Cape Town

Our last week in Africa was amazing. It was hard to leave the kids and all the people we met but it was nice to end our summer away with Cape Town. I don't know quite how to explain Cape Town, it was like a mix between Hawaii, California, Italy, France, Chicago, New York and many more. It had it all... the city, the ocean and coast, beaches, wineries and vineyards, nightlife, and the bay - V & A Waterfront. I could have stayed here forever - it was lovely. I don't ever think that Cape Town was somewhere I had always wanted to go, but now I can't imagine ever not going and seeing how wonderful it was.

We arrived there after our bus trip from Gabs to Jo-burg, then the overnight bus - 20hours - from Jo-burg to Cape Town. We arrived on July 29th and spent the first day getting settled into our backpackers and exploring the area around the backpackers. We stayed at the Backpackers on Castle - which is right at Castle and Long street. So we were right in the middle of the city where all the action is. Long street is where it is at, all the shopping, restaurants, clubs and nightlife, and the Green Market (outdoor market area). All 7 of us stayed in the dorm sleeping room with ALL of our luggage - it was a packed room!

Wednesday the 30th

We had booked tickets to go to Robben Island today - to see the prison and where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years. However it was cloudy, rainy and windy and the water was too choppy to take people out on the ferry to the Island. So we ended up going to the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V & A Waterfront. We were able to walk through the city to the waterfront - which was a very neat walk. The aquarium was neat as well - we saw lots of sharks and fish, and then got to see the penguin feeding and the predator tank feeding.

After the aquarium we further explored the V & A Waterfront. It was amazing! And reminded me of Pier 39 at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco. It was wonderful to see all the boats and sail boats with the restaurants and shopping all right on the docks. I wanted to stay there...

This evening we had found a neat little restaurant near our backpackers that was having dinner and movie. The movie was Grumpy Old Men - odd choice - but a good one. And the food was a two course meal which I had the Kudu burger and chocolate cake. The burger was delicious. One of the best gourmet burgers ever!

Thursday

I rented a car today and Jack drove!!! On the other side of the road and with a stick shift! He did amazing. We rented a small little car and squeezed 3 in the back so 5 of us could go. Marinda was our navigator - and she did quite well too. We rented the car so we could drive out to Stellenbosch for the day and go to different wineries and taste the wine. Here I felt like we should be in Italy or in the the French countryside. It was breathtaking. We could see all the vineyards below the mountains. Everything was so green and lush - it felt like we were the only people there.

We went to three different wineries. The first was nice and very good wine, it was the most modern of the three. The next was older and right next to the vineyards - it felt hidden within the mountains and vineyards. We were the only people here and we were taken into a little tasting room with a dinning room and fire place - it was beautiful. The wine here was really good too - we tasted at least 10 wines here. We all really liked a blend that they had there - called Kallista. We then went to Blaauklippen - one of the third oldest wineries in the area - it had been there since 1682! This place was gorgeous - it had the vineyards, the tasting room, a restaurant, old living areas, stables and horses... it just felt like we had escaped into a different land and time. The wine was good and we got to keep our wine glasses. The last place that we visited was a brandy distillery - Van Ryn's. This was neat because we came running in from the rain and when we entered we were greeted with welcoming drinks and then got to go for a tour of the distillery and then finish with a tasting. The welcoming drink was my favorite - it was brandy with cream - tasted like chocolate milk. At the tasting we tried Van Ryn's 10 year old brandy and their oldest the 20 year old brandy. I don't think brandy is my drink but I could tell that the 20 year old was much better. Still don't think I would drink too much though. The 20 year old brandy had also been voted for 2008 the best brandy in the world! So at least I can say I tried that!

Friday

Today we rented another car - a bigger one - so we could all go. Today we drove all along the coast down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. The drive reminded me of driving along highway 1 on the coast of California - gorgeous. On the way down to Cape Point we stopped in Simon's Town to see Boulder's Beach where all the penguins hang out.

We then continued on to Cape Point - where we climbed to the light house - and the Cape of Good Hope. All I can say is that it was beautiful - pictures can describe it better than I ever could.

Here we stopped at a beach on our drive back to Cape Town...

Saturday

We spent the morning shopping around the market and then in the afternoon we got to go to Robben Island - the water was not too choppy. The ferry ride out there was about 30 min and it was neat to experience Cape Town from being on the water. Plus to see the full picture of Table Mountain and Cape Town at the base of it. On Robben Island we were taken on a tour of the prison by someone who had been a prisoner there. We got to hear his story, tour the prison, and see the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years - it was nothing more than a small box. It was 4 by 4 meters with no bed, sink or toilet. Just a blanket and a bucket (used to replace the toilet).

After the prison tour we boarded a bus and took a tour of the island. We saw the view of Cape Town from the island, the small town area and school of those who still live there, and also the quarry where prisoners worked - including Nelson Mandela. It was so cold on the island - we got to get off the bus to take pictures and no one wanted to - it was so cold with the sun setting and the ocean breeze.

The ferry ride home was choppy and fun! It felt like a roller coaster. The sun had mostly set and some clouds and wind were coming in. After the fun ferry ride we ate at a neat brewery right on the water at the V & A Waterfront. It was very nice and our last night in Cape Town before we started our journey home - we we dinned it up and enjoyed! I had fish with calamari and then a brownie to top it off! Lovely.

Sunday

Most of Cape Town and the shops were closed - the city was mostly dead. So we just relaxed and packed up because we left that night on an overnight bus back to Jo-burg. Before we left though some of us went across the street to the M Cafe - where we ate our first night in Cape Town and I had the most amazing salmon pasta - and we had some Tapas - I like tapas. The bus ride wasn't bad - long - but not bad. We were on our way home. It was hard to leave Cape Town and to realize that we were leaving Africa. It was nice that we did this as our last week because it was a nice transition between our work in Botswana and coming back home. Cape Town will definitely be some where I want to return to someday.