Goodbye, Beautiful Capetown!

"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us" -- Anonymous

Hello again!  I'm writing you as I savor the last of my time here in Cape Town, South Africa.  Oh how lovely it has been, really.  I'll be sad to leave this little paradise but also ready to see what there is to see in Zimbabwe, Botswana and then back to Johannesburg, South Africa for my last weeks of vacay before going back to work in Tanzania. 

So where I left off I was ending my little solo journey hosteling it up at Atlantic Point Backpackers to reunite with my mom and begin our formal "tour" of Cape Town.  My mom arrived a few days before Christmas and we started off in an Air BnB on Long Street- the party street of Cape Town for sure--although we did not partake.

We had a relaxed first few days and I introduced my mom to some of the nice people I met during my time at the hostel and we showed her a bit about what there was to see and do in Cape Town.  We went to the beach, ate delicious seafood and had the warmest Christmas we've ever experienced! 

Me, my mom and Sheila, a Scottish woman who was also staying in my hostel out on the beach.

The South African flag, our view coming out of our AirBnB, above a dang McDonalds, really?!

Wandering around the Bo Kaap district in Cape Town.  These colorful houses are where the "Cape Malay" people settled, from what I understand, they are descendants of Malaysian and a mix of other folks who came to Cape Town ages ago (some as slaves) and bring with them their own culture and traditions

On Christmas day, we actually went to the hostel to eat Christmas lunch, prepped by the staff, it was fun to be with people during this holiday and we enjoyed chatting and eating lots of food!  I even read the oracle cards of some of the hostel guests, mwahaha.

An unusual, yet amusing Christmas Lunch

Me, mom, and Joyce from Germany wandering around the V&A waterfront

After doing a bit of solo wandering, Mom had arranged that we stay with a local South African Couchsurfer, Gill, a retired librarian, who lived in Cape Town's suburbs for a different feel and view of the city.  For those who haven't heard of Couchsurfing, I suggest you google it, its a great resource for travelers and we've been doing it for years.

Gill was great!  She welcomed us into her home like family, where we had a cozy room to ourselves and her and her family even cooked us a delicious Braai, (South African bbq).  It was really great hearing stories about her travels as well as learning about her day to day life in Cape Town and the  interesting Couchsurfers she's encountered.  We stayed with her for four days and each day was filled with activities and a real local perspective on Cape Town.  Gill took us around town to see the different vantage points of the city, eating at nice restaurants and meeting some of her friends and family along the way.  Below are some photos of the nice places she took us.

A stunning view of Table Mountain 

Mom and I at the beach on a windy day!

A beach view during a nice walk--Note all the people at the beach, peak holiday season!

Gill, Mom and I after walking over 5 km along the beach from the town of Muizenberg to Fish Hoek!

Me enjoying an art exhibit at the Zeitz art museum -- really cool place :)

Mom on a hike in an indigenous forest next to Gill's house 

Gill took mom and I to collect water at a natural spring, it was very eye opening to see how many people are lined up to get water from this spring, especially as there's a huge drought currently happening in the Western Cape!

After chilling like a local in Cape Town for a few days, it was time for our "luxury tour" of Cape Town to begin.  We said goodbye to Gill and checked in to our fancy hotel The Westin, right next to the waterfront, living the life ;)  We had scheduled a special guided tour of Cape Town and the surrounding areas with a travel agency and it was about to begin!  But first... 

Mom and I laying out by the pool at our fancy hotel, The Westin in Cape Town

Mom and I conducting a Gin tasting at the waterfront, we tasted 6 types of Gin--dangerous!

We began the tour with a funny misunderstanding, we woke up from the Westin and went down to the lobby promptly at 9:30 to meet our tour guide but to our dismay there was no one there to greet us.  Many other guests were getting picked up by their guides and we were waiting and waiting and waiting.  There was a tour guide sitting next to us who was waiting on his group which he said was a family of Russians going to the winelands, where we were a family of Americans going to table mountain, so we thought nothing of it.  After about 40 minutes we called the travel agency and they said they would call the tour guide and ask where he was.  Seconds later we hear the guy next to us's phone ringing--it had been him all along--it was a big misunderstanding!  Mike was his name and we started out with a rocky start to the tour but it turned out to be a good time.

As Table Mountain was cloudy that day, we began our tour through Stellenbosch, the wine country instead,  mom was a little perturbed at the start to the day but after a few wineries we were all in good spirits.  Stellenbosch was beautiful!  Lots of mountains with lots of rocks/boulders peppered around and a dry and arid climate.  It was first settled by the Dutch hundreds of years ago and with the help of French Huguenots the wine industry blossomed there, all the wines were delicious and the wineries were beautiful! 

Peacocks outside one winery's grounds

Epic view from another winery

Paradise

Statue of Nelson Mandela in front of the prison where he was released

Meat tasting--yum!

Wine and cheese pairings :)

After getting slightly tipsy on wine and after the tour guide, Mike took us to one extra winery to make up for the morning's fumble we were finished for the day!  We awoke the next day to be whisked away to the Cape Point peninsula and view the penguins, seals and more beautiful views.

We took a fun little boat ride to "seal island" and got to view hundreds of seals hanging out on the rocks!

Sentinel rock in Hout bay, from our boat tour, this picture really doesn't do it justice--it was fantastic!

Mom with a singing troupe coming off the boat

View along Chapman's Peak

Widdle penguins!! Omg, I'm in love! :)

Me and mom at the Cape of Good Hope, where the currents from the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet, most Southwestern point on the entire continent.

Me by my rock creation at the Cape of Good Hope, a place with "positive energy"

The next day our tour guide took dropped us off at the base of Table Mountain to take the funicular up to the top.  It was a LONG wait, I'd say a solid 3 hour in total, it's the holiday season and Table Mountain is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, so you can imagine how many people made the trek to Cape Town to see it.  It was worth the wait though!  Once you got up you could see everything on every side, it was difficult to see where the ocean ended and the sky began.  Just amazing!

View of Lion's Head mountain from Table Mountain, looks teeny tiny from here!  Also note the rock climbers going down the mountain, they are insane!  Also 2 people died the day before we arrived doing exactly that, don't mess with mother nature...

Me and mom up top!  It was really bright, as you can see by my expression. ;)

Look at this little Dassi (small rodent animal) just chilling on the side of the mountain looking over the cliff!  No fear, just another day in his lyfe...

One epic view!  Lion's Head, Signal Hill, and Cape Town below

I loved the beautiful flowers up there!

Paradise

So now we are packed and ready to head to Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe tomorrow!  We have to wake up at 4 am and head to the airport.  I'll update you on the last leg of my journey shortly!  Cheers to 2018!  Excited to see what this new year has in store!