11/04/2008

Visitors are Fun.

For those of you considering a visit to Cape Town, get on with it already! Visitors are Fun! When Visitors arrive I go out to Eat! I see the Sights! and I do ridiculously short field trips to Far-Away Turbidites!

I have had three "reunions" recently as a result of the AAPG meeting - two with blogosphere "colleagues" (Jeannette and Chris), and one with an an actual real-world acquaintance, the notorious Daniel Minisini. These visitors are very intrepid - Chris circumambulated Cape Town to see the Sea Point Contact on his own, and gave an excellent talk in our department. Jeannette found her way (taxi-wise) to campus on her own for Chris's talk, and brought me an amazing and unexpected present without sticking around long enough to be compensated by a trip to above-referenced turbidites. Come back Jeannette! Anyway, watch your mailbox.

Daniel materialized a few days after the meeting was over. Daniel is one of the "crazy Italians" who held court in my grad school lab at UC Santa Cruz - there were always one or more around during the 5.5 years I was there - We were part of some Appeninic exchange program! Daniel probably inspired the most mayhem during his tenure (excepting our RESIDENT Italian, Stefano, the undisputed Maestro of Mayhem).

I won't tell you what happened on Friday because... um... it's blurry.

On Saturday we made lots and lots of food and went swimming with penguins. Can you see how this photo is weirdly funny?
On Sunday, we drove to Laingsburg to see turbidites. Yes, the Laingsburg, which is 3.5 hrs away from Cape Town. We spent an hour or so pondering weird sedimentary structures in the Laingsburg Formation.

We also visited my favorite folds at the "LilyPad Pond". Can you see how this photo is also weirdly funny?
We had the chance to follow up on rumors from past students that there was a cave on the "Whale Back" doubly-plunging anticline that had Bushman paintings. We found them. Small and perfect (but potentially NSFW).
You be the judge.

We stopped at Matjiesfontein for a beer on the way home and arrived in CT at 11pm.
On Monday Daniel and Sila went surfing and hiked all over Cape Point and we cooked another HUGE dinner.
On Tuesday Daniel and Sila are climbing Table Mountain (via Platteklip Gorge) and then ALSO climbing Lion's Head.
On Wednesday I need a nap.

4 comments:

Chris R said...

This must be the first time that walking along a beach promenade has been described as "intrepid"...

It was great to meet you, and thanks for inviting me to pontificate in front of your students and colleagues. And finding me drinkable beer in the evening!

Ishmael said...

I cannot see how those two photos are weirdly funny..... But I'd like to!

Anonymous said...

hello

Andrew Alden, Oakland Geology blog said...

The second weirdly funny photo seems to have lava flows above sharply folded sandstones?

The bushman painting photo makes me sad, because the rock around it is chipped by a would-be thief.