the Kingdom

The Wild Coast was slowly fading into the white lines painted on the road behind us, and we were driving towards the next leg of our trip: Drakensberg and Lesotho. After some harrowing car trouble in a huge storm that left us stranded 60km outside of Durban in the rain, we made it.. just a little worse for wear. We had to say a temporary tootaloo to Jozi so that she could see to it that her car was repaired, and Lieke (from Holland), Lauren (from Massachusetts ), Becca (from Connecticut) and I were off to the mystical berg.

Drakensberg, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

The Drakensberg is an area known for it's natural and unaffected beauty and is comparable to Yosemite. It's green as can be, with mountains scattered here and there; inhabited only by farmers, their help and their herds. We stayed at Khotso Backpackers and Horse Trails, a family run ranch that wrapped us in it's arms and didn't let go. Bad weather kept us inside for the better part of a few days, but it wasn't even the slightest bit miserable. Their staff/family was genuinely welcoming and kind - we were feeling at home in no time. When we could get out and explore, it was incredible. We hiked around the farm a bit and found some swimming holes and waterfalls - we even rode in the back of their pick up truck into town to get groceries. Super rugged. But the reason for our stay was clear: getting into Lesotho.

Sehlabathebe National Park, Qacha'snek, Lesotho

For those of you who do not know, the Kingdom of Lesotho is the tiny little landlocked country that exists inside the eastern side of South Africa. It doesn't harbor a whole lot of tourism and it lacks paved roads and much more civilization than simple villages and towns. But the draw is obvious: it has some of the most unreal, untouched mountains in South Africa. So, we packed up some horses and rode on in. That's right, we got real down and dirty and did the trip on horseback. Khotso sent us with their main man Andreas on a two day trip through Bushman's Nek and back.

From the get go, we were a giggly mess just trying to stay on our horses for long enough to enjoy the view. My horse, Goofy, was the smallest of the crew, with big, googly eyes, a major fear of heights and a general distaste for running...fitting. The little coward tried to turn around mid-river and when she realized she couldn't, we just chilled there for a while.The rest of the horses were just as silly as us and proved to be the greatest source of entertainment of the whole trip. We rode for a few hours the first day, slowly crawling up the side of the most majestic mountains I have ever seen until we were trotting along in SNOW. Uh huh, snow in Africa! We passed by old stone huts made from hunters centuries ago, it was so neat to see how well they had been preserved, and not even by any government decree or sanction. Basotho just respect their past enough not to mess with what's left of it. I cannot tell you how many times I gasped at the views - it was truly a kingdom.

By the time we got to the tiny village of Sehlabathebe, the sun was low and we were aching to get off of those horses. We watched the community close down for the evening as herds of various animals rushed by our lodge, kids finished up playing their games (mostly playing Jacks but with rocks), and people wandered inside for dinner, but we managed to talk to some welcoming locals through very broken english, as they don't see many white people at all. As everyone slowly went in for the night, we followed suit and made dinner with our guide. We talked about apartheid, racism and all sorts of issues that faced him and the land he loves - he was such a fascinating guy. And the night sky in Lesotho... wow. The most brilliant thing I've ever seen. but eventually we had to sleep so we pushed a few of the beds together and made one MASSIVE Slumber Party Xtreme Dream House Fun Time Cuddle Pile bed. Probably the highlight of my life. Just sayin. Sleeping all scrunched up to my little Dutch Princess was a dream come true.

In the morning, I wanted to die. I felt like my legs were going to fall off and my back would break in half. But when the going gets tough, the tough pry their legs apart and get back on the horse. Despite wanting to do self amputation right then and there, we rode on towards the famous Bushman cave paintings! These were made by the San bushmen and depicted the animals that they hunted back in the day. Again, it was fully preserved without any gates, glass or gadgets. Just the honor system - which is sick. After snapping a few pictures, we got back on the horses and trekked home. But it wasn't that simple, really. Since we had done so well the day before, Andreas had faith in our riding abilities. How silly of him! He took us back on the "Advanced Rout" and nearly killed us. Let's just say, when you combine one huge and skittish horse that is afraid of heights with one overly emotional little girl who is equally as scared of heights and one horrendously narrow path on the side of a cliff, bad things almost happen.

Anyway, no matter how scary the last few hours of the ride were, it was the trip of a lifetime and it was exhilarating to face my fears. I'll never forget the palatial skies of Lesotho or the people that live beneath them.

Live regally,

KG

Lovely Pair of Pears

The men in this house love sweets and are completely spoiled in that department by their sister, Stella. So, I'm always trying to keep up by finding easy recipes that even I can't mess up. Problem is, most of the easiest desserts happen to be the fattiest. Globs of butter, loads of chocolate. Well, problem solved.

While browsing the lovely FoodGawker, I came upon a true gem. Stuffed. Baked. Pears. Delicious, healthy and really, really easy. I followed this yummy recipe from Honey&Jam and tweaked it just a bit by adding diced pear to the stuffing instead of almonds which we didn't have on hand.

Basically, you halve and seed the pears, make an oat/cinnamon/brown sugar mixture and spoon the mixture into the center! After 30 minutes in the oven, drizzle honey et voila! We served ours with vanilla ice cream because... well, because David's addicted. Anyway, it was the perfect, light dessert I've been searching for. We ate it after our home made pizza that I wanted to snap a picture of but who am I kidding, that stuff was inhaled.

