My Nomination for Best Tree Name Ever

The monkey puzzle tree.  

Melissa

Cape Wildlife etc.

A lizard with a blue head!

An ostrich with three well-camoflauged babies!

A dead puff adder!

Melissa

Cape Point Beach Hike

The morning after we stayed in Simon's Town, we still had to spend a few hours away from home.  We drove to the Cape Point and went for a hike.

These flowers were blooming all along the trail.  The petals felt completely dry, and when the wind blew through them, they made a sound like rustling tissue paper.  

We thought maybe this whale bone was a skull, but we weren't sure.

Here's part of the reason why the Cape of Good Hope was originally called the Cape of Storms:

And you're not tired of ocean vistas yet, are you?

Melissa

Spontaneous Free Vacation

Recently our landlords had to kick us out of our place for a night to avoid killing us with insecticide fumes.  They fixed it so we could stay in a house one of their relatives owns in Simon's Town, which is a little vacation spot about 45 minutes away from Cape Town.  The place was beautiful:

So was the view:  

This neat toy was there:

Melissa

Bay Leaves

I don't think I ever saw bay leaves on an actual tree before I came to South Africa.  Here we have a bay tree in our yard.  We can pick and dry the leaves and put them in soup.

Melissa

More Spring Flowers

Don't Worry, Mom!

The following weapons are not allowed in the walkway that leads under the railroad tracks by our house:

Clockwise from top left:  machine gun, axe, assegai and knobkerrie, machete.  

Melissa

Nest Building

On a trip a while back, we had a chance to watch some Cape Weavers building nests.  They weave them so that the entrance hole ends up on the bottom.

Melissa

Groceries

People often ask me what the grocery stores are like in South Africa.  They're pretty similar to the stores in the states, except that they tend to be more crowded.  Our favorite store is the Fruit and Veg Market.  They sell tons of produce, as well as most other foods:

Another store we shop at often, the Pick n' Pay, carries less produce and more dry goods and meats.  

 

I'm sorry I've left such a long gap since my last post.  I've built up quite a backlog of pictures, so I'm hoping to post quite a bit over the next few weeks.   I hope you'll keep checking.

If anyone has general questions about South Africa (like the question about the grocery stores) send me an e-mail or ask them in the comments.  I'll answer them if I can.

Melissa