A Walk in the Park

This weekend I went for a walk in the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.  They are about a half hour drive from my apartment, but only about a 5 minute drive from my work.  I went right when the park opened in the morning (8am) so it was very quiet when I arrived.  I started with the hike up the "mountain" (not huge, but bigger than a hill).  The views from the top were amazing.  I didn't see anyone else for most of the walk so my pictures are beautifully people-less.  There were a few more people around after I had finished my hike and started walking around the gardens to the waterfall.  I didn't explore the many other, more leisurely walks around the gardens to see all the different kinds of plants this time.  It might be better saved for spring or summer anyway.  Currently (in winter) it is very dry here.  Some of the places I walked by in the park had been systematically burned so that the new grass and plants could grow properly.  Grass fires in the winter are fairly common here.  I've seen lit fires about once a week since I've been here and I've seen the evidence of many others.  I'm looking forward to spring when there will be fewer fires and my hands and lips will be less dry and the scenery will be greener (and my apartment won't freezing at night).

View when entering the gardens

View from the top of the mountain, above the waterfall

Another view from the top

A burnt area on top of the mountain

The Witpoortjie Falls

My Apartment

Last weekend I moved into my apartment.  It is a one bedroom "garden" apartment (meaning ground floor) in a gated complex.  It seems that most apartments here are low rise in gated and secure complexes.  There is a 24 hour security guard who lets visitors in, plus I have a remote for the resident entrance gate and exit gate. 

My apartment includes my bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.  I also have a very nice patio area and garden (aka yard, nothing is growing there besides grass and a few shrubberies at the moment).  Most of my furniture (and furnishings) I've borrowed from my very generous employers.  Except the fridge, that's all mine. 

My bedroom

My bathroom, with bathroom and shower

Living room

Living room and kitchen

Kitchen

Patio and garden (aka yard)

Sunday Drive

Today we went for a drive to Hartbeespoort, a town about an hour away in the North West Province.  We started off by having lunch at a Dutch restaurant inside a windmill.  I couldn't resist ordering the kroketten since I enjoyed them so much in The Netherlands.  They were just as good as I was hoping!  After lunch, we wandered through the market by the windmill where they had sold some yummy looking produce, cheese, meat, bread, and a few Dutch treats. 

After leaving the windmill, we went for a drive through the town to the Hartbeespoort Dam.  We had to wait for a while to be able to cross since only one lane of traffic is allowed at a time.  While we waited there were plenty of vendors who came by our car trying to sell oranges, sculptures, ashtrays, sunglasses, etc.  I didn't take pictures while driving across the dam so I stole some from google to post instead (actually all of the pictures in this post are from google).

On the way home we stopped by a cheese market.  It was mostly closed by the time we got there so we just had a quick drink.  It seems that a lot of people bike there earlier in the day and enjoy some food and drinks before biking back or getting picked up by a friend.  We finished our drive home as the sun started to set and the moon came out.

Windmill restaurant

Hartbeespoort

The road on the Hartbeespoort Dam

The view from the top of the dam as we drove across