Stories Behind the Photos: South Africa

Traveler’s Rest

Well, we are in the middle of farm land surrounded by mountains littered with boulders. Sheep are our neighbors, and the cows break our water pipes when they step on them!

Elandsbaai Beach

Misty days on the beach led to exploration and fresh food! Arjan knew of this sought after surfing spot at Elandsbaai, and going through beach withdrawal from not playing any volleyball tournaments this summer, I gladly ran through the sand, collecting mussels from the rocks at low tide. Later in the afternoon, a few local surfers had a fire started, so we combined forces and roasted some mussels right there.

Mondo to the Rescue

At least keep a mondo in your car if you don’t keep track of the fuel in your vehicle – or get lucky that the other tiny car did and was headed into town (20 minutes away over a mountain pass) as well.

Saved by the pad Round II:

Rental cars can lock themselves with their keys in the back. Luckily, the pad kept the door slightly unlatched just enough to carefully slide a wire up and into the car, drag it closer, and press the unlock button. The closest spare key was 12 hours away…

FOOD!!!

The food in Cape Town is amazing. Mmm ok, more like the food in South Africa is amazing. No joke!

We’ve been surfing south of the city at Muizenburg, meandered through waterfront markets near downtown, had perfectly fluffy pastries from local bakeries, bartered with aspiring artists, and ended a few days with wine and fresh fish at the Codfather. This restaurant has opened my heart to seafood!

Muisbosskerm – Restaurant at Lampertsbaai

Pace yourself. This unique restaurant on the beach only opens upon request, serving buffet style braai of seafood caught that day. We had a flawless sunset, fun group of friends, and most of us ended up in a food coma.

So cheap. So good. This combo of “avo in the arvo” with the Aussies has been clutch for our days out at the boulders.

Need 40+ people to gather for a spit braai? No problem. Early on in the trip, Dr. Kelder Bar in town roasted a lamb for the climbers visiting the area to experience some amazingly smoky, tender local meat.