Captivating Cape Town

Well there are few words I can muster to describe the beauty Cape Town possess so best I just leave it up to pictures. My friend Liani and I went there at the beginning of April to see a Louis Carver concert. She's a South African singer and is absolutely amazing!!

It was a short trip, but a fantastic one. Liani, this one's for you.

My First 100 Billion Dollars

It was pretty neat when I first moved to SA and started making a six-figure salary (gotta love that exchange rate - hahahaha) when little did I know I would soon be a billionaire!! I have to thank my good friend "Princess Shormila" for just giving me the 100 Billion Dollar Bill.

Princess Shorms, this one if for you. I miss you buddy!! (That's my friend Steve in the background there - he's just trying to steal some of the lime light I think). It's kind of funny because we both worked in the same office in Canada, but didn't really become friends until we both moved to our South Africa office. Small world and I really don't know what I would have done in SA if she hadn't been around.


The tiara actually says Drama Queen, which is probably more suited for Shormila than princess, but I suppose everyone deserves their day - hahahaha!!


As neat as it is, the 100 Billion Dollars is actually quite a sad situation. It's from Zimbabwe and if you could see the small print on the bill it says: ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS on or before 31st December 2008. Issue date 1st July 2008.



There are no water marks or anything on the bills so it's fairly easy to forge (at least that's the word on the street). Apparently, you can't even get the money from the Zimbabwean banks as they don't have any so the forge ability isn't so bad since the black market is one of the few places you can actually get money from.

If you go to the latest foreign exchange sites, you get the following Notice: The Zimbabwe government redenominated the ZWD on August 1, 2008 at a rate of 10,000,000,000 old ZWD to 1 new ZWD. No new currency code has been issued, but the old ZWD currency remains legal tender until December 31, 2008.


Regardless, to get a real feel for the situation, the 100 Billion Dollars today is worth 10.37cents Canadian, 9.93 cents American, or 78.92cents in South African Rand.


This is an article I found on the internet. It's dated June 15, 2008, and needless to say, the situation has gotten worse since. (I'm not sure how internet plagerism works, but hopefully this information is sufficient: http://www.therandtoday.com/2008/06/15/the-value-of-the-zimbabwe-dollar/ Copied on September 19,2008).

Images like this seen on the left are being beamed across the world showing how bad the situation in Zimbabwe is. The local currency in Zimbabwe has become virtually worthless. The central bank in Zimbabwe continues to print more money and thus continuing to fuel inflation. It got to a stage where they deleted three zeros from the currency but that does not seem to have helped as the zeros continue to pile up. It is said that one US dollar will get you one billion Zimbabwe dollars. Now if you look at the image, there are a lot of $200 000 Zimbabwe dollar notes. In real terms, that one $200 000 note is only worth $0.0002 US dollars! No wonder it is being thrown in the bin.

Zimbabwe is said to have the highest inflation in the world. Most statisticians and economists have stopped trying to calculate the rate of inflation in Zimbabwe as it continues to spiral out of control. Zimbabweans are calling for a change and they hope to have one come the presidential runoff election on June 27. Many think that a change in government could help revive the Zimbabwe economy. A strong Zimbabwe economy can only be beneficial for the South Africa economy.


The question on many people’s minds is; if there is a change of government in Zimbabwe, how long would it take to turn around the Zimbabwe economy? It certainly would not happen overnight but it would not take rocket science to restore the Zimbabwe economy. Agriculture was one of Zimbabwe’s main drivers and if the agricultural sector in the country could be restored then Zimbabwe will already be on track for a turn around. A quick fix way to stop the spiralling inflation would be to ‘dollarise’ the economy. Instead of charging products and services in Zimbabwe dollars, everything will now be priced in US dollars. This would help stabilise the inflation and usher in a new local currency for Zimbabwe. There is no doubting that Zimbabwe would need assistance from the international community and there are many donors ready to help Zimbabwe get back on track.

The “Real” South Africa

It’s not to say that the South Africa you see on my blog, or the South Africa that I write about, is not the “real” South Africa, but I know for a fact that the expat version of the story and experience is much different from those that actual live here and were brought up here. Those that have seen the changes and transformations over the years, that in many ways are good, but in many ways leading South Africa in a bit of a downward spiral.

