Best experience ever!!!!

     Yesterday we went Shark Diving!!! Not sure exactly why they call it shark DIVING, it's more like cage viewing. Doesn't really matter what they call it I guess, it's the coolest thing I have ever done! (Besides being on a boat rocking back and fourth for four hours...I could of done without that!) Great White Sharks are amazing!! I have been to aquariums that have sharks, but nothing compares to being underwater with them in their natural habitat.
     Originally we had arranged to go on June 14th, but the weather had other plans and we were rescheduled for yesterday the 28th. It could not have worked out better, the weather was amazing yesterday. Perfectly clear skies that allowed us to see nearly to the bottom of the ocean. In the bay area were the sharks hunt the seals, it is at its deepest about 90 ft. Now it's still winter here so the air temperature was 65 degrees. The water, we were told was about 60 degrees, but I would say otherwise. When we got into the cage it was shockingly cold! So cold that I couldn't even breathe correctly with the snorkel. Too much hyperventilation. I really am from the desert. (I couldn't stop thinking about how Jack froze to death because Rose wouldn't share that damn piece of wood with him!)
     We spent about 25 minutes in the cage watching the sharks. They throw out fish parts on a rope to attract them to the area. Then they quickly pull it away before they eat it. Sounds kind of cruel, but it's really for their protection. People aren't allowed to feed the sharks or the seals. They are still completely wild animals. I think they said we saw about 11 different sharks yesterday while we were out there. One of them was about 13 feet long! Terrifying! Not really--- but goodness gracious this beast was massive! Such a strange feeling to have your boat be completely surrounded by circling great white sharks.
     So anyway- we were on the boat for about 4 1/2 hours, 2 of those hours I was sitting in one spot concentrating on the horizon. Me and boats aren't friends. Thankfully I was able to hold it all together. I just wasn't able to look down at anything. But on top of all that, I still think this was the best experience ever. Bobby and I are already hoping that someone comes to visit us soon so we can go again. Next time i'll be sure to take the motion sickness pills. Bellow I have put together a little video. Just to give you all a small look into our adventure. And perhaps a little something to make you jealous.

**Due to human error, it appears that twice I wrote Sea Island instead of Seal Island. My apologies.**

The "selfie" I will be taking after all adventures!

(In the car after getting back from the boat)

Easily Distracted

    Today is Monday. Bobby goes off to school in Muizenberg. (Muizenberg is a small beach town in False Bay, about 30 minutes away) I get a chance to get some chores around the house done and try to work on my post to share what we were up to over the weekend. But...every time I try to do something productive, that freaking window sucks me in. I was minding my own business getting ready to do some Pilates when I saw a big fin flap down on the water. I quickly hurried to grab the binoculars and stood at the window and watched two families of whales swim by. Unfortunately it's too hard to get a picture of them. (So if you wanna see them you're just going to have to come over) Needless to say- this darn ocean distracts me. All I want to do is stare and wait for a Killer Whale to pop out so I can hurry downstairs and jump in the water with it!

     Over the weekend I decided we would take a trip to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. It is the most famous garden in all of Africa and well known around the world for its beauty. The park is nestled up at the bottom of Table Mountain spanning 88.9 acres. Those of you who know me, know that I am not so much a "nature" kind of girl. I unfortunately chose going to Tiffany's in Paris over the Palace of Versailles. Hindsight is 20/20. Oops. Okay I realize that visiting a palace isn't "nature", I'm just making the point. =) I also realize that visiting a garden isn't roughing it, but to me it practically was. This was my idea of seeing the sights and getting out of my comfort zone. 

     Getting dressed in the morning Bobby walks in the room with his hiking boots out. Puzzled...I decided to switch my shoes to sneakers too. (Of course I wasn't planning on wearing my tieks or anything....that would be silly) After squeezing into uncomfortable shoes we were off. The gardens are about 15 minutes from our house just on the opposite side of the mountain. We arrived, found parking, paid and walked in. Lots of plants. I mean LOTS. This place was just one big gigantic yard full of plants. For some reason I imagined a garden would be something similar to visiting an amusement park or a zoo. Stalls of junk food, shows, souvenirs, etc. I was wrong. It was just plants. 

     Okay okay don't get me wrong. It was pretty, kind of. It's also winter so all the flowers were mostly dormant. In the summer and spring I bet its much prettier. The views of the mountain and the city were pretty spectacular though!! I guess I'm just not into plants. The coolest part (inside the garden) was the smell/touch garden. It was this little walk path that showed off different smelling plants and different textured ones. I enjoyed that part. Also enjoyed walking out... mostly because upon exiting we ran into Romeel. (Bobby's boss) He told us about this restaurant called Moyo by the exit that had traditional African food. He had me at food. ;)

the view of cape flats and the garden

Bobby looking into the pond...

Sun shinning over Table Mountain

South African national flower. Protea

Don't know what it was, just pretty.

