Christmas in Cape Town

Not celebrating Christmas left Alan and I a little lost as far as what we should do in Cape Town last weekend. We weren't sure what would be open or closed or empty or crowded and were totally thrown off to be in summer weather during the holidays (especially given all CNN news was covering was the winter wonderland back in the States and in Europe). In many ways though, it was a relief to be in a place where there was less hype and craziness over Christmas than the US. We barely spotted any holiday decor in the malls or on the streets and only came across a Christmas song on the radio once and a while.

We made grand plans for the Christmas weekend including lots of outside activities since the weather would be spectacular and we figured everyone else would be inside celebrating the holiday with their families. Saturday we drove to the wine country which is about 45 minutes from Cape Town. We went to a town called Paarl which we were told has a great farm/restaurant with fresh cheeses and their own winery. We figured it would be open although looking back, it now seems obvious that they wouldn't be. So we arrived to their huge parking lot and were the only car which gave it away pretty quickly. We decided to head into town as there had to be some restaurants open for lunch. The town was as sleepy as towns can get and we were about to head for the McDonalds which apppeared to be the only thing open when we found a small Mediterranean restaurant open just banking on the hope that all the other restaurants would be closed. Of course they had an expensive prix fixe menu only but we were so hungry, we had to do it. After a unimpressive meal, we decided today was just not meant to be a spectacular day and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

But Sunday, we thought, would be our day. And it started off great. We ventured into the amazing Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for a walk and were amazed at the the beautiful array of flowers on display there. Alan was so amazed he took a coffee table book's amount of photos of the flowers. Here is a sampling.






Then we decided to head to the beach. Cape Town is surrounded by beaches although we were told the water is too cold to swim in. But it was a beautiful sunny day so we though we could at least dip our feet and take a walk on the beach. We first drove to one of the more popular beaches where people are there to be seen. Our assumption that people would be at home with their families was way off! It was packed with people...we could barely move in the traffic surrounding the beach and parking was sure to be a nightmare. So we drove to another beach, and another beach, and yes...another beach before it became crystal clear that the beach is the number one activity that Cape Town residents do over the Christmas weekend. After 2 hours of driving to find a less crowded beach, we got out of our car and were quickly frozen by chilly wind gusts and sand being blown in our faces. We walked for 5 minutes before heading back to the car and deciding today was also not meant to be our day.

We ended the weekend hoping our tour of the wine country early in the coming week would bring more success.

A Day on the Pennisula

On Friday, Alan and I spent the day driving the peninsula of The Cape of Good Hope. We made a day out of it with lots of stops along the way. It was a beautiful drive and allowed us to see both coasts - the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Oceans and where they meet which was really impressive.

Our first stop was the Rhodes Memorial. Unfortunately, at the time we were not sure who Cecil Rhodes was since we couldn't find any information on him or what he did at the memorial but we can say we visited. Later we found out that he was the founder of De Beers diamond company and was an imperialist and colonialist. Not sure why South Africa has a huge memorial for him?




From there, we drove to Kalk Bay where we were advised to eat at the Brass Bell and we had some yummy fish and chips and ate overlooking crashing waves on the bay. We did some window shopping and gallery peaking before heading on to an area called Boulder. Basically, the coast is lined with big smooth rocks and penguins are known to mate there. Unfortunately maybe our timing was off. We only spotted this one confused looking penguin. Maybe he was left behind.




Afterwards we made our way to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve which was very impressive. It's a beautiful and odd looking terrain of short interesting foliage. It felt like we were on another planet completely. After driving through the park we stopped for some views at the lighthouse which allowed us to take in the meeting point of two huge ocean masses (the Indian and Atlantic Oceans). We had no idea there would actually be a line visible where they meet.






We then drove to the South Western most point of the continent - the Cape of Good Hope. Alan was excited that he could say that he was actually on top of the Cape of Good Hope which most people just read about in their geography class. Alan climbed over treacherous terrain to get this photo!




And I stayed safely put here on this rock.


We made our way up the other side of the peninsula which was a lovely drive with amazing views. We drove on the supposedly famous road called Chapmean's Peak Drive where lots of car commercials are filmed because of the amazing views and cliffs below. We unfortunately didn't stop for pictures because we were just focusing on staying on the road and on the correct side of the road without falling off. Alan's knuckles were white and I was most often gripping onto the sides of my seat starring at the road in front. But we managed to take in the view too.

Introduction to Cape Town

We've gotten settled in Cape Town and are quite comfortable in Alan's boss's apartment that he's so generously loaned us here. We've gotten familiar with the neighborhood including the nearby mall, cafes, shops, and grocery stores. Being in an apartment is great because we can buy breakfast food and snacks and are even planning on doing a few dinners in. Alan is getting more comfortable with our manual car on the left side of the road and I'm getting used to navigating from the left side of the car. It's all very bizarre and feels so backwards and disorienting but Alan is doing very well so far. And thanks to our Tom Tom (GPS), we haven't gotten lost yet. Although I must say that Tom Tom brought me to tears of frustration yesterday, as I couldn't figure out to use the damn thing. I'm blaming it on pregnancy hormones.

