The world through our eyes

Ok... so clearly keeping a regular blog is not one of my strong points, although I will continue to try.

So we spent nearly a month in Argentina which was a week longer than we had originally planned but that's one of the perks of not having any plans locked in.

We flew into BA on the 28/12/11 and thought that New Year’s would have been a fantastic event in the Calendar of the city that never sleeps, this wasn't so much the case the city was dead quiet and we couldn't find anything happening. We rang in the New Year with some Zzzz, big party animals we are!!

Our first full week we enrolled in an Intensive Spanish course that had classes in the morning and afternoon which was far too much, it was just total overload and very expensive to boot. We had originally planned to do classes for 2 or 3 weeks but were just too much money in Buenos Aires so we decided to persevere with our limited vocab and if we want to we might enrol for a few weeks when we are in Bolivia or Peru as it’s a fraction of the price.

We the next two weeks we spent exploring the city which in beautiful, full of colonial architecture and cobblestone streets and a cafe on nearly every corner. BA can really put in on when it wants to and has so much on offer we found ourselves walking upwards of 10 kms a day just taking it all in.

After procrastinating a little over what course of travel we would take we decided that we would head to Iguazu falls for a few days and then head back to BA for a week before we headed over to Uruguay.

We took our first bus ride in South America, and can’t say a bad word. The trip takes approx. 17 hours so we opted for the Cama option, which means full bed. It doesn't quite recline all the way but more than enough to get a good night’s rest. As we took an afternoon bus we were served refreshments, dinner and breakfast.

Puerto Iguazu is a nice little town that clearly thriving on the tourist trade, although it absorbs the bus loads of people well it has odd layout where the 4 main streets all meet together at an intersection with no lights o round about. It’s a little weird buts is defiantly small enough for you to work out pretty quickly. This is serious siesta country and between 12.30pm and 4pm you are lucky to find somewhere open to buy a cold drink. We spent our first day just getting to know the town and enjoyed a couple of coldies before we had dinner. The following day we had a little sleep in before we got up and had breaky. We had a few things to do that day, we both needed washing done and also had to arrange our bus ticket back to BA and an extra night’s accommodation as we decided to stay in Iguazu for an extra night. On our third day we got up early and caught the local bus to the front of the National park, we wanted to make the most of our time in Iguazu. The weather was very average and rained all day but this wasn't such a bad thing as the previous few days were scorching hot and I would hate to be in the Jungle in that weather, I think it also keep some of the crowds at bay. When we arrived we caught the little train out through the park to the falls, the sound of the water falling from Devils throat is like nothing I have ever head. The spray that comes flying up is enough to soak you through but the energy is simply incredible.

We spent another good couple of hours walking around the park taking in all the falls, before we went on a boat trip. It was a lot of fun, the oat took you up underneath the falls, it was a lot of fun and a good experience but I wouldn't do it again for the money that asked for it. By this time we were soaked through and starting to get pretty tired and hungry so decided we had had enough for the day. We headed back and had a delicious lunch before catching the bus back into town.

We also had to change hostels, so we ducked back to collect our things before making our way to our new home for the night.

Our last day in Iguazu was a little like the rest, aside from the falls there is not a lot else to see, but is a lovely little place to spend a few day.

We took another overnight bus back to Buenos Aires, headed back to San Telco to spend a few nights, I love this area and although we had already been to Antiques fair we decided to go again as the first time was New Year’s Day and not as many vendors were there.

After a couple of nights we headed to Belgrano which is the last neighbourhood before you leave the capital of BA and get to the provinces, its full of lots of green space and beautiful grand houses after a few nights we finished out our last couple of Days in Palermo Soho, up and coming and soon to be the trendiest place in BA no doubt, it is already well on the way.

We caught an overnight Ferry/Bus combo to Montevideo, Uruguay. This wasnt quite as relaxing as the bus to and from Iguazu falls but plesent enough. The ferry is quite a large ship with a duty free shop on the lower level and a cafe upstairs. The only major downfall on the journey was when we arrived in Colonia we had to wait a good hour for our connecting bus, this wasn't advertised and by 3.30ish in the morning my patience wasn't at its highest but aside from that it was a pretty good experience.

NEXT STOP, Carnival Montevideo!

My first impression of Buenos Aires is fantastic. Its a beautiful city with fabulous architecture, cobblestones street, endless cafes, parillas and Italian restaurants. It oozes character and the people do the same.

Really excited to explore it over the next few weeks although we defiantly need to learn some Spanish. It took us the best of 4 hours find a phone shop, purchase sim cards and figure out how to recharge. A great experience but also very frustrating.

