South African Adventure with Toni Tours

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The time has finally come to start packing for our exciting customized tour in South Africa and Zambia. There will be 12 of us embarking on the 19 1/2 hour flight from JFK to Johannesburg, and then connect through to Capetown where we will settle down after 25 hours of total travel time. Uggh....but I am sure the long journey will be worth the amazing things we will experience over the next 2 weeks.

Packing for the trip has been easy. A strictly casual trip, where layering clothes will be essential. We are expected to see temperature ranges from 40 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit as we travel from Capetown to Livingstone, Zambia to Johannesburg and finally Motswari in the Kruger area. You can view our entire itinerary at www.tonitours.net under the Adventures with Toni Tours page.

June 10, 2008
Our South Africa Airways flight departed JFK on time. The economy class cabin was comfortable with ample leg room and an on demand video system in each seat back. The service was friendly and efficient with good quality South African wines served throughout. It was 7 hours to Dakar, Senegal for a fuel stop with an additional 8 hours to Johannesburg. We had a delicious dinner, breakfast and snack enroute.

June 11, 2008
We cleared immigration without much effort and cleared customs in an efficient manner. However, it was a long walk between the international and domestic terminals where we needed to re-check our bags through to Capetown. I hired a porter for the group which saved us time in trying to find our way around.

It was an additional 2 hours to Capetown with more South African wine and meal service. We were able to collect our bags quickly and immediately found our guide, Peter Rowe, with sign in hand at the baggage claim entrance. He escorted us to a comfortable mini bus where we met our driver, Robert.

It was a 25 minute drive to the Victoria and Alfred waterfront area, where our hotel Victoria and Alfred was located. It was an efficient check-in and we were given lovely modern rooms with European King beds and a French balcony which overlooked the harbor and Table Mountain.

After freshening up, we ventured down the street to Mitchell’s microbrewery. We were pleasantly surprised to find their home brewed stouts and ales at 16 Rand ($2.00 USD) per pint. Their stout was particularly tasty. It also had a friendly, pubby atmosphere.

We had a refreshing night’s sleep in the hotel’s version of the “heavenly bed”.

June 12, 2008
We woke up to a wonderful buffet and cooked to order breakfast. South Africa is a fairly self sufficient country when it comes to food, and the fresh fruits and eggs from local farms were testament to that.

We met Peter at 9:30 AM for a tour briefing and then headed out for our Capetown City orientation tour. We were very surprised at the lack of traffic we experienced. We were originally scheduled for a cable car trip to the top of Table Mountain, but it was closed today due to high winds and cloud cover. So we ascended Signal Hill instead, which gets its name from the daily canon fire that occurs daily at noon which signaled to the boats in the harbor in days of old. We were treated to views over the city and lovely coastal views. Peter was able to point out different sections of the city we would visit throughout the day.

We descended Signal Hill alongside the multi million Rand homes with spectacular ocean views. We were amazed at how close to the water’s edge many of these homes were built. They are able to do this because the tide levels only fluctuate 4 feet and there is no dangerous weather phenomenon that occur here, such as hurricanes or tsunamis. We continued on to Camps Bay which was reminiscent of La Jolla in California.

We continued on to the city center and made a brief stop at the natural history museum to learn about the indigenous peoples of South Africa, mainly the San people of the Kalahari and the Khoi Khoi (Hottentots). We also got to see some of the rock paintings they drew 4000 years ago depicting hunting and gathering scenes. We also saw a model of the Right Whale which frequents the South African coast.

We walked through the old city botanical garden which has only imported plants on display and learned that the Egyptian Duck is their version of our nuisance Canadian Geese in the U.S.

From there we drove to the pastel colored houses of the Malay district where we had tea and local snacks at the home of Fareida. She was a lovely lady who shared with us her stories of growing up in the Malay District and showed us her photos of her with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We enjoyed her delicious coconut donut bites, samosas and spiced chicken patties.

Peter dropped us off at the hotel for a free afternoon to explore the waterfront shops and restaurants on our own, and we said goodbye to our faithful driver, Robert.

We visited the craft market and the waterfront mall which had some lovely African Art. I was also able to pick up postcards and stamps, in addition to a very cheap long distance phone card for 50 Rand.

Our group reunited at 6:30 PM where we met up with Patrick Ashworth who presented a lecture on the history of South Africa and Apartheid. While South Africa still has a ways to go in becoming the dream society Nelson Mandela envisioned, it was an enlightening lecture that made one appreciate how far South Africa has come in the last 14 years since forming a democratic government.

We had a lovely 3 course dinner at the hotel afterward with wonderful South African wines. The menu consisted of a smoked duck and mango salad, Kob fish, sirloin tenderloin and flourless chocolate cake and fresh fruit meringue. We finished off with the local herbal tea called Roy Boss and Amarula Cream after dinner drink. It was a perfect ending to a lovely day.

June 13, 2008
After another delicious breakfast, we ventured off across the harbor to catch the “Susan Kruger” ferry to Robben Island. The ferry was named after the wife of the Minister of Justice, when Robben Island was used as a prison for political dissidents. While we got to ride on the upper deck to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, we learned that when prisoners were ferried across, they were shackled together and put into a cage on the lower deck. The ride across was reminiscent of our sail through the Drake Passage. It was quite windy with ocean swells of up to 15 feet, making for a very bumpy ride.

We finally arrived safe and sound and found out all other ferries to Robben Island had been cancelled for the day due to bad sea conditions. So, it was a good thing we arrived in time for the first crossing.

We were met by a local guide with a van to give us a tour of the island itself. We saw the old leper cemetery from when the island was used as a leper colony and the old Governor’s Mansion, which was very reminiscent of a Kentucky Fried Chicken. We also saw red beaked oyster catchers, cormorants, springbok, hundreds of rabbits and pairs of jackass penguins. There are actually 60,000 penguins which call the island home.

We made a stop at the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela and the other major political party dissident leaders were forced to do hard labor. The mined limestone was used to whitewash buildings and pave the island’s roads. This is also where they learned from each other and worked out their differences, so that when they were freed, they presented a united front. Most of the men who worked in this quarry, ended up holding high level government positions under the new democratic government. Doctors also attributed Mandela’s severe case of cataracts to working here without eye protection.

From there, we entered the prison gates and met our tour guide who was an ex-political prisoner. He was jailed for blowing up a government building which resulted in 57 injuries. We saw the yards where the prisoners would exercise and then went inside the cell blocks that 10 prisoners shared at a time. There were no toilet facilities. They used buckets and washed up with salt water from the ocean. They also had their food rationed, based on their skin color. Blacks received the least amount, followed by mixed race or colored people as they were called, who received more protein and bread. The prisoners also slept on a floor mat, until the United Nations got involved, which resulted in bunk beds.

The prisoners devised a cover to put over the listening vents, so they could discuss politics and receive education from one another. The education occurred in the bathroom area, where the only source of ambient light was provided. Our guide also brought tears to our eyes when he spoke about how family members were persecuted just by being associated with the prisoners. His own father had been shot 8 times after his application to visit his son was filed.

Our last stop was Nelson Mandela’s cell. Each of the high level dissidents were separated at night, so they couldn’t talk with each other. They slept in a tiny cell on the floor, with a bucket to use as a toilet. To say that the conditions were inhumane would be an understatement. Especially when the only crime for most of them, was to peacefully speak out against the apartheid government.

The sail back was much more pleasant with little breeze and sunny skies. We also were able to see Table Mountain in the distance, which was no longer obscured by thick cloud cover.

We enjoyed a quick harbor side lunch while basking in the sun and then went our separate ways to explore the harbor’s shops.

We traveled to the suburb of Constantia to have dinner with a local woman, Morag de Jong and her family. She is a nurse mid-wife who enjoys hosting dinner with foreign tourists. It gave us a chance to visit with her, her family and friends and talk about her experiences growing up and living in South Africa. She had a warm and inviting, lovely home complete with 2 dogs and a cat, nestled up in front of the fireplace. We had a wonderful 3 course dinner of broccoli and feta cheese soup, beef tenderloin with fresh grown vegetables and potatoes and a cape brandy pudding for dessert. All accompanied with an assortment of South African wines. The company and conversation added to make for an extraordinary evening.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

June 14, 2008
We had a fortunate start to our day, as the cloud cover lifted from the top of Table Mountain. We managed to make the 2nd cable car of the day. It was an approximately 10 minute ascent 3500 feet to the top. The floor of the cable car rotated one complete turn during the trip, allowing everyone a panoramic view of the approaching rock face and the Capetown Valley in the distance. The view from the top was spectacular in every direction, enhanced by the sporadic puff of clouds below us. There were several boulder laced trails and overlooks onto both sides of the mountain.

We departed and drove along the scenic coastal route, including Chapman’s Peak Drive, enroute to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. This is the most Southwesterly point in Africa. We reached the summit of Cape Point via a funicular railway, and climbed 172 steps to the top of the lighthouse. This trek provided breath taking views of the coastal beaches and mountain cliffs. We also stopped beachside, to see the tremendous waves crashing on the rocks and take a photo at the Cape Point marker.

We continued on to Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town to visit with a colony of African Penguins, also known as the Jackass Penguins, so named due to the braying sound they make. It is a scenic beach with large boulders, reminiscent of the Baths on Virgin Gorda. The Nature Reserve built a boardwalk along the rookery areas, which keeps human visitors at enough of a distance, so as not to stress the penguins. We saw a lot of young chicks with their feathery down coats, and our hearts went out to a penguin who was missing one foot. Peter told us the penguin lost it about 9 months ago and the naturalists were tracking it. He seems to be adapting well to living without the foot.

We continued a few miles down the road to the Naval Base, where we had lunch aboard the Roaring 40’s, an old cable restorer vessel dating back to WWII. We had a delicious lunch of creamed soup made from a local vegetable mixed with feta cheese. The main course was fried Dorado fish with pumpkin. Dessert was malva, a spiced bread pudding with vanilla sauce.

From there, we continued to Constantia and made a visit to Kirstenboch Botanical Gardens. We were escorted by a local guide, Andrew. He showed us how they farm Proteas and pointed out some interesting plants such as the Aloe Tree, and the Yellow Bird of Paradise a.k.a. Mandela’s Gold. Andrew told us the Bird of Paradise originated in South Africa, and was cultivated in later years in Hawaii and Polynesia.

After a full day, we finally returned to the hotel just after 5 P.M., just in time to witness a spectacular pinkish gold sunset that bathed Table Mountain in a changing palette of color.

A few of us ventured off to Emily’s South African cuisine restaurant. It is an award winning restaurant in a beautiful setting of chandeliers and fine linens, with rich porcelain tableware. We had smoked ostrich carpaccio with a balsamic demi-glaze, followed by a main course of Denningvleis which was lamb cooked until it falls off the bone, mixed with a variety of spices, such as cumin, coriander, and tumeric. It was served with green pea custard, crushed pineapples, banana chutney, late summer greens and tamarind sauce. This was accompanied by celebration rice, cooked with raisins. We also shared a bottle of Stellenbosch Shiraz. The bill was less then $35.00 USD per person.

We left the restaurant feeling satisfied, but not stuffed and headed over to the Whiskey Bar (a.k.a. Bascule Café) at the Cape Grace Hotel. It was a cozy bar with plush seating areas, perfect for groups of 6 - 8 people. I had a delicious local port wine vintage reserve for about $4.00 USD. A fantastic value !!

We turned in for a well deserved rest, in anticipation of the next day touring wine country.

June 15, 2008
Today is our first day of rain on the trip. We departed the hotel during a light drizzle, but the rain had let up by the time we reached Stellenbosch about 45 minutes later, for our walking tour. We met our local guide Saundra, a native of Stellenbosch. She explained the original layout of the town, when it was a small island located between two small rivers. It was originally settled by the Huguenots in the 1500s. The town burned down a total of 3 times during its history. There were a number of Dutch gabled homes with thatched roofs, surrounding a village green.

We toured South Africa’s oldest hotel, d’Ouwe Werf, which was established in 1803. It was a good example of the typical home architecture at the time, with the main house being 6 meters across, with alphabet gables coming off the sides, making it in the shape of an H, T or U. We also visited the Calvinist style Dutch Reformed church and the seminary. While most of the town’s architecture was authentic, there was also a mix of bland 50s and 60s strip mall buildings incorporated into the main shopping area.

We bid farewell to Saundra, and traveled a little further up the road to the first of our two wine estate visits. Our first was at Uitkyk (pronounced eight cake), which mreans panoramic view. We tasted 5 wines: pinot grigio, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet sauvignon/sangiovese blend, a cabernet/shiraz blend and a straight cabernet. The consensus was in favor of the Cabernet/Shiraz Blend.

We continued on to Neethlingshof Wine Estate. It was an impressive entrance as we drove through an arch of pine trees to the main building. We were greeted with a delicious buffet lunch with an assortment of main courses, curry soup and mouth watering desserts. After lunch, we walked over to the wine tasting room, which was covered in vivid hand painted murals depicting wine tasting in the 1800s. We tasted another 5 wines including Sauvignon Blanc, a wooded chardonnay, a cabernet franc, a cabernet laurentius (similar to a Beaujolais) and a late harvest Reisling Dessert wine. All were quite nice.

The rain came down a bit harder during our drive back to Capetown. We bid Peter and Paul a Happy Father’s Day, and set off on the waterfront to shop for last minute souvenirs, before Steve and I headed to Mitchell’s Brew House for one more stout. We also caught some street entertainers: a tribal dance troupe, a fire eater, the pvc flute player and the copper statue mime.

We headed off to Der Anker, the waterfront Belgian Restaurant, for dinner. We had a 4 beer sampler of Belgian Ales and ½ kilo of steamed mussels cooked in beer. We got a good laugh when the waitress tied bibs around our neck before she served the mussels. It was a delicious dinner and cost less than $25.00 per person.

We headed off to our rooms to pack and get to bed, since we have a 3:15 AM wake up call in the morning, for our early airport departure.

Trip continues with Zambia entry June 16, 2008.

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Photos

Table Mountain - Capetown Waterfront
View from our room at Victoria and Alfred Hotel

Mitchell's Brew House
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront - Capetown

Me and Patrick Ashworth
Presenting him with an Aventures with Toni Tours polo shirt

Aboard the Susan Kruger
Enroute to Robben Island

African Jackass Penguin
Robben Island

Nelson Mandela's Cell
Robben Island

Cable Car
Table Mountain

Chapman's Peak Drive
On road between Capetown and Cape Point

H Gable House
Stellenbosch

Neethlingshof Wine Estate
Stellenbosch