I wish I had more insight into it, but I learn as I go and I think it’s only fair to direct readers to a blog that shows and tells more of the “real” South Africa. My good friend Liani travels around SA by pedal bike or hiking in a movement that her and her friend Maria started called Go4Good.

Unfortunately some people that were helping them out stole their idea and everything of the past few years they have put together. The new website that stole their ideas and all the stories and what have you called themselves 4good and although Liani and Maria are not doing it first hand, they have an amazing attitude towards it regardless because in their minds the website is doing what it was intended it to do: To spread good and to help people help each other.

Anyway, I digress a bit. They have since persevered and found a new direction to do the same thing and spread more good and help people become aware of the issues that this country faces. I urge all readers of this blog to go see Liani’s blog at http://www.lianig4g.blogspot.com/. It’s a fantastic blog and has a little something for those passing by wishing to learn more about South Africa and for all the locals that want to make a difference.

To give you a bit of flavour and to follow in my plagiarising ways, here’s a taste of what it’s about:

“We have travelled a total of 13 515kms around South Africa, in 1 year and 7 months. We have done so on bicycles, accompanied by a dog in a basket in front. We have also hiked the Drakensberg, Magaliesberg, Transkei Coastline, and canoed the Orange River. We left, in search of enlightenment, change and purpose, and found so much more. We continue along our journey, hoping to share what we have learnt.”

It's South Africa Unplugged as she likes to say!!

Liani, this one’s for you!!

Maimed by a Cheetah

OK – so they don’t lie when they say South Africa is NOT for sissies!! We headed out to the Cheetah Park for the day. The tour was all good and dandy until the end of the day when you can “pay extra” to pet the cheetahs and boy did I get my “extra” for my pay as when I went to pet the cheetah, it decided to pet me instead!!

Can you believe it?

You really shouldn’t. I just felt that all of you back home were used to the near-death experiences as opposed to the classic me injuring myself that I didn’t have the heart to tell you that I actually just minorly injured myself. For all those that do not know me, injuries are an important part of my life. In fact they make me who I am today – a 30 year old walking, arthritic, tendonitised, ligament torn mess. I suppose you could say I am a 30 year old with the body of a 60 year old, but it’s all good though because I feel 16!!

I am not sure if you can relate at all, but I manage to injure myself more getting onto and off of my bike or getting it into or out of my car than I do actually riding my blasted bike. I actually maimed my arm (ok scraped) on the pedal crank while loading my bike into the car. I like to tell people that I was attacked by a cheetah though. I mean really, how often do you get a wound that would actually let you pull off a story like that?

Vic, this one’s for you – thanks for laughing at me. It was actually his suggestion that I go into a long detailed story about getting mauled by the cheetah, but that’s all I could manage. Didn’t want to give them too bad a wrap as they are really stunning creatures.

Just back to the Cheetah Park for a minute though. It truly is a place worth visiting if you’re in the area. (http://www.dewildt.org.za/wcpbackground.htm). Their mission statement that I took from the website is, “To ensure the long term survival of the wild cheetah and its ecosystems through the implementation of a National Management Plan by means of integrated conservation programs, research and education.” That picture is an actual one I took, but from a safe enough distance. We did get to pet them and they truly are amazing creatures. My favourite in fact – the fastest land animals alive!!

INCLUDING the ones with arthritis and tendonitis I imagine!!

30 Years Old…Seems Cause Enough to Jump Off a Bridge, No?

I’ve completely lost track of order, but that’s ok – an adventure that is for certain an adventure is definitely an adventure to tell.

I only remembered about the bridge and my birthday when I was posting about the many different self-induced, near death experiences I’ve had in SA and for some strange reason, doing the highest commercial bungee jump in the world followed by a helicopter tour of the coast came back into memory. It seems so long ago.

This one goes out to my good friend Julie. Thanks for taking the plunge with me!!

This story actually goes back a few days before my birthday. I suppose going back to New Year’s Eve is the best place to start. My friend Julie had just come back from holidays in Canada and wowza was I glad to see her. Christmas was long and lonely and it was fantastic to see a familiar face and have some good company. Exhausted as she was from her trip she still came out and ventured with me for the rest of the holidays and somehow the weekend after for my birthday as well. We weren’t really sure what to do for New Years, but knew we wanted to stay in the area so we did a quick search and shortly ended up with a packed two days…One of the joys of living close to the Magaliesberg!!

