This is the view up the street from the house I am staying in at the moment. I believe the peak of the mountain is called Lion's Head... but it's hard to tell what you're looking at through the mass of wires (including the gates and electric fence as pictured at the bottom). I wasn't actually able to leave the property at this time to take a proper picture. There were some builders sitting across the street who may have been very friendly or who may have tried to swipe my camera (so I was warned). Best to stay behind bars sometimes. Seems like a lifetime ago I was in Cape Breton, not even needing to lock the door at night!
The night after a party in C.B.? No! The alternative to a barbed wire fence in C.T. Location: Top of wall outside my bedroom window.
OK, so I haven't seen too much of the city yet, but I'm not being held captive inside the house! I go with Ryan (the doctor I mentioned before who is the director of Grassroot Soccer for the country) to the office and on errand runs. I am able to go jogging by myself on the promenade just down the street which runs along the coast as long as there's daylight. The scenery really is incredible - it's sort of like Rio de Janeiro with the city sprawling up the mountain away from the beach. The whole place is so beautiful, it's hard to believe that it has such a history of violence and hate...
Having said that, even this quiet, relatively peaceful area is surrounded by walls. Every house has a wall, a gate, an electric fence. But you quickly become immune to it, because everyone else is. It's just a natural part of life. All the walls are cement and painted in pretty colors. They coordinate with the neighbours' walls like hedges do in the suburbs back home. On the inside people have trampolines and well-kept gardens. The only difference is it's VERY clear that this is MY trampoline and these are MY gardens! But this is a product of what has come before and I don't see a closed off or snobbish attitude in the people I've met. On the contrary, Ryan and Dani are extremely generous and welcoming. They practically share their whole home with the family that stays in their guesthouse (this family's house recently burnt down in their hometown).
Next entry I'll have a bit more about what GRS does around the country. I'm still just getting my bearings and getting over jet lag. I'm also determined to find out what sort of creature woke me up at 4am last night. All I know was that I couldn't get back to sleep for an hour. I'm pretty much convinced it was an owl. Did mention I'm still getting over the the jet lag?
South African Spotted Eagle OwlCape Breton Grey Owl
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