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As we checked out of our hotel, we drove down the main street of Franschhoek and noticed a street market that was going on. So we parked and decided to take a walk on the streets for shopping and culture. The market was really cute, they had stands set up, as well as food and coffee available. There was even a DJ playing Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. After an hour or so we decided to make our way to Camps Bay.
Once we arrived at Camps Bay we realized that we were the only guests staying at our boutique hotel, Vetho Villa. This boutique hotel is right off the main drag and has approximately 7 rooms. We originally booked a small room, but convinced the receptionists to show us all the rooms and in the end we chose the Penthouse. Might as well right? We are the only guests staying at the hotel. This hotel looks like a house that has been converted into a bed and breakfast. Our penthouse came with a huge patio overlooking the twelve apostles and the Atlantic ocean. This was going to be ideal for watching the sunsets at night. As we were taking
in the view we noticed a laundry room down the stairs. We quickly gathered up our dirty laundry and headed down the stairs to see if we could do a wash. The lady (don't remember her name) was nice enough to let us do 1 load of wash. This was huge as we were running out of clothes and underwear. There is a huge community living room with big couches that were quite comfortable to relax on downstairs. So we waited patiently (drinking of course) for our clothes to be washed. While we were waiting we were speaking to the lady about where she came from and the area around us. We realized we chose a very small upscale area to stay in. Camps Bay has numerous restaurants and bars within walking distance. The crowd is younger late twenties and early thirties, with lots of cute quaint cafe's and bars. We also learned that there are power outages frequently. This means that the power will go out at any given moment to ration power. There is actually a lantern in our room just in case. So all day I was thinking crap I better charge the phones, cameras, and laptop
so I can communicate as they have no idea when it might turn back on.
After our laundry was done, we watched the sunset from our balcony and got ready for dinner. Tonight we were off to Mama Africa's which has been written about in many travel books and even came recommended from our friend Andy. Mama Africa's is a traditional African style restaurant and music venue. We had the lady call us a cab and we were off. Jared was eager to try all the game meats, as I was not so certain. Mama Africa is located on a street called Long Street. This street has been described to me in many forms. However to sum it up, an area I would avoid during the day and night. Its almost like a trashy New Orleans, 6th Street in Austin, and mixed with young clubbing type people. You honestly cannot tell who is good or who is bad. The cab driver dropped us off and told us to avoid certain cabs and dark alleys. Obviously we knew this, but to hear a local who lives on the street was very worrisome. We got dropped off right in front of
the restaurant and went in for our dinner.
Anyone who knows me, knows how picky of an eater I am, however I was going to try everything and anything. Unlike the Caribbean I didn't mind so much trying the local flare. I ordered the lentil soup as a starter and Mama's juicy thighs for dinner which came with traditional African sides. Jared ordered Mama's wild game mix. It came with Crocodile, Ostrich, Springbok, Kudu, Wharthog and venison sausage with of course the traditional African sides. Once our food arrived, I was determined to try EVERYTHING Jared had. Surprisingly enough the Kudu was very good, as it tasted like a really tender filet. The crocodile was not so good, it was one of the toughest meats on the plate. Jared enjoyed everything as well as myself. I would love to tell you about the traditional African sides, but honestly have no idea what we were eating. One side was like a grit cake with some type of red curry on top and the other a green legume of some sort. I of course liked the bean side. Thanks to our waiter, one important tip we learned was never to hand
over your credit card anywhere in South Africa. This answered our questions as to why all the wait staff always brought over a credit card machine to the table, and it makes perfect sense now.
After we finished our meal we went to sit at the bar area so we could have a better look at the band that had started playing. The band consisted of 3 sets of xylophone's, a tambourine, and a 3 piece drum set. It was your true African music.. As we were sitting watching the band play, we noticed a young girl walk by and we did a double take. Turns out it was our friend from Ft. Worth that was on our plane in the seats before us. She was originally on her way to Durban for a wedding and afterwards headed to Cape Town for a few days with the wedding party. Funny how you are half way across the world and you run into someone you know.
After a few more drinks, which by the way the African bartenders do not know how to make a small Elizabeth size cocktail we were on our way back to the hotel. We
used the same cab driver that dropped us off. His name was Francois and he was originally from South Africa. He was very soft spoken but seemed nice enough. On our long drive back he proceeded to tell us he was hiding out in Cape Town from his life in Japan because he was heavy into drug trafficking and had even been arrested for assault. I thought good god, here we go, this is the end. Sure enough he took us home and nothing came of it. We quickly ditched his number.
Of to bed we go!
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