There’s so much to tell, but I’m just going to jump into it, hopefully with few words and lots of pictures. The plan was to head out to the Elephant Sanctuary on the 31st of December and then to do the Magaliesberg Canopy Tour on the 1st of January before heading back into work on the 2nd. We had a pretty chill New Years Eve at the sanctuary. Had an amazing lunch, a few drinks, learned about elephants (amazing creatures), and even took them for a little stroll. We finished the night with our “last supper” for 2007.

Julie Walking an Elephant

Last Supper for 2007

I’ll get to the bridge just now, but first the canopy tour!! I can’t really say enough about the Magaliesberg. I know I have a lot of South Africa still to explore, but WOW, there’s something about it that just keeps me coming back and it’s so close to where I stay and work that it really doesn’t seem fair to be so spoiled with such breathtaking views and things to do. The Magaliesberg mountain is said to be 2.4 billion years and the second oldest in the world.

This next part is a bit of a plagiarism from the canopy tour pamphlet, but I figure they know it better than anyone…"The Magaliesberg Canopy Tour consists of 11 platforms built high within the rock faces of the kloof (cliffs) and joined by 10 slides up to 140m long and 30m above the stream below."

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the canopy tour and the stunning kloof!!

All in all it was a fantastic start to the New Year and little did I know that soon enough it was going to get a whole lot crazier. We met some people who were in our canopy tour group and they began talking about other canopy tours in South Africa. They were telling Julie and I about how they went to one in a place called Knysna after which they headed to go bungee jumping off the highest commercial bungee jump in the world. The bridge is called Bloukrans Bridge. I informed everyone having the discussion that as crazy as I might be, bungee jumping is something I will never do – EVER – doesn’t seem right if you ask me, the physics of it just doesn't seem sane, but what’s that saying? Never say Never?

Ironically enough I had concert tickets to see a phenomenal South Africa band called Watershed in Plettenburg Bay, which isn’t too far off from Bloukrans Bridge. By this time our friend Jessie had also just come back from a European Christmas vacation and somehow, for some reason unbeknownst to me, Julie and I devised this interesting plan…

Work on the 2nd and the 3rd to catch up a bit, fly to George (on the coast close to the concert and the jump) on the Friday, pick up a rental car, tour the area, see the concert on Saturday, jump off a bridge on Sunday, take a helicopter ride along the coast right after, and then drive back home for work on Monday, or was it Tuesday? Can’t remember really, but the pictures below tell some of the story.

The concert was at a place called the Barnyard theatre. There are many all around SA, but this one in Plettenberg Bay was the original one from what I understand. It's a fantastic concept. Small venue, picnic tables, bring your own food and booze and party it up!! The lighting is a bit crap in some of my pictures, but hopefully you get the idea. That's Jessie "cutting the cheese" and Julie tucked in behind.

We spent the day shopping, visiting the monkey sanctuary, headed down to the Bay for a while and then off to the concert. Here are some pictures of the area for you.


The next morning was the heart attack 30th birthday. All I have to say is 216m. They say you actually get three of the highest jumps in one jump. The first is 216m and the fall after the initial recoil is equivalent to the second highest bungee jump and then the fall after the second recoil is equivalent to the third highest jump in the world.

To be honest with you I had no idea if I was going up or down or even alive for that matter. All I could remember was seeing valley, ocean, valley, ocean, valley, ocean x about 1000!! It was amazing though. I have to do it again I think. I didn't really know what to expect and it was so crazy that I don't really remember all if it. Below is a picture of the bridge. You take a slide (like the one on the canopy tour) to the center of the bridge below the actual road and they have a whole system set up including a DJ pumping the music to get your heart going a bit faster!! It is really amazing. To be completely honest with you, the scariest part of the whole thing was walking back after the jump alongside the bridge. The grating was the thinnest they could find I'm sure and all you see is rock and water below.



On our way out we saw a building that said helicopter rides along the coast and thought - why not? Can't really say too much about it outside of breathtaking.

