draknesburg: hike

the point of going to the drakensburg was to go for a hike. there are a number of UNESCO world heritage sites associated with the place. we did the amphitheater hike. amphitheater is a huge rock face--like el capitan at yosemite.

google image search reveals this:



but we hiked up the backside of the rock face. and it was cloudy, so we barely got to see any of this.

the hike itself was not too strenuous and had non-stop views. it was like the cool rocks and colors of the grand canyon and the elevation of yosemite.

stopping the car to take a whiz on the drive up.



the great thing about this hike is that you drive for a lot of the elevation. so unlike yosemite it's not crazy switchback and steps. it's gradual and easy.





there were some kinda scary metal ladders we needed to climb up:



if you were afraid of heights, those ladders woulda sucked.

then we got to the top, and when it cleared, we looked down again. so much vertigo.



my favorite thing was the clouds coming through the peaks right here.

the drakensburg

the first thing i did in south africa was i met up with jL and lil j, and we took a trip to the drakensburg.

the drakensburg means "dragon's teeth" in what language, i'm not sure.

it's a place in between johannesburg and durban. it's mountains and gorgeous.

we rented a car. the drive out was fantastic.

the sunset looked great, especially in person. you can barely in this photo, what we could see in person: namely, jagged mountains along the horizon:



this seemed album cover-ish:



we got to the backpacker's pretty late, had some dinner and a bottle of wine, called it a night.

group photo:

before i left for africa

i went to the beach with my sister and her family.

"daddy, wake up!"


"these are barbie goggles. do i look like barbie?"

pre-trip; me and some babies

i guess they aren't actually "babies."

ali is 1.5ish.



rafa is 4, with a full grasp of irony.

the wedding

sometimes at the end of a bachelor party you might say to yourself or your friends, "ok guys, that was fun and all, but at the wedding, we're going to really behave ourselves." and then the wedding comes around, you've got the same group of instigators together, and you realize that you never had a chance.

the wedding was fantastic, and it was a great mix of friends, which is nice. still, there were hijinks.

bruno and mojakus dancing enthusiastically to the black eyed peas.



cofree getting kissed by her best friends (rehearsal dinner).



and showing off her personal touch on her vera wang dress (she replaced the zipper with buttons):



some light reading in the synagogue library:





bridesmaids resting their legs during the official photoshoot.



innocent as usual.



all for a good cause:



the wedding was great. i was a groomsman so i got to give a funny toast about their early dating life. and i got a sweet video camera as a gift! i brought it along to south africa, and hopefully will have some time to edit down some movies.

meaty tower

the most riduculous thing that i ate in south africa: the debonair's pizza meaty tower.

it is four crusts layered on top of each other with the following 13 toppings:

Meaty Tower

Cream cheese, ground beef, spare rib, sliced pork cheese griller sausages, bacon, mushroom, onion, tomato & herb pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, fresh tomato, topped with cheddar and mozzarella cheese with a sprinkle of parsley

here's a picture from flickr:



me and jL had to eat it in 15 minutes b/c we had tickets to a movie. suffice to say, we wanted to vomit.

back from africa

so i am back from africa and returning to blogging.

i will be retroactively blogging the entire world cup / africa trip with pictures here, eventually.

but first, before i left for africa: bruno and brunette got married.



this is us at the rehearsal dinner post-party.