Small Shelly Fauna

Gardens vista, originally uploaded by Pambdelurion.

I’ve been pretty hard on South African cities, and I would argue not without reason. The best of the lot was Bloemfontein, but it was, as I’ve noted, equivalent to a typical American suburb. Remarkable for its lack of urban squalor rather than any basic spectacularity. Well, I must say that this nation clearly saved it’s best for last, because Cape Town is amazing. The above photograph represents the view out my window in the apartment where I’m staying. You may have noted that there is an enormous mountain (Table Mountain, to be exact) in the middle of the city (n.b.: the nearly perpetual shroud of mist atop it is popular referred to as the “tablecloth”). How awesome is that? I’m staying in a neighborhood called the Gardens, so named because it is the former site of Jan van Riebeeck’s massive vegetable garden in the Cape Colony. Company Gardens, a delighful little tract of park land, is the sole remnant of that flora. Company Gardens adjoins the South African Museum, where I’m working, and the National Gallery, Parliament, and Library, making it quite the little cultural epicenter. My apartment is across the street from said museum (the museum is the white building in the lower right in the photo). There is many a skull to be measured here, but I may very well have to do at least a few non-work-related activities before I leave this city. I’ve been putting in 12 hour days at the museum every day so far, and I hope that this may free up a little time at the end to see some sights.