Yesterday we explored the V&A Waterfront on a very overcast and foggy day. It basically was a lot of tourists, shopping, and restaurants. We made our way through the hordes of people and took in a few views of the bay and ships and then made a stop of a beer...well Alan made a stop for a beer and I tasted.



Last night we went to an amazing restaurant called Aubergine that was recommended to us by our friends in Ghana who've spent a lot of time in Cape Town. It was a french/asian/South African fusion restaurant with delicious flavor combinations, an impressive wine list, and little pretense - all things we like! I had
duck and Alan had wildebeest which was really amazing actually despite having just watched the creatures run around on our safari.

Today we ventured into the mall nearby trying to find a camera battery charger since I forgot ours in Ghana. I also got a desparately needed hair cut and it was wonderful to get a little pampering. Then we spent the rest of the day at Table Top Mountain which is an amazing mountain right in the middle of Cape Town and provides beautiful views of the ocean, the city, and the surrounding countryside, which we'll explore in a few days. We took a cable car to the top, ate lunch at the cafe up there and then meandered around the flat mountain top and took in breathtaking views.












The growing belly shot...I stupidly asked Alan while climbing around at the top of the mountain whether it was harder to breathe at that height and he laughed and noted that we were only 1076 meters above sea level (which then made sense given I could see the sea from there!) and I realized maybe I couldn't breathe because this baby is taking up so much room in my belly...or I'm just really out of shape which could also be the case.

Three Days in the Bush

Alan and I have travelled to South Africa for a 2 1/2 week vacation before I head back to the States for 3 months before our baby is due. We decided that a safari was one of those experiences that if we don't do it now, we may never and so we planned a 3 day safari in a park in the north of South Africa on the Botswana border called Madikwe. It is a government owned piece of land is about 60,000 hectares and has a variety of safari lodges scattered around on it. The land used to be farmland but its was converted to a game reserve about 20 years ago. You can find the Big 5 (meaning the 5 most difficult animals to hunt on foot which are the African Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, and Leopard. We were so fortunate to see 4 of the 5 (missing the elusive Leopard) and even got a sighting of 2 endangered species, the Black Rhino and the Wild Dog. In order to reach Madikwe which is obviously in a remote area comprised of grasslands and woodlands and surrounded by rocky hills, we needed to take a small single engine Cessna plane to a tiny airstrip a few minutes drive from the lodge. That was our first experience on such a small plane and was a little scary but provided some amazing views of the landscape. Unfortunately I had my eyes closed most of the time.

When we landed, we were greeted by safari guides and these huge safari Land Cruisers that took us back to the lodge.
This was our first animal sighting on the 5 minute drive back to the lodge - a beautiful male giraffe who we later spotted several times during our game drives. He was beautiful and huge and just right on the side of the road having lunch.

After dropping our bags and having a delicious lunch on the thatched covered porch, we headed out for our first game drive with our guide, Justin. Justin was simply put - amazing. He was a wealth of information, completely enthralled with the environment and animals, and best of all, was determined to help us have an incredible experience. We were accompanied by a family of 5 from London. We became close with them over the few days we were there and their children who asked great kid-curious questions and made very funny comments. The best was the 10-year old boy, Louis, who when asking about whether a giraffe was male or female and getting a quick tip from Justin on how to tell, said that the male giraffe's penis looked like a seat belt. We all just tore up laughing and his mother asked him what kind of seat belts he's been using. You can imagine the jokes that were made in the vehicle after this and it never got old. Our first sighting of one of the Big 5 - a gorgeous elephant family.

Ranger Justin risking life and limb out of the vehicle to show us a baby tortoise. Me risking life and limb trying to get out of the vehicle.

Alan and me...me looking a little weary-eyed after a very long day and no sleep after arriving from Accra just that morning.


With every evening game drive comes a break for stretching the legs, peeing in the bush, and of course a few cocktails and snacks. Alan was impressed with the selection of liquor.


And gorgeous sunsets each evening...each one better than the previous.

And finally a 3-course lantern-lit meal on the deck. Throughout the 3 days there, we had shrimp, antelope, venison, fish, fresh veggies, freshly baked bread, and homemade desserts like tiramisu. We haven't eaten so well in a long long time!

