Cape Town

Di and I are chillin at our hotel's business center in Cape Town. It is a bit after midnight and we just got back from a fun night out with Becks. We spent today seeing the city and we had to cram a lot in because it was our only full day here.

We hit Table Mountain this morning, which was a pretty cool experience - and I mean COOL. It was so cold at the top of the mountain - about 40 degrees. Afterwards, we picked up Becks on the way to the hotel and then walked to the biggest market in town. Everything else in town is closed on Sundays so we didn't have much choice. This was kind of a blessing in disguise, as we bought a whole bunch of really cool things. My favorite two purchases are this really, funky painting and a table that flips into a chess board. I"ll have pictures of both of these up as soon as I get back.

We bounced over to Becks' spot at the University of Captetown (UCT), where Di and I took a nice nap in her bed. Then we went to Obs (a suburb, better known as Observatory) and had dinner at a nice Italian place. After we finished dessert, we went out to a pool hall and had a couple of beers. For the record, Di and I went 2-1 against Becks and her two friends. Good times.

I have a lot to say about the racial situation down here, but I don't want to take the time now to rant...hopefully, I'll get to it in due time.

The flight over could have been better - if I slept. Besides that, it was great. Our seats had personal TVs with on demand movies. I saw a couple of great flicks: "Tsotsi" and "Brokeback Mountain." "Tsotsi" is a really cool South African joint about this thug kid who inadvertantly adopts a kid and how his life changed. I highly recommend it - so do some other people, as it won the Acadamy Award for Best Foreign Film. My first purchase in Africa was the soundtrack...so me, huh...

"Brokeback" was also a great flick, although I'm not sure I agree with Best Film of the Year title or whatever its called. Jake G. was awesome - really great acting. I'm a huge Heath Ledger fan and he was also great. I was expecting a bit more from Michelle Williams. She wasn't bad or anything, but I just didn't see where the hype was coming from. I thought Ang Lee did an incredible job, especially considering that it was just a bit different than "The Hulk." Overall, the film was really good and I'm glad so many people gave it such good reviews, as I think that says a lot about today's society. However, I also think the Academy is constantly attempting to make a point or give the awards to whom it thinks would have the largest impact or is the most politically correct (see Denzel Washington in "Training Day").

Anyway - I have no idea why I just went off on that tangent. We're off to Kruger National Park tomorrow for the first leg of the safari. I can't wait to see our first animal...I hope its a cheetah, but I'd have no qualms if it was an elephant, leapord, giraffe, rhino, lion...or really anything else. This is going to be extremely cool...