Out of Africa

We had planned to go to Robben Island on Sunday, our last day in Cape Town. The hotel arranged for tickets two days prior for the 11:00 ferry for the popular tour of the former political prison. After breakfast, we drove down to the wharf and dutifully stood in line for about 30 minutes waiting for the 11:00 ferry. Finally we were ready to board. The ticket taker pointed out that our tickets were for the 9:00 ferry and to please step aside. So much for Robben Island.
Rather than lose our last day in Cape Town, we decided to go to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. We programmed TomTom and off we went. We ended up at a mall on the opposite side of the city from Kirstenbosch.

After reprogramming TomTom, we ended up at the gardens with a couple of hours to spare before we needed to go back to the hotel and head for the airport.

The gardens were very nice, alhough between spring and summer and therefore not in their prime. The gardens were full of families having picnics and parties on a windy and cool afternoon.


We packed up, made a short detour for some pix of clouds boiling over the top of Table Mountain and were off to the airport.

20 hours later we would arrive back in Amsterdam.

South Africa is a beautiful and remarkable country. We didn't scratch the surface of all there is to do in Cape Town and surrounds and could have easily sent another couple of weeks there.

On to the next chapter.

Pix from the 5 days we spent in Cape Town can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14356799@N06/sets/72157622668439928/

To The End of The World!

Today we drove to the end of the world (well, maybe the end of Africa) and visited The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. We started out early and headed toward Camp Bay.

A quick stop for a photo op and to admire the incredible water and we were off again. The weather was very nice - California at the beach weather. The sun was out for a good part of the morning and then dropped behind some fog. Either way, the views for the day were stunning. The rock formations as we drove up into the mountains were incredible.

At one point the road was carved into the mountain side, almost like a tunnel with one side open . We drove across Chapman's Peak - a newly opened road through a National Park. Wild flowers are blooming - dark pink geraniums, orange nasturtium, yuccas with tall pink flowers, white daisies. Always the stunning views of the sheer cliffs, the waves crashing and the blue green water nearby.

Our next stop was Simon's Town. It is a quaint beach side town. A walk was in order - down to the water to get my feet wet. The sand is powder white in some areas, the water cold.

We picked up some bread, water and hummus for a picnic later on at the beach. There was an open air market so of course I had to browse. Several vendors told us we were their first customer. They would give us an extra discount. How could I resist? We are now seriously strapped for room in our bags.

After Simon's Town we headed for the Penguin Colony. It is in a National Park as well and the walkways run parallel to the water. The clear blue water, slight breeze in the air and penguins everywhere made us feel pretty lucky to be here today. We had a better view of penguins today than we did at Betty's Bay - but only because the wind was blowing so hard the day we were there. Today, everything was perfect. Along the trail we met some women from Houston and a couple from Norway. He stopped to admire Bob's camera and discuss the lens with him.

From Penguin Colony we headed to Cape Point. Lots of people driving, hiking and biking on this late spring day. The roads and parking lots were fairly busy all day.

Rounding the corner of the peninsula we headed to Cape of Good Hope, the farthest SW point of the continent. Again, lots of tourists but we found a spot to park overlooking the ocean on one side of us.

There were baboon warning signs everywhere. We've seen the videos online of baboons in South Africa opening car doors, taking purses and flinging their contents everywhere.

We managed to get close to several but were very cautious. After 6 hours on the road, we opted for the freeway back rather than the beach road. A very nice day - to the end of the world!

Headed to Robben Island in the morning, maybe a little more shopping. All too soon our South African adventure is coming to a close.

Pan African and New Friends

We spent about 4 hours at the Pan African Market on Friday. It is a large three story building filled with vendors in individual stalls. About a 20 minute walk from where we are staying into a fairly busy area. The weather was clear and cool for our walk. Very California like.

The architecture and wrought iron accents on buildings reminded us of New Orleans. The city is also a bit like San Fransisco with it's hills and morning fog.


At the market, everyone had the best price to offer and a bargain to show us. In most places we were their 1st customers of the day and therefore got an extra discount. Same line as in Jo'burg.


More important than the treasures we bought (I did have to do my part for the local economy) was the interaction with the people. I cannot begin to describe the kindness of the people we have encountered here. They have an amazing warmth, friendliness and curiosity about us.


To most of the people we have spoken with, America is the place they want to go. We have heard Alaska (as Bob heard 7 years ago), Chicago (because she saw it on TV) and Hollywood (to see the stars).

