Entries about wine

After viewing the Big Five and seeing some sights in Jo’burg, we set out for Cape Town. We had our hearts set on taking what we heard was supposedly a beautiful train ride from Jo'burg to Cape Town, but it was sold out for weeks- so we decided to fly instead. Our first view of Cape Town from the plane was pretty awesome - Cape Town is squeezed between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain, it makes for a unique and impressive setting. We landed in Cape Town and made our way to our hostel, Atlantic Backpackers. We needed a day to just relax, so we decided to head out to the V&A Waterfront. After a short walk from our hostel, we found ourselves in a huge mall- I was in heaven! Jeff got himself a haircut (much needed after several months), we saw Transformers 3 in 3D at the movies, and ate some Thai food . It was a splendid day!
Jeff getting a proper haircut
V&A Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background
The next day we got ourselves passes for the City Sightseeing Tour of Cape Town. We’d taken similar tours in Europe and always found them to be a great way to get around see the sights. The big red bus took us to the Castle of Good Hope, the District 6 museum, and to Table Mountain. Again, I found myself uncomfortably being transported up a mountain by cable car, but the views were totally worth it. From the top of Table Mountain, we had spectacular views of the city, ocean and surrounding mountains. Table Mountain is so impressive in fact, it is under consideration to be one of the new seven wonders of the natural world. We were fortunate that the “tablecloth” was nowhere in sight - it’s a local expression for the cloud layer that frequently covers the top of Table Mountain. Lastly, we ended our day on the big red bus with a sundowner, which is their expression for sunset, at Camps Bay. South Africa has wonderful sunsets! Jeff from the top of Table Mountain
Another view from the top
Sunset at Camp's Bay
The next day we hopped aboard the big red bus again, but this time we followed a different route. First, we visited the Slave Lodge museum. The building in which the museum is now located use to house slaves, but they’ve turned it into a very well done and informative museum. We also stopped at the Groot Constantia Winery, the oldest vineyard in South Africa. During our wine tasting, the staff was very generous with their pours, so I left in a good mood Finally, we finished off the day at Hout Bay (a marina) and checked out the resident sea lions. I have to say, I love Cape Town! Of all the places we’ve been so far, it’s the one place I could live.
Groot Constantia Vineyard and Winery
Tasting the local flavors
After our love fest with Cape Town, we rented a car and headed out to the famous Garden Route for some scenery and whale watching. We started in Hermanus, the “whale capital of the world”. During June and July, Right Whales come into the bay to mate and calf. Apparently, if you are there at the right moment, you can see dozens of whales close to shore. Despite our pretty good timing, we only saw two or three whales from afar, cool nonetheless.
The next morning we set out for Gansbaii where we signed up for a Great White Shark dive. It’s been high on Jeff’s list to see one of the world’s biggest predators up close, so it was a must do for us. We set out with White Shark Projects for the afternoon in hopes of seeing some sharks. It was an awesome experience! The tour operator chummed the water to attract the sharks to the boat and then led the sharks over to the viewing cage with a huge fish head. Sometimes, the sharks would hit the cage chasing the fish head (an adrenaline rush for the divers in the cage}. I almost peed my pants, not from fear, but rather the ice cold water temperatures! Even with a 7-mm wet suit on, it was freezing. To check out the sharks in action click here and here.
Having all our fingers and toes intact, we drove to Cape Aghulus, the most southern point of Africa and the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Next, we stop in Wilderness for two nights, a quaint beach town set right between the mountains and ocean. Our hostel was located just one block from the beach, so it was so nice waking up to the sound of the waves. The owner of the hostel told us about a walk along an abandoned, elevated train track. She also told us about a “hippie” who lives along the track in a small cave and takes immense pride in his seashell creations: “He’s got some problems, but he’s harmless.” So, we of course walked along the track to take in the view and see the hippie’s “house” - he did a nice job decorating by the way. We also stopped at the “Map of Africa”, a small island/land mass near Wilderness that looks like the continent of Africa.
Of course, all good things must come to an end, so we drove back to Cape Town via Route 62, a scenic road that passes through the mountains and semi-arid desert. We stopped along the road for a night in Montagu, a town known for its hot springs. This was our third hot spring in less than two months, you might see a pattern emerging. Our hostel in Montagu was a working farm with a converted barn for backpackers - we slept in “horse stall 4”. I am still amused by this and like to remind Jeff that we slept in a barn.
Coastal Town of Hermanus
She was the biggest one we saw that day

Bait
The Southern most point of Africa in Cape Agulhus- where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans Meet
The view from our balcony in Wilderness...not a bad way to start the morning
The Hippie Man's shell house in Wilderness
We returned to Cape Town for one last night. This time, we stayed in a different part of town, closer to the downtown. Near our hostel was the restaurant “Mama Africa”, a Cape Town institution and we were told it was a “must do”. The restaurant specializes in game meats, so we snacked on ostrich kabobs, Kudu steak, crocodile bites, and more. The restaurant also had a traditional African band that played throughout dinner and really set the atmosphere.
It was great to see several different parts of South Africa over the last two weeks. We had an amazing experience here. We are now headed to Namibia for giant sand dunes and our second safari. We’ll keep you posted!!!