2012 BRINGS "CITIZEN OF THE WORLD" STATUS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CAPE TOWN!!!!!!!!!



After my sister Heidi passed in 2007 i realized quite quickly that every new year's is to be cherished in a new way. in short, i'm still here! i made it! i made it to 2012! and tomorrow is promised to no one! so be happy and be grateful! you made it! and it certainly beats the alternative! we're alive and we're here! and if you don't feel alive, change it! do something about it! time is ticking away! bust a move! feel alive! what's bogging you down???? let it go! like in Shawshank Redemption... "time to get busy living or get busy dying!" and hopefully we'll all be here for 2013! but if this was your last year...what would you change?? a good question for all of us to deal with! change it!!!!!!!

after a ridiculously, incredibly adventure-filled 4th quarter in 2012 after moving to africa (from kenya then to ethiopia, to elephant pepper camp and encounter mara eco-camp in the massai mara, to lewa wildlife conservancy and dave brown's house; to finding my 3 month sublet and an amazing 2 bedroom place starting february, to dinner parties and great friends and then my own apartment unit on the beach in cape town, it suddenly dawned on me here in south africa that i am now a "citizen of the world" or COTW. not sure how to describe it, it's nothing that you can earn, it's somehow getting to a place where you are uber cognizant of the amazing things that happen to your life. for me lately, it has been an exorbitant amount of favor and a large outpouring of the kindness of strangers. for instance, last week, i was at dave brown's star wars house (more pics below) staying in an enormous room with a giant bed, duvet, and one of the best showers of my life. (BTW, i've discovered living in a 3rd world country, that you greatly appreciate things you might normally take for granted like beds, showers, hot water, water pressure, and the like.) and this week, compliments of the Hofmeyr's, i'm staying in my own wing of their beach house in Betty Bay, cape town, that looks and feels like malibu meets the hampton's with the mountains of Kauai all around us. breathtaking! and the white sand is powdery and the indian ocean warm enough to swim in! there are wonderful family and friends all around, and somehow i am the richest man alive! i'm COTW! i own nothing and yet i have everything as long as i able to receive it all! and be grateful enough to acknowledge it all! 


for instance this morning during my walk on the beach, i stopped to watch the surfers and this scruffy surf dog pitched up whose tag said "Alex is surfing, I'm O.K.". and presto, as COTW, i had my own dog. he wanted to hang out with me and we talked for an hour. or i pet him for an hour. but again, i didn't own him, but i had a dog. the world had provided me man's best friend and i received it and enjoyed it. it's a hard premise to explain exactly, but in short, after trading in all my earthly belongings in moving to africa, i have exchanged them for something far richer, the opportunity to receive great places to stay, beds to sleep in, showers to shower in, places to eat, friends to meet, almost in a hippie way. i've embraced the world and it provides what i need! but there are some ground rules. like... clear the dishes. be helpful. be part of the team. you can't just sit on your ass waiting to be served. get involved, help the host. be of use. be a "plus". no one owns you anything so be appreciative and show your appreciation by serving others, hence clear and rinse the dishes. 


i know, COTW is a fuzzy paradigm to pin down, but it's just a new awareness level i have of not taking things for granted, and i'm sure living in kenya has heightened my awareness level. for instance, it's high tea at the Arabella hotel here in cape town where i am blogging while my mates golf. it's so beautiful! also for instance, on new years eve i was at a bbq at this amazing house! it was amazing! and i made mango margaritas! and there were all these fun people and the kitchen was this old french country vibe and it was so cool! the whole night was great! and that day we climbed table mountain! that's right, we didn't take the tram car up, we hiked it! or climbed it! up Platteklip trail! 
http://dostuffct.com/activity/table-mountain/table-mountain-platteklip-gorge


it took me 3 hours (i was the old goat of the group) but it was the last day of the year and what an adventure! so hard! straight up! so glad to finally make it to the top! another COTW moment! glad to be here! glad to be alive! and tomorrow i have a big meeting with farm film prods in cape town! i'm interested in what they're doing and maybe they'll be interested in me! hope it goes well! i could live in cape town no prob! just google betty bay! or camp's bay! fatastique!


in short, feeling very blessed to have somehow achieved COTW status. maybe it's a state of mind, but i promise, too many incredible things have happened for me since i got to africa! (or is it just my perspective??? either way, it's making life a kick in the pants!) the only mantra for COTW wanna-be's is the old pre-school axiom..."you get what you get and you don't get upset!". so today lying on the beach with Rover, it rained for a tiny bit. hakuna shida! no problem! it's not gonna rain forever! i'll dry out! this too shall pass! it actually felt good as it made the sun feel that much better! to the COTW the glass is always half full! it has to be! cuz it can always be worse! even when i had that dodgy bathroom in ethiopia with the stained tile and no shower curtain, hey, it had hot water and no bugs! and a few nites later i was at the impeccable Gheralta lodge! i appreciate the good days and really grab onto them. bad days will come, so celebrate the good ones! again, 2012! we made it! life is good! and if you're a spoiled, grumpy, nothing-is-good enough SOB, then you really need to go to mexico for a long while and learn to appreciate everything you have! like well-paved roads! i want to kiss the roads here in South africa! smooth as a baby's bottom! this COTW won't take nice roads for granted again! 


so, here til sunday, then back to Nairobi til friday when i leave for the CNN shoot. here are lots of pics. hopefully you can grab my COTW POV and see why i feel so blessed! it's because i am!

