Bacon + Hiking = Unnecessary Risk

Waking with the abbreviated exclamation of "TGIF" on my mind, I started off Friday with a sunny commute down to Noordhoek and some walking errands for the boss. One of them included going to the bank to get change, which exposed me to the high-security world of South African financial work. To get into a bank, you have to enter through a contained cube between two doors- waiting for the first to close before the second opens to let you into the bank. It's the same on the way out so that if a robber were to come, the teller could lock him/her between the doors. Once inside the bank, the tellers are all behind bulletproof glass and the only way to transfer things is by a sliding tray. Additionally, the door between the teller area and the main bank is not only extremely thick, but it opens only enough for one person to walk through from a little compartment. Considering the amount of bank robberies and attempted bank robberies that happen here, I'd say the security is worth it.

The rest of the day was filled with insurance inventorying, website updating, and report writing. I got off early (3:30) and headed home, where I went to the internet cafe and did some work for CTICE. Apparently they have almost 15 summer interns, and I'm looking through their work and making suggestions to make it better. I've got to say that I feel a little honored to be a "senior intern" of sorts. Hopefully I'll live up to such a title, if you can call it that. The office is up to some really cool things, and I'm excited to be a small part of them. CTICE is turning out to be the swiss army knife of departments at Columbia- they do everything from entrepreneurship to green initiatives to community service projects.

For dinner I attempted some curry beef with rice, and although the flavor, rice, and veggies were top-notch, the beef was pretty terrible, being that it was as hard as rock and nearly impossible to chew. I guess there will always be room for improvements in our kitchen...

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had wanted to do the shark diving thing on Saturday, but the company wasn't doing their cheaper/shorter dive trip, and we didn't want to pay an extra 100 dollars. However, it turns out that a group has signed up for the afternoon/cheap trip on the 4th of July, so it looks like Toukam and I will be celebrating America's independence under the water with what some could call the US' counterparts of the animal world. In other adventure news, some of my coworkers have invited me to go to a game reserve where they let you ride quad bikes around with the animals! I'm imagining driving through the bush encountering elephants and lions, but I'm not sure if that's what's going to happen.

Since the shark diving wasn't on for Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the great weather by conquering a foe that has imposed itself on us for our entire time here- Table Mountain itself. After a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs, we drove to the base of the mountain and, after consulting a dog-walker, found the right trail to take. Soon after we began our climb up the mountain, I learned a basic lesson in hiking- bacon and hiking don't go well together, especially after inadequate water consumption. However, the consequences weren't severe, and we were on our way again after a water break. It took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the top, at which time we were completely exhausted and ready to eat our carefully prepared peanut butter and honey sandwiches. The view from the top was amazing- we could see all of Cape Town as well as its suburbs on both sides of the mountain. There were some clouds, but they were either above or below us, which made for great weather on top. We took a bunch of pictures and, after considering taking the cable car down, decided to take the rough road and hike down. Though 45 minutes shorter than the ascent, it was still challenging. However, now I can say that I hiked up and down Table Mountain- a native's feat, I should think.

Toukam at the Top

The Top

The View

The Clouds

A Hiker Victorious

We recuperated back at the apartment and spent the afternoon doing work and, regrettably, watching the Bollywood movie that was playing on television. I must say, Bollywood movies are exceedingly strange. So much dancing, singing, and random english phrasing. I like to think of it as cultural exposure. For tonight, I think we'll try and do something original with the chicken we bought and continue with reading/working while our legs recover from the hike.

Thanks for reading- hope all is well on your end. Have a great Fathers Day!