One of the vendors yesterday (Janice) asked if she could have our email address. Then she asked if she could keep my pencil. Of course I gave it to her and dug out several more pens and pencils for her. She was so excited and said she would share them with her friends.


Patrick, her co-worker had a fairly long, deep conversation with Bob. He told him that life is hard in Cape Town. There is a lot of discrimination for people not from South Africa. He is originally from a village in Cameroun. His parents do not read and he is teaching himself to read. He told Bob several times what a nice man he was and thanked him for talking to him. And yes, for the skeptical among you, this was AFTER our purchases.

We had to find an ATM (yes, I had more to buy) and a woman in a shop directed us to a building. There are several ATM's inside this shopping center with a guard watching them. When we told her we just walk up to an ATM that is outside at home, she seemed quite surprised. 'That is not safe' is what she told us. When the ATM machine we went to wouldn't work, the guard directed us to another one downstairs. Down two elevators and turn right (although he pointed left). Then he said, 'Come' and walked us down to take us to the right spot.


Spent a couple of hours late yesterday afternoon just hanging out. Bob worked on pictures, I spent a few quality hours with my book.


Dinner was again at the Italian restaurant up the street. The waiter we had previously recognized us. 'A glass of sauvignon, a glass of chardonnay and a bottle of sparkling water?' was his opener. Yes, he remembered from earlier in the week. He too stood by the table after we were finished and talked to us for awhile. He said there are such high hopes for World Cup in 2010. If South Africa does well, it will help them so much. If they do not live up to expectations they will not have the opportunity to be on the world stage again for a long time.


Back to our B and B and in for the night fairly early.


FYI....Pix from Day 3 (of 5) at Mala Mala have been uploaded to Flickr. They can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14356799@N06/sets/72157622650064238/

Safari picture update

I've uploaded pictures from day 1 and day 2 of our safari to Flickr.

Day 1 pix can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14356799@N06/sets/72157622519611251/

Day 2 pix can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14356799@N06/sets/72157622645933780/

3 more days of safari pix and then Capetown. It's gonna be awhile.

To the Top of the Mountain and Down to the Vineyard!

We are trying to act like grown ups and move on from our Mala Mala experience. Afterall, this is Cape Town, one of the premiere cities of the world! There just aren't any giraffes, elephants, wild dogs......I even miss the ever present impala....OK, moving ON!!!!

This morning we had a wonderful breakfast on the patio. The wind has stopped and the weather is warm. Summer temperatures are kicking in. Interestingly we anticipated Mala Mala (Oh, did I just make another reference to it?) to be very hot and Cape Town to be much more temperate. Turns out it was the opposite.

We are staying in the shadow of the famous Table Mountain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Mountain , a huge plateau greater than 3000ft high overlooking the city. A cable car originally made in 1929 takes to the top of the mountain, a National Park. When the wind is blowing hard, the access via cable car shuts down. Yesterday the cable cars were not running. Knowing we would be facing a fairly long wait today, we decided we needed to go. Between ticket lines and the cable car line it took about 2 hours before we made it to the top.

It was very smoggy looking down but still an incredibly beautiful view.

This picture from the top of Table Mountain shows downtown Capetown with the 2010 World Cup Stadium near the bay, Robben Island (Mandela's prison home) in the distance and the waterfront to the right.

We wandered around the rocks that form the surface for a couple of hours before taking a cable car back down.

Stellenbosch, an area about an hour east of us is one of the wine producing regions. We headed that direction late this afternoon. After making our way to the information area we chose Neethlingshof Vineyards.

The vineyard's grounds are beautiful. A long driveway lined with trees takes you to a group of buildings. There are beautiful flower gardens with lots of roses blooming. We were able to taste 5 of their white wines. A couple of them were very good. Even better, they have a U.S. distributor so we may find some of their wines at home.

We opted for dinner at the vineyard, then set the GPS for 'home' and headed back.

It was a good day, a very busy day and a lot of fun. But I didn't see any hippos, rhinos, elephants.......oh my!

Shell Shocked in Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon. We were picked up by a pre -arranged driver. He drove us to the B and B that will be home for the next 5 days. From the quiet solitude of Mala Mala where we didn't open a newspaper, turn on a TV, see a car or put a wallet into our bag to the big city!

