Expedition 6-0

Greetings from Singapore! Besides being the auspicious Year of the Monkey - (I am a Monkey!) - 2016 is also the year I will turn 60. Yikes!

So in honor of this milestone birthday, I have decided to challenge myself. Before I turn the BIG SIX O in May, I will take part in an international expedition  to Antarctica, my sixth and last continent on Planet Earth to explore. (If you're keeping score, that will make it six-continents-visited to zero-left-to-visit ... or 6-0. )

I have chosen to travel to Antarctica with the 2041 Foundation's International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2016. IAE 2016 is a leadership expedition specifically focused on climate change and environmental sustainability. We have been challenged to create a call to action for future leaders to do everything they can to help maintain the pristine environment of Antarctica. I have partnered with Elite Academics Inc. (EAI) in Denver, Colorado and have created a new blog where I intend to post responses to questions created in advance by mostly high school students and compiled by EAI's Executive Tutor Jill Talley. My new blog name? Expedition 6-0.

And during the expedition, you can also follow IAE 2016 via our official expedition blog. It will be updated throughout the expedition along with an active map that shows our exact location. The blog and map will be live by 13 March 2016 and is available on the 2041 Foundation website. Don’t forget to use our hashtag, #icyclassroom on all social media outlets!

Dia de los Muertos @ Salsa

It seemed like there were dozens of Dia de los Muertos parties going on all over Joburg this year. See what happens when Mexican food catches on in South Africa? It becomes a fiesta!

Home altar dedicated to Africa's poached rhinos, ellies and lions

There were parties planned at the Stanley Beer Garden in Braamfontein, Mexicho in Melville and a whole Dia de los Muertos Street Festival at Carfax Newtown in the CBD.

Stanley Beer Garden

It seems everyone wants to go drinking with Saints!

Salsa Mexican Grill in Fourways

We chose to celebrate the dia at Salsa Mexican Grill in Fourways. The Day of the Dead, one of the most important Mexican holidays, is more a celebration of life than a sad and solemn memorial. And since we are in Africa, I used it to celebrate the lives of our rhinos, elephants and lions.

Social media madam Irene & Salsa restaurateur George

Salsa has great food, ...

... great margaritas and cervezas, ...

... and if you didn't paint your face before you came, there were artists on hand to do it for you!

We chose to paint some masks instead (photo courtesy of Irene & Salsa Mexican Grill)

Lou & Serge wore their skeleton costumes for a second night in a row!

Viva Yvonne!

nice ink!

nice wings!

number juan in your hearts!

she painted her face herself and won a prize for it!

viva el chef!

salsa dancing

Photo courtesy of Irene & Salsa Mexican Grill

And we won a prize for best costume!



















It was totally Lou & Serge's doing. They were a hit.

celebration shots!

Thanks Lou & Serge and Salsa!

tabletop altar for the poached animals of Africa

We got an E for Effort for mounting our tabletop altar. (I did transport the Oculto beer with me to SA from Texas for the occasion too. That was a bit of an effort.) 

Save the Rhinos! Save the Elephants! Save the Lions!

my sugar skull purse from Retrospective (Cape Town)

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé au l'Afrique du Sud!

It's Restaurant Week SA again!

And this year we tried a restaurant that has been on our list for quite a long while, Le Petit Sel. We have been wanting to try it ever since we dined in its Big Sister restaurant Sel et Poivre almost three years ago!

Sel et Poivre is in the Quatermain Hotel and Le Petit Bistro is in the adjoining hotel, the Falstaff. Both are presided over by Master Chef Coco Reinharz. Sel et Poivre is the more formal of the two while Le Petit Sel is a casual bistro. In fact, it is actually the perfect bistro for us as it is literally right around the corner from Valley Lodge and well outside the EcoMobility World Festival nonsense in the Sandton CBD.

Vince started with their signature Crunchy Tomato and Mozzarella Croustillant served with Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil

I had the Franschhoek Brie wrapped in Phyllo served on a Salad of Herb Roasted Pears & Cape Malay Pickled Shallots

Vince chose Thick Cut Flame-Grilled Pork Chops with a Dijon Mustard Sauce served with Potato Croquettes for his main

I chose the lemony Grilled Tilapia on Spinach served with Sauteed Asparagus with an Herb Butter Sauce

For dessert, Crepe Suzette!

And since we were eating in a bistro and we are on the cusp of Beaujolais Nouveau season in France, we drank South Africa's only locally produced beaujolais, De Toren's newly released Le Jeunesse Delicat.  

Cafe Un Deux Trois in New York

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé au l'Afrique du Sud!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Jane, Chris and I @ 44 Stanley in the Joburg CBD

We have been entertaining some American visitors since Thursday. Chris and Jane stayed on in Sandton over the weekend after a two week trip through South Africa and a jaunt up to Victoria Falls. They picked the best time and the worst time to visit Sandton and see more of Joburg.

Joburg rolled out the purple carpet for our guests!

Firstly, the Jacarandas are in full bloom. We took them to the Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff to take advantage of its fabulous view overlooking the Jacarandas of the Parks and Joburg below.

And for their sundowners of course - or in this case, clouddowners.

Sterkfontein Cave

And the Homo naledi exhibition - which was originally scheduled to close on October 11 - was serendipitously extended until October 18 which allowed Chris and Jane to experience this other incredibly ephemeral opportunity. These two circumstances made it the best of times.

They were there!

In one of her previous lives, Chris ran a consulting company back in the USA which helped plan educational exhibits for museums. We introduced Chris to the Rising Star Expedition's Lindsay Hunter who is in charge of designing the National Geographic visual lab experiences for Homo naledi at Maropeng.

But it was also the worst time to visit Sandton. Their visit landed right smack dab in the middle of the EcoMobility World Festival in the Sandton CBD and Jane and Chris stayed right smack dab in the middle of EcoMageddon Ground Zero, the Protea Balalaika Hotel. We had to drive in and out of Ground Zero several times over the long weekend and with all the road closures, detours and restrictions, it was very painful. The worst.

How do we know Chris? Chris was Vince's High School Senior Class English teacher! She was a huge influence on his life and he has seen her and kept in touch with her all these years. She recognized his writing ability amongst the football jocks in the back row and according to Vince, "mercilessly edited and critiqued his work." Two published books as well as several chapters written for other authors' works, countless papers, magazine and journal articles, speeches and talks later, he is in Cape Town right now being interviewed for an upcoming TED Talk documentary on cognitive computing. (see the finished product below!) Thanks Chris!

I wonder if they read A Tale of Two Cities that year. It would have been prophetic. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; ... " - Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities