to be dressed in black).

Some of the houses have their own miniature funicular cars the people can ride in so they don't have to walk the steep stairs up to their houses. Lazy people :-) It was a nice area and I understand completely why people want to live there. I found several houses I'd like to live in, especially one that almost hung from the mountain and down close over the sea.

On our way back we stopped at McDonald's to have a milkshake and figure out what to do next. We decided that although the weather now was perfect, it was too late in the day to visit Table Mountain, Instead we decided to just continue our walk all the way down to the Waterfront. It was turning out to be quite a long walk. When we got to our destination my feet hurt and I could feel some new blisters, but it had been worth it.

There was a karate show in a square at the Waterfront and we sat for a while to watch them and rest our feet. Since we were spending the night on the bus to Upington, we bought some drinks and food for the trip. We also had to withdraw money to pay for the trip because Livingstone Trails preferred cash payment. With over 4000 Rand in our pockets, we didn't feel too comfortable walking around, so we took the bus back to Sea Point. However, the earlier busy and crowded streets were more deserted now on this Sunday afternoon, and the area didn't feel as safe, especially now that we were carrying a large amount of money. However, nothing happened, and although we had some trouble finding an open restaurant, we succeed in the end and could return to St. John's at 16.40.

The guy from the Backpacker bus arrived and drove us down to the bus station. It only cost us R20. We easily found the Intercape office and Jan Arild collected the tickets while I looked after the luggage. The price was R130 for one student from Cape Town to Upington, which is pretty cheap. The double decker bus left on time (18.00) and we sat back and relaxed. Both of us were starting to feel sun burned, and my cheeks felt warm. Jan Arild said I looked very red, but so did he! The hostess welcomed everyone on the bus and said she hoped God would protect us on this journey. Never heard that before but it was still nice. (Maybe she didn't completely trust the driver? :-)).

Unfortunately, the bus eventually became completely full and there were three (white) South African youths who sat near us that were a complete nuisance to all the other passengers. I think they must rate as some of the least intelligent people I have ever been near, so in that respect the bus journey could be looked upon as an interesting experience. On the other hand, I would rather have had some more sleep than listening to their infantile rambling and shouting throughout the night. Jan Arild was really worried that these were the other people on the bus going on the Kalahari tour, and said he would cancel the whole thing if this turned out to be the case! We were both relieved when they left the bus at the last stop before Upington.