Africa Chapter 2

Cape Town: 

Rarely do words escape me but I struggle to describe all that is Cape Town.

Day 1:

We made our connecting flight to Cape Town with no problems besides the incident with the porter and my mood improved greatly once we got into the taxi with all of our bags and no missing items. Then my jaw dropped at how quickly the taxi fare meter moved! I remembered it is in Rand (ZAR) and I chilled out; it ended up only being $26USD. After a quick 15-minute ride we checked into the Westin Grand Cape, a beautiful Starwood property right in the center of downtown and near the marina. We were on a SPG floor so our room had an amazing view over the “wheel of excellent” and the waterfront. After getting settled we headed to the marina for some chow and found a casual seafood restaurant with some of the best live music I have ever heard and outdoor seating. (Gotta love that!) It’s technically winter in South Africa this time of year so the evenings tended to be a bit chilly and we soon learned flip flops aren’t popular among locals. After dinner we got in the free Westin shuttle and headed back to hotel to climb into our heavenly beds and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Day 2:

Cape Convoy. After a good night’s rest we were ready for our tour with Cape Convoy. (A wonderful company, I highly recommend booking with them!) At 8:30am, Rob our chatty hyperactive guide, picked us up at the hotel and as soon as we climbed into the VW EuroVan we knew we were in for a treat. After picking up our fellow comrades we headed along the coast, stopping just 20 minutes outside of town for our boat tour. It was a quick little ride to seal island (home of about 20,00 seals) 

and the view of the coast and the peaks was gorgeous. Even though I see enough seals in Alaska, these guys were pretty cute and fun to watch. After the boat tour we headed to a Simon’s town for some shopping where my friend and I found some great buys in a vintage boutique. As we made our way toward Cape Point, Rob taught us about the beginning of South Africa, all the history leading up to the apartheid days and the present political and economical status. I’m not much of a history buff (I get WWI and WWII confused frequently) but I enjoyed learning the history of South Africa and it helped me understand the challenges the nation presently faces. (They seem to have a lot)

  As we were driving we came upon a troupe of baboons in the middle of the road and we jumped out of the van to take some pictures. There was about 20-25 in the troupe and luckily for us they weren’t aggressive because you can see how close we got. 

We had to be very careful though because baboons love to get into cars and look for food so Rob had to pull the EuroVan ahead and leave us alone with wild baboons. (Which was a little scary at first) Later we learned an interesting fact about mother baboons; when a momma baboon has a baby and it dies the mom will continue to carry the dead baby around until it is practically skeletal. (Kind of gross and sad) Apparently they can’t accept loss and will refuse to leave their young.

   Eventually we made it to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope…two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is a humbling experience to look out on the horizon and know that the next thing down there is Antarctica, you really feel like you are at the end of the world. (Not to mention the cliff you are above is a few hundred feet of jagged rocks!) After another baboon encounter and a lot of photo ops we headed back toward Cape Town, stopping to watch a gorgeous sunset over Hout Bay. Along the way we passed many townships, (think of District 9) which were both interesting and terrifying. I could not imagine walking inside a township by myself, and Rob even said this is not a safe area to walk around in, no matter what time of day, and especially for women. Like every major city Cape Town struggles with crime, but like other cities it is contained to specific areas for the most part. Unfortunately South Africa has developed a notorious reputation that has deterred tourist business but they are hopeful he recent World Cup will help change that image.

Day 3:

Once we were up and ready we headed to the marina to check out the shops and get some lunch. Ironically we went to Thai food restaurant that wasn’t half bad and enjoyed the view over the marina, it sort of looks like Disney land with all the bright colors and ornate buildings. After lunch we finally got down to business and started buying our African keepsakes…. Eventually I wound up with carved salad tongs, hand-woven baskets made from telephone wire, a really pretty bright  red/orange glass serving plate, two matching bowls and coasters and some carved napkin ring holders. (I’ll have to throw an African party when I get back) My friend also got the wire baskets and some great little carved statues, which I eventually got for myself at the game reserve. We elected not to ship our new loot and wait until we got to Zulu…note to self: Overweight baggage on South African Airways is a very costly and a bad idea. Another thing to note was when we asked about where all the stuff we purchased was made the sales clerk said locally, yet we found almost identical items at Zulu Nyala which is a few hundred miles away….(hmmm?)Don’t  the Beach vendors in Mexico say the same thing about their stuff.

    Around 5:45ish we headed to Camps Bay to watch another great sunset on the beach and then enjoyed dinner at a rib/seafood joint right across the street from the beach. I had a very tasty mystery fish (can’t remember the name) and after a bottle of wine we decided to head to a bar down the street for a little people watching and wound up making buds with some locals for the evening. Camps Bay is a really great area for tourist and very safe. I would have liked to have another day in Cape Town just to hang out there and people watch.

Day 4:

Going out the night before a wine tasting tour may not have been our smartest idea but by our second glass of sparkling wine (You can’t call it Champagne unless it is from the Champagne district in France) at J.C. Le Roux in Stellenbosch we were feeling great. We also booked this tour through Cape Convoy but Julius our guide was almost the complete opposite of Rob, which suited the occasion perfectly. After some more glasses of bubbly we watched the cellar guide at J.C. Le Roux saber the top off a bottle of sparkling wine with a sword. (I definitely will be trying that party trick when I get home)

  The next part of the tour had nothing to do with wine but it was a great experience nonetheless. We visited a Cheetah reserve were we actually got to pet the Cheetahs. (for 100 ZAR) As a child I was absolutely obsessed with animals….(I was kind of a weird kid) and the Cheetah was one of my all-time favorites so getting to touch one was pretty special for me but if you look the picture it was not the most magical of circumstances. (The cheetah whisperer was a touch rude and since the cat was on the fence I could only touch its hindquarter area.)

   The next winery we visited was Waterford. It was very picturesque and would make a great wedding venue. (If only they allowed weddings) Our tour group sat in the courtyard and sipped five different wines, the last three which were paired with infused chocolates. After a quick look through the cellar which according to Julius was the most beautiful cellar in South Africa we headed to downtown Stellenbosch for some lunch.

   After lunch we headed to the last winery of the day, Peter Falke Winery. If I thought the other two wineries were pretty (which they were!) they didn’t hold a candle to how gorgeous the Peter Falke winery was. We lounged on the comfy outdoor furniture and sipped five different wines while chatting about nothing important and watched the sun slowly sink down toward the horizon. Feeling pretty good, we jumped in the EuroVan and headed back to our hotel, preparing ourselves to wake up at 3:30 am for our flight to Joburg and then to Richards Bay.

Day 5:

3:30 rolled around way faster than I would have liked and after a stressful night of trying to repack my bags and stuff in all my new purchases I was not ready to pay $200 USD in over baggage fees to South African Airways!!!!!! I guess $50 to the porter in Joburg was a steal.