Amalgam

Me with Charlotte and Marian, both from Holland, hanging out at the hostel. Afrikaans (a language common in South Africa) is very similiar to Dutch, so these girls and other Dutch travelers are able to understand Afrikaans and vice versa.


Rand notes. I have heard there is also a R200 bill, but those are somehow easiest to counterfeit so many stores are hesitant to accept them. R200 is about $30. R100 like I have shown here is about $15. Their smallest bill is a R10, about $1.50.


Rand coins. There is also a 50c piece that isn't shown here. The 5c piece (bottom right in the picture) is worth about half a US penny.


A view of Kloof street on my way to the grocery store (which, by the way, was quite small by American supermarket standards).


Further up the hillside on Kloof Street, a more residential area.


This is the second playground I've seen with hardcore barbed-wire protection.


A view down Kloof Street looking back toward Long Street (where I'm staying) and the city centre.


A view of Table Mountain from the Company's Gardens.


"Bird of paradise" flower in Company's Gardens.


Another photo I took the other day in the Company's Gardens.


Mounted police officers: notice that they're all white, though none of the foot patrol police officers I've seen have been.


This netting above the courtyard at my hostel is intended to keep out pigeons and other animals, I think, but its effectiveness was disproved today by the presence of a pigeon - perhaps the one sitting on the netting here - flying around my room this morning. haha See next blog post shortly.