We have enrolled in an intensive Spanish course starting on Monday, so fingers crossed this will give us the basics to get through our time in South America, I'm sure we will pick a lot more up along the way.

To give you a little idea of just how much energy this city has: As we sit on the Balcony of our hostel, we can see torn up calendars and paper throw form office windows that is now laying all over the street, a tradition that office workers do on the last day of work for the year. The sound of music and the reflection of tango dancers swinging around dance floors at famous tango saloon Confeiteria Ideal two doors down and the hustle and bustle of commuters making their way home from work along tree lined Avenues, this city has a vibe that words cant explain.

xoxo

Sunday morning we started our 7 day Garden route tour. We arranged from them to pick us up from Simon’s Town and due to its location to Cape Town, it meant an early start for us.
We soon became the GPS for our driver Maudicai, as he wasn’t sure of the next pick up address. After driving for nearly 45 minutes we collected the next two passengers.
Vee and Abigail from Namibia who were on their honeymoon, Anja and Mother and Daughter Sylvia and Anna from Germany. The two girls are both doing internships and met whilst in Cape Town and Sylvia who is visiting Anna for Christmas. Ade, who is on holidays from England whist he is in between jobs and lastly Robert from Scotland who is a chef in the Navy and on leave in Cape Town. We also have Michael from England and Orla from Ireland who were doing the cage shark diving and would be meeting up later in the day.
Due to how spread out we all were accommodation wise, we didn’t leave Cape Town until 9.30ish so we headed straight towards the whale route. After driving along the coast for a while we stopped to stretch our legs and take some photos. When the weather is good, South Africa can really turn it on. After a quick stop we continued on the Hermanus Bay, the whale watching capital of South Africa, we were a little late in the season so didn’t cite any whales, though we stopped for an hour or so to have a wander around town and grab some lunch. Hermanus is really lovely and has lots on offer if you wanted to spend a few days and just chill out, but like anywhere this time of year it is choc a block of people holidaying for Christmas.
After lunch we continued for an hour or so before we stopped at a Brewery for some beer tasting. Is a local brewery and we spent a good hour or so tasting and getting to know the other people.
We then headed to Cape Agualas, the southernmost point in Africa. This is the location where the two oceans meet (Atlantic & Indian) and home to the southernmost restaurant, southernmost petrol station, and southernmost shop etc. . After a walk around the point and some obligatory photos at the sign we headed to our accommodation for the night.
Fantastic backpackers, huge beds and small dorm number and a great bar with pool table and big Braai area, it didn’t take long for the drinks to start flowing, I think we had 4-5 before dinner and continued for a few hours after. I’m sure you can imagine that we all slept well and woke feeling a little worse for where the following day.
Day 2, after breaky we set off on our way towards the Little Karoo. It’s a region that doesn’t get a lot of rain and landscape that is pretty sparse apart from the shrubbery and rolling hills. Before we got to the Karoo we passed through some rolling canola fields, the landscape changes so much from hour to hour it’s often hard to believe you’re in the same country.
The first activity was a trip to the Hot springs before lunch in the restaurant. When they said hot springs, I think the word stretch would be an understatement. It was really just a swimming pool, one with cold cloudy water and the other with dirty brown hot water and the third pool was just empty. We all had a little chuckle at this but gave us a good chance to rest up, for me I fell asleep in the sun for 45minutes, helped with the hangover even if the “Hot Springs” were a bit of a letdown.
After lunch we continue through the little Karoo also know for it Lamb, before we hit route 62, the start of the garden route and the longest wine stretch in South Africa. We did a fair amount of driving today and would have been another 3 hours or so before we reached Outsroom where we would be staying tonight. After a quick stop off at the hostel to drop off our trailer we headed to the Cango Caves, similar to Jenolan caves home. We had the option of doing the standard tour or an adventure tour which required you to venture further into the caves and squeeze through tiny cavities. We opted for the Adventure but once inside Damien’s claustrophobia kicked in so we just did the standard tour which was fine with me. It took us through 6 huge caves and was really nice way to end the day.
Ostroom is also the Ostrich capital of the world and most of the town income is related to that, either by farming, sales of eggs, meat, feathers, artefacts we also had the chance to go to an Ostrich farm but none of us were really interested so we decided not to do that. We did have Ostrich for dinner though, Delicious!!!
Day 3 was a big day; we headed to the Cango wildlife park for an hour long walk through of the park. It has all sorts of animals but they have a big focus on cheetah conservation and breeding. As much as it was a Zoo like environment, the animal enclosures were quite natural you basically had a timber walkway that ran along the top of the Big Cat enclosures so you got to see them for above which was pretty cool. You could also pay extra to have your photos taken with the Cheetahs but we didn’t do as we figured it wasn’t something that we were really interested in and better to save the money for something else.
After we finished at the wildlife park we drove to Knysna (pronounced Nysna). It was voted the prettiest town in South Africa. Anna and Anja wanted to do skydiving so they headed up to Plettenberg bay which gave us two and half hours to wander around and get a bite to eat, which was great as the sun was shining and was nice to have a bit of free time to do our own thing. Damien and I sat and had Italian for lunch before bumping into Michael and Orla. We still had hour to pass so we headed to have a beer and calm our nerves, as I said it was a big day. Rob and Ade had settled in for lunch and a couple of coldies too so we joined them to pass the hour away. When we were picked up Maudie drove us up to the Knysna Heads that overlooks to bay. It’s simply stunning, and we soon found out why it’s was voted prettiest town.
