I know, I’m a month late with this. Things have been absolutely insane since I got back to DC. Apologies. There are a lot of changes coming for me which I’ll write about later.
Our first day on the Cape was rainy, but turned out well. We had a van tour of the peninsula, which gave us a good idea of the spots we wanted to hit again when the weather turned. The van tour included a stop at Cape Point (above) and Cape of Good Hope, which is the southwestern-most point in the African continent (below).
We saw quite a bit of wildlife on the van tour, but the highlight was the African Penguin colony at Boulder Beach. They’re friendly little guys, and even in the wind and rain didn’t mind when we walked right up to them.
The second day was much nicer. We bought a ticket for the open top sightseeing bus and took it straight to Table Mountain and took the cableway up. Of course I forgot to charge the battery in my camera, so I don’t have any pictures. These are from Chris’s Flickr stream.
Cape Town from Table Mountain
After Table Mountain, we followed the rest of the open top bus route and walked around until sunset.
On our third day, we rented a car and went to a few wineries in Stellenbosch. While we were in town, we ate at Apprentice, a restaurant run by the Institute of Culinary Arts. If you’re ever there, I highly recommend it. Excellent food for cheap.
The highlight of the day was the Cheetah Outreach Project on the Spier wine estate. For R180.00 (a little over $20), one can spend a few minutes with cheetah cubs.
We showed up a few minutes too late for a tasting at Jordan Wines, but the woman running the shop was very accommodating, giving us a free tasting of their excellent Nine Yards Chardonnay. This was typical of the hospitality we experienced throughout our stay in South Africa.
After the wineries, we drove down the coast on the scenic R310/M4 route to Simons Town (stopping off for another visit with the Penguins), where we had dinner at Bertha’s Restaurant.
On our final full day in South Africa, we visited the colorful Bo-Kaap neighborhood, which is the center of the Cape Malay culture in Cape Town. After that, we had lunch at Mama Africa Restaurant and drove out to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens to see what we missed on our first day.
Finally, we watched the reflection of the sun set on Table Mountain over a cocktail.
It was a very full week, and while we didn’t spend much time doing much other than sleeping there, I’d be remiss in failing to mention David’s Bed and Breakfast, where we were very well taken care of by David, Hannes, Tanya and Eden. Cape Town is an amazing place, unlike any other I’ve been. The city blends in with its surroundings perfectly, and the people are so friendly and laid back. I hope to go back some day and spend a bit more time there.
The flights back to Johannesburg and the States were uneventful, and it didn’t take me terribly long to get back into the swing of things here. I think a month away from my normal routine was just what I needed to clear my head and give me a fresh perspective on life.
seems it was fun!
great photos.
That flower you photographed is one of the flowers imported by the portuguese navigators to the island of Madeira, i have a photo of it’s northern cousins in my Madeira posts