Sunday

Today we headed out to Cape Point with our G adventure tour guide Gail.  We toured the East Indian company garden and one of the presidents residences.

We stopped at the court house and outside was a bench at said “ whites only”. It was there to remind people of the past  she told us stories of when people had or carry ID passport which allowed them to be in specific paces of the city at certain times of the day. If you were outside that window you were arrested and sometimes disappeared forever. The ID passports indicated if you were white, black, or coloured.  Coloured people are people of mixed race.

 We then toured an area called bo-kaap . This was the area the Muslim people lived and the houses were multi coloured with a wide range of vibrant colours.  We stopped at a corner convenience store and purchased cold water, spices, snacks, but unfortunately the samosas were sold out.

We then traveled for about an hour to reach Cape Point, the southern most tip of Africa. Gail told us to keep our eyes peeled for baboons, ostrich and large antelope. Joyce and I were the Queen spotters and we saw them all. The baboons are mischievous creatures which cause all kinds of trouble. They are very intelligent and attempt to enter vehicles, break off car antennas and steal food and hand bags. We were told to keep the windows closed and only eat indoors and hang onto your bags.

Joyce was the first to spot the antelope, then the ostrich and on our way out of the Cape of Good Hope we watched a group of about 8 Baboons running down the hill to the kite surfers cars to see what they could find.

We took the cable car up to the lighthouse to the view point and experienced wind gusts stronger than downtown Lethbridge during a Chinook. The guy in front of me was Bills size and he moved 4 feet to the left in a blink of the eye. I grabbed the railing and hung on until we made it to the summit. AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

 We were rushed for time so headed straight down to the bus as the next stop was Boulders beach and our second viewing of the penguins. There were about double the amount of penguins compared to the first day. We were all thankful we spent as much time as we did on our first day as it was 38 degrees and very rushed today.

We had to que up to get our photo as the large tour buses were rolling in.

Bill wasn't feeling well today but was a trooper and made it through but decided to go to bed early and skip dinner because we had a full day booked with Cape Fusion Tours and Ryan on Monday.

Joyce, Brian and I had an amazing fresh fish tapas meal and called it a night. 38 degrees is very hot in the city!

Transition Day

Today we moved to our new hotel and started our G Adventure tour. Our new hotel is located right on green market square which is the square where the the local market is located. We dropped our bags off and went into the square for some breakfast.

The square is a very busy place with live entertainment ranging from musicians playing a wide range of instruments to African dancers using pop can lids strapped to their ankles for percussion beat  They danced for hours in front of all the open air cafes and shops. They earned their tip money as it was a very warm morning. We sat and listened for about two hours as our rooms were not ready yet.

We did some shopping in the market and then went up to our hotel pool to relax until our rooms were ready. None of the pools are heated so our dip was very refreshing and quick. Our beer managed to stay cold so we found some shade and hung out by the pool for a few more hours discussing which direction the cable car was descending Table Mountain. I lost the debate but I had the boys second guessing themselves until we got the binoculars out for a closer look.

As we were relaxing by the pool we heard some drums playing and wondered what was up, after a while we decided to go freshen up and head out to see some more of Long Street.  As we left the hotel we came across a drumming lesson on the street.  Some participants were better than others but it was entertaining all the same.  There was no room to join in so we headed to a patio to enjoy a cool bevy.

It was too hot for red wine so we opted for Sangria instead.

It was a nice relaxing day after 5 days of drinking wine and touring around Cape Town. We meet the rest of our tour companions tonight and start the next leg of our adventure down to the Cape of Good Hope tomorrow and a cooking class and township tour on Monday before we head up to Joberg and onto safari. Yeh!!

Table Mountain and pop up restaurant

TABLE MOUNTAIN AND THE SECRET SUPPER CLUB

Today we decided to try the hop on hop off bus and took the city tour that also went to Table Mountain.   Ryan had told us that the Table Mountain line ups can be quite long so we purchased our tickets at the bus station and started the day early to avoid the crowds and the heat.

We arrived at Table Mountain base and road the bus all the way up to the cable car. I tried to convince everyone to hike the mountain but I had no takers so we road the most spectacular cable car up 1000 meters to the summit. WOW.!  What an amazing 360 degree view of the city and the coast line. The sky was clear so you could see for miles.

 A portion of the mountain at lower levels was covered with a layer of clouds which they call "the table cloth" as it slides up one side of the mountain and covers the top before it dissipates. Luckily it was only a small portion of the mountain that was covered.

 The view from the top, over looking Cape Town, with Robben Island in the distance.  To the left is Lions Head and Signal Hill.

 We spent a couple hours walking around the flat top taking in the views from all sides. Stopped for a beer at the summit and then headed back down to the bus.

Our next stop was at a little coastal town called Camps Bay. We jumped off the bus and headed to the beach to check out the water. The waves were crashing in and the water was FREEZING. Apparently it is colder in their summer than in the winter due to the currents. Lots of people on the beach but no one was in the water.

Our lunch was a seafood salad that was a mixture of calamari, prawns and the catch of the day.  There was more seafood than vegetables so again we left very happy. We jumped back on the bus and continued the coastal road seeing some amazing properties over looking the ocean. By this time the temperature was about 30 and we were melting on the top level of the bus so we headed back to the apartment to cool off for a few hours. A pool is the only thing our apartment was missing.

When doing my research for the trip I had lucked out and found a secret supper club   Our reservations were for 7pm and it was within walking distance  Joyce searched the street view on google maps so we had an idea of where we were going. The direction told us to enter through a roll up garage door. As we arrived the only signage was the letter S for Spazie the name of the pop up restaurant   A young fellow greeted us and we walked into a warehouse type setting with a kitchen and bar.

