re-adjusting to civilian life. I've unpacked most of my stuff, done the world's largest load of laundry, started organizing photos and videos, caught up on my sleep and ventured a few times into the "real world," for groceries, a haircut and dinner at Scott and Joe's. I have tomorrow off, but go back to work on Tuesday. Uuuugh. I wish I could say it's great to be back. You'd think after 27 days living out of a suitcase, sleeping in beds other than my own, (hold your jokes, please,) I'd be glad to be back, to be in my routine, to be reconnected to my life here in SF. Well, I'm not exactly "happy" to be back. Somehow, someway, my fabulous home town of San Francisco seems, well, smaller than when I left. It feels a little constricting, a little provincial. My job that I head back to on Tuesday seems a little silly. The news on TV and in the paper, well, inconsequential. Uuugh. Having amazing experiences in places worlds away from home has changed my perspective on the every day life. Not sure what to do with it now, this perspective, other than to acknowledge the world that interests me extends beyond the city limits, beyond the boundaries of my regular SF and NYC worldview. Now what do I do about it? This beautiful photo of the sun setting in the Atlantic off the coast of Cape Town reminds me that today, and this feeling, will pass and tomorrow will dawn new and potentially, if I'd like, different. And I guess, that feels pretty damn good.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Today's Daily Evil Baboon shot
On our trip, we joked a lot about how michievious, naughty, wicked, goofy, funny, human-like the baboons were. But it sends a bit of a chill down your spine when you see one actually trying to break into a car using two inch long canine teeth. We read in the paper, while in Cape Town, a story about a five year old girl attacked by a baboon while on a hike with her family on Table Mountain. Leaning out the window, a few feet from this guy, I snapped this photo with one hand on the camera and one hand on the window crank.
At the ol' mud hole
In Chobe National Park in Botswana, the last wildlife stop on our safari, we encountered a giant heard of elephants (fifty? sixty?) playing in the mud. This shot shows a youngster getting cool in the ol' mud hole. We watched them for about thirty minutes, shooting pics and video, as some weren't just rolling around but a few were actually wrestling with each other, pushing and shoving in groups of two and three, getting down and dirty in the mud. There was definitely one of the most human behaviors we saw in these anaimals, having fun, keeping cool and being exceptionally outwardly social with each other.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority building
Scott says that four of the top ten tallest buildings in the world are in Hong Kong. He has to be right. It was surreal walking around at night. Not only were they externally lit to the top in creative multicolor fashion, but they were also still very much occupied late into the night. Floors were bright with lights with people at their desk, late at night! A beautiful sight. (The buildings. Not the people working late.) You couldn't ever feel alone in this city. It just teemed all night long. And never felt unsafe. Or saw unsavory types. (and there is not homeless. I think we saw a total of two homeless people.) No thuggy loudmouth kids or rebel types. On the subway, at late night bars, walking around past midnight, it felt safe. I say this about the communists: their trains run on time and no one gets mugged.
At our table at Aqua
The moody, evocative lighting, the sensory-stimulating, tactical design to the furniture, and view-from-every seat layout of this multi-tiered restaurant Aqua (thanks for the lead on this place, Mister Castanon!) was spectacular. It was perched on top floor of a towering shkyscraper with floor to ceiling windows at least three stories high. Like most of the high-end commercial establishments in HK, it was brilliantly, indulgently, over-the-top executed. (If this is the future of communism, sign me up!) The food was amazing, too. Thinly sliced steak wrapped around torandos of chopped eggplant, then grilled. Crab fried rice. Tempura vegetables. Heavenly.
a view of the Hong Kong Skyline
From our table at the restaurant Aqua, we had a spectacular view. This is looking back across the harbour at Hong Kong from the restaurant which was in Kowloon. (Scott took me out for a fabulous dinner for my 37th birthday...)
That's smog. Not precipitation.
