Blogs from Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 6

Up until now, the enchanting landscapes that are synonymous with Capetown and it's surrounding coastline, had been hidden from us, due to steady rain and fog. Part of me was actually quite fine and content with the fact that it was raining again during our stay; Capetown is enduring one of the worst droughts in it's history, so every drop was very much needed. There has been so much speculation about "day zero" this year; the day that all taps will get turned off. Many water restrictions have been in place for months now. But the weather reports seem to point optimistically at the chance that they may get the rainfall they need by winter... only time will tell. We all hope that this beloved city will recover from this crisis soon. It has definitely been ... read more

I hardly ever sleep well the night before a trip. The excitement still keeps my adrenaline pumping all night long, as well as the fear of not waking up in time to catch an early AM flight. I toss and turn the whole night, and the minutes pass by so slowly. I stare out into the darkness, wishing I could just skip ahead and be at my destination already, with no hiccups. You spend months preparing all the details of your trip: flights, transportation, itinerary, even clothes. And then the moment finally comes, which seems to catch me by surprise... that moment when you are merely minutes from take off. There's also the looming question, "Will my trip live up to my expectations?" Although this particular trip was really high on both our bucket lists, my ... read more

After a very intermittent night's sleep the wind was still howling. It's a South Easterly which apparently is renowned in Cape Town for occasionally being really strong and is the prevailing wind for the region. It really shook everything in the city but everyone seemed to be treating this as quite normal. Eventually throughout the day the wind started to subside. I decided to look for a tourist information office and quickly found one in the centre of the city. There I discovered that the best way to get around and have some guided sight seeing is on the open top double decker city tour buses. Just up the road from the tourist information was the main office of the company that runs the tour buses. I decided to go for a 2 day ticket covering ... read more

Well, the time had come. All the packing had been done, bag weighed, unpacked and excess bits taken out, repacked, duplicate stuff taken out, packed again. Then bits I had forgotten were added. That is the way with packing! Finally the time came to throw the bags in the car and get going. Miraculously I actually left on time which was slightly surprising. The trip to New Haw in Surrey was easy. I left the car there and my brother Dave very kindly gave me a lift about 6pm to Heathrow airport via an almost miraculously empty M25. I arrived at terminal 2 and panicked. Had I forgotten something? I must have done. In my panic I went through the security checks, then realised that I hadn't checked in my bag so had to talk my ... read more

Katselin aamuyöstä parvekkeelta tähtiä. Mars ja Jupiter näkyivät hyvin. Näin vielä Merkuriuksen nousevan tunnin ennen aurinkoa. Myös Teijo valvoi yöllä. Hyttyset häiritsivät. Nukuin klo 8.30 asti. Lapset leikkivät uima-altaassa. Haettiin vielä kaupasta vettä. Prince Albert oli näköjään keidas, koska maisema muuttui heti karuksi. Ekat 40 km hiljaista pikkutietä, loput 350 km valtatietä N1. Puolivälissä pidettiin kahvitauko. Ajoin sitten osuuden ja Teijo loput. Hotelliin ei tahdottu löytää kun puhelimeni navigaattori näytti väärin kadun kohdan. Parkkipaikka oli pysäköintihallin ylimmässä kerroksessa. Käytiin vielä tankkaamassa auto. Syötiin lounas kalliissa intialaisessa ravintolassa. Illaksi mentiin De Waterkantin alueelle. Kuohuviiniä juhlapäivän kunniaksi. Illallinen Cubaña-nimisessä baarissa. Siellä oli kivan monikulttuurista menoa, väki pääosin mustaa ja värillistä.... read more