Lekker all around

Lekker means tasty, nice, great in Afrikaans.  I wonder what their equivalent to rad is? Afrikaans, one of the official languages of South Africa, is described as a white language that is very close to Dutch and supposedly one of the easiest for an English speaker to learn.

I got up early early this morning with the idea that I would go up Table Mountain, however nature had different plans and due to the 3rd day in a row of gale force winds this did not turn out to be a possibility.  Instead I ended up in yoga. I decided to try a different studio. This one was in the trendy neighborhood of Waterkandt and had all the familiar trappings of a hip and "posh" yoga establishment (read: Buddha statue, progressive art, meaningful quotes in feng shui, and yoga pants made out of recycled plastic bottles for sale). 

The vinyasa yoga here definitely has its own flavor.  The cues are different and both yoga teachers did this half tree blowing in the wind thing followed by a pose they called Oh Emmmmm Geeee (dramatic OMG) that I am still trying to wrap my head around. Both teachers also vanished during savasana. Saying that they had taken too many of our minutes (they were over their allotted time) and to take the time we needed "Namaste".  Other differences is they don't have many props, only blocks and a few straps. The blocks they have are thin compared to the ones in the States (maybe people are more flexible here?). I feel a bit obnoxious typing that sentence knowing that most countries think everyone in America needs things to be big (supersize that please), however in this case as in many, size matters (take that as you will). 

I must admit that I was really distracted any time we weren't standing because my rented mat smelled like someone who had taken 6 months of daily hot yoga without showering but instead used copious amounts of Axe body spray (which they sell here so this scenario is not outside the realm of possibility). I found myself holding my breath for the majority of class, so much for "breathing is yoga". I also found myself wondering while laying in savasana if "The Mat" could give me some kind of skin something (that is a medical term), make me smell permanently (some smells just don't leave your nostrils ever) or would reveal that it was alive, swallow me and I would truly understand where the smell was coming from (people trapped inside). So much for a relaxing end to yoga #themostimportantpart).

After yoga it was time to go to the conference. Today it was also excellent. I really enjoyed it (Yes I am a nerd, but most people already know that.). 

After the conference I headed to Kirstenbosch, the botanical gardens and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2nd nerd alert in as many sentences.). The gardens were amazing and I learned a ton about plants and flowers and the Cape Floral Kingdom (also called the Cape Floristic Region) and I am still excited about it. It is the smallest of all the floral kingdoms and the only one to fall completely within one country. It is only 0.04% of the earth but contains 9% of the world's species. Two out of 3 species are endemic, also making it the highest level of endemism (didn't know that was a word) in the world. The flowers are beautiful. 

I continued to walk and I ran across a very angry looking owl who appears to be looking at me when I followed her gaze. It turned out that I was standing between her and her two babies who were only five weeks old. 

I also learned about cycads ancient plants that were around during the Jurassic period (Dinosaurs!). They have been around for 280 million years, but they are now falling victim to poaching. Of South Africa's 38 species 3 are extinct in the wild, 12 are critically endangered, 4 are endangered, 9 are vulnerable and 7 are near threatened. They are poached to supply domestic and international trade and when they are moved they are often damaged beyond repair so the poachers take more than they need. You know, just in case. 

My last stop was the canopy bridge, one of the things Kirstenbosch is most famous for. I asked a couple to take my picture and we ended up chatting. They were just friends traveling from London. They were also headed out of the gardens and asked me if I wanted to join them for tea. We went to Moyo the restaurant there and ended up eating a superb dinner which for me was a delicious ostrich salad and local greens with sweet potato and for them was fish and chips.

During dinner we made the acquaintance of a particularly dramatic guinea fowl

(video on my Instagram).

After dinner they asked me if I would like to join them in driving to the public beach at Boulders to see the penguins up close.

Umm yes because penguins are amazing.

It was sunset and the winds had picked up to 40 mph so the penguin adventure was shorter lived than it might have been and all of us almost took flight while we were walking around (I really wanted to run a mile for time with the wind at my back because PRs are fun). A lot of them had taken shelter. One of these was directly in front of our car in the parking lot. He or she was incredibly sassy and turned out to be standing in front of two babies.

Full, wind blown, and happy we went back to Cape Town. They dropped me off at my hotel and I called it a night.