Best everyone gets used to me saying things are breathtaking, because sunny SA may not be for sissies, but breathtaking it is.

Spending Mother’s Day with Mother Nature…Swapping Goose Poop with Zebra Poop

It’s funny…I waited so long to get my boxes from Canada yet 5 months later I still have some that aren’t unpacked. I did however rip apart my bike boxes the first chance I got to head out for a ride!! I have to say that the mountain biking in this country is much like the rock climbing: stunning, challenging, amazing, and definitely breathtaking (literally)!! Beth, Derek – this one is for you guys!! Thanks for the find - I LOVE MY MTB!!

I have my road bike out here as well, but it’s a bit more daunting to go for a road ride. I thought the drivers in Toronto were a bit crazy compared to where I grew up in Alberta, but crazy is a very understated word to describe many drivers here in sunny South Africa. You see, here, the shoulder is a very important lane – it’s actually one of the main driving lanes in many areas and the main lane is actually the overtaking lane. Not much hope for road bikers unless you (1) you have a serious set of balls or (2) you get up in the wee hours. So far I am still ball-less and the morning thing is still not my thing. They actually open up of the formula 1 race tracks for riders in the morning, but that falls under (2) and although some of you back home may laugh, it is winter here and with it comes an entirely new level of morning cold. I’ll make it out one of these days though and until then, there’s always the mountain bike.

I haven’t been riding as much as I would like to be, but I think I have managed to get all the Canadian goose poop out of the tire treads as they are now surely filled with South African Zebra poop. It’s amazing biking out here. You actually ride through nature reserves and sometimes have to stop to let the pack of wildebeest or zebra pass by, AND heaven forbid you cross a giraffe half-way through your single track section, but I can tell you first hand – WOW!! Below is a picture of my friend Jen (also an expat from Canada) and I admiring some zebras in the background… tough to see, but they’re there. It was taken on Mother’s day where I think I managed to get rid of the last of the goose poop from the tire treads.

Mountain bike racing has a massive following out here. In the winter there is a race pretty much every weekend including a regular schedule of hectic 3 day races and partner races where you can never be more than 1-2 minutes from each other. I’m sure I’ll get to those one of these days, but having spent enough time out of the gym and in the work, I like to stick to the less daunting 15-20km races, unless I get lost on the course of course…

Now, one would think that the average person should be able to manage a marked 20km course without getting lost, but apparently my friend Jen and I are not so average – sorry Jen – had to take you down with me!!

Usually the races are split into events on the day. There will be a short ride for the likes of me called the amateurs and kids group (you can decide which of the two categories I actually fall under if not both), a medium ride for those a bit more hardcore, and then what I like to call the insane category. On this one particular day the insane category was a 75km ride that included a “hill”, if you will, that they term the Magaliesberg Monster.

If you’ve read the previous posting “Climbing the Cliffs of SA” you’ll see more of the terrain of the Magaliesberg as we often go climbing there. I’ll be sure to take more pictures of the Magaliesberg landscape for future postings to give you an idea. It is by far one of the most amazing areas in SA.

Anyway, back to the monster. So Jen and I are on our merry way when we come across the following sign:

I suppose if you look at the sign in the picture it would seem that perhaps you should go to the left. However, as an amateur rider riding along merrily, at the time we passed the sign, the larger path to the right was the obvious choice. Little did we know that that was the path up the “Monster”.

I have to side track for a minute now…you see, people always ask me if SA is safe and if I’ve had any “experiences” where I’ve been close to death or witnessed anything extreme and I must say that although SA has it’s problems all my near death experiences have been self-induced. You’ll read about the near death experiences by hypothermia and jumping off bridges in the next few postings, but this one is all about cardiac arrest.