More Lewa pics. lots of rhinos up here!

sidebar story....anna and tanja asked for a ride outside the elephant orphanage, so i took them to 
karen blixen coffee gardens for lunch. i met up with them later and they invited me for dinner..at 
their 4x4 compound where folks who were driving across africa were camped out.

this couple from japan were riding motorcycles around africa. down from morocco. europe was next!

this overlander type rig was owned by a german couple. who drove down from hamburg!

tanja and boyfriend cedric had driven this land cruiser down from zurich! it had a pop up roof tent!

the compound is called Jungle Junction and is full of REAL adventurers. not LA posers like moi.

these rigs had a Mad Max flavor to them. and needed to. surviving rural africa in the desert and bush
isn't easy! (david and sharon in DTLA! bring it!)

this french couple were delightful and had driven the continent more that once! he spoke very good english!

franz's yamaha was 12 years old with 300,000 kilometers on it from driving africa and south america!

dinner was an incredible blend of people and languages. french, german, swiss deutch, and a little english!

perhaps my most int'l dinner to date. germans, swiss and french. no brits. no yanks. just COTW with his

new homies!

lewa part II. more game. wish you could see a wild elephant. makes your heart beat!

lewa wildlife conservancy! gotta love the ellies!

dave brown's house, never gets old.

intricately fascinating!

roof gutters catch the rain that lead to cisterns and underground tanks.

incredible rock work. with the pop up vents for air.

the compound faces ethiopia...far far away! like a large ranch house...only totally different! quite
an amazing compound!

oval shower head. nice pressure. solar heated water. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

this place will be famous one day. it's too unique. perhaps i'll break the story!

my spacious room at dave brown's. the COTW theory is born. too much undeserved favor!

beauty shot of the bathroom in mirror. the big connection here is that dave has agreed to help 
soph and calum to build some new units at lewa house safari lodge with this type of motif.

morning game watching while we boil water for coffee.

primitively cool!

the sundowner beauty shot for the lewa house web site. shot some vid as well.

sue brown and dave, they made great "talent!" original kenyan cowboys!

inside main room at lewa house lodge.

another angle.

old safari cool.

the OG thatched roof.

more reticulated giraffe.

so tall, so graceful.

lots o rhino.

mom and calf.

lewa house has that old feel. old africa. old kenya. old safari. 

such a cool vibe here.

another pool shot!

a place you want to chill in.

the hero pool shot.

lewa conservancy has their own bloodhounds for tracking down poachers. yep, their from USA.

classic old landy.

zebra stripes are like fingerprints and snow flakes. no two are alike.

this wire walkway through the canopy of the forest was 30 feet high!

zebra stripes aren't camouflage, but put several together, and the predator loses count. it looks like one
giant beast. safety in numbers.

very close. always wild. hard to domesticate.

one male impala tends the whole herd. and services all the females as well!

we shot this rare tortoise on the road heading into the tall grass.

flying to joburg. seat 12A.

one of those flights where you swore you could see the curvature of the earth!

COTW stays at another amazing home...this time in joburg, owned by Riann who i hadn't seen in a decade. 
we tooled around SA 20 years ago, in his alfa romeo. from durban to cape town back to joburg. 
on new year's as well.

riann. brother to actress musetta vander. great guy. good to see him and his wife meryl.

joburg's Tambo airport. state of the art. and cool lighting!

arriving cape town.

my crib at betty bay. COTW concept materializes. having to pinch myself on a daily basis.

my pillow view. stunning...just 'cuz.

one of the many bays in cape town. and great mountains.

becca, rahcel, and nairobi friend paul hofmeyr.

table mountain. way up there.

first lunch at the Korbel Grave CC! next to the Newlands cricket stadium!

base of Platteklip trail, looking up. "we're going climb that? but i've been sitting at an edit bay for the 
last 3 months!!!"

me and paul 3-4 hours later, finally at the top! big relief!

Lion's head and lion's back below to the left. reminded me of coco head, hawaii.

top of the world on table mountain, where our trail met the tram folk.

camp's bay far below.

tram car down. straight down. 3 hours up. 3 minutes down.
and below looking back up.

our int'l climbing team. a fun bunch! glad to be a part! and very glad to have made it! 

morning from my beach unit, betty bay. you hear the breakers all night.

this new year rainbow was so bold you felt you could walk on it!

see where life's road will take you! all the best in 2012!

i swam this "lake" last night at sunset...400 meters! felt like a bog in scotland! warm but boggy bottom!

here's beth. new years lunch at a fish place. she's an actress and a dancer and does some clowning as a teacher
for a touring group in school. had a meg ryan quality. we nicknamed her betty blue eyes! full of life!

highly recommend this place next time you're in Kleinmond!

my hosts, steven and audry hofmeyr. after a lunch of fresh fish and white wine, COTW sponsored some
ice cream for desert! you have to give back! 

me today at hotel arabella. what a long strange trip it's been. and 2012 will hold far more adventures!
thanks for joining me as we see the world! 


please comment below! just type! 


love to all! ddm/cotw in cape town!