Doug and Paisley in SWAZILAND: Cape Town [Part I]

I am calling this entry ‘Part 1’ because Felicia and I went to Cape Town during her visit in March, and then Doug and I went back with our Moms in early April. Both trips were similar, yet different, because of the people we shared them with – it’s neat to experience a city through someone else’s eyes. For my part, I will highlight a couple of my revelations about Cape Town (before telling the rest of the story in pictures):

It’s western: Having lived in largely rural Swaziland for 9 months and having spent my day-to-day in a town of ~60,000 people, it was awesome to be in a big city. There really is a different energy in a big city.

Food: We all know that I like to eat. And Cape Town didn’t disappoint. While many tourists are typically concerned about the favorite attractions around the city and whether the wind will cause Table Mountain to close, I was more concerned about where my next meal was coming from. No surprise. I ate my face off. Sushi, cheeseburgers, falafel, gelato, noodles, more sushi, etc. We probably eat out twice a month in Mbabane, so Cape Town was like a diner’s playground.

Ocean: I have never lived in the mountains and there’s something to be said for the truly breathtaking views in the valley just outside our backdoor in Mbabane. I love the weather that comes with living in the mountains as well, and while I am not fond of having to run up and down them, I love that a weekend hike can make me feel like I’ve been on vacation even if it was only 10 minutes from our house. But, even with that said, the ocean is amazing. Being in Cape Town reminded me of this fact – and it made (poor) Doug a little homesick for his favorite surf spots in Seal Beach and Huntington. Salty air, sand blowing across the road, the sound of the waves…while I sound like a cheesy Hallmark card, I’m being serious! I had forgotten the magic of the ocean.

Being anonymous: My last point is not as tangible as the first three, but there was a weight lifted in Cape Town because I was anonymous. It’s a huge city and like most cities a melting pot of people from all over the world. I have to admit, I felt a bit relieved to blend in and be lost in the crowd. I don’t think I could’ve put my finger on it beforehand, but I guess I behave a little differently in Swaziland – because I am so obviously an outsider. The population in Swaziland is 97% ethnic Swazi, so it’s pretty obvious that I don’t belong. You know the song, ‘one of these things is not like the other…’ Yup, that’s us! So, I think I just threw a little more caution to the wind in Cape Town. Nobody paid any attention to me and I liked it!

Felicia and I were there for 6 days and definitely tore through the ‘must see and do’ while in Cape Town list. Here’s a quick overview of our trip:

Thursday – Travel Day
Friday – Table Mountain & Lion’s Head
Saturday – V&A Waterfront, Market
Sunday – Cage Diving with Great White Sharks
Monday – Winelands Tour
Tuesday – Cape Peninsula Tour
Wednesday – Travel Day

We stayed at a cute, little apartment on Long Street (think Bourbon Street in New Orleans).

Long Street

Long Street in the opposite direction. You can see Table Mountain peeking out.

Our apartment

Our first full day in Cape Town we used the Big Bus Tour as our taxi service. It was an efficient way to get around the city, the commentary taught us many interesting facts that we would have otherwise not known, and it was easy to take pictures being so high up on the double decker bus!

Views around town, from the bus...I haven't seen one of these in a while!

Castle built by the Dutch when they first settled Cape Town

During Apartheid people of color in Cape Town were not allowed to wear any colored clothing. They had to dress in black, white, or grey clothes. Therefore, when Apartheid finally ended in the mid-90's people painted their houses very bright, bold colors as a statement of freedom.

Kloof Street

One of the things that I love about Cape Town is the city's close proximity to the mountains! Here are a couple of shots of Table Mountain, from the city

Here's a view of Lion's Head from the city, as well

Some people hike up Table Mountain, but we decided to take the cable car because we were planning to hike up Lion's Head, instead. Here's the cable car station.

View of Cape Town from the cable car station

When the weather rolls in on Table Mountain a cloud covers the mountain. Locals call it the 'table cloth.' While we were on top, the cloth began to roll in and you can see it creeping in our pictures.

Here is a view of Lion's Head from atop Table Mountain. We hiked up Lion's Head after the table cloth kicked us off of Table Mountain!

Felicia was a trooper! Here are some views of the trail...

You'll notice this sign alerts us to two different routes: 'the recommended' and the 'use at your own risk'

After circling the base a couple of times we made it to the ridge. We had to follow the spine to the tippy top! If you have ever climbed Angel's Landing in Utah's Zion National Park, it is almost exactly the same.