     

Getting my face painted

Bobby's appetizer
Pumpkin apple ginger soup

My appetizer
Spicy minced beef samoosas
**EXTREME spice**

My main course
Zulu chicken curry
**AMAZING**

Bobby's main
Karoo lamb
*not so good, we didn't eat it*

My dessert
Dom Pedro
***HOLY SMOKES GOOD***

Bobby's dessert
Cinnamon apple malva

Overall it was a successful trip. We will visit again in the spring. Hope to see more flowers. I wont wear perfume next time either. Enjoy your week everyone. I will have a new post next week if the weather is good this weekend. 

LOL <----as my mom would say. Lots of Love! 

Sunshine and chicken?? Yes please.

      Hi everyone. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." I'm serious I am freezing! Is this where the saying Christmas in July comes from? The southern hemisphere?? =) Most days have been in the low 60s and 50s. June is the rain season, so we have been seeing a lot of this from the windows.

     Thankfully the sun decided to grace us with its presence yesterday, so we took full advantage. It was a beautiful 70 degrees and no wind. I know that's something my friends in Las Vegas can really appreciate right about now, NO WIND. So we took to the streets. Well first we walked the boardwalk/beach then we doubled back on the main road to do some shopping. In total it was about 3 miles. Wearing cute shoes was a bad idea. =( I couldn't wait to get home to yank them off. 

Haha you think the wind blows here??

Sea Gull in flight! I didn't mean to capture that,
I was trying to get him sitting. Turned out better!

Best part of this photo: There is a man about
shoulder high to MY left sleeping on the rocks.
The saying we use for that is : TIA (This is Africa)

     By shopping of course I mean grocery. On such a beautiful day I had no choice but to make a yummy dinner and some chocolate chip cookies. Being the foody that I am, I am always trolling the internet for my next recipe to try. Last night I made baked sweet and sour chicken. (http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/18/baked-sweet-sour-chicken/)

     This was a successful dinner. 7 out of 10. The sauce was amazing and overall it's so simple. Well besides the mess! I always find that when you flash fry something, pour sauce over it to bake, it loses the crunch. Personally I'm all about the crunchy chicken. So next time I think I will just fry all the way and make the sauce on the stove top. I also added the pineapple, next time I will definitely add some bell peppers and carrots too.  

An empty dish is a good sign.

Cant forget the cookies!
(Ovens are only big enough to hold a pan that
 makes 6 cookies at a time. Lets just say
baking cookies becomes a 2 day event.)
On the bright side--warm fresh cookies are best.

That's all for now. We have some fun things coming up for the next two weekends so stay tuned. Love and miss you all. GO team USA!!! 

Oh and Happy 99th Birthday Great Grandmother!

Video of the trip over

     At the airport in Austin I had the idea to capture some footage of each leg of the trip. All this planned out in my head, seemed like a brilliant idea. I stand by that it was a good idea, just poorly executed. Whether it was oops I forgot, oops I was sleeping, oops my phone died, or oops later on-- should have got a video if that. I still managed to capture most of the important stuff. And for what its worth, give me a break planes are hard to film on. =)

     Anyway I share with you a video that I put together using iMovie. For the record iMovie and me, do not get along. In fact it also doesn't get along with my computer either. It was slow and frozen half the time. =) I did the best that I could with my patience and this program.

Is this thing on??

Yay! I think I did it...

     In the event you don't already know, we officially live in South Africa. Cape Town to be exact. To be even more exact we live in a suburb called Sea Point. Sea Point is on the west side facing the Atlantic Ocean. Every day I look out the window I can see the tip of Florida! Not really but I imagine I can. We have been here for 4 months, 26 days. (But who's counting.....ok I know my mom at least is...)
     The process of moving to a foreign land is challenging. Starting from jet lag all the way to different sugar varieties. Lets not forget everything else in-between. For the first 3 months of living here, we were staying in vacation rentals. The first one for 2 1/2 weeks, second for 4 weeks, third for 1 week, intermit trip to Japan for 10 days, and the final one for 2 1/2 weeks. We were traveling nomads living out of suitcases. It was rough.
     The housing market in Cape Town was booming when we arrived. The Rand or Zar (South African Currency) was plummeting which caused a huge influx of people into the area. **Mostly those of European decent. To this day, I haven't seen a single random American. <-----Sad fact.** With all the people and not a lot of places for rent it caused mayhem. We would find a place we liked, book a time with the agent, and upon showing up there would be 15 other people there as well. Complete nightmare. After countless flops in the search we found one place that we really really liked...along with 20 other people. We applied and basically just crossed our fingers. We got a call from the agent saying the owners narrowed it down between us and another couple. We got an email the next day saying they chose the other couple. Based on what, we will never know. Back to the search.
     Two weeks later I stumbled on this gem in Sea Point listed on gumtree that was available March 1st. *Gumtree is equivalent to Craigslist* I called the agent and she said she could show it later on in the week. Then she emailed me cancelling saying the current tenant was extending another month, so it wouldn't be available until April 1st. I emailed her back and said that was fine, but we still wanted to see the apartment as soon as possible. We got in to see the place the following week, fell absolutely in love, and knew it was what we wanted. The agent called us after leaving the property to ask what we thought. In the car on the drive home we said we "we'll take it". The rest is history.

The big giant eye sore on the coast line. That's us. 20th floor.