Sports Column

The starting line-ups take their place on the field.
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ajax Cape Town 1-1 Platinum Stars
Game Recap:
There were four aspects of the game worth note.
First: The pre-game celebration presented by the Ajax Cape Town fans. They were decked out with 6 foot blow horns, a World War II siren and fans that smoked lots of cigarettes. Fortunately they were merely 15 feet away from us, so we were right in the middle of the action!

The game about to begin.
Second: #101 on the Platinum Stars. I have never in my life seen a triple digit jersey number in professional sports so I was intrigued. The more I think about it, the more confused I become. Are there over 100 players on the team and they all need their own number? But the mystery is solved by his yellow cleats (there uniforms were black); he just wants to stand out.
Third: The main attraction of the game was the accurately dubbed “superfan”. Fully loaded with an Ajax flag and two cigarettes, one in the mouth, one behind the ear, he tore up and down the front row of the bleachers keeping even with the ball on the playing field for nearly the entire first half, sprinting especially hard when there was a close play at the visiting team’s goal.

SuperFan!
Fourth: A high school band arrived late in the first half and promptly initiated an African dance party on the opposite bleachers. I was impressed, and slightly annoyed, in the second half as they played the same song over and over for the duration of the 45 minute half.
Submitted by Steve Klassen

Game Night

The Fans waiting patiently for the game to start.

Sarah and Brittany

The crowd

The Outtatown Fans representing the hometeam with PRIDE. (Johnny, Dave and Reuben
)

Table Mountain Hike

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
It’s one of the best known sites in South Africa, and you can find it on everything from postcards to t-shirts: Table Mountain, which is aptly named for its characteristically flat top.
Everyone on the site dressed for the heat as we set out to hike up this beauty. I noticed in amusement how we, with our hats, beloved bandannas, clanging water-bottles and cameras swinging at our sides didn’t need a sign for anyone to know we were tourists! Several people chose to take the cable-car up to the top of the mountain, but for those of us who hiked it our spirits were almost as high as the elevation! Our initial charge gave way to heavy breathing after several minutes, as the trail consisted of large rocks that put the Stairmaster to shame.
Once I reached the summit, I felt accomplished and recharged by the view that met my eyes – outstretched below me in toy-like simplicity lay Cape Town, massive stadiums looking like mere thumb nails. The aqua waters of the ocean met strips of white sand beaches, framed in my view by the steep pillaring rock cascading downward which we had just conquered. I felt so small compared to it all, yet the awe of such great heights was washed with a calm sort of assurance, how great is our God, that he can care about EVERY person in all the dot-sized houses, that he has the might to move mountains?!
We stopped for almost an hour to rest, take pictures, and take in the view before modern technology whisked us back to the bus, in the form of a three-minute rotating cable car. How was Table Mountain? Well let’s just say that I liked it enough that I bought a post card.
Submitted by Rachel Nafziger

Megan enjoys a lunch break on the way up with a great view from the mountain.

Tiffany and Rebekah

We were thankful for a slight cloud cover and a gentle breeze as we hiked up during the hottest part of the day.

The view of Table Bay and the Cape Town Waterfront from half way up the mountain.

Taking in the scenery and a quick photo break... Libby, Jen, Dana, Kim in the back and Adrienne and Sully in the front.

Dana tries to run up the mountain, only to quickly realize maybe that's not such a smart idea after all!

Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Kristi, Darren

Jen stops for a quick drink of water.

The path we took was a giant staircase up the side of the mountain. This is the final "flight" of stairs before the flat Table Top.

Libby, Ryan and Kim

Rachel, Sarah, Kristi

Ryan... king of the hill

Chantel, Steve and Megan at the summit.

Da Boyz at da top

The view from the top! Well worth the hike (or the optional Cable Car ride up!)

After an hour plus hike up the five minute cable car down seems like a breeze!

