"Gary the Vance" at Langebaan Lagoon

Back from camp! Hi folks, get ready for a long one.

On Friday last week I left from varsity for a five-day field camp for my ecology class. Our stay was located in the West Coast National Park near the town Langebaan. There are about 60 students in my class, so as you can imagine there was a huge caravan of about 12 kombis with trailer loads of equipment. Only an hour and a half outside of Cape Town, the West Coast National Park encompasses the Langebaan Lagoon, which is created by a 10 (ish) mile long peninsula creating Big Bay, Small Bay, and the lagoon. Only about 15% of the lagoon is completely protected by the park, but still is a huge amount of land/water. We only arrived in the park around 6pm not allowing any time for any fieldwork. Our accommodation was a refurbished horse stable turned into what is pretty much a hostel. There were about 20 stables with bunk beds and mattresses and a mess hall with a large kitchen and enough tables and chairs to accommodate everyone. Groups created within the class prepared the meals (breakfast and dinner). There were plenty of vegetarian friendly dishes for me to eat easily and end the night comfortably full.

The Stables:


The camp consisted of 4 days of research in the field and back at our mess hall doing analysis. There were 6 different activities each day, so I didn’t get to do all of the fieldwork available at the camp as our schedule was predetermined. The first day, Saturday, consisted of “Trek”. Originally I thought we were going to be hiking a lot and doing some sort of trail analysis, but I soon realized I was entirely incorrect. Trekking here involves a giant net that is cast into sea from the shore (walked out into the current by us undergrads) and pulled back in to observe the fish species present. We managed to do three treks at two different sites, so six treks in total. To my complete surprise, the first net we pulled in contained more than just little fish species. We had about seven sand sharks and a stingray! Almost all of our catches were kept for count analysis later, including the sharks, but our project leader released the stingray carefully. It was the same species that killed Steve Irwin. I didn’t get too close, ha. The rest of the day consisted of mindless counting of about 20 different fish species from all of the catches.

The trek net being pulled in from the bay:


Day two was “Rocky”. Rocky was all about the populations of mussels and barnacles on the upper, mid, and lower levels of the rocky shores throughout the tidal movement. The waves coming in from the Atlantic were enormous so we weren’t able to sample completely, but managed to scrape some samples for analysis. The third day was “Botany”. At first, I was not terribly excited about this field work because plants, I must be honest, are the most thrilling of things to be looking at after days of sharks and crashing waves. To my surprise though, it actually turned out to be quite an interesting day. Our project leader was completely obsessed with plants and kept getting excited about things we were finding. We managed to dig up a sample of a type of plant performing what is known as “root suckering,” which involves a plant sprouting out roots and forcing up another stock to pretty much create two plants attached to the same root system. Anyways, what at first I thought seemed to be diamonds because of his excitement, actually turned out to be a rare specimen of root suckering. Woo!

Happy botanist:


The final full day of field camp was “Plastics”. This was, by far, one of the longest days of my biology “career”. We spend the entire morning, around 8:30am, and through the afternoon, about 4:00pm, completely filtering out a 50x50 meter section of a beach with sand filters and sieves to find plastic pieces. At first it was quite astonishing to see how much plastic was in the sand, but soon the day turned for the worse and my arms started burning. As I type now, my arms still feel like someone is taking a blowtorch to them. The toughest part about the day was the fact that we couldn’t pick up trash that was outside of our sample area because we had to completely sort and count all of the pieces of trash. The most ironic part of the trip came here when I found a recycling bin buried in the sand that washed up on shore. I wonder if the bin was made with recycled plastic…

Plastics beach:


The camp didn’t only consist of ecology work; we also got to enjoy our evenings in a beautiful park with some pretty awesome people. Most of the students, except for a few study abroad students from the US, were either South African or from southern Africa. It was really nice to be forced to hang out with people I probably wouldn’t get to know if it weren’t for this camp. Naturally, my American-ness was brought up consistently with all of them. I have never met so many people curious about what the states are like! Hearing them talk about America and the stereotypes they know was hilarious! It was difficult to explain how different the regions of the states (Midwest, East, West and South) really are. Also, life as a kid in high school or college is nothing like “Laguna Beach” or “Greek Life”. People are so curious about fraternities and sororities in the states.