So about 3km up the “Monster” I stopped for the third time I think it was, got off my bike, turned around to look at Jen, trying not to pass out, and said “are you f***ing kidding me?” (a phrase you will soon see I use a lot here in sunny South Africa) She was feeling a bit like me at that time and replied, “I don’t know man”. I gotta say, I know I’m out of shape, but holy shit, AND Jen is in pretty decent shape so we figured that perhaps we were on the wrong path. Aside from pending cardiac arrest, we hadn’t seen anyone in ages except for one other guy who also seemed to be lost. It was a tough call after doing what we had just done, but all I could think about was another 40km of that as it just kept going up. So we turned around and headed back down, which was a chore in itself. I suppose I can, at the very least, now say that I know what a technical ride entails. We headed back to the sign and veered to the left this time thinking that we had smooth sailing from here on out. Silly us…

Now back on the right track, well behind everyone else, we decided to book it a bit to see if we couldn’t salvage some of the race when much to our surprise part of the course that was used to get to the half way point was also used for the return trip AND a majority of the riders happened to be on that same section as Jen and I. The only difference is that they were coming in the opposite direction. For some reason, Jen and I decided to keep trekking ahead and were determined to finish this race. I have to say that choosing to ride a 2 km long single track section with riders coming head on isn’t one of the smarter moves I’ve made in life. There was one point where the path opened up and I thought that our luck was turning, when wouldn’t you know it? The riders coming head on decided to “take the jump” as I was just about to head over it. Needless to say I swerved to the left to avoid being landed on by a MTB.

Now this daring swerve to the left conveniently landed me in a pile of barbed wire, which, to make a long story short, landed me a flat tire 2km down the path with no spares and no equipment to fix it, which landed Jen and I to walk about 2km more to the turn around point where they also had nothing to fix the flat, which landed us with a truck ride back to the start of the race where we arrived at the same time as those who rode the 40km race. Oh yeah, and by same time, I mean after.

End of Story…

Climbing the Cliffs of SA

So it turns out the last blogging day was also a short one. Hopefully today will be better. It's hard to go back and post about what's happened when so much is still on the go and happening. The last month has been mostly work, but still an amazing adventure.

Again, I'm not sure where to start so I suppose I'll just start rambling and see where it takes me. If you've ever received an email from me you'll quickly realize that rambling is what I do best. There won't be too much thought provoking reading going on, but hopefully once I catch up with what I've done and where I've been I can get into the details of what South Africa is all about (through my eyes at least) because it really is something to tell.

South Africa is stunning to say the least and I know that my pictures won't do it justice, but one has to try. I suppose pictures are next best to the real thing!! These first few pictures are for all those climbers back home. This is my attempt to try and entice you to come out for a visit - Glen? Denise? Don't think I have forgotten!!

I have also decided that I am going to try and dedicate as many of my postings to the people who mean so much to me - family, friends, those strangers that you meet that touch your life in ways you never knew existed. So, on that note, Glen, Denise - this one is for you guys!! I’ve included two spots where I’ve been climbing so there’s one in there for each of you, both from the Magaliesberg area. Thanks for getting me back onto the real stuff before I left Canada!!

All I really have to say is that the rock out here is absolutely amazing. Climbing out here is so much the same yet so different to back home. The hikes out to the rock, being on the rock, and the best part of course - never forgetting to look back and see where it is you are on this planet. The feel is similar to back home, but different and the views similar in that they are breathtaking, but again different in that it's like nothing I've ever seem before. Ok - rambling - let's have the pictures do some talking.

The Hike Out - Fernkloof

One of the climbs - Fernkloof

Where we Set up Shop - Fernkloof

The Hike Out to the Climbs at Hartebeespoort Dam

One of the Climbs at the Dam

A Few More Climbs at the Dam

The view of Hartebeespoort Dam from 3/4 of the way up a climb.

Life in South Africa

Well, what can I say? My finger's didn't go numb and I definitely didn't tell of all my tales, but hopefully today will be a better story telling day. For the record, I still had my big ass cup of coffee... actually...it was a few drinks...with a good friend...so completely justified right? :o).

Let's dive into it shall we? It has thus far been a 6 month journey of ups and downs and highs and lows. Nothing unexpected I suppose when you move away from home for such a long time, and I must say the highs definitely outweigh the lows. I've met a lot of amazing people here in SA - locals and foreigners. You wouldn't believe the expat community that is here within my company alone. No matter who I have met though, regardless of where they are from, one thing remains the same, everyone I have crossed paths with has had open arms and have been more than welcoming. It truly has been an amazing adventure of human spirit. People I didn't know 6 months ago I now call some of my best friends.