This is the view from the funicular as we climbed the hillside to the peak. Rising higher and higher above the Hong Kong island's towering skyscrapers, we could see Kowloon on the otherside of the harbour. Our hotel, the Hotel Nikko is on the point opposite, a little over midway up the photo, and about halfway across the photo from the left. We paid 30 cents to take a ferry across the harbour and maybe 80 cents to take a subway back. They had every kind of mass transit and aside from cabs, they were all super cheap.
Onboard the Peak Tram
Taking the funicular to the top of the Peak on Hong Kong was a trippy experience. A rail car, pulled up a steep STEEP hill by cable, afforded a spectacular view. (When I say steep, imagine if the NYC subway, or BART for that matter climbed from station to station at a 45 degree incline. The whole way!) As we rose above the towering skyscrapers packed around the harbor, you got a tremendous sense of the scale of this jam-packed island. These folks behind me, who clearly did not consent to being photographed with me, look excited to reach the top, none the less. We would soon discover why: shopping. Yes, at the very top of the tallest peak on Hong Kong Island was a mall. A shopping mall.
Beer. Noodles. And attentive service.
Not far from this little outdoor bar near our hotel, (which served fantastic noodles and fried rice, by the way,) late in the evening, I was approached by an attractive, well dressed older women leading a gang of comely young lasses who stealthily locked her arm into mine, and walked with me as I crossed the plaza. She kindly asked, "You need girl tonight?" I said "Uh no." She unlocked her arm from mine, faded away, tackling Scott a few steps behind me. I should have inquired about any young brothers she might have had...KIDDING.
Isn't it time for our eleventh meal of the day?
Isn't this just what you expect to be hanging in a window in Hong Kong? But it's a lot cleaner than I expected. I'd actually eat here. (You know my issues: Food. Cleanliness. Coming together as one...) Everywhere we looked, there were a million places to eat. Do these people ever cook at home? I guess not. Like NYC, no one has room. or time. The dim sum was spectacular. The baked goods were heavenly. (That fabulous British heritage of delicate frosted cakes and crumbly buttery gorgeous things lives on here in the ex-colony.) The delicacies we spied in shops, at the malls, even in the airports ran the gamut from quaint old world goodies like smoked meats shown here, to fully prepared meals for takeout, packaged in beautifully designed, bright graphic containers boasting spectacular french, america and indian goodies. These people know how to eat.
Hong Kong: A stop along the way home from Africa
The busting streets of Kowloon (the part of Hong Kong attached to the mainland, where were staying,) typefied the Hong Kong experience we imagined from the movies. Streets teeming with millions of Chinese, packed with cars, taxis mostly (they're all the same, red with grey tops, Toyotas,) illuminated at night by an overwhelming wattage of signs,signs and more signs. The nearly claustaphobic hustle and bustle was the perfect contrast to the wide-open natural beauty and quaint peacefulness of the African portion to our journey. I think we are headed to the ferry in this picture, making our way to Hong Kong Island for a little late night self-guided tour. (Okay. Fine. We were looking for the gay bar...)
Tram to Table Mountain
We spent our last morning in Cape Town touring Table Mountain, the massive flat topped rock looming above the city of Cape Town. (There are, in addition, two other mountains, Signal Hill and Lion's Head as well as a series of smaller mountains, The Twelve Apostles, that make up the rocky landscape of the Cape.) They've been running trams up this hill for over 100 years. This particular model had a rotating floor so that no matter where you stood in the car, you got a 360m view on the way up. We originally planned to hike up the mountain. (Ran out of time. the weather was a little iffy too.) Many people were wandering trails up the side, some even climbing directly up the face. Unassisted. No ropes. Just scrambling from perch to perch. It was pretty crazy to watch them.
Clifton's beaches
Clifton, a beautiful seaside neighborhood in Cape Town with million dollar homes and million dollar views, boast four great beaches. The first one is the largest one with vollyball courts, etc. The second one is supposedly where the wealthy model types hangout, the fourth one is massive, where families go and play paddle ball, thow the frisbee and actually swim in the water. The third one, where we hung out, is the gay beach. Nothing went on at this beach. No volleyball. No paddle ball. Hardly any swimming in the water. Just a bunch of beautiful gay boys laying out on chaise lounges posing in their speedos, ignoring each other. It's comforting to know gays are the same all over the world.