And then the news came that due to power failures and a noisy generator, the electricity would be cut off for the evening. Apparently, guests at the lodge complained from the previous evening that the noise from the generator was keeping them up, despite us barely hearing it. So Alan informed the manager that he was not happy with this given it would mean no A/C or fan for sleeping and the rooms were hot...like a stuffy hot box and there was no opening of the windows for concern about bugs, mosquitoes, and leopards. So we decided to do our best to sleep but at 1:00am when the generator went off, we both woke up sweating and uncomfortable. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night and had a 5am wake-up call for the next game drive. We were both irritable but decided we'd speak to the manager the next day and insist that they leave the generator on the next evening. Despite the sleepiness, we had some coffee and biscuits and headed out for our 2nd drive and first morning drive. Some shots from drive...

That morning we had our first lion sighting. Some female lions enjoying breakfast - baby wildebeest. Side note - Alan decided if lions liked wildebeest he probably would too so he had it for dinner tonight in Cape Town. He reports that it was delicious. We couldn't see their kill, as it was hidden in the bush, but we could hear bones crushing. This particular female still had blood on her mouth and was doing some self-grooming when she soon spotted a hyena who thought he'd get in on the grub. The female quickly stood up, they stared at each other for a few seconds, and the hyena had second thoughts.


Zebras playing around.


Biscuits and coffee...yummy for the tummy.


Returning to the lodge around 9am, we were fed again - a huge breakfast of fresh fruit, granola, yogurt, cheeses, eggs, bacon...basically anything and everything you could want. Then a little nap followed by a plunge in our plunge pool. Each unit has a 1.3 meter deep 1m wide plunge pool to cool off in. Thank goodness they warned us that diving was not advisable. We had considered it.


That afternoon we were on mission-find-the-wild-dogs. We had gotten word from other rangers that a pack of wild dogs were nestled away in the trees resting from the hot sun so we made it our mission to find the endangered species. You may not think wild dogs would be so interesting but the fact that they are endangered and that from afar they seem like cute house pets yet are some of the most vicious carnivores around the bush, makes them very very cool. We found them well hidden near a tree just sleeping all on top of each other and decided to wait for what felt like eternity for them to make a move. After maybe 30 minutes of watching them yawn and roll over occasionally, they finally made a move, played around a bit while making a bizarre noise, and then they headed off for the hunt.





That night, we were told by the manager that the generator would be on all night and so we were hopeful for a good night sleep. But, to our dismay, at 1am on the dot, we woke up to the generator going off and the heat setting in. We were so upset and tired at this point that we gave up on getting any sleep and decided that Alan would give them a piece of his mind in the morning. Safari's are not cheap and they advertise A/C as one of the perks so we had a case not to mention we were not the only ones being deprived of sleep because of this. So weary eyed and a bit upset, we woke up at 5am again to tea and biscuits and a beautiful sunrise. Hard to stay angry with this view though.

We had a fantastic morning drive and spotted another group of lions. As you can see, Alan was helping Justin track animals for the morning drive. Then just as we were getting excited about the lions, Justin pointed through the trees and yelped "Black Rhino!" We were not sure why this was exciting and kept pointing at the lions but he kept pointing and rhino and was pumping his arms with excitement. He finally explained that the Black Rhino is endangered and rarely spotted there so we were extremely lucky to have come across him. He was huge and impressive.


Later that day, Alan had the chance to discuss our frustration over the lack of electricity in the evenings to the manager in his own Alan-way. She told us that despite her instructions to leave the generator on, someone shut it off. We're not really sure what to believe but she offered to compensate us for the discomfort and lack of sleep and all we could do was hope that we'd get some sleep our final night. Our last two game drives we had to switch vehicles and thus guests on the vehicle because some of our friends' friends had arrived to the lodge and they wanted to be together. Our new guide, Ian, was good but not as good as Justin, and unfortunately we were accompanied by some very obnoxious Americans who we did our best to ignore. We made the most of it despite the changes and our final night time game drive was probably the most memorable of all of them. After seeing the normal crew...rhinos, wildebeest, and impala, and watching our final sunset of the safari,

we found a pride of lions resting after feasting on a giraffe carcass. Included in the pride were 2 huge male lions...the ones we had been wanting to spot throughout the trip. We were ridiculously close to them and the stench of the dead giraffe was almost unbearable. At one point, one of the male lions got up, stared at us in the vehicle (Alan and me in the front seat and me closest to the beast) and walked over a little closer to us. Alan and I huddled together as the guide just told us to stay calm and reassured us that they are used to the vehicles and all should be fine. In the end the lion turned around and drank from a watering hole in front of us and laid down to digest.


We breathed a sigh of relief and made it safely back to the lodge for what turned out to be a very restful and peaceful sleep. Some images of our room...
As you can tell from the length of this entry, this experience was totally unforgettable and we are still reliving moments from it, and I think we still will be for weeks and months to come. We're already thinking of our next one...maybe the serengeti!