Mama Africa

In Cape Town, Long Street is the spot for nightlife. We headed down on Thursday night in search of live African music. We found it at a bar called Mama Africa. The band was rocking when we got there and the place was packed. For a few songs we were smashed against the cigarette machine but then we saw a Scottish couple sitting at a table on the front row with two open seats. We asked them if we could join. We were among the band as they continued to jam on large wooden xylophones, a variety of drums and a horn section. The Scots couldn't have been nicer as we talked to them during a set break. The band returned and played more traditional songs along with some Marley and soul.

We can only imagine that each night they pull an unsuspecting tourist on stage to make them dance and look like a fool. Tonight, it was going to be different. At first, the small lead singer asked the Scottish girl to come up but she declined. Temple could barely contain her excitement as she knew she'd be the next choice. She eagerly accepted the offer and was quickly on stage in between two men she was easily a head taller than. The music started and the three began swaying back and forth. Soon they started putting Temple through the paces. Each new move they showed she was right in step, looking as if they had been practicing for weeks. I wasn't surprised by this but everyone else couldn't believe their eyes, especially the band. The moves got more challenging and complex but Temple didn't missed a step and if she did she'd freestyle an even better move.

As I sat there watching her dance it took me back to the earliest moments of our courtship, how amazed I was by her moves, spirit, and laughter. I tried to put myself in everyone else's place seeing this amazing force for the first time. Like I was at Deborah's wedding and 18th Street Lounge, everyone was smiling ear to ear.

For a second it felt like the song would never end, but it did. The place went wild. And after a few bows Temple made her way back to the table. The amazed Scot said with his jaw on the floor, "you've done that before!" Temple's dance instructor came over to give her a hug and told her "most nights I do that for me, but tonight that was for you."

To The Point

The drive from Cape Town to Cape Point feels like you're heading down US-101 as the highway runs in between the raging coast and rising mountains.

African Penguins

Our first stop on the drive down the Cape Peninsula was The Boulders, a rocky beachfront home to one of only two mainland penguin colonies in the world. The little African penguins were gathered on the boulders, relaxing in the sun or the shade of a bush or waddling around in the sand. They looked right at us and were very adorable in their handsome tuxedos. Some of the birds were molting, which is when they shed old feathers and grow new ones. There were some fluffy gray babies too. They were mostly quiet but would suddenly all wail like donkeys (which is why they used to be called Jackass Penguins). Their human characteristics were fun to watch. In a line on the rocks they followed each other one by one into the water, sometimes giving apprehensive glances to friends before jumping in. Several of them waddled on their own and sometimes looked forlorn but mostly they were a happy bunch. After visiting for a while, we marched our happy feet onward to Cape Point.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

Outside of Cape Town lies the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a large spread of native South African flowers that covers the lower east side of Table Mountain National Park. Nice trails take you through the different species of flora and signs explain the rare and distinct fynbos which means 'fine bush' in Afrikaans. These flowers dot the landscape of the Cape Peninsula and many are only found in the Western Cape region. The pincushion flowers were my favorite, in several colors and great names like scarlet ribbon which perfectly described its petals. Kirstenbosch was the first botanical garden to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Shosholoza Meyl

We boarded the teal, yellow, and purple Shosholoza Meyl in Johannesburg for an overnight ride to Cape Town. Our cabin, 4F, was a four person sleeper and we lucked out having it to ourselves. We quickly got comfortable and took naps as the train chugged out of town. A young waiter stopped by to see if we wanted anything to drink. He got to telling us about his true passion, journalism, and said he was working towards going back to school. We wished him luck. Soon our tickets were checked by two jolly fellows. We were still rolling through the Jo'burg suburbs when we met our neighbor in 4G, a cute and very quite boy named Sedu. He would peak in our window or stand at our door staring at us before ducking out of sight or busting some dance moves. As the South African landscape passed by our window, Temple did a lot of research to plan out the coming weeks. When dinner time neared we walked up two cars to the dining car. We felt pretty classy enjoying our meal with a glass of red wine on the rails. Later, we made our way back to our cabin which was now set up for sleep with heavy blankets that we would need in the unexpectedly cold night. The next day we continued making our way to Cape Town slowly and around two we pulled into the station. It had been one of the smoothest trips of the journey so far.

South Africa is Great But

There is no wifi. We have many adventures to share. The posts are ready to go and we'll put them up as soon as the signal's strong enough. Stay tuned...

The Girl Swam Ipanema

Our nights in Rio were filled with seedy barrios and samba music. At a hidden bar in Lapa, walls are painted with images of legendary local musicians. We watched from a perch above the patio as musicians sat around a table playing all types of percussion instruments: the pandeiro, cavaco, tan tan, bongos, metal tipped drums, and one we called the wikky wikky for the great noise it made. Sharing each others company, they were oblivious to the hip-shaking crowd gathering around them. The next night we went to see Bossa Nova at Rio Scenarium, a three leveled club with a bohemian feel. We watched the band play before joining the lively crowd on the dance floor.

Our days were spent on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Copacabana is a massive curved beach that sits under the Pão de Açúcar mountain. On the other side of a rock fortress is Ipanema beach, a stunning setting with Rio's green mountains in the background and cool turquoise water that was hard to leave. The beach was packed with groups of people playing soccer and showing an unbelievable amount of skin. We had to pull ourselves away from the sandy paradise to go to Rio's 200-year-old botanical gardens with plant life from around the globe. From the gardens we spotted Jesus overlooking the city and knew that was where we needed to be for sunset. After taking a bus to Corcovado Mountain, we hopped on a trolley going up a large incline to get to the giant Jesus with his arms spread over the city. The view was an amazing panoramic of Rio sprawling over different hills and peninsulas. As the sun set, Jesus turned orange and we enjoyed the last few moments of daylight before heading down for another night of music.