We jumped back on the bus and continued along the Garden Route before coming to Blourkrans Bridge. Highest Bungy Bridge in the world, 216mtrs off the ground!!! Today was bungy day and up until we got there I was relatively calm about the whole thing, though when you lay your eyes on just how high this thing is “I SHIT MYSELF”. Poor Damien had been battling nerves the whole day and even the day before wasn’t sure if he was going to do it. Lucky for him, he got drunk the night before and made a deal with the guys so he couldn’t back out then.
We signed our disclaimer forms and were booked to jump at 5pm. We had about 45 minutes before we were harnessed up and took the walk out to the jumping platform. That in its self was scary. You’re not locked on and the walkway is just meshed steel that moves as you walk along and let me tell you, looking down 216mtrs you realise just how freaking high that bridge is.
Once you arrive to the platform it’s a totally different vibe, the music is pumping and the bungy staff and dancing and having a real good time. The people who have already jumped are doing the same and the others have nothing but pure fear all over their faces. When we signed up, they wrote you weight and jump number on your hand. So you think you have some idea of when it’s your turn, NOPE the first thing they do it change it all up and spit you into two groups but even then you have no idea what’s going on because they don’t do it in that order either. Poor Damien was the second person to jump but defiantly the most nervous out of the four of us. Think he was lucky as he didn’t have as long to think about it. I’m so proud of him as I know how hard it was for him to do it. He is really glad he did too as he said it was the best experience of his life. All the boys jumped before me and overall I was the 3rd last person to jump. I was surprised at how calm I felt on the inside right up until you stand up to move across to the edge it was only then I really shit myself, but seriously it was such an amazing experience. I screamed at first but then all of a sudden just stopped and started to take it all in. I recommend it to anyone, doesn’t matter how nervous you feel all of that disappears when you’re falling. Incredible!!
Needless to say we had some celebratory drinks on Wednesday night.
Thursday we went hiking in the Tsitsikamma National Park for the morning, we walked to the suspension bridge that is over the storms river mouth before heading up to a look out that overlooked the national park and ocean.
After hiking we went Zip lining which was a lot of fun, though after bungy the day before didn’t quite give too much of an adrenalin rush, but was still a great activity. After we finished at Zip Lining we decided to grab a snack as Jeffrey’s bay was still and hour and a half away where we were supposed to stop for lunch. Snacks turned into nearly a 40 minute wait as we encountered possibly one of South Africa’s slowest and stressed out sandwich markers. It made for a good giggle in the van that afternoon though.
After our snacks we jumped back in the van and headed towards J-Bay. Seen as we were running a little late, Maudie our driver took it upon himself to miss the exit as he thought we were all asleep. Even when Ade asked quietly, hey is that J-Bay. He just smiled and shushed him. Lol Cheeky bugger!!
We stopped an hour or so later and the supermarket to pick up some things for dinner and drinks as our accommodation tonight didn’t have a bar. We all thought we still had another few hours of driving for the day but were plenty surprised when Maudie told us we would arrive at our accommodation in 40minutes.
This was such a lovely surprise; we arrived at a gorgeous little B&B surrounded by Citrus trees just outside Addo National Park in the Sundays River Valley. Maudie jumped out and went into the office then returned to the van and said we weren’t staying here tonight, not surprised as it looked too nice for backpacker’s accommodation. We continued 3minutes down the road to some gorgeous little cabins, with sunning garden and grassed area overlooking a river. What was even better was that Damien and I ended up in a private cabin with ensuite which was fantastic as we had an early start for Friday and I could do with some good sleep after the night before.
We had the choice to go kayaking on the river that afternoon but after inspecting the kayaks we soon discovered that they all leaked water and some could only hold one person and the awes we all hand made out of god knows what I decided watching was a better option that swimming in that river.
After the most delicious meal and a few glasses of wine we hit the sack early as we were due to be up at 4.30am to get ready for our game drive in Addo.
After an early breakfast we drove for a quick half hour before arriving at Addo Elephant National Park. The park is about an hour and a bit outside Port Elizabeth.
We had all opted to do an open vehicle safari. Within 5 minutes of being in the park we had encountered some Kudo, a type of Antelope. Before long we had seen Hyena, Black Back Jackal, Scrub Hare, Ostrich, Buffalo, Warthog and Elephants. It was amazing to see them in the wild; we had also seen the Hyena and jackals feeding off a dead elephant. The smell was so overwhelming but once you got past that it was pretty amazing. It’s funny how inquisitive the hyena were, we saw them bighting someone bumper bar.
After we finished our open safari we headed back for a coffee to warm up. We had the option to go back into the park in our tour van. I wasn’t entirely sure it would be worth it but we certainly were proved wrong in that case.
Maudie made sure we took a different a different route through the park and this sure paid off not only did we see zebra, red Harte-beast, yellow mongoose, vervet monkeys, meerkats, Dung beetles, tortoise, black headed heron among more elephant, buffalo and warthog but just as we were about to head out of the park for the day we discovered a pride of four lions. This was truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life. To see them in the wild, so close was amazing.
After we finished our game viewing we had lunch at the restaurant before heading to our accommodation at Jeffery’s Bay. True to is reputation it was a surfers haunt although the waves weren’t in action I know its somewhere Damien wanted to visits so was great it was included on our tour.
Friday was really relaxed, we had a few free hours at J-Bay before we jumped in the car and headed to Myoli Beach. Once we arrived we had the rest of the day to hang out and do our own thing. Most of us spent the afternoon on the sand sunbaking or swimming and after the sun went down we retreated to the bar. If you haven’t noticed the trend this is something of a habit on tour.
Saturday was an early start with breaky on the rooftop overlooking the beach before a long 6 hour trip back to Cape Town.