Sunset cruise in Cape Town
We shot this from the deck of a catamaran in Table Bay as we headed out on our sunset cruise. Drinking champagne and snapping photos, our tour took us past Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years) and out to the chilly waters of the Atlantic. Looking back on the city of Cape Town, with its glittering city lights below the massive, looming shadown of Table Mountain, while out catamaran rolled across the undulating swells of the inky black sea was, well, pretty damn close to paradise.
Mesmorized by majesty
Victoria Falls was pretty spectacular. (The only thing of note in Zimbabwe...unless you include the astronomical and soaring inflation.) Here, the Zambezi river, after meandering through Zambia, spills over these falls into an enormous gorge that's split across the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. This natural wonder (one of the 7 of the world) inspires awe. Its momentus scale, its towering plumes of mist and the mountainous roar, reminds me how grand the natural state of the planet can be. Left untouched for over two hundred years, this river and fall flows just as it did when first sighted by Stanley Livingston, a Scottish Missionary in the early 1800's. We took a helicopter tour as well as a foot tour. Spectacular.
The sad legacy of apartheid manages a smile
On our township tour, we met a lot of people with smiles on their face---pretty surprising as they lived in squalor. Most are unemployed. And stuck in horrific and cruel conditions. Set up by the ruling white minority government many decades ago. South Africa's post-apatheid challenge is massive: 35% unemployement, a 20% HIV infection rate and significant crime. But this little boy, like many of the kids we met in our tour, was friendly, engaging and seemed glad to have tourists visiting his "neighborhood." While many of the townships set up in the fifties, sixties and seventies begun with basic housing (concrete apartment blocks), the population quickly outstripped supply and many families built wooden shacks with tin roofs, minus electicity or water. So for miles and miles, all the eye can see are these little shacks built on top of each other. These townships are surrounded by fences with razor wire and are bordered by freeways. Millions upon millions of people live in the townships that populate the Cape Flats in this condition. And in post-apartheid South Africa, these townships are growing. With high unemployment, folks remain in townships, having families. For many, it's the only life they know. And while the governmement is moving families into more modern apartments, it's a slow, VERY SLOW, massive process. It will be decades, if ever, before these people are re-absorbed into the "white," western standard of living. I have hope, as they do too. In fact many who spoke to us wanted us to know that they don't want our pity, we shouldn't look at them as poor, but rather this is simply their life at the moment. Some had started small businesses in the townships, like salons, butchers, crafts sellers, and even a B&B. Seeing this side of South Africa, the legacy of apartheid, took some of the sheen of the visit. However, the current black ruling government's committment to reconcilliation and redevelopment seems genuine. And promising.
Zebras of the Saint Lucia Wetlands. Beautiful. Docile. Hungry.
When we were in Kwa Zulu Natal, over the New Year's weekend, we took a drive from St. Lucia where we were staying at the fab Amazulu Lodge, up to Cape Vidal, a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean, we passed, along the way, these Zebra. They were part of a much larger herd but these two, a mom and baby I am guessing, were grazing not far from the road. They were nibbling nonchalantly, not caring that a Toyota Corolla was twenty or so feet away, its occupants snapping photos madly.
Jon Jacobs: My Cape Town "tour guide."
