CapeTown.... We have arrived!

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Yesterday one of the locals we met said...' in Cape-town just wait and you will get all 4 seasons in a day' .....and today (Saturday) we experienced just that. We awoke to a rain storm that by the time we had breakfast turned into a warm sunny morning...by lunch time it was getting windy and by four o'clock it was cold .... The weather has been pleasant but not warm enough for me..or sunny enough. Of course we leave Cape town Monday when another week of sunny skies starts. Michelle on the other hand is in heaven...she thinks anything above 55 degrees F is evil.... needless to say she is in shorts while I am bundled up in my coat and long pants.



We started our first full day in Cape Town with a yummy breakfast at our guest house,the Kingslyn http://www.kingslyn.co.za/ . Then a quick cab ride to the V&A Waterfront by 9am to pick up our two day on/ off bus tour tickets. The price worked out to less than 30$ each when purchased on line and was a fantastic value. We did the red tour and it took us from famous Victoria &Alfred Waterfront to eclectic Long Street, to Table Mountain still shrouded in morning clouds, to the breathtaking coastline and devastating district 6.



After full loop we hopped off on Long Street to explore the outdoor market, the various shops and ended up at a delightful Irish Pub of all places for a cold beer (or 2) and lunch. Fully stuffed and feeling a bit lazy from the ales, and our shop sales... we wound our way to the blue line and saw even more amazing places. We decided we would come back the next day to explore the huge bird sanctuary and try to sneak in the extra side tour to wine country. The Blue route winds along the southern end of the coast through Hout Bay, Seal Point, Camps bay....the most amazing selection of beaches,,,, secluded sandy white beaches where millionaires live, to windy-wave crashing granite rock beaches where hundreds of ship wrecks can be seen from below.



On one side of the winding road you have the sea and on the other the awesome backside of Table Mountain called the 12 Apostles.... No picture can capture the vivid colors, the sheer size of the rocks jutting miles up into the clouds, or the wonderful variety of smells...from salty sea air of Hout Bay to the pungent kelp beds of Green Point, to the espresso, cafe smells emanating from the exclusive outdoor restaurants of Camps Bay and Clifton.



I confess at some point after passing the stop for the bus to the winery tour and the gardens of Kirstchenbosch (?sp) both Michelle and I might have dozed off for a bit....so luckily we did those stops again on Sunday.



Wind blown...(one can only imagine how I looked w my massive tangle of curls ...Michelle now calls me Medusa) and red cheeked we disembarked at the V&A waterfront again in time to rush back to our guest house, and change for dinner reservations at the Gold Museum ..

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Photos

Noble Square
Nobe Square pays tribute to South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates; the late Nkosi Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, former State President F.W. de Klerk and former President Nelson Mandela.

On and Off Bus
Red and Blue routes are a wonderful way to see the city and coastline of capetown!

District 6
On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60,000 people had been relocated to the sandy, bleak Cape Flats township complex some 25 kilometers away. The old houses were bulldozed. The only buildings left standing were places of worship. International and local pressure made redevelopment difficult for the government, however. The Cape Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology) was built on a portion of District Six which the government renamed Zonnebloem. Apart from this and some police housing units, the area has been left undeveloped.
...even from a distance you can feel the great sadness this area still emits...and understand why it is still standing empty.
Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, the South African government has recognized the older claims of former residents to the area, and pledged to support rebuilding.