Eventually, people were calling me “Wisconsin” since I wore one of my school t-shirts one of the days. My nickname soon changed though. I am now known by almost everyone in my ecology class as “Gary the Vance”. Explanation: They were quite amused by the name Vance and the fact that my entire name is pretty much three first names. Gary comes from one of the girls, Catherine, not knowing my name after meeting me and calling me Gary. Everyone cracked up when she said that and now I am Gary the Vance. The name is typically spoken in a southern Tennessee accent (according to what they thought was a Tennessee accent in the states). Most people from South Africa who have been to the states have only been to New York City or Florida. I figured since Florida is warm and close, that makes it popular, and of course New York being one of the world’s most known cities.

The last night at camp we all walked out to a bird watching hut that was a dock out into the lagoon and watched the sunset over the peninsula with some beautiful clouds showing the color. It was nice to have a relaxing beginning to what was otherwise a quite hectic night. Since the drinking age is 18 here, most everyone at university is of age to drink. The professors know this too. The list I was given of what to bring for camp included “sufficient amounts of your favorite tipple if you wish to imbibe.” Nothing is kept behind closed curtains here, ha. Watching the sunset really reminded me of Minnesota, especially the Boundary Waters, because it felt like we were on a decent sized, pristine lake. It once again, as Costa Rica did, made me realize how great home is and how much it has to offer. I could have watched a similar sunset at home and thought I was sitting over Langebaan Lagoon. Not to discredit where we are at all, since this place is unlike any other, but it makes me appreciate where I am from and what a beautiful place it is!

A beautiful sunset over Langebaan Lagoon:


Shark swimming in the lagoon at sunset (it's a small guy):


I got home this afternoon and now am about to leave for soccer practice, yay! The weather is definitely changing and getting cooler at night, which I enjoy more actually. I like wearing jeans and sweaters at night but still am able to wear shorts and a T during the day. I started a Mr. Movie account down the road to keep myself occupied for the next four days while my entire house is either in Botswanna or Mozambique. Taryn and Arianna are the only people home, but Arianna is with her mom around the city so she isn’t going to be around here too much. Taryn and I will be watching movies for a few days while we procrastinate our papers due next week. Sounds nice! Off to practice…

High-five everyone,

Green Point

Yesterday I toured Green Point Stadium with a few other people. It was a remarkable afternoon to say the least. Even with a completely empty stadium, I still felt a rush of excitement imagining being there with a jam packed stadium cheering my lungs out! The elegant flow of the stadium along with the fresh pitch combined for an atmosphere unlike any other. Just look at the pictures and I am going to describe them as I go...

This first picture is after going through the gates and walking up the stairs to the gigantic pavillion situated outside the stadium. I imagine there will be a bunch of pre-game food and games there. Already getting excited:


The guest information center where our tour began. You can see the visual 3D model used for showcasing the design of the stadium to the city:


Finally. A first look at the stadium from normal tier seating. What a fantastic view! Also, as you can see the chairs are different shades of grey to make the stadium look filled when there are seats without people. On television it looks different with motion:


So close to the pitch! The upper section in the background is the temporary section that will be taken down after the World Cup:


The stadium again:


Enjoying the one and only time I will ever sit in the VIP section of the stadium. VIP benefits include a cup holder and a cushy chair. Totally worth it!:


The team showers where Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney will be naked...


Being held up in the temporary cells for hooligans enjoying the game a little too much. I plan to see this place again...


Getting as close to the pitch as possible. Now I can say, "I was there". There are a bunch of billboards around the city with the phrase, "Be sure you are able to say... I was there" - FIFA World Cup 2010. Every time I see them, I get even more excited!:


Getting ready for June:


Only one more week before spring break starts!

