Friday, March 9, 2007

Safari Geno

Clearly it's Gene's turn for a Blog entry, however, as I'm still waiting for my work permit, and therefore needing to feel a sense of accomplishment, I'm still driving this ship. But, I did let go of a bit of control (although Gene still doesn't have the Blog password). For this entry, I decided an interview style posting would be good based on my correspondence with Gene on his last day in Cape Town, South Africa:

Stef: So, you're wrapping up a week of "work" in South Africa, seriously, was it a boondoggle? Spill it.

Gene: Some say the winter coal mines of West Virginia is tough labor. Clearly they've never been to Cape Town and been forced to eat fresh giant prawns, endure the monotony of 80 degree weather, and be forced to choke it all down with prestigious wines from local vineyards. The HUMANITY!

Stef: I'm picking up some sarcasm

Gene: Good, because I'm laying it on pretty thick.

Stef: I'd ask you to reach back to the creative side of your brain and detail the city, but you've got pics for us, right?
Gene: About 1200 of Table Mountain. I kept taking pictures of it b/c it is so beautiful, (and because my photos weren't, which obviously says more about my photography skills) but I'll filter through them to send the highlights. (See below for link...)

Stef: When you weren't "working", what adventures did you partake in? (Keep it PG for the kids)

Gene: The flight down was nearly 12 hours, so it was a movie marathon. Best picture: Babel, Worst: You, Me and Dupree. (Owen Wilson has hit rock bottom.) . But back to Africa.... we went deep sea fishing, visited the Constantine Uitsig vineyard, hiked Lion's Head, and went to a late night festival on Long Street for an annual blowout celebration for the Minstrels? I was clearly not in the know, and my attempts to dance along with the locals underscored this fact.

Stef: What, no safari? We thought you had to do that before being allowed back on the plane?
Gene: I'm saving that for a trip to Tanzania (yes, you're coming on that one) with my buddy from college, Mark Thorton, who lives in Cape Town with his lovely wife and travels there frequently to run private safaris. He guarantees you will be attacked by an elephant, hyenas, or a pack of native civilians hawking hundreds of wooden tourist trinkets.

Stef: Let's talk weather ... rumor is it's slightly nicer than say ... Amsterdam or Portland?

Gene: Actually it rained every day, except Monday - Saturday. (Did you really have to remind us both that we've been living in urban rainforests for the last few years?)

Stef: The strangest thing you saw was ....

Gene: You mean besides an email from my wife wanting to conduct an interview for our blog?The driving on the opposite sides of the roads also caused me to nearly grab the wheel from our taxi driver on multiple occasions.

Stef: Okay, so you've hit Thailand and Africa within 2 months and are now living in Europe ... are you worried a piano is going to drop on your head walking down the street? Life just seems pretty damn good. (and the piano thing really could happen since they pull furniture through windows here)

Gene: Wow, I never thought about the possibility of a piano dropping on my head, but thanks, that's a lovely thought, coming from my WIFE and all!!! Wait, is this why you wanted me to purchase the life insurance policy? Time to connect the dots.

Stef: I suppose this is a heavy blog question, but apartheid, poverty...what did you see?

Gene: Very little, although with 11 different national languages, I can imagine there is still some fragmentation of the society that I didn't see. You're right, a bit of a heavy topic. Someone has been watching Oprah in her time off.

Stef: Don't you blaspheme Oprah!

Gene: Sorry. Whatta' you say we wrap up this interview session...it's getting a bit corny, and I bet all two of the people who have read this far will greatly appreciate us bringing it to a close.

To view a select few of Gene's 1200 photos of S. Africa...click here

3 comments:

craig jacobso said...

What, no camel ride? pops

Unknown said...

Glad to hear Gene was able, somehow, to enjoy his time down there...I was really worried and I'm sure it was extremely tough on him :)

Great pics!

parents of marcus, simon, and elise said...

i like the interview format-watch out oprah! i think gene should interview stef and find out how she's been spending her days...