Hannah, Megan, Chantel, Steve

Shark Diving

March 18, 2008
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would stare into the eyes of a Great White Shark of the Indian Ocean. However, during our stay in Simon’s Town many of us boarded the bus by 5am so that we could reach the shark diving location in good time. We started off with a good breakfast served at the base, and then with a quick briefing we headed out on the boat. The sun was already shining and it appeared that we had a good day ahead of us. The boat took us out for a good 45minutes till we dropped anchor at the spot where we would wait eagerly (yet patiently) for any sort of sighting. I was trying so hard not to get my hopes up because we were told there was a chance we wouldn’t see any sharks. It was a bit discouraging when by noon there was still nothing.
But then the time came. We had to face our fears, climb into a wetsuit, strap on a pair of goggles, and jump into a 6-person cage off the edge of the boat into the frigid water. While the crew threw bait over the edge of the boat, and there were sharks circling in the water right in front of our very own eyes! It was a huge rush, since you didn’t know how long the shark was going to stick around.
Our group was very fortunate. We saw two whales, one jellyfish, many seals and four sharks! By the time we started heading back we were all exhausted but still excited about what we had just experienced. We got back to the base and had a delicious lunch which ended off our day. All in all Shark Diving was an awesome day and something that I know is a once in a lifetime experience for me.
Submitted by Sarah Janzen

Sarah

The gorup waiting for the sharks to come.

There's a fine line between "suntanning" and seasickness, here it's hard to tell which is the case.

Tessa on the deck of the boat before seasickness hit her.

Kyle lounges on the boat.

Julia and Brittany enjoy the day at sea.

Carissa, Ryan, Jen and Stephanie.

The boat

Brent, Amanda, Steve enjoy the ride.

Kim and Chantel suit up to be lowered into the shark infestic Atlantic waters in the cage.

Reuben and Justin opt not to wear the wet suits.

Kyle demonstrates that the ocean is in fact quite chilly!

The cage.

In the cage Kristi, Sarah and Darren. Ready for a close up of the sharks.

Justin, Steve and Tiffany

Mmmm lunch... thankfully this is the shark's lunch and not ours!

The bait and wait game.




"Here sharky"


and finally the moment we've all been waiting for!

Robben Island

Monday, March 17, 2008
Taking the ferry off the coast of South Africa, we all became prisoners of Robben Island for a day. We were held captive by the intricate history and surprising beauty that the island offered to unsuspecting tourists and even residents of South Africa itself.
Through a vivid and animated tour guide, We were regaled with stories of the former uses of the island, which just so happened to be a quarantine area, a criminal prison, a war base in WWII, a political prison, and now a flourishing tourist attraction.
But the things that we won’t ever forget about the prison are not the meagre discriminatory rations, the isolation, the pointless hard labour, or the general discrimination within. They will stay with us, but what stands out was how much God worked through what appeared to be a humiliating and debilitating attack on the leaders of the oppressed. In what seemed hopeless, God was able to transform that situation for his glory in so many ways. Now looking back the island is not only described as a prison, but a vital element in the transformation of a nation. It is so great to see how God can use any seemingly disadvantaged situation for his own advantage.
We left the island with our minds full, still replaying the victory out of the hardships endured by the innocent political prisoners as we left the island to the tourists.
Submitted by Nathan Sullivan.

Sully and Adrienne on the ferry to the Island.

The view of Table Mountain from the ferry in Table Bay.

One of the best views of Table Mountain is from right here on Robben Island.

Inside the prison, this man was our tour guide. It's hard to believe but he was an ex-prisoner in this very prison from 1988 to 1990!

We had a bus tour around the island, and our tour guide did a great job!

This is the limestone quarry when Nelson Mandela and many of the other political prisoners spent most of their days. They were forced to do hard labour with no purpose, so they would gather limestone one day and the next move it to a new pile. This also became the place where many political discussions took place. An unconventional university and training ground for many of South Africa's finest political leaders.

A view of the prison from the inside of the courtyard.

Another inside look.

Ryan, Carissa, Sarah

Steve and Brent, momentarily behind bars.

Jen and Rebekah on the bus tour.

The key hole to Nelson Manela's cell, where he was imprisoned for 17 years!
Mandela's cell.