Here's Jon. A really sweet Brit who toured me around Cape Town. I met Jon on Scott's and my first night in Cape Town. After a driving tour past Signal Hill, Table Mountain, Camp's Bay and Clifton, Scott and I did a tour of Cape Town's "gay village" starting at Manhattan's, a popular restaurant/patio bar hangout. Unfortunately, not much cruising going on there. (As you can imagine, our interest in meeting folks, guys in particular, was pretty high at this point. We had, after all, been in the bush for almost three weeks with no one except each other for company.) Manhattan's, situated on a corner, was more of a friendly hangout, with a bustling restaurant section in addition to a bar area, all open to shady side patios overlooking two quiet, elegant neighborhood streets filled with european like store fronts and residentials homes. Perfect for beers and nachos [don't ask. we were jones'ing for bad bar food I guess,]) We ran back to our B&B the Dunkley House, changed into evening wear (ie. scrapped the shorts, slipped on jeans and t-shirts.) and headed back down to the gay village, but this time, to The Bronx. Like most dimly lit, packed, loud gay bars, the Bronx was pretty cruisey, but the guys were friendly (we met about a dozen nice locals, including Jon here,) the beers were really really cheap (in fact, Cape Town was out most affordable stop the whole journey,) and the music pretty cool. (Why is it the music never matches the videos being played on all the monitors. such a disconnect. Not helpful when you're drunk.) Jon and I talked, flirted and hung out most the evening. Scott and I split around two am, headed home. Before we went, though, I invited Jon to dinner the next night. We ended up really hitting it off, making another date for Sunday where we took this photo on our tour of Chapman's Peak. Jon's a great guy. Funny. Cute. (Green green green eyes. Great smile.) Owns a cute 50's style house with a swimming pool, (housing is clearly MUCH more affordable in Cape Town,) does psychiatric counseling for a living. He's been in SA for several years and is navigating the immigration maze in the pursuit of a permanent work permit. I hope he gets it. He's a real sweetheart. PS. I will forever associate Scissor Sister's "I don't feel like dancing" with Jon. We listened to his Scissor Sisters CD a jillion times during our drives in and around Cape Town. This was on top of the other million times the Cape Town dance radion station played it! Love that song. And now there's a really great memory with it. Nice.
A leopard in Moremi Game Reserve
We spotted this leopard (one of the big five) midway through our safari. On our morning game drive, our guide had gotten a tip from some other guides that a leopard was in the vicinity so off we were on a chase. (That's how a lot of our unique sightings worked. A tip passed on from someone else.) tearing down a pot-hole strewn muddy road, we saw ahead some trucks pulled over, folks leaning out with binoculars and cameras, staring past the trees off the road to something way way in the distance. And as he usually did, our guide pulled the truck off the road, drove through the bush (crushing trees, climbing over bushes and termite mounds) right up to a tree and here we spotted this leopard perched about twenty feet above us, a rare sight on any safari. They hunt at night and keep to the trees during the day, dragging thier kills up with them to avoid scavengers. As you have to be back at your camp by 7pm, the odds are rare you'll spot one of these lithe, cool felines during the day. As a bonus, we could see a mutilated gazelle hanging in the branch below him, its entrails hanging out like bright red battered pinata pieces. What a sight. We snapped away with our camera for about twenty minutes while the leopard cooly ignored us. We backed away and drove again through the bush toward the road, coming out just ahead of the folks who were observing safely (and legally) from afar. They looked a little envious.
Monday, January 08, 2007
When monkeys go bad.
I'm in the Singapore Airlines biz class lounge in Singapore, killing six hours till my flight to Hong Kong. So I thought I'd check email and upload a few photos to flickr. Don't have a lot of time to write captions so I'm gonna thow up a few shots and circle back tonight when I get to my hotel in HK. I am exhausted. It's five in the morning Cape Town time but noon here in Singapore. Scott is asleep in the sleeping lounge. I've been scarfing diet cokes and vegetable curry from the buffet. I'll probably regret it later. I was really bummed to leave Cape Town this morning (last night? what day is it? ) as it kinda captured my heart. Read more about it when I post some photos. Suffice to say it's California-style living without the high costs or the crowds and perfect all-year round LA-style weather. I's be lying if I didn't admit I'd been asking around about the ad shops here and the work permit maze. Anyway, check out this photo. We took it outside the restaurant/snack bar at the Cape of Good Hope National Park in South Africa. (You know, the southernmost point of the great continent? Yeah, that Cape. Beautiful place.) Anyway this baboon was tugging on the door trying to get into the place. Fortunately, the shop had closed, doors were locked for the day but he was still deermined to get his hands on some goodies. They are total pests and your suppose to ignore them as they can be aggressive. But every attraction in africa had a heard of the baboon goons roaming the place and folks were always milling about taking photos and giving them food. I'm thinking about buying one to be my monkey butler. Can they be taught to mix a martini?
Friday, January 05, 2007
"Brothers" of the Savanna
These two lions were chilling on the side of the road, at about 6:30am, and were the first game we saw that morning. We were surprised how many of the big game used the roads to get around. We had one elephant walking ahead of us, preventing us from passing him, for like ten minutes. Finally the guide gunned it, (I guess we had a schedule to keep?) freaked the elephant out as we sped around him. Not the most calming manuever for Scott and I to experience. Becuase the pissed off elephant than turned to us as we were attempting to pass him and raised his trunk, took a charging stance and blasted a blarring horn sound at us.) Also, when I say "road," I really mean pot hole ridden, muddy, weed strewn, fallen tree blocking, sometimes it's there sometimes it's not, kinda road. Half the time you couldn't tell if were were blazing our own trail or following some sort of formal road...but I digress.) The guide described these two male lions as brothers, apparently he can see some sibling similarity. They were definitely male (I checked) and they were affectionately nuzzling each other. Maybe the guide's use of the term "brothers" is an african euphemism for gay. Who knows. In any case, they wrestled, licked each other, snoozed and eventually took off. Sounds gay to me.
Turtle.
We thought it was cool looking when we first saw it on the side of the road. The guide made a big deal. (I think we were having a slow game day...) Turns out they're eveywhere in Africa! (Similarly, when we first arrived, we shot a billion photos of antelopes. Only to discover antelopes are the rats/pigeons of the savanna. They're everywhere. Hence the lack of underfed lions. We stopped shooting them after the second day. Started imagining what it would be like to run them over instead. Kidding. Sort of.)
Getting a drink of water at the pond can be tough business
This elephant found out the hard way. The preceding night, before we shot this particular photo, we stumbled, in the dark, on the way back to camp after the evenign game drive, on two lionesses lounging nearby this kill while two adorable cubs frolicked (really, I mean the word frolic with all seriousness,) around. Some buzzards and other birds snacked on the carcass, too. It was a stunning sight to see the gathering at dusk of all the critters. It was like one of those Day in the Life books. But for animals. Who can read. Whatever. Point made.
Baby raptor?
The closer we got, the less expected any of the animals were. you started to notice details in them that made them seem even more foreign, exotic, dangerous. And less the creatures of nursery ryhmes and biology books. This "baby" bird (said to be a few months old, by our guide,) was over two feet tall with a deadly beak. Looked reptilian up close. We motored right up to the tree where it was sitting in a giant nest (during our river cruise,) and watched it watch us. It's part of a carniverous bird family that we would later see featsting on a giant dead elephant.
Herds are lead by the old women
All the elephant herds are managed by wise old women elephants. Packs of sisters raise the young, lookout for predators, and gudie their movement across the savanna. The bulls (males) are accepted on a limited basis during mating time and then they are banished to bachelor herds.
More people are killed by hippos than any other African game.
More people are killed by hippos than any other African game.
Originally uploaded by alexanderdavidgrossman.
Counting eyelashes
This guy walked right up to the truck like he was gonna write us a parking ticket. I was so close, I could see the whiskers on his trunk and the lashes on his eyes. I think the biggest revelation about this safari was how close we were able to get to the animals. I think a few times we got a little too close. Our guide was kinda daring. Scott and i actually said several time "Okay. That's enough. we don't need to be any closer...OKAY!!!!!) But since Scott and I were the only two people in our safari (the other safari parties we ran into had at least six people in their group. Wehad serious undivided personal attention for eight days. Hence the lack of formality on our guides part...)