I suppose I should start from the beginning. I won't bore you with too many details on my life here and will dive into all the adventures, but a lot of you back home have been asking so...

It was an emotional and stressful time organizing the move and then actually making a plan once I got here as to what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. I arrived at the airport and the company taxi took me to the hotel and I won't lie - I felt very lost. New surroundings, new cultures, new chaos, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness. However, I managed to quickly find my footing over the first week or so at work and things started to look up.

I figured, may as well dive into life here ASAP and I found myself playing action cricket with a team from work. Keep in mind, I am a Canadian where the term cricket refers to a noise-making bug. I left with only two bruises and a lot of laughs. I have pictures, but luckily, this being my blog, I can save myself the embarrassment of having to show you guys!!

I met a lot of people in the first few weeks here, found a fantastic place to live, and got use to my surroundings. Even managed a luxurious day at the spa with some newly found friends. I have to say it, you can't live anywhere in the world like you can live in SA. This picture gives you a bit of an idea of the backdrop to the spa.

The hardest part of my time here was definitely over the Christmas holidays. Tentative plans I had fell through and everyone I had met was either on some trip or home for the holidays. I've never missed home like that in my life and although it was tough, as everyone always does, I made it through. What's that saying..."the only unbearable thing in life is that nothing in life is unbearable". Before I know it, the holidays were ending, friends were coming back, I was more than well rested and things were looking up. I did, however, end up jumping off a bridge on my 30th birthday just after the holidays, but I'll get to that in the next tale.

Enough about me and my life here in SA though. A lot of people have been asking about the "situation" here and if it's safe and and and...I have had a lot of emails from home expressing concerns for the situation here and I just want to say thanks to all of you!! I'm not sure what you're hearing and seeing overseas, but regardless, the situation here is quite bad.

The latest to hit the international news was about the Xenophobic attacks that were happening in the nearby townships. I imagine what was heard overseas was that foreigners were being targeted and attacked. Although this was the case, from what I have heard, the attacks stemmed more so from the locals that were upset with those fleeing in to the townships from surrounding countries such as Zimbabwe blaming them for the crime and for taking their homes and jobs. The result, well, I'll let the pictures do the talking in this case...

South Africa is an interesting country that I think everyone should explore at some point in life. It is a place where no rules really exist, a place of crime and chaos, a place of frustrations requiring unreal amounts of patience, but having said all that, it is one of such beauty that I can't even describe it in words. I don't even think my pictures will do it any justice, but hopefully they will give you some idea of what I am talking about. The pictures above are a reality in this country, but so are the ones in my tales to follow.

Well Just Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale…

Felt that was appropriate as any a title since it’s been MONTHS since I last blogged and it has definitely been a tale of a faithful trip. I’m hoping to type until one of two things happen (1) I have finished telling of my adventures to date or (2) my fingers go numb from typing. I have had quite a few adventures since arriving in South Africa, one of which started off as a three hour tour. The weather didn’t really get rough, but we did get lost and had to spend the night in the mountains and I did feel like Gilligan for a while (apologies to those not familiar with the Gilligan’s Island reference). Wasn’t sure if we were going to make it out, but that story is for a bit later. Let’s just say that I didn’t think dying of hypothermia in South Africa was a possible way to leave this planet.

I will try my best to upate as detailed as possible, but with so much that's happened, and so much more on the way, I might just give the condensed versions of a few tales, but we'll see how it progresses.

It’s tough to know where to start. So much has happened since coming to SA, but I guess the beginning is as good as any. It’s funny, I keep thinking that I need to see this and I need to see that and that I have perhaps been working too many hours and am missing out on all my traveling time…until I sat down to write about it and realized that even though I have a lot yet to see, I have done more and seen more and met more amazing people then I can even recall in the six months I've been here. It's also hard to beleive that my six month anniversary in SA just past last week. I suppose time really does fly when you're having fun.

I am going to try and split each trip/event into a separate posting so you can easily navigate if you don’t feel like reading it all at once - or at all for that matter – hahahahaha. I'll hopefully get up some nice pictures though if you’re up for skimming. Whatever you decide I’ll pause now for all to go and get a big cup of coffee…myself included.