I really wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the tour, being stuck on a bus for 7 days with no real say in what you do or the people you spend time with, but I really was pleasantly surprised.
We had the most amazing week and met some fantastic people that we would love to keep in touch with. I can’t say enough good things about the experience though I was looking forward to a little sleep in as we had been going non-stop since we arrived in South Africa.
After the tour we were dropped in Hout Bay, about 45 minutes south of Cape Town where we spend a few days recuperating as Damien had caught the flu. We also spend Christmas here which was ok, the hostel cooked a Christmas dinner so that was good.
This would have been a great little hostel though the owner was very odd, and each night had dramas with theft or drunk guest, nothing to do with us just a strange vibe about it, so we were glad to see the back of it.
We caught the bus back to Cape Town early on Tuesday as we had arranged to do Brunch with Michael, Orla and Rob from our tour.
We checked back into Atlantic point, the hostel we stayed in the first 4 days, before heading to Waterfront for a coffee. I must admit South Africa leaves something to be desired when it comes to their coffee and found one good place at the waterfront so I was hanging to get down and get my fix.
True to form, our brunch turned into a boozy lunch and a lot of laughs. After we ate we all headed to the Aquarium, it was ok but nothing in comparison to Sydney.
The weather finally got its act together so Damien and I Headed up Table Mountain, the views were beautiful, pity the wind was so bad we had to go back down again as they closed the mountain.
All in all it was a fantastic last day in South Africa!!

xoxo

On Monday we took a half day tour out to Robben Island, this was fascinating and holds such a rich and powerful history to South Africa. It has been used as a leper colony, asylum centre, and safe haven for passing ships but most recently as one of the most feared prisons in Southern Africa, made famous worldwide for housing political prisoners during the apartheid. Including Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned on numerous occasions before he was released and later became Prime Minister of South Africa and Nobel prize winner.
Tour included a ferry trip from the waterfront to Robben Island, and a bus with guide that took us around the island. While I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to walk around and explore the island by foot, it was extremely informative and our tour guide had a great sense of humour and wealth of knowledge, not only of the island but of South Africa as a whole.
It also included a walkthrough of the prison by an Ex political prisoner of Robben Island. Who gave a personal account of what is was like to be imprisoned in such a demeaning and horrible environment.
If you ever get the chance to visit Cape Town, I highly recommend this experience. If only to get to see Nelson Mandela cell and know you are standing in the same place that a man of such incredible measure once stood.

