Yesterday the boys golfed, the girls shopped, and no one took a single picture! Today is New Years Eve Day, and we promised Wesley a day at the beach so he could surf. We went to Muizenberg Beach and the water was absolutely freezing, requiring a wetsuit, but he was so determined. The rest of us sat on the beach and watched him try first a longboard, then a shortboard. It was incredibly windy but a great day to be out. Muizenberg Beach is home to the famous colored beach shacks which are a favorite of photographers. It is also a favorite beach for Great White Sharks, which made me very nervous. I was afraid that if Wes was out in the surf that he might not hear the shark siren alerting him that a shark had been sighted and to get out of the water immediately, so I told him to keep an eye on the beach and if he saw me making a big flapping signal with my hands up and down, that meant get out of the water NOW! He was able to surf for two and a half hours before a shark was sighted by the shark spotters and the siren was sounded. I jumped up and began flapping my arms wildly and trying to spot him in the water, trying not to panic as swimmers came running out of the water. Little did I know that he was sneaking up behind me and laughing at me for acting so crazy! I may never forgive him for that! :) That was the end of our beach day, we had lunch nearby, did some souvenir shopping, went back to the hotel and packed for our flight home the next day, and slept right thru all the fireworks down at the waterfront on New Years Eve!
This is the flag that is raised all along the beach when a shark is spotted in the water. Unfortunately, a man was attacked and killed by a shark ten days after we got back home.
This is the flag that is raised all along the beach when a shark is spotted in the water. Unfortunately, a man was attacked and killed by a shark ten days after we got back home.
View of Muizenberg Beach from the Shark Spotters station
This was the funniest thing! We were seated at a restaurant and were watching these cute blondes on the street corner. They would stop people and looked like they were selling something. We bet Wes that he wouldn't go down and talk to them, but he proved us wrong! They are local girls who know about ten or twelve different languages, and they sing and talk in unison to entertain the crowds then they sell bars of soap to raise money for local organizations in need. They are called the Soap Girls, and you can look it up on You Tube - the Soap Girls in Hout Bay. And yes, Wes bought 4 bars of soap from them! :)
This is a picture taken from our car as we drove along past the townships in Cape Town. There are so many "shanty towns" which show so much poverty, as they are built out of cardboard and any other discarded materials that can be found. There are literally hundreds of these built right next to each other like a neighborhood.
More shanties in the townships
This photo was taken in the Cape Malay area, called the Bo Kaap. They favor brightly colored homes and shops, as an opposition to the law years ago during apartheid requiring that all buildings must be painted white and only white.