Capetown is Amazing
Finally, I'll update on what we did out in Cape Town...
We started out our huge tour day with a good breakfast at the farm where we were staying. Then, Steve (our driver) picked us up and drove us into a little village called Franschhoek. He took us to have some grappa (legal moonshine) and we tried a little bit of something-bitter - I can't remember the full name. The grappa was pretty decent, but I think we disappointed Steve and the owner by not making a disgusted face. We did for the something-bitter, though. It is a drink used for good health, but it tasted like liquid vapor-rub. Not good at all. We went to another wine tasting at Pierre Jordan after that. That place had amazing views, and amazing wine, highlighted with a Brandy/Chardonay mix. We ended up buying a bottle of that and it has already been fully consumed. We then went to another wine tour and lunch at Boschendal.
After the wineries, we drove down to Cape Point. On the way, we stopped at a penguin park, where there was a trail going right through where the penguins lived. Or, I guess more appropriately there was a trail through the park and the penguins took over the area, and now live right up next to the trail. It was pretty great to be so close to them.
Once we got to the Cape Point park, we hiked up to Cape Point Lighthouse, traveling through many curious baboons. The park includes Cape Point as well as the Cape of Good Hope (which I distinctly remember from 9th grade history). It is at this point where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean unofficially meet (i.e. where the temperature changes drastically from the ocean currents meeting). We stopped in at one of the stores down at the base of Cape Point, just when South Africa scored against France. The people working started celebrating and ran out of the store for just a second. A nearby baboon, not being a fan of Bafana Bafana, saw his opportunity and ran in to steal a few bags of chips. The people working in the store noticed and eventually scared him away.
After Cape Point, we drove to downtown Cape Town, stopping for a few hours at the Waterfront. The Waterfront is a huge shopping area, but also a place where it seemed everyone was hanging out.
We drove back to our area near the hotel, stopping for dinner at the Spier complex in a place called Moyo. Moyo seemed to be a "traditional African" place that was just a bit touristy. Don't get me wrong, they had great food. We even had our faces painted in Xhosa style, and had a group of singers perform for our table. It was a great ending to a great trip.
[gallery link="file" columns="2" orderby="title"]
We started out our huge tour day with a good breakfast at the farm where we were staying. Then, Steve (our driver) picked us up and drove us into a little village called Franschhoek. He took us to have some grappa (legal moonshine) and we tried a little bit of something-bitter - I can't remember the full name. The grappa was pretty decent, but I think we disappointed Steve and the owner by not making a disgusted face. We did for the something-bitter, though. It is a drink used for good health, but it tasted like liquid vapor-rub. Not good at all. We went to another wine tasting at Pierre Jordan after that. That place had amazing views, and amazing wine, highlighted with a Brandy/Chardonay mix. We ended up buying a bottle of that and it has already been fully consumed. We then went to another wine tour and lunch at Boschendal.
After the wineries, we drove down to Cape Point. On the way, we stopped at a penguin park, where there was a trail going right through where the penguins lived. Or, I guess more appropriately there was a trail through the park and the penguins took over the area, and now live right up next to the trail. It was pretty great to be so close to them.
Once we got to the Cape Point park, we hiked up to Cape Point Lighthouse, traveling through many curious baboons. The park includes Cape Point as well as the Cape of Good Hope (which I distinctly remember from 9th grade history). It is at this point where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean unofficially meet (i.e. where the temperature changes drastically from the ocean currents meeting). We stopped in at one of the stores down at the base of Cape Point, just when South Africa scored against France. The people working started celebrating and ran out of the store for just a second. A nearby baboon, not being a fan of Bafana Bafana, saw his opportunity and ran in to steal a few bags of chips. The people working in the store noticed and eventually scared him away.
After Cape Point, we drove to downtown Cape Town, stopping for a few hours at the Waterfront. The Waterfront is a huge shopping area, but also a place where it seemed everyone was hanging out.
We drove back to our area near the hotel, stopping for dinner at the Spier complex in a place called Moyo. Moyo seemed to be a "traditional African" place that was just a bit touristy. Don't get me wrong, they had great food. We even had our faces painted in Xhosa style, and had a group of singers perform for our table. It was a great ending to a great trip.
[gallery link="file" columns="2" orderby="title"]