Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 5:07
Hello from Cape Town, South Africa! I started an amazing experience on Saturday, March 3rd when I boarded a South African Airways flight from Dulles to Johannesburg. In order to complete my MBA program, I am working on a consulting project requiring my team to make recommendations to the International Finance Corporation as to what venture capital fund models could be employed to spur economic development in Mozambique (the IFC is the private investing arm of the World Bank).
I decided to use the first week to explore southern Africa, and the second to get my work done. This place has got to be one of the best places to explore the outdoors on the planet. After nearly 18 hours in the air, I was picked up at the Cape Town airport by a friend and settled down to a steak dinner at the Cape Town waterfront. The waterfront reminds me of the inner harbor of Baltimore in its design and overall modern feel. The 
food at the steakhouse was fantastic…and cheap. The rand is currently trading at 7.4 to the dollar, so my meal (which included wine and a tip) was only about $35. The next day my friend and I hiked up Table mountain, one of 3 peaks overlooking Cape Town. The hike was just challenging enough to be fun, and the view from the top was memorable. We then visited wine country, where we found a vineyard called Spier. Spier is one of those places artists paint about—a windmill, open lawns with people sipping wine on picnic blankets, a little pond, etc. It also has a restaurant within it called “Moyo,” 
which features some of the most entertaining musicians I have ever seen:
food at the steakhouse was fantastic…and cheap. The rand is currently trading at 7.4 to the dollar, so my meal (which included wine and a tip) was only about $35. The next day my friend and I hiked up Table mountain, one of 3 peaks overlooking Cape Town. The hike was just challenging enough to be fun, and the view from the top was memorable. We then visited wine country, where we found a vineyard called Spier. Spier is one of those places artists paint about—a windmill, open lawns with people sipping wine on picnic blankets, a little pond, etc. It also has a restaurant within it called “Moyo,” 
which features some of the most entertaining musicians I have ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_A2tQmHjcU
This morning we went shark diving in a city about 2 hours outside of Cape Town—an experience that really deserves its own email later on. For now, just know that I still have all my fingers and toes, and about 5-6 great white sharks (about as long as the minibus that we drove in on) got a free snack of tuna head as bait while we watched them from inside a diving cage.
So that’s it for now. Tomorrow my travel partner is leaving to head back to the States, and I plan to spend the remainder of the week catching up with business school classmates and other friends I have met here. Tomorrow I plan to say hello to the penguins at the Cape of Good Hope, and possibly take in Robben Island (where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned) and a cricket match. Landmark is hosting an Advanced Course here in Capetown this weekend--I am looking forward to assisting at that on Friday before joining other friends in JoBurg on Saturday.
This morning we went shark diving in a city about 2 hours outside of Cape Town—an experience that really deserves its own email later on. For now, just know that I still have all my fingers and toes, and about 5-6 great white sharks (about as long as the minibus that we drove in on) got a free snack of tuna head as bait while we watched them from inside a diving cage.So that’s it for now. Tomorrow my travel partner is leaving to head back to the States, and I plan to spend the remainder of the week catching up with business school classmates and other friends I have met here. Tomorrow I plan to say hello to the penguins at the Cape of Good Hope, and possibly take in Robben Island (where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned) and a cricket match. Landmark is hosting an Advanced Course here in Capetown this weekend--I am looking forward to assisting at that on Friday before joining other friends in JoBurg on Saturday.
From: Jim Day [mailto:JIM.DAY@1998.USNA.COM] Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 4:40 AM
Subject: March of the Jackass Penguin
More Greetings from Cape Town!
These last few days have been even better than the first. I am up early to volunteer at the Landmark Advanced Course, so this message will be [mercifully, for some] brief. Most people other than my parents like the pictures more than what I have to say anyways ;-)
These last few days have been even better than the first. I am up early to volunteer at the Landmark Advanced Course, so this message will be [mercifully, for some] brief. Most people other than my parents like the pictures more than what I have to say anyways ;-)
Wednesday morning was spent studying for our project with the IFC. The more research I do, the more I reach the conclusion that we have to arrive at effective policy recommendations as to what objectives the IFC should consider lobbying for in Mozambique. Other attempts at creating venture capital funds in underdeveloped countries failed because the funds were launched prematurely (before the country had securities laws and property rights suitable for entrepreneurial activity).
But now for more fun topics. I visited the Cape of Good Hope Wednesday afternoon, and was introduced to a new type of bird: the African Penguin. Two of them can be found in the picture titled “Posing for the Audience.” I thought it pretty funny that these two birds stood at attention for the tourists while the other 4,000 penguins couldn’t have cared less that we were there, so I took their picture.
The African Penguin is also called the “Jackass Penguin” because the noise they make when they call out to the other penguins sounds like the braying of a donkey. The interesting thing about these penguins is that they can swim out to 60 km to get food, and sometimes leave home for up to 2 years after they reach maturity. However, when it is time for them to mate, they return back to the place where they were raised. Once they do mate, they keep their mate for life.
One particular jackass caught my eye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhDiLJFcWzs
Notice that in 30 seconds he (or maybe she) marches off, this hero penguin steals a kiss from another penguin, and gets 2 others to follow along in the process.
It was on the advice of my Employment Law Professor, Owen Hernstadt, that I made it a point to visit the Cape. He told me that standing on the tip of the Cape you really did feel like you were on the edge of the world and could easily sail off of it, and he was right. The picture doesn’t do it justice.
Other highlights from the Cape trip included seeing a South African warship at St. Simon’s (almost made me want to go back to my Surface Warfare days), meeting business school classmat
es of a Naval Academy classmate riding up the cable car (“new friends” photo), and checking out roadside (and sometimes not-so-roadside) wildlife along the way.
Wednesday night I had the good fortune to enjoy a meal and some after-dinner drinks with friends-of-friends on the waterfront. It was truly the perfect end to a perfect day. This video of the live entertainment at Moyo describes the experience better than I ever could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_A2tQmHjcU
Jim
But now for more fun topics. I visited the Cape of Good Hope Wednesday afternoon, and was introduced to a new type of bird: the African Penguin. Two of them can be found in the picture titled “Posing for the Audience.” I thought it pretty funny that these two birds stood at attention for the tourists while the other 4,000 penguins couldn’t have cared less that we were there, so I took their picture.The African Penguin is also called the “Jackass Penguin” because the noise they make when they call out to the other penguins sounds like the braying of a donkey. The interesting thing about these penguins is that they can swim out to 60 km to get food, and sometimes leave home for up to 2 years after they reach maturity. However, when it is time for them to mate, they return back to the place where they were raised. Once they do mate, they keep their mate for life.
One particular jackass caught my eye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhDiLJFcWzs
Notice that in 30 seconds he (or maybe she) marches off, this hero penguin steals a kiss from another penguin, and gets 2 others to follow along in the process.
It was on the advice of my Employment Law Professor, Owen Hernstadt, that I made it a point to visit the Cape. He told me that standing on the tip of the Cape you really did feel like you were on the edge of the world and could easily sail off of it, and he was right. The picture doesn’t do it justice.Other highlights from the Cape trip included seeing a South African warship at St. Simon’s (almost made me want to go back to my Surface Warfare days), meeting business school classmat
es of a Naval Academy classmate riding up the cable car (“new friends” photo), and checking out roadside (and sometimes not-so-roadside) wildlife along the way.Wednesday night I had the good fortune to enjoy a meal and some after-dinner drinks with friends-of-friends on the waterfront. It was truly the perfect end to a perfect day. This video of the live entertainment at Moyo describes the experience better than I ever could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_A2tQmHjcU
Jim
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