Hike up Lion's Head

I feel really good today. We celebrated the first sunny weekend in a while by taking off work at noon and cooking lunch at Norton's (the Director's) house, then went for hike and rock climb up to the top of one of Cape Town's smaller, but striking mountains. From a distance it really does look like a lion's head that we're standing on, with the lower hill off to the right being his sitting body. The Unibomber-looking fella is my friend/former host Shep, and the other guy is Ryan, one of three volunteers from the Clinton School for public service out in Little Rock, AR. They are awesome people. You can also see Robben Island, the former prison where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were held under Apartheid, in the background (I'm hoping to get a boat over there at some point to take the tour). Lastly, although you can't see any of the cranes in this shot, that bright green area behind the lion's butt is Green Point, where they are building the new soccer stadium for the World Cup. And the bird, who through potent hunger or confidence stayed with us the whole time.

This is the first I've gotten to see the lay of the city; the boroughs, coastline, and mountain peaks were all obscured by fog and dark clouds until now. Let's just say, to say that this place has majesty wouldn't really be doing it justice.