Day 1 - Cape Town
So. The time has finally arrived,maybe this will be a self defining trip (is that really a phrase…), a penultimate moment in my life, or just a damn good holiday! Any way it works today I set out from London Heathrow to Cape Town. Gotta love sitting a couple of rows behind some unhappy kids… for a 10.5 hr flight… overnight… these kids were really not happy. It was annoying but became fairly funny. One of them would continually complain and cry only to be ignored, and then would raise his volume and pitch (you know how kids do…). The funny bit was that he would get so high it sounded like when you squeeze the mouth of a balloon to make it squeal … just like that. Yeah that sounds annoying and it was at first but then you just have to grin and
bear it … for 10.5 hours. Things that really do annoy me on planes… people with bags to big to fit through the aisles yet they insist on dragging/pulling it through the aisle and people who stand in the aisle when they find their seat… You can stand in front of your seat perfectly fine and put up your bag!!
So. The time has finally arrived,maybe this will be a self defining trip (is that really a phrase…), a penultimate moment in my life, or just a damn good holiday! Any way it works today I set out from London Heathrow to Cape Town. Gotta love sitting a couple of rows behind some unhappy kids… for a 10.5 hr flight… overnight… these kids were really not happy. It was annoying but became fairly funny. One of them would continually complain and cry only to be ignored, and then would raise his volume and pitch (you know how kids do…). The funny bit was that he would get so high it sounded like when you squeeze the mouth of a balloon to make it squeal … just like that. Yeah that sounds annoying and it was at first but then you just have to grin and
bear it … for 10.5 hours. Things that really do annoy me on planes… people with bags to big to fit through the aisles yet they insist on dragging/pulling it through the aisle and people who stand in the aisle when they find their seat… You can stand in front of your seat perfectly fine and put up your bag!!
Any ways after the flight I finally arrived in Cape Town. I was in Africa. Me. In Africa…?!?! Sitting here in Cape Town writing this, its still hard to believe I am in Cape Town. So the first day I got checked into my hostel, early in the morning and met an older Kiwi guy who was happy to walk with me to the city center and show me around. Its absolutely gorgeous here. And its warm. I mean really warm. Sun, glorious sun!! so of course I got sun burnt… haha oh well.
I met several people at the hostel and just hung out. A German/Egyptian guy (Samy) and I decided to take the tour bus around the city the next day and ultimately to go up to Table Mountain. I decided against shark cage diving given the cost, the water was freezing and a guy who did it this week said it wasn’t really that great right now.
Some basic info:
· There are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken in Africa and across just the little area I will travel – however English is a general common denominator.
· South Africa uses the Rand which was roughly 10 or 11 to 1 for the British pound or 7 to 1 for the USD.
· Security is a big issue as there is a lot of crime in the area.
· With the 2010 FIFA World Cup in SA, there is a lot of construction and activity going on to finish the preparations.
· The easiest way around town is the tourist topless double decker bus. Otherwise local taxis / minivans are be found everywhere. There is little to no public transport.
Day 2 – Cape Town – Table Mountain
Got up and got ready to go on the bus. Talked with Andrew (English independent backpacker) and he decided to join Samy and I on the bus. We rode it into town and looked around. Lots of shops and people and things. We sat in had a chat and eventually got a really eerie feeling from some guys who were paying too much attention to our bags… so we decided to walk on.
· There are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken in Africa and across just the little area I will travel – however English is a general common denominator.
· South Africa uses the Rand which was roughly 10 or 11 to 1 for the British pound or 7 to 1 for the USD.
· Security is a big issue as there is a lot of crime in the area.
· With the 2010 FIFA World Cup in SA, there is a lot of construction and activity going on to finish the preparations.
· The easiest way around town is the tourist topless double decker bus. Otherwise local taxis / minivans are be found everywhere. There is little to no public transport.
Day 2 – Cape Town – Table Mountain
Got up and got ready to go on the bus. Talked with Andrew (English independent backpacker) and he decided to join Samy and I on the bus. We rode it into town and looked around. Lots of shops and people and things. We sat in had a chat and eventually got a really eerie feeling from some guys who were paying too much attention to our bags… so we decided to walk on.
We eventually got the bus up to Table Mountain for a ride on the cable car to the top. We walked around the top for about an hour. There were awesome views over Cape Town and down to the Cape of Good Hope. It was fantastic – definitely a must do for anyone going to Cape Town. We even saw a dassie and some sheep or springboks or something on the slopes. After awhile we started the descent down the mountain. It wasn’t as easy as it was billed! It was really about as tough as climbing down Mt. Sinai and maybe even a bit longer. We even passed a “pilgrim” who was headed up the mountain to pray. Finally at the bottom we caught a taxi back to the hostel and cooked some dinner.
Day 3 – Cape Town – Wine Tour
I had booked a wine tasting tour… hahaha. We went to four different farms in the Stellenbosch region and tasted something like 23 different wines… The first ones were sparkling white and I got to open the first bottle with a saber!! Now I know how to do it, I can do it at home! There were 12 of us on the bus, some Germans, Dutch, English and Brasilians. We went to Villiera, Tocara, Solms Delta and Fairview, where they also have make cheeses! South Africa is also known for a red variety called Pinotage, that is a cross between Pinot Grigio and Hermitage. Its really nice, fulled bodied and a bit spicy. It was really fun and we saw some gorgeous country side. What I have seen of Cape Town and South Africa really makes we want to come back some other time and spend more time.
Day 3 – Cape Town – Wine Tour
I had booked a wine tasting tour… hahaha. We went to four different farms in the Stellenbosch region and tasted something like 23 different wines… The first ones were sparkling white and I got to open the first bottle with a saber!! Now I know how to do it, I can do it at home! There were 12 of us on the bus, some Germans, Dutch, English and Brasilians. We went to Villiera, Tocara, Solms Delta and Fairview, where they also have make cheeses! South Africa is also known for a red variety called Pinotage, that is a cross between Pinot Grigio and Hermitage. Its really nice, fulled bodied and a bit spicy. It was really fun and we saw some gorgeous country side. What I have seen of Cape Town and South Africa really makes we want to come back some other time and spend more time.That night it was time for our pre departure tour meeting for the Cape to Kenya tour. There are 10 people on the truck but only 3 of us right now that are going all the way to Nairobi. We also have 3 crew with us – Tony (driver), Sam (tour leader) are from Kenya and Hendrik (training to be a tour leader) who is South African. We depart tomorrow and go on a quick tour of the Townships and District 6 museum. Now the big part of the tour starts!
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