Day 15 - Cape crusaders

After breakfast we set out for our drive around the Cape of Good Hope.  It was originally called the Cape of Storms, which is perhaps more appropriate given the changeable weather here.  (We’ve been trying to pick the right day for our aerial adventure on Table Mountain, and the weather changes from optimistic to poor visibility and back again multiple times a day ). 

Out first stop today was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. 

This garden is on the back of Table Mountain and showcases the amazing indigenous plants of Africa, especially fynbos and protea. 

You can also catch some bees and Kats if you look closely

The views here are stunning 

Even when we’re in them, and wearing our Marni-approved Tilley hats! 

Or going blind without our glasses 

And there are some nice canopy trails and more rain forest-like experiences available too. 

And the commonplace African violet grow big here. 

I haven’t mentioned the ubiquitous Guinea hens - we’ve seen them in the wild everyplace in South Africa - but this is the first time with chicks. 

On to drive around the cape. Unfortunately for Rich, spring seems to be road construction time - so we did a lot of waiting. And the weather wasn’t always picture perfect today.  Even so, not a half bad view for a traffic stop. 

We had lunch in Simonstown, and found this crane ready to take us out on his boat. 

The other penguin colony is just up the way, but we skipped it since we had already had a great penguin encounter.  Even so, Kat saw some on some rocks as we were cruising along the road.  Plus seals and whales too. 

The spectacular (though at times white knuckled) road passes by many rocky cliffs, sometimes with tunnels carved in for the traffic:

But also nice beaches like Scarborough. 

We also had a close encounter with a baboon troop. 

And Kat had been disappointed not to see an ostrich on this trip. Rich stopped at a pull off next to an ostrich farm so she could cross that off her list. Not quite a wild spotting -he’s probably a future ostrich burger - but they have a lot of personality.  And they huffed like horses. 

Back home we found this guy - guess he found a place to cool off today.

And then back to the city for some hamburgers ( well a bean burger for me!), milkshakes and street entertainment via the Parking attendants on Long Street. 

Day 14 - Wineing down

Today we left Franschhoek and headed for a quick stop at Stellenbosch, another wine-centric town.  The drive there continued our spectacular South African roadside vistas

This town is quite a bit larger as there are universities here as well as many wine farms on the perimeter.  

But before our quick exploration of town we stopped at Jordan Winery (to avoid trademark infringement in the US they relabel as “Jardin” when importing.)  We really enjoyed our tasting, and lunch at the outdoor bakery venue was a dining highlight of the trip for Kat. 

These wineries are all incredibly picturesque, and a lot more low key and less “sales oriented” than Napa and Sonoma. Instead of saying “you’re welcome” here, the locals most always say “a pleasure”.  Every time I hear it, I want to respond “no, this is my pleasure!” 

Then it was off to Cape Town. We took a little walk exploring the city and Company Gardens for ourselves a bit, though it seems to be a bit more of a security high alert city than we hoped. This was our first nice view of Table Mountain.  I’m sure you can see how it got it’s name. 

Back at our guest house we started researching our day tomorrow poolside.  Did I mention it was 95 degrees today?  Weather here is amazingly changeable. It can swing 30 degrees during the day, and vary from one town to the next town only a few miles down the road.  

Tomorrow we have planned to explore the Cape of Good Hope.  Here’s good hoping for good weather 

Day 13 - Wine not?

They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy wine, which is almost the same thing.  Welcome to our day of Franschhoek wine tasting.  To maximize Rich’s enjoyment and minimize any white knuckle semi-drunk driving, we booked the Franschhoek Wine Tram. Part of the journey was conducted on an actual railed tram, the (speedier) rest of the excursion on a bus. 

The tram had to stop at every driveway and highway we passed, making for a slow - but with our hop on hop off flag men -entertaining - journey.  Though our tram company was far more interested in some antique German bridge than we could ever be.  

We thought we left the wind behind in Hermanus,  but the morning tram also proved to be quite breezy.  But it was also 80 degrees or more, so no complaints. We did learn that the great bus standard “The wheels on the bus go round and round” is universal.  I’ll save you the video, but suffice to say the singing got louder and more boisterous the more wineries we visited. #Tram life 

We’ve been tokd a few times by locals about what a shame it is that we are visiting South Africa during a severe drought - how it’s “normally”  very beautiful.  I mean who wants scenery like this?   We suffered though it. 

Even found some morning glories for Rich’s mom. 

Really, all of the wine estates here are very lovely. 

We found some fellow Yanks from Wisconsin early in the day, and bonded on our love for Red Zinfandel and wine in general. And our new friends introduced us to their new friends from Jo’berg. It was so nice to share the day with this crew -and we are grateful for all the greater Cape town tips from Louie and Suzette, and the tales of shark dives and Lesotho sponsorship from Kurt and Mary. Wine brings people together! 

Plus all the great Franschhoek wine and scenery made for a beautiful day.  Rich heeded the swim advise here. 

Though not at home. 

And our South African friends even acted like Safari rangers and pointed out the winery wildlife. 

Our day ended with a fine meal in town with some entertaining bathroom art.  Franschhoek is Fun. 

Day 12 part 2 - Wining and dining

From wildlife to wine - it’s time for a vacation gear shift as we leave the marine adventures behind and head to the Napa Valley of South Africa: Franschhoek.  Again the journey took us through many scenic vistas including a winding mountain road.  

Our first glimpse of our new home was from a lofty view far above town. 

I like it already, and it’s only noon.  I think we’ll settle in here just fine. 

 

Before dinner we encountered these gruesome locals. Tigers and foxes and cows....oh my!  Are we back on safari? 

Just a little pre-Halloween celebration with a parade of kids and their grownups enjoying the day. . A little fairy popped in to visit with Rich. 

 

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Off to a wonderful dinner and wine at our first Franschhoek winery Haute Cabriere where we watched the sun set on a new chapter under African Skies.