Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Stop lights are robots and swim suits are cosi's


Which is short for costume, not that that makes any more sense.

So we're back traveling again, this time in Cape Town, South Africa. It's much harder to do a big trip like this since we've got the kiddo at home now. Luckily we've both got great parents, so Caitlin is getting lots of grandparent time.

This is my second full day here, while Elizabeth has been here for almost 10 days. The flights took over 24 hours total and I got to experience 4 consecutive meals on a plane.

I just spent about 4 hours walking, about half an hour each way to the nearest train station to get into the city and about 3 hours wandering the city and waterfront areas, minus a fish and chips lunch near the ocean. Holy crap I'm tired. I'm used to freezing temps and its in the 80s here.

I need to write something about safety and security that I've noticed here. I have never felt unsafe at all, But there is clearly a high level of crime here. We're staying in a predominantly white and affluent suburb. And I haven't seen one house without a high wall at the very least.

Security fence topped with electric wire

We're staying in a cottage attached to a house and it is surrounded by a fence with electrical wires running along the top. Many fences have barbed wire or sharp points along the top. Many also have signs saying they're protected by ADT Armed Response teams. So yeah, crime is an issue. But we were told it's almost all opportunity crimes. Leave a phone, computer, wallet or whatever in view and its likely to get "pinched". It's not fun being on alert at all times, but it keeps things safe.

I pick up a rental car tomorrow so we can do some site seeing in the area. That includes a road trip to an animal park (lions!) and seeing the Cape of Good Hope. I'll try to update again and upload a few pics when I can. 


Scott