Herman and the boys at SA Sausage are about 10 mins from where I work - of course that's when I'm not out of town on business (currently in NY) - seldom get homesick except when i stop by for some Castle, biltong and rooibos...last count had 60 000 of us in the Greater Vancouver area

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LOL, didn't have a choice since it was my parents who immigrated and I was still a minor. At least we settled in Orange County initially which has the same climate as Cape Town pretty much. I am still not used to this weather up here even after several years. Namibia's beaches are also covered in diamonds, at least that is what my mom used to tell me. ;)

OMG, Castle? lThat is my dad's favourite and all his friends try and convince him it is rubbish. ;) If you are ever in L.A, stop by the European Deluxe Sausage Kitchen in Beverly Hills. The butcher is a German guy who lived in South Africa for twenty years or so and he makes the best biltong and dried vors ever! I don't know anyone who makes biltong in Seattle, but there is a butcher funny enough who makes boerewors.

believe it or not I can actually buy castle in the local liquor store - along with Cape Velvet and a Meerlust Merlot or Cabernet:) Herman and the crew slice a mean rump to go with the borewors, biltong and niknaks!!:) I smell a braai coming on:))

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hey icequeen,

be sure to look me up next time you're in windhoek. god knows i'll probably be keen for a training partner.

and zulu:

can you actually nuy niknaks somewhere in north america? i'd pay a pound per ounce for the fruit chutney ones. . .

-mike

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oh shit yeah - several places I know of in Canada and the US...

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Niknaks are my faves. I don't even mind the yellow fingers. ;) Do they have Simba chips, too? You are lucky you are in B.C with all the foods from home. We aren't so lucky in the States! This will probably disgust you, but I miss Anchovy Paste the most. You know the kind in the little green jars? Very good on buttery toast. Mmmmm....

BTW, I have ordered and been to Herman's place, too. Nice guy.

by the way, dude -

any good bike/tri shops in cape town? figure i might try to do ironman ZA and the drive from windhoek to CT's not THAT bad. obviously nothing in namibia, but was thinking i'd buy a new bike while there. plus if training in namibia i'd have to buy all the tubes/tyres/etc that i'd need until my next trip to CT. . .

-mike

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http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

...i'll pass on the paste thanks:) Haven't missed SA in quite a while - sitting in a cold wet NY hotel room talking about this is killing me though:)

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Wow, what are you doing in Windhoek? The drive to Cape Town is quite an undertaking. I've done it when I was young and it was rather frightening at times. Miles and miles of just you and the desert. I will definitely drop you a note if we end up that way. I'm always looking for someone to run with. :)

been a lot of years since I went bike shopping in Cape Town...when I left SA they still didn't have a tri shop in the country - not sure how that has changed - drop Raynard and email - he'll guide you....of course you would be looking high end based on all the diamonds you pick up every weekend on the beach at Swakopmund..

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heyo -

in namibia i do HIV research for the university of toronto and the university of namibia. sadly, at the moment i'm in edmonton trying to get a thesis done, and won't be back in NAM/ZA until may. alas. . .

-mike

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

man you gotta plan your travel better - back to back winters suck:)

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yeah, as an undergrad i managed to string together a bit of an 'endless summer' by switching from university of toronto to melbourne uni and back to toronto (via south-east asia and south america) on a very careful schedule.

i must've pissed someone off because i've been paying for it ever since. edmonton? wtf?

-mike

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Impressive, Mike. You have an interesting job not to mention noble. Good luck with your research and everything and I hope that the winter isn't too tough of on you. Edmonton, eh? I doubt I could last a day in the winter. ;) But you're a tough Canadian with ice in your veins probably so I'm sure you will be fine. ;)

think we hijacked this thread enough??:)

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No no, this is all good. Nice to hear about the travels etc of others if I can't go myself.

Still want to do that trip to Malawi-Zambia-South Aftrica some time in my life, although the Cairo to Cape Town version looks quite daunting to say the least.

There is another very cool bike Tour from Katmandu Nepal to Lhasa Tibet....

Zambia is rough dude - several years back I headed east out of Lusaka on the so called Great East Road towards Malawii - 500 odd miles of mind numbing pot holes later I finally crossed the border - would have been better if the it was dirt road.....can be pretty rough going with basic foods etc in poor supply - however had a great time at some of the local shebeens.....Malawii on the other hand is very friendly and well stocked....if you want to go anywhere head to Botswana along the Chobe river- hire a landy and head east from kasane along the chobe eventually comming out in Savuti then onto the Okovango and Maun - it'll take your breath away....

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[reply]

Lake Malawi...looks like no openwater swimming "carnivourous fish and abundent crocs" :-)
[/reply]

that would be, um, nonsense.. none of the fish are big enough to be a problem, and while there might be crocs, I never saw or heard of one in all the years we travelled up there.

The open water swimming was in fact marvellous. I'd swim out from the beach for an hour, so land was a mere strip on the horizon, then float for a bit in a kind of mellow trance. No hydration problems, just open your mouth and drink the sweet clear water. This was of course nearly 20 years ago, so much has changed I'm sure.

I did come back with cerebral malaria once, can't recommend it.. mercenaries fighting in the neighbouring countries had brought back a quinine-resistant strain from Vietnam, so the pills I was taking didn't do a bit of good. The only somewhat effective prophylactic for the resistant strains of malaria is Lariam, which produces psychotic episodes in a significant fraction of the population. Hm. I've taken it, not a good trip.

The route of the tour from Nairobi on down is pretty good. The thought of cycling from Egypt through the Sudan (Darfur, anyone?) and Ethiopia, turns my bowels to water. I'm not brave enough for that. Maybe if I was single with no dependents..

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview