Blogs from Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 5

This morning we visited the town of Stellenbosch on our way to visit Spier, one of South Africa’s oldest wine farms. It was a relaxing way to spend the morning. Afterwards, we came back to Cape Town and had a few hours free, and I was ready to go back to Table Mountain to drop off the rest of my geocoins. However, I learned that the cable car was not operating because of the strong winds. Extremely disappointed, I started to look for other geocaches. There were a few near Lion’s Head and on Signal Hill. Lion’s Head is 2,195 feet above sea level, and the straight vertical climb made this challenging. I was terrified. I’ve never climbed anything so difficult. The sign from the South African National Parks that read, “Use ladders, chains, and stapels ... read more

After brekkie today we were collected by the tour company for our wine tour. We went via another hotel and picked up another couple - young honeymooners from Brazil. On our way out of the city we passed many shanty towns - hits amade out of corrugated steel but with satellite dishes on top! We also saw a number of unfinished flyovers on the motorway, flyovers that will never be finished. Our first stop was a small town called Stellenbosch, where we found the oldest house still standing in South Africa, with its thatched roof, now part of the museum. So many of the names are Dutch in origin, but the village looked French, with the giant oak trees down the avenues. Even out in the country the garden walls have either rolls of barbed wire ... read more

Wow! When I start my blog i have to select the continent and then select the country -on this continent there are 57 countries!! 57! What a great surprise this morning - when we arrived last night the receptionist said we had a view of the car park, and that if we wished for an ocean view room it would cost an extra $85/night. I had visions of a multi storey car park, and asked Tom if we could please upgrade but he said, quite rightly, that we would be out all day each day and so would not get the value. I was devastated. Imagine my joy this morning when we opened up the curtains and found an off- street car park surrounded by grass with the base of a now-demolished historic lighthouse next to ... read more

Despite still being still critically short of water (though improving), and still under water restrictions, it has pissed rain virtually all day with heavy low cloud. So our trip up table Mountain was cancelled. Mainly due to wind at top (shut cable car if over 35km/hr), though wouldn’t have seen anything anyway. Also cancelled was our sunset champagne cruise for same reason. As this is our last day it’s not possible to reschedule so will just have to either come back or buy the postcard. I suspect the latter. Got good views of it over last couple of days so mustn’t grumble. Overall had a fantastic trip and will be returning with some superb memories and, of course, a thousand photos to bore you all with! Did a city tour this morning and some shopping at ... read more

Cosmopolitan Cape Town – South Africa, May 2018 Whenever I’m on my way back to South Africa, the long grueling flights across the world don’t faze me a bit – I’m returning to my favorite continent and city - that’s all that matters. My day did start early with a 6am departure from Las Vegas, so I plan to nap for most of the red-eye flight over the Atlantic, enroute to Amsterdam. I’ll save my movie watching for the 11-hour flight on to Cape Town, where I land in the evening hours. I’m spending the first few days at the downtown Hilton, which is just two blocks from Long Street, the very heart and center of the city. The hotel had arranged my airport transfer and the driver was waiting as I exited baggage claim. Being ... read more