Live fruitfully,

KG

west coast weekend

Since last week was David's first week back at work, we had to make the weekend a stellar one. It stared out at Hudson's Burger Joint on Kloof Street. TOP NOTCH! I had a mouth watering vegetarian burger with a chickpea and lentil patty topped with goats cheese and caramelized onion. Wow, just wow. Everyone else was ecstatic with their real burgers, too. We were with a huge group and were easily accommodated, and the whole place had a really nice vibe. Plus it was totally affordable. Definitely recommend it. Later, we hit a few bars on Long Street but retired pretty early because we had big plans for the next day...

A year ago, if you would have told me that I'd be camping on a beach in Africa with four German guys, I probably would have been creeped out. However, that's exactly what I did last weekend. The boys have some childhood friends visiting, so we packed up the surfmobile and headed up the west coast in search of waves. We hit Elands Bay the first day, which is a super long, pretty well known left break; the boys got a few good ones while I snapped some pictures and played with some puppies on shore. A couple kilometers down the road, we found a perfectly sheltered spot to roll out our sleeping bags between some dunes where we had a braai, watched a watercolor sunset and fell asleep beneath the stars. Ideal.

The next day brought more surfing, but none was very successful. So we took the show on home and decided to get a good rest before hitting Camps Bay for a night of mayhem. Goldfish, a sick jazzy/electro group that is definitely one of South Africa's most popular acts, plays a show every Sunday night of the summer for around 15$. They are unreal! So we put on our dancin shoes and boogied away. The night was warm and breezy and Camps Bay is the Malibu of Cape Town, so it felt like a California summer night and all was right in the world.

Live cheerfully,

KG

Et voila, our Christmas...

Christmas in Cape Town from katy gaines on Vimeo.
Live merrily,
KG

Most of the family has left the Noordhoek nest and we have all mellowed out considerably. I've been making an effort to get downtown more often. It reminds me so much of San Francisco and it's nice to get the pace of life kicked up a notch from sleepy Noordhoek. So we all went shopping on Long Street and then took a lovely trip to Constantia vineyards. It's a huge property that is open to the public for picnics, lunch at their cafe or just laying on their perfectly green, manicured lawns, as we did for the afternoon.

The next day was quite a different energy, as we decided to climb Table Mountain (one of the wonders of the world!!!) after breakfast. We drove to Kirstenbosch gardens to take the Skeleton Gorge trail and after almost 2 hours of trekking through the most verdant, overgrown forest and up a trickling freshwater stream, we made it to an amazing view over part of Cape Town. After we reached the top of the trail, we continued on to a reservoir for a quick swim. Due to excess iron, the water was eerily red, but completely fresh and clean. It was so strange, but the cooldown was much needed.

I definitely suggest the hike to anyone looking for a fun half-day adventure!

Live Freshly,

KG

missing home.

Big ups to Bon Iver!!!

As some of you may know, my spectacularly talented cousin Sean is the drummer in Bon Iver as well as the main man behind S.Carey (his own beautiful band). Well, I always knew that they were going to really take off, but it's been incredible to watch them rise this high (especially seeing Justin open for Kanye West at Coachella!). They totally deserve all of the praise and respect they're earning but it was a wonderful surprise to hear that they were nominated for 4 GRAMMYS!!!! I know I'm a bit late, but better late than never! The guys are up for Record of the Year (Holocene), Song of the Year (Holocene), Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. The competition is extremely stiff, with their opponents ranging from Nicki Minaj to Radiohead! But this is huge no matter what the outcome is. I just wanted to show them some love and tell everyone to keep their fingers crossed! Love you, Sean!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, their nomination for Song of the Year:

This might sound funny, but one of my New Year's resolution is to blog more frequently. It's a fulfilling outlet to write creatively when analyzations and articles bore me, and in the line of work I'll be dabbling in, it could only help. So to kick off the new year, and because today will be felt as a day of recovery all around the world - I've got somethin up my sleeve.

My Dutch princess, Lieke, finally came back to Cape Town from traveling for a few months so I ditched the fam for a day and shopped with her in a quaint little Laguna Beachesque town called Kalk Bay. It's main road was lined with the most amazing antique shops and boutiques. From designer dresses to old Victorian dressers, we saw it all. As David pointed out to me, I don't really go shopping to buy, but mostly to get inspired for new projects and styles - so this place was a gold mine.

Here's just some of what caught my fancy:

Memory Lane is the funkiest little shop with all sorts of vintage goodies from a wall full of old glass bottles to cookie tins, outlet covers and street signs.

And then we stumbled into a real gem: Cape to Cairo, an insane treasure trove of the coolest candles you've ever seen. There was tons of goodies for the whole house, but these caught my attention:

The store was bursting with so much color and so many candles, I was in Heaven. They're a pretty big investment though, if ya know what I mean, so I might take a while to narrow the decision down to my absolute favorite before I make a purchase.

These were just two of the dozen stores we popped into, and they will all be revisited soon! But no visit to Kalk Bay is complete without a visit to...

Olympia Bakery!!! It was pretty much wiped out since I went at the end of the day, but I still had to pop in and sniff around.

Cheers for the new year!

KG