There are 5.5 million people in Cape Town and it is an incredibly busy city. Along with the rest of South Africa they are preparing for World Cup soccer next year. We were warned that roads might be under construction and there would be traffic.

The B and B is a very old house with a common living area, gardens and a breakfast room. We were exhausted after dinner last night and did not stay awake long.

No morning drive for us, just a nice breakfast downstairs.

We decided our first adventure would be a drive along the coast.

We stopped at Betty's Bay to see the penguins.

They were all over and we watched them for quite awhile. Unfortunately it is incredibly windy here. The wind made it difficult to even stand!

After leaving the penguins we made our way to Hermanus, a small coastal town. The whales are migrating and we were told they would be all over this small area. Because of the high winds we saw white caps everywhere.....but couldn't tell if they were whales or white caps. Bob thought he saw one but we really couldn't tell.

We drove back to Cape Town, with with help from our GPS. The drivers are extremely courteous and the roads are very good and well maintained. An Italian restaurant up the street was our choice for dinner.

Last But Not Least!

At 6:15 Tuesday morning we headed into the bushveld for our final drive. At this point, I was so tired it was hard to stay awake! I quickly came to life when we had our first sighting of impala.

From there we heard baboons barking and followed them to see why they were so active. Instead of being threatened, Donald figured we had encountered one who was lost and trying to find its troop. A crested barbet bird, nyala and guinea fowl were found next. Of course the impala were everywhere.

As we were driving down a road, Bob and I redeemed ourselves by finding a giraffe in the distance.
Finally, the Kilian's have proven they could find a giraffe! Or maybe Donald was being kind and letting us 'find' it. The giraffe was a young male and we stayed with him for quite awhile. He grazed nearby and then moved on to another area, crossing right in front of us.

Amazing long eyelashes and an incredible grace! The giraffe was just gorgeous.

Next we found zebra - a stallion and 5 or 6 females grazing in the field. The stallion stood back on watch as the females grazed. They are beautiful animals to see up close.

The wild dogs were still in the area and we made our way to see them. They had apparently eaten something recently and were resting. They were laying on the ground looking.....like dogs!

Vultures were close by finishing up the rest of the meal left behind by the dog. They are pretty ugly birds but somehow not as bad on the ground as they seem up in trees.

Sadly our time for driving was up. It was time for the 'last breakfast'.

Back at Mala Mala, there was a small white monkey who entertained us (taunted us?) while we ate our last breakfast.

Reluctantly we left to pack and get ready to leave.

Too many good-byes - how could you possibly feel like you've shared a lifetime with these people in 4 days?

Our young ranger, Ryan who made such an impact on us. At 22 years old, he has a bucket list and shared it with us. He was professional, courteous, knowledgeable and so much fun to be around.

Our ranger Donald who flawlessly added us to his truck and guided us through the bush. His knowledge and commentary were educational and amusing.

Michael, the Goodwill Ambassador (bar tender, etc.) of Mala Mala. Michael greeted us along with one of the camp managers after each ride. He always had a scented wet wash cloth for a quick wash up.

Either Leana and Etienne, the married couple who are the camp managers met us after each ride. They always asked how the ride went and what animals we saw. And they were truly interested......although we knew the radio was being monitored by them the whole time we were gone. Of course they knew what we had seen!

While we were packing there was word that the plane had arrived earlier than scheduled. Good byes and email addresses were exchanged and Donald drove us to the air strip.

We were the last to board the 9 passenger plane headed for Nelspruit airport and then on to Cape Town.

We had left the magic behind but I think I cried for the entire 15 minutes on the plane. It was by far one of the most indescribable experiences I have ever had in my life. It was not travelling to a place to visit. It was so much more than that. I know the pictures will be amazing but I will never be able to describe the experience to anyone who has not been.

To add a bit to that last paragraph. When I was in South Africa 7 years ago and went on my 1st safari, I came home raving about it. The pictures were nice. I had seen things and animals in a setting that I had never seen before. However, it was not something that I could describe and do it justice. Jill said the same after their East African safari.....you can't describe it.  Pictures provide good memories and brief snapshots into what we have seen, but only capture a very small part of the safari. One can only fully appreciate it when one has experienced it. Nancy is now of the same mind set. Sorry, but we cannot describe it actually. It's a mystical, fascinating, humbling, religious experience. As we said on our last New Zealand trip. We're OOA. Out of adjectives.