Image of two surfers in Melkbosstrand made with my Leica X2. Melkbosstrand is a a northern suburb of Capetown, South Africa.
As you can see by the title there are many ways to say South in South Africa. There are eleven official languages, the most common being Afrikaans, and English. Afrikaans is a mixture of Dutch, German and English. If you want to read more about it you can follow the link. The flight here I must say was painful starting off with the worst airline I've flown in, Jet Blue and finishing with the best South African Airways. The "old hag" Stewardess, and I say that because that was the word used when she was hired was rude and was not knowledgeable. She told me my carry on was over-sized and I'd have to check it. I told her that I had measured it according to their information and before I got on the plane and it was more than legal. I also told her that I had $15,000 worth of photography equipment in it and I could not check it. Anyway she was wrong and didn't even apologize. On the other hand the South African Airways Flight Attendant were just that. Helpful and accommodating through the whole 22 hours. Yes 16 hours from JFK to Jo'burg (Johannesburg) and then another 3hrs to Capetown after a lay-over. Everything I have found so far was underrated, except the fear of crime. That is overrated. Everyone smiles, they actually drive the speed limit and get this, the let you in when you put your turn signal on. Not bad for a city of 4 million. You are always going to find bad incidents in every large city, but if you are aware of your surroundings and don't act like a victim, you'll probably be OK. I'm spending most of my time in a Northern Suburb of Capetown called Melkbosstrand. Melkbos (the name) strand (beach). So the locals just call it Melkbos. It's a beach and surf town. This past weekend there were as many 3,4, and 5 tear old's surfing as there were old guys. Of course the kids were not far from shore. The shark thing is overrated as well with the exception of False Bay where Nat Geo spent four months filming Great Whites feeding on Seals. Swim in False Bay and you're risking life and limb unless you swim at a beach with protective shark nets. That is however on the other side of Cape Point. The water is warmer and the Seals are plentiful. North of the Cape there has never been a recorded shark attack. More than I can say for Florida. So surf North of Capetown and you're OK. I did go down that way to see the Penguins. Yes, there are Penguins in Capetown, and Zebra's in Melkbos. I wanted to make some images of the Pengiuins for Julia's Birthday, so I made some short movies and stills and sent them to her for her Penguin themed Birthday Party. Word is, she loved it. The Penguins were a blast. Just like it should be. They had run of the place and the humans were restricted to walkways. Still trying to find a permanent place. Having it narrowed down by a Real Estate agent. I don't just want anywhere. Gotta be on the beach! Trying to stay in Melkbos. I know it's only a week, but this beach town is a little bit of Paradise. Everybody smiling, surfing, and riding bikes. Simple! Until next time! Here's a couple of friends I met in Melkbosstrand proving that old guys can surf too! And they were rather good at it too.