Felicia climbing up the ridge. It was steep!

Views from the climb. There were so many that I took around 50 pictures...

This ridge is named 'The 12 Apostles'

Camp's Bay

Paragliders over Camp's Bay

Just past the tankers in this picture, you can just make out Robben Island (middle, right side of picture) where political prisoners like Nelson Mandela were imprisoned.

More beach communities

Cape Town

We made it!

View of Table Mountain from Lion's Head

After a busy day of sightseeing, we 'tucked in' to a dinner of tapas from all over the continent at a great little place called, Africa Cafe. It is a popular tourist restaurant, but the food, atmosphere, and entertainment are great - and hey, we were tourists!

The restaurant is very eclectic in its decoration.

They even have Teach For America Core Values on the wall!

One of the highlights of the meal is when the staff sing and dance

On Sunday morning we were picked-up from our apartment at 4:00am for our shark diving trip. Yes, we hung out in a cage while 10-12 foot long sharks circled around. Honestly, I think that I wasn't that scared because I was frozen. I am sure that I've never been in colder water than on the western cape. Also, I was preoccupied with barfing. Let's just say that Felicia and I have motion sickness and we commenced vomitting about 20 minutes into the trip and continued to do so (every 20 minutes) for 4 hours. No joke. We even threw up in the cage. Everyone LOVED us. But, apart from getting picked up at the ass crack of dawn, freezing to death, and literally puking my brains out, it was AWESOME.

The tour launched from a cute little harbor town

We were only smiling here because we had no idea what was to come...

Our boat...the size of it should have been our first clue we were done for...

Here's the cage that they put in the water once we were anchored

Sharks!

Here's the seal decoy they use to lure the sharks closer to the cage. It's been nipped a time or two.

I'm pretty sure that he has the worst job on the boat chumming the water with fish oil to attract the sharks

After the sharks we needed a drink, so on Monday we went with 'Africa Story' on a tour of the Cape's winelands. We visited 5 wineries and each one was more beautiful than the next. One of Felicia's friends from the corps was also in Cape Town, so Pat joined us, too. Small world.

At each vineyard, we toured their facilities and then did a little tasting

Cellar container

Our tour group...here's the country breakdown: Canada, Venezuela, Scotland, and England

Beautiful facilities

Lunch spot

Rosy cheeked

In true Paisley fashion, I was more interested in the cheese tasting at this winery - there were 10 different types!

And by the fifth winery...standard

Our final full day in Cape Town we went with 'Springbok Tours' on the Cape Peninsula Tour. Simply put, 'Africa Story' was to spring breakers as Springbok was to geriatrics. I think that the 3 people on the tour with us were at least 70. But hey, good for them for continuing to travel the world! And, one of the women was from Paisley, Scotland, which was fun. Anyways, the day consisted of an amazing drive along the coast to Hout Bay. In Hout Bay we took a boat trip to Dryker Island and saw the seals. Then, we continued along Chapman's Drive to Table Mountain National Park and visited both the Cape of Good Hope and then Cape Point. We lunched at the Two Ocean's Restaurant and climbed to the lighthouse. After leaving the park, we went to Boulder Beach and saw the African penguin colony. Lastly, our return trip took us through Simon's Town and around Francoshoek to finish at the Kirstenbosch Gardens. There was lots to see!

Hout Bay

Meet Mr. Seal. While our tour guide insisted that he wasn't domesticated, Mr. Seal could sit, lay, clap, bark, and let me take a picture with him! Hmmm...

Departure harbor

Dryker Island seal colony

Playing in the water

Table Mountain National Park, Cape of Good Hope = the most southern and western point on the African continent

Cape Point

Views from the walk up

This little guy was on the path, too. Kind of looks like a marmot, but who knows?!

The Cape Point lighthouse

These signs always make me feel like I am 'somewhere' in the world because they remind you of how far you are from home!

When we were leaving the park, there were numerous signs (such as this one) warning us about the baboons

It was only fitting that we'd round a corner in our tour mini-bus and find traffic stopped for a pack of baboons.

Our tour guide locked the doors and commented that the baboons are smart enough to get into a vehicle. Well, this was foreshadowing, because not four seconds later the Daddy baboon sauntered into the road, right alongside of us.

And, he proceeded to open the door of the