We purchased a two day ticket for the City Sightseeing Bus (the big red double decker bus) so we got up early on Tuesday to make the most of it. They give you two different routes so we decided to do they red route which includes the entire city region all the major attractions in Cape Town, district six, up to Table Mountain and back around along the beaches. The whole route takes just over 2 hours but you can hope on and off along the way. Something we soon took advantage of as we realised we needed some sunscreen and didn’t have any with us. We learnt quite quickly on the first day that the African Sun is hot and bights into your skin so sun screen is a must even on overcast days. After a purchase of some 30+ and a quick walk around Green Market Square, a cobble stone square in the centre of the city that that has a pretty touristy craft and souvenir market, we jumped back on the bus to continue around the city. They give you a set of headphones and you select your language a recorded tour guide points out land marks, local history, architecture, plus gives information and directions to other points of interest. To be honest I didn’t think this is something I would enjoy too much, I thought the whole thing was a little too touristy, BUT I was proved wrong. This was absolutely fantastic. It gave a great overview of Cape Town, from not a geographical point of view, but also its history and people.
We had planned to take the cable car up Table Mountain but when we arrived at the foot of the mountain, the wind was blowing a gust and the whole top of the Mountain was covered in cloud, affectionately known to Cape Townian’s as the Tablecloth.
We decided to wait for another day as visibility couldn’t have been too good, we followed the rest if the route before we disembarked at the waterfront, we had some washing to pick up and thought we could come back and later in the afternoon and look at some sights we thought we might like to see.

Both feeling very hungry we decided it was time for lunch, food in South Africa is really cheap and we treated ourselves to a delicious seafood lunch. Damien had Kingkilp, prawns and chips and I had a Calamari stir-fry, YUMMO!!

After lunch we headed back to collect our washing and dropped it off at the Hostel, despite our plans to head back out we just never got around to going and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the hostel, had a beer or two and what is seeming to form some sort of routine had an early night.

Firstly I’m going to say Wednesday was freezing, somewhere along the line Cape Town missed the memo it is summer, and it was bitterly cold. Never the less we rugged up and headed out to take advantage of our two day ticket. Today we took the red tour again and jumped off in the city to have a look at Alderley street flower sellers and Damien also wanted to look for a warmer jacket as he only had a light weight jumper. While we were there it bucketed down rain and even a little hail before returning to a constant drizzle and blowing a gail, not the most pleasant of weather. We had no luck with the jacket so we joined the blue bus route which passes through the city before heading through kirstenbosch and constantia wine region before passing through Hout bay and back along the coast into Cape Town
The sun made a small appearance when we arrived at the kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens so we made the most of it and hopped off to have a look around. As you can imagine, they were breath takingly beautiful though short lived as the rain soon returned in a vengeance. We jumped back on the bus and headed through Constantia wine region, we had the opportunity to hop off and do a walking township tour in an informal settlement but due to the weather we opted out of this. We stayed on the bus for the remainder if the tour which took us along the coast, past the 12 apostles, into Hout bay, where we have decided to spend a few nights when we get back from the Garden Route and back along the coast through, Camps Bay and Sea point. Sure enough when we finally arrived back into the City the Sun had made an appearance though it was still cold.
After a quick bight to eat and both finding some new jackets that will serve us well in cold climates we jumped back on the bus and headed to the District Six museum. D6 is a suburb on the outskirts of the city bowl, and is example to some of the most appalling injustice of human rights during apartheid which occurred up until the mid-90s’s.
District six was a region that people or all race or colour had found a way to live and coincide with one another in harmony before the South Africa government started the forced removal or blacks and mixed race from their homes in district six. They were relocated to the cape flats to live in shanty towns or unofficial settlements or to other regions of South Africa, when the government demolished their homes and many buildings throughout the town to make way for new “Whites only” developments.
The museum is filled with stories from the past residents of D6, what happened during and after they were forced to leave and for some, when they were allowed to return. It is home to hundreds of photographs, old street signs, furniture, items that have been recovered during archaeological digs of were house once stood. A huge floor map of what district six looked like before the demolition also lay on the bottom level of the museum when families of district six have marked their old houses.

