Solstice in West Coast National Park

Jersey Shore Solstice still life

It was a great place to spend the Summer Winter Solstice in South Africa. June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere is the longest day of the year. In the Southern Hemi, however, it is the shortest. But it still felt like summer at West Coast National Park north of Cape Town. Beautiful blue skies, bright sunshine. It was a great place to salute the sun on the Solstice. 

I brake for mermaids!

Signifying growth and life, the Solstice has a long history of being recognized as a critical event in the calendar, and many cultures have developed celebrations and rituals to coincide with it. Even though I have been in Scandinavia on the Solstice where the sun basically never sets at all, in the French Alps where bonfires rage on the Midsummer's Eve and once at Stonehenge where the Druids still welcome the rising sun on the Solstice with ceremony, I spent most Summer Solstices at the Jersey Shore worshiping the sun from the comfort of a beach chair.

Coney Island Mermaid Parade

Or I spent it at that other Solstice ritual in New York City ... the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Much more pagan than Stonehenge's celebration, let me tell you!

So naturally we were drawn back to another Atlantic Ocean beach for this year's Solstice.

South Africa's West Coast National Park is long and narrow and hugs the Atlantic coast from its southern gate below the Abramskraal Water Hole up to Langebaan Beach on Saldahna Bay.

After our explore, we were hungry! We stopped in Paternoster for some fresh seafood. Saldahna Bay oysters and Darling Cap Classique bubbly, seafood soup, mussels in cream sauce and snoek samosas.








The red-roofed Voorstrandt Restaurant is set in a historic 114 year old tin fisherman's cottage on the beach overlooking the endless sun in Paternoster.

Paternoster beach

That was a nice lunch!

Then off to our final stop of the day, the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve with its famous lighthouse.

Salutations to the Sun!

The Night Sky in the Western Cape

The Tuesday night show is unadvertised

Vince was clued into a little secret which he shared with me while I was in Cape Town with him last week.

On Tuesday nights, after the regular Planetarium show, the astronomer at the Iziko South African Museum's Planetarium gives an unadvertised talk about "The Sky Tonight". He takes you through all the constellations, stars and planets visible in the current evening sky and tells you something about the history of the star and constellation names and the people who named them.

After the talk, he gives you a map of the night sky for the month of his talk and then sends you out amongst the stars to look up and find them for yourself. (We could have used it during our trip through the Karoo. So many stars!)




For instance, last Tuesday he pointed out the two stars which "point" to the top of the Southern Cross in the southern horizon. They are Alpha and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri, furthest from the Cross, is the star closest to our Solar System at a distance of 4.37 light years away (approximately 40 million million kilometers.)

He also pointed out three constellations above the southwestern horizon, the Sails (Vela), the Keel (Carina) and the Rear Deck (Puppis) of the Argo, the mythological ship of Jason.

Argo Navis

I must remind Vince to pick up an August sky map before our trip up the west coast of South Africa into the desert of Namibia. I'll bet the sky is incredible there too!

Quiz Nite @ the Fireman's Arms

Established in 1864, Fireman's Arms is one of the finest and oldest pubs in Cape Town and it is famous for its Thursday night Quiz Nite. Let me tell you, South Africa loves its quiz nights. We've been invited to millions of them in Joburg but we have yet to make it to one. Finally, in Cape Town, we were going.

We brought our "ringers,"  Johann and Anele and we were all pumped up to be major contenders. We grabbed the last available table - it was packed - and BAM ... just like that, my hopes were dashed. The World Cup had usurped our quiz nite. First, Colombia vs Ivory Coast. Then, England vs Uruguay.

"God save our gracious Queen ..."

I was not planning to blog about the World Cup because quite frankly I couldn't care less. But in South Africa, apparently that kind of thinking is not allowed. Everything stops for the World Cup. Even on quiz night.

Everyone was dressed in their international colors and the World Cup was on every screen on every wall in every corner of the Fireman's Arms. And I must admit, the atmosphere was contagious. It turned out to be a fun night after all.

And a good one for South America. Colombia beat the Ivory Coast and Uruguay beat England. So you know. In case there's a quiz.

The Little Hattery

The Little Hattery is a delightful bespoke hat shop in Cape Town. They are the milliner of choice for the Durban July Handicap, the SANSUI Summer Cup in Joburg, the Secret Eats' Secret Masquerade Ball in Cape Town and is the hat designer for the staff at the ultra-cool steampunk coffee shop in Cape Town called Truth Coffee.

Pretty good references ... which makes it the perfect place to order a hat made for the next Diner en Blanc in Johannesburg. They are making me one now now!





































Can't wait!

My Rhino

Along with a pair of high-powered binoculars which Vince will pick out himself at B&H Photo when he goes to New York next week, we gave him this SA flag "Daddy Rhino" for Father's Day. It is part of the "My Rhino" collection whose purchase supports the fundraising efforts of the Kariega Foundation.

The Kariega Foundation is the anti-poaching fund which was set up after the devastating 2008 poaching incident in Kariega Game Reserve involving three white rhinos including a bull Themba and a young calf named Thandi. Only Thandi survived and only after several operations conducted by Dr. William Fowlds and the impressive staff of Vets Go Wild. I had the opportunity to see Thandi out in the bush in Kariega when I volunteered there last year. In fact it was her story which inspired me to volunteer in the first place.

Each ceramic rhino is made in South Africa and signed by the artist. I bought mine at Mot Mot in Parkhurst but there are a number of retail partners which carry them all over South Africa.

And it looks great on the display shelf in Vince's new apartment in Cape Town. Happy Father's Day!

The Tree Canopy Walkway

Built for the 100th year birthday celebration of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and only open a month, the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway is the newest addition to Kirstenbosch's many must-do sights.

It is built high up in the center of the garden in the dense tree canopy and literally snakes through the canopy by design.

It is designed in the shape of a "boomslang," the nickname for an African tree snake.

The views are fabulous too!














At times, you are literally consumed by the forest.

Watch out for wildlife too ...

Both flora and fauna.

The Shweshwe Story @ the Slave Lodge

I will probably not be making it to see this year's costume exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute, a must-do on my annual social calendar back in Ol' New York, but I did make it to a costume exhibit of sorts recently in Cape Town.

And if you find yourself in Cape Town before the end of the year, you should check out the shweshwe costume exhibit too at the Iziko Museum's Slave Lodge where the diverse uses of this cloth, from the apron of the Xhosa makoti to high fashion clothing, will be on display .

By means of costumes, accessories and contextual images, this exhibition traces the origins of shweshwe cloth from its roots as a trade item in Asia and Europe, to its establishment as a much-loved southern African material icon.  Many of the items on display were collected by Dr Juliette Leeb-du Toit over many years, and generously donated to Iziko in 2012.

It was fascinating and it gave me some great inspiration for ways to use my recently purchased shweshwe fabric from the Fashion District in Joburg.