We were served our welcome cocktail and Bill started chatting to the chef. We found out that the chef and his team as well as a winery had been matched together for the evening and invited to participate in a pop up restaurant   It consisted of a four course chef's table, paired with wine.

The food was exceptional, but it was so hot in the facility we had to take shifts going outside to get some air.  At the end of the night Joyce and I were standing on the street pouring water on our feet from the ice factory next door.

Penguins and The Flagship

BOULDER BEACH AND THE FLAGSHIP

Today we hired our second Uber taxi and went out to Boulder Beach in Simons Town. This is home to a resident colony of "jackass penguins".  We started off by walking down the boardwalk to the beach to view the Penguins from the observation deck.

There were hundreds of them, some laying in their nests on the beach, others were fishing and some were just hanging out. It was very cool to watch them. In order for them to get out of the ocean they must body surf in on a wave until they hit the sand and can walk on their short little legs.  They go out to fish in groups and then return at the same time. Quite entertaining to watch.

This was Joyce's highlight as she has always wanted to see penguins. They did not disappoint and she had a big smile on her face all day!

We were able to get down to the beach a little further down and saw them up close. We stuck our feet in the water but not for very long as the water was freezing. No swimming in this ocean!

The people of South Africa are very friendly and helpful. Anyone we ask for help or information is more than willing to assist us. We were not sure how to get to place we were having lunch or whether or not we could walk there or needed another cab so we stopped by the ocean side restaurant and they were more than willing to call a cab for us

The Flagship was a special treat. It is a lunch destination on the cape peninsula  set up as an interactive chef's table with chef Duncan. Definitely a bucket list item for any foodie. It is a 5 course semi paired seafood and wine experience. When we arrived we were greeted with a glass of bubbly and invited to go dangle our feet in the pool which had a stunning view of the bay.

 After we cooled off we went back upstairs to meet the other guests. They were a group of 6 Young Germans. Duncan arrived at the table to refresh our glasses and explain to us what lunch was all about. In short we were guests in his home, relax, enjoy the food, the company, and drink wine.  Oh yes and no peeing in the pool!

  He did not disappoint, everything was top notch and very yummy.  There was even a brandy bar  and library in the bathroom!

  After 5 courses and several glasses of wine Duncan called cabs and we came back to the apartment. No dinner required just a walk and a bottle of red.

 It was a wonderful way to spend the day, great friends and excellent wine and food with the added bonus of penguins!

Wine touring

SOUTH AFRICAN WINE TOURING!

South Africa has some amazing wines!  We chose a tour company called Cape Fusion and our guide Ryan was a lot of fun. He was very easy going and altered the tour based on the things we liked. Our first afternoon was spent in the Constantia wine region not far from Cape Town.

 We visited four wineries, Starting with lunch at  Constantia  Glen which consisted of a cheese platter and a meat charcuterie with wonderful baguettes and a flight of different wines.  We purchased two reds, not sure if they will make it home or not.







Next was High Constantia which was a wonderful small family estate winery who specializes in champagne.








Our host was the wine makers wife, she provided us with the usual glass of several different reds and was easy to talk with as we sat on the terrace over looking a convent in the background. Needless to say we bought more wine!

We ended the day at Steenberg which was completely different from High Constantia in that it was very contemporary.  The tasting size is very generous in South Africa so a 'lie down' was in order after our tour today.

 After our lie down we headed out to a great little pub 'Tigers Milk' on Long street before calling it a day. Our Airbnb apartment is located in a very central location between long and Bree street which is where all the pubs and restaurants are. You can even take your wine home with you if you don't finish the bottle.  Funny thing, that never happened.

Our second day with Ryan was in the Stallenbach wine region.

                       





Today we started at Fairview for a cheese and wine pairing. The wine tasting room was stunning as was the cheese and wine.  It was only about 10 in the morning so Bill was struggling with wine but enjoyed the cheese.

Bill had been chatting with Ryan on the sly and arranged a quick detour into a huge car museum so the Brian could enjoy his passion for a few minutes. Pretty cool to see a diverse collection of cars all owned by one family, something like 340 cars from model T to Formula 1 cars, we only saw 80 but were they ever beauties.

 Our lunch was booked at Delaire Graaf restaurant located on a beautiful property over looking the valley. The sommelier recommended a pinotage that was the best I've tasted yet and the food as well as the presentation were amazing.

Then it was off to Rust en Vrede which is a medium sized family owned winery.  It was a lovely farm located in the middle of no where so it was very peaceful. (that is until we arrived)!

Ryan had decided he wanted to take us to one last winery called Meerlust before we called it a day.  Meerlust has been making wine for 8 generations and specializes in reds. We made it just before closing and were very happy we did.  The reds were amazing.  We purchased 2 more bottles to take home. Much to my surprise SA Merlot is one of my favourites. Hopefully they make it home in our backpacks!

Wow what a day!  South African wine country is very similar to that of our Okanagan but they definitely know how to make red wine.  Ryan was a great tour guide and fun to hang out with.  We won't see him for a few days as our next tour is not until Monday.  We tried to book a walking/eating tour with him but he was booked.

We decided to check out the harbour at V&A waterfront which is a short cab ride from the apartment. We had never tried Uber taxi so thought I would give it a try.  I downloaded the app and ordered the ride and within 2 min the driver was here and we were on our way. It is all charged through the credit card on file so no cash changes hands. Worked like a charm.  We had a tasty seafood dinner at the harbour house restaurant