When driving though District Six today most of the land still remains undeveloped and what once were people’s houses are now just plots of grass and weeds. This is partly due to the people’s defiance against the apartheid regime and political stand against their injustice.
After we went to the museum we jumped back on the bus and finished off the red route again and although the weather was pretty average we had a fantastic day and got the most value from the city sightseeing bus.
To finish off the day we headed to Hudson’s burger joint for dinner. Had the best Chicken and Avo pizza we have ever tasted and a few drinks to wind down a great few days in Cape Town.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we spent in Simons Town. We caught the train down on Thursday morning from Cape Town. It’s a really lovely trip that hugs the ocean so you get sensational views of the coast. The train only takes an hour and is dirt cheap, we paid 25 rand for the two of us, which is the equivalent of $3 AUD.

When we arrived in the afternoon we took a short stroll along the main street, Damien wasn’t feeling well so we spent the afternoon reading which was great, because I can now carry one less book around with me.
On Friday we spend the morning walking around, It’s a little town that is home to South Africa’s navy, and apart from some lovely little shops and eateries it doesn’t have a lot going on. We walked down to Boulders beach to view the penguins and spent the rest of the day walking the beaches and relaxing in the sun.

Saturday Morning we caught a water taxi up to Kalk Bay, I love this town, it’s got a fantastic vibe and a whole strip of really cool antique shops, gift strores and a couple of great bakeries. Including an awesome little artisan style bakery at the top of a cobble stone street that was baking bread in and around customers. After spending an hour or two wandering around the town, we walked to the next town of Fish Hoek Bay. From the train it looks great with brightly colored beach cabanas and a really appealing swimming beach, It was a little bit of a letdown, it’s more of a residential hub with supermarkets, banks, KFC, etc although i was a little bummed out it didn’t have as much to offer as Kalk bay, the walk between them was worth the visit as the road overlooks the ocean and with the sun shining was a really nice way to pass the day. After stocking up on bread from Kalk Bay, we caught the train back to Simons Town to buy some additional yummies from the deli for Dinner. We ducked into the pub for a couple before heading back to the hostel for the evening.

Now if you have made it through my recent short novel, WELL DONE!!! I promise to try and write at least every couple of days so you can keep up with our adventures and don’t have to read as much as you did this time.

xx

I was woken at some awful hour of the morning thanks to Damien shaking me and yelling "Its leaving day, Its leaving day". Clearly he was rather excited, I on the other hand was hoping for a little sleep in, seeing as we had a long day flying ahead of us. I must admit i was pretty excited my self, but this day proved to hold much greater emotions then excitement.

Saying goodbyes when your flying home interstate is one thing but saying goodbyes when your heading off round the world for the foreseeable future was far harder, after many tears and our final goodbye to Mum at the airport we were off on our way.

2 planes, 1 stop over and in total over 24 hours traveling we flew into our first destination Cape Town, South Africa. Both feeling pretty exhausted and the weather pretty miserable, we opted for the easier, but a little more expensive option and took a taxi from the airport to our hostel in Green Point.

Driving from the airport, we passed through the Cape flats region, which houses shanty towns built from sheets of tin, and covered in tarps. Our taxi driver advised us that the government tried building blocks of units to house people but has been unsucessful as many of them have leased their unit to gain an income and moved back into the shanty town. He said they tried to demolish the shanty towns but they just rebuild them again 500 mtrs down the road.

The road continues in through the city, which i must admit looked a little seedy at that time of morning, it was raining and early Sunday morning so nothing was open, just people meandering in groups on street corners.

We arrived just on 8am and were told our room would not be available until 2pm, we were hoping for an earlier check in but didn't work in our favour.

We took a shower and got our selves freshened up before heading down to the V&A Waterfront which is only 5-10 minutes walk from our hostel.

It is spectacular, with fantastic views and table mountain in the background. We took a walk around before sinking into a cafe chair and ordering something to eat. After a delicious breaky and a few cups of coffee we continued to walk through the waterfront region before heading towards to the CBD of cape town.

Our initial impression from this morning hadn't changed to much, after walking around the city for 1/2 hour and meeting a very persistent beggar who followed us up the street for 200mtrs we both had a pretty uneasy feeling. We decided that we were not going to hang around to find out why and headed straight back towards the V&A Area. Thankfully we have since found out that Cape Town CBD is not what we first thought. (More to come on what we have done and this fabulous city.)

After a long day it was finally time to head back and check into our dorm, both feeling exhausted we decided we would just hang around the hostel for the rest of the day. Trying to fight sleep until the sun went down proved unsuccessful and we crashed out at 5pm.