Updates

I realize I haven’t updated in a while, so I apologize! Last weekend was fun with a good morning at the Old Biscuit Mill market and eatery. A quick walk there and plenty of delicious food to eat was a perfect start to the weekend. I ended up eating some Indian lentils and vegetables with rice for only R30. We are planning on going back this weekend to try even more food. They have so many good types of sandwiches, pizzas, Greek food, seafood, coffee, bread and cheese and hundreds of different spreads and sauces. There are also a bunch of shops surrounding the area with clothing and jewelry. It can go without saying that the girls were taking their time there. In the afternoon we went to the city to walk up and down Long St. I FINALLY got a pair of flip-flops. I have been wearing shoes the entire time here and have realized that my defined sock tan wasn’t going to cut it at the beach. I broke down and got a pair of Havaianas, which are the most popular sandals in Cape Town.

Sunday was one of the hottest days we have had in Cape Town. It was so hot that I could barely nap because that would mean I couldn’t fan myself and would wake up dripping in sweat. There was no point in trying to concentrate on reading or working on schoolwork since all we could think about was how hot it was. I hate to admit it, but it was a miserable day here. Monday was the same thing except to make it even worse, we had to go to class. Boo. I had put a Nalgene in the fridge to get some cold water when I got home (since cold water from the faucets doesn’t exist). I came home to find out that our power went out around 2pm and we couldn’t open the fridges in order to preserve our food. Needless to say we were once again melting in our house. We decided to take up Florentine’s 2 for 1 happy hour cocktails. Frozen mojitos are a fantastic cure to a hot day, I must say. The week has been cooling down and yesterday it rained for the entire morning and afternoon during soccer practice.

I got my first assignment returned to me this past week in my Principles of Ecology class. It was a simple lab report about population ecology and I could say more about it but that wouldn’t be too interesting. I ended up getting a 75 percent on it. Immediately I was like, “o gosh, what is Cape Town doing to me?” but soon realized that the grading system is completely different here than it is in the states. After asking my ecology friend Irfan, I realized that I got an “A” on the paper. Still somewhat confusing to me, but apparently 75 and above equates to an “A” and grades go down to around 45 percent, I believe. Either way, I am very pleased to have done well on my first assignment! I have been working on another paper for my history of South Africa prior to 1900 class. It is about slave resistance in the Cape colony from 1652 – 1820ish and how it can elude to what life was like in Cape Town and the rural areas. Thus far it actually seems to be quite interesting. I have been having a good time researching in the library, since we have to actually check out books and research here. Although I hate to say it, it has been a really long time since I have had to check out book after book to work on a research paper. It originally was due tomorrow, but our professor gave the entire class an extension until Monday. So now I am writing in my blog instead of working on my paper, ha.

On a World Cup note, there are 5 of us going to the USA v. Slovenia match on June 18th. We rented a car for the drive there and will be taking two days to get to Johannesburg. We are going to try to stop in Blomfontein to watch the matches on the night of our driving period. I cannot wait to be at the game cheering for the US. Singing the national anthem is going to be emotional! We are flying back from Jo’burg to Cape Town for only 130 dollars. There has been a lot of government intervention on the prices of plane tickets here and they have been coming down ever since. The government of South Africa is urging shop owners to keep prices the same as to create a sustainable tourism industry from the amount of people coming here. They want more than just people here for the World Cup, they want people to talk about how awesome this country is to get others to come. Unfortunately people are coming during the worst weather of the year but hopefully they will realize that it is much nicer in the summer.

I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do in July and I think I might have reached a decision. I created a membership for WWOOFing, which is World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Each country typically has their own database of farms and farmers who have posted their farm on the website and are willing to provide room and board for those who work on the farm. Most of the African countries are a part of the WWOOF Independent Organization, which I applied for. I want to try and just stay at a farm for the entire month so I don’t spend money, but still do something that I could not do anywhere else. Also, I have been looking into WWOOFing after graduation for the summer in Scandinavia so this will be a good opportunity to figure out how the program works. All I have to pay for is the transportation to the farm and from there on out, I work and eat. All of the farms are attempting to become fully self-sustainable with their crops and livestock and think it would be a really cool experience. I will keep you all updated!

No new pictures as of late since we haven’t been doing to much new things. I have been going to Scrumpy Jack’s for the Champions league matches this week and will probably continue that trend next week again. I have also been cooking a lot lately. Many stir fried vegetables and oven baked potatoes and veggie brats. Eating out is still just about the same price as making my own food though.

My parents and brother and sister in law are all very excited to come here. We have been putting together a list of activities to do, which is looking to be quite the adventurous agenda! I am excited to see them.

I will post some pictures from this weekend as soon as I get a chance…

Peace.

Sunset Hiking and Food

Howzit foks?

Spent Saturday afternoon exploring Table Mountain National Park with some people from my house. We took a taxi to an entrance near Kirstenbosch Gardens and made our way upwards. Our original plan was to reach the top of Table Mountain, but we realized that could only really be done by starting in the morning so you don’t hike in the dead heat. Instead we got to the top of the foothills before the rocky mountain climb, and just walked along that area back towards campus. The trails in the park are phenomenal. They wind around the mountain base and give you gorgeous views of suburban Cape Town. We finally made our way down to Rhodes Memorial on campus and took the Jammie shuttle home. I must say it was a nice afternoon with most of the lads from the house and Taryn (or Ptaryndactal – our name for her), the only girl to come with, ha.

The Wolf Pack overlooking Table Bay on the base of Devil's Peak:


Sunday was a relaxing morning and afternoon spent reading for class and watching movies. Later in the afternoon a few of us went hiking up Lion’s Head, which is a small mountain peak on Signal Hill that overlooks the city. There was a full moon on Sunday and we figured watching the sunset and the moon rise would be a nice way to cap of the weekend. The mountain was packed with people hiking upwards. I felt like I was in a queue to get to heaven or something, ha. Eventually we staked out a place on a few rocks and just relaxed and talked to each other while the gorgeous sun disappeared into the Atlantic. The ocean is just so brilliant; it was weird thinking that all the way over there is South America. It’s difficult to imagine! Needless to say, the full moon was beautiful. With a cloudless night and starts beginning to appear in the sky, the night could not have gotten much better. We finally made our way down the mountain with the hoard of people around 10:00pm. I had my handy dandy headlamp torch to get us down. The moon was so bright though, that a flashlight was barely needed. I will definitely be doing that again.

The 12 Apostles behind me:


Cape Town at night with the full moon. Devil's peak on the right:


Hello South America!:


Monday involved my Ecology practical in the afternoon. We actually took some busses to Stellenbosch to do some river sampling to study the invertebrate population. Although it took five hours, it was really cool to be doing some real tests instead of being stuck in a lab pretending like we are biologists. The prac finished around 6:00pm and I ended up getting some take away pad thai from Asian Supermarket (my go-to take away).

Doing a SASS5 assessment of the river (don't ask me what that means):


On a food note, since campus pretty removed from most of the town area, there are some restaurants on upper campus and food venders that have cheap, good food. My usual is Souper Sandwich and I get a hummus and chukka (veggies) sub that is toasted and spicy! It is one of the things that gets me up in the morning to go to class. I also get veggie noodles or veggie chop suey from Rainbow Chinese. Every day at 1:00pm me and a bunch of other people meet in line and spend the meridian break (designated lunch hour in the middle of the day) talking and enjoying our delicious sandwiches.

I had a dream/woke up and thought it was happening, that our house was being plotted to be broken into to steal our fridges. I was peeking out my window searching for people. If you are reading this, consider this a treat of mine, sharing this awfully embarrassing sleep story of mine. I think I have been watching too much 24 and think I am Jack Bauer and going to save the world. It’s not going to stop me from watching though, ha.

It’s been nice to talk to people lately, especially when they are in College Library procrastinating (Betsy, cough). Thanks for keeping me cheery!

That’s it for now, cheers.