The Edge of the World...

So, It's back to me, as in the person you expect rather than someone else being nice. Due to lack of access, I never got to finish Cape Town I Am Straddling Continents style, so here we go.

Where I last left off, I was in Cape Town. Two events are worthy of mention: the LSB bonfire and sand boarding. Let's go in order.

LSB Bonfire:
The owner of LSB, Steve, found this spot a number of years back, and every so often the staff of LSB and certain invited boarders at the hostel go out there for a bonfire. Sounds simple, right? No, it's not. It's freakin awesome and rather complicated. There is this town outside of Cape Town called Llandudno, one of the most expensive real estate areas in all of South Africa. We took a cab out there to the beach, where we met the LSB people. They had wood, a fire pit, speakers, and a number of other things they were schlepping. We then walked to a group of rocks and hiked out to a big cliff jutting out into the water. It was a sight everyone tried to capture on film, but none of us could... it just didn't work. I describe it as being on the edge of the world, someone else thought of it as a sci-fi moment with the moon rising over the mountains and the ocean swirling about the lower rocks. It was sheer beauty, and we were all stunned. We stayed on that rock with the fire, music, and company until 1 in the morning, and it was so special the LSB staff deigned us worthy of invitation.

Sand Boarding:
If you've never gone, you ought go. It was fun, despite being exhausting. Joel, Mija, and I used Downhill Adventures to book a half day trip sand boarding. They took us to a place called Atlantis, a five square kilometer sand dune area that is a natural filter for water in the local area. We would hike up the dunes, strap in, and board back down, like snowboarding only with many fewer turns, and at a slower speed. I will admit, I had one MASSIVE wipe out, where my board hit an edge and I flipped head over heals 540 degrees and landed completely winded, my face in the sand, my board over my head. It was special. Great morning, great fun...

That's really it for Cape Town. The group came back together and we flew to Vietnam (next post)! Farewell Cape Town, we'll always have Paris.