Curious Gerry
This giraffe, spotted on the first full day of our camping safari, was in a herd of about six that came up to the car. He was a shy one, hiding behind some bushes. But ee snapped him checking us out. If I had to estimate, I'd say he was between twelve and fifteen feet tall. Ginormous. Notice the sky. We had about an hour of rain almost every day while camping. Made for some dramatic backdrops. Other pics show it better.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Baboon Smoking a cigarette
Okay. He's not really smoking. But it looks like he is. These baboons were everywhere on our safari. They were like stray dogs. Wandering in packs. Stirring up trouble. Looking so damn human at whatever they were doing. Going through trash cans at the Zimbabwe border. Tugging on car door handles in the camp grounds. Chasing little kids. During high tea at the legendary Victoria Falls Hotel, where everyone sat prim and proper on the veranda, sipping tea and sampling the cakes and finger sandwiches from the sterling silver stands on their wicker tables covered in fine starched white linen, we spotted a baboon run right up to an old couples table, leap up onto the edge, grab a scone and take off... the old couple sat dumbfounded at what happened. They looked around for a waiter. And then another baboon did the very same thing. Never in all my years of high tea...By the way. A bit of news. Oprah is in town. ok. Technically not in town. She's over at Sun City, a huge resort in the north part of South Africa. She's celebrating new years with all these a bunch a hollywood types and Nelson Mandela as well as celebrating the opening of her Leadership Academy for Girls, a $14 million dollar project dedeciated to getting girls on the right path through education and stuff. It's all they talk about on the radio, which we have been listenign to during our car drive from Durban up here to St. Lucia and then up to Cape Vidal. By the way, everyone knows i am not posting these in any pareticular order yet, right? I spent the first two weeks here without an internet connection so now that we are in St. Lucia, where there is an internet connection faster that grandma's dial-up, I am just throwing up a bunch of my favorite photos. I'll probably get more organized and up to date once we are in Cape Town.
The Delta Frog. My thumbnail's bigger...
A two hour late afternoon canoe ride reveals amazing marsh wildlife including, birds, crocodiles and these phenomenally loud (and beautiful) frogs. The canoe ride ends with drinks at sunset on a sand bar where a (practically) full bar has been set up by a waiting lodge attendant. Everywhere we turned at this camp, some thoughtful service was being dispensed. (Hot towels? Umbrellas? All natural lotion and bug spray? Afternoon tea? Cakes? Can we mail your postcard? Wanna buy a baby) We didn't want to leave...(I am joking on that last one. You know that, right?
Our guide
On our first morning game walk (five thirty am!!!!) our guide talks to us about the Cape Buffalo. He was amazing. (The guide, not the buffalo. Well, maybe he was amazing too, but he's dead now...) Our guide knew everything about everything. We walked single file across the savanna the lay bewtween the channels in the delta and the forests where we would find elephants, warthogs, and baboons. He had this uncanny ability to pull out of his back pack bottled water when we were thirsty, juice packs when we were low energy, ponchos when it started raining, binoculars, etc.
Arrriving at Camp Okavango
This trail leads from the tiny airstrip to our luxury tented lodge. After two days of flying business class, with a stopover in Singapore and a night at the Ritz-Carlton, we were living plenty large. Once we completed our stay at this luxury lodge, we would move into the bush on a camping safari sleeping in tiny tents and roughing it in a very non-Alex manner. But at the time this photo was taken, we were clueless...for god sakes, we're dressed like we're going to the mall! It would all change, soon enough. (Cue foreshadow violin music...)
Our Plane to Camp Okavango
My globe-hopping safari companion Scott Willoughby leans against the little Cessna that is going to fly us from Maun, Botswana to a tiny air strip in the Okavango Delta where we will begin our safari. This is after two straight days of sitting in business class on massive wide body 747s and 777s jumbo jets. I sat in the tiny front seat next to Marcus, our super hot South African pilot. Was gonna fake a "startled grab" on his leg during turbulance but decided not to.
In St. Lucia. Finally high speed internet!!!!
Scot and I chill in the later afternoon sun on the porch of our hotel room at the Amazulu Lodge in St. Lucia on the Indian Ocean Coast of South Africa. I'm sporting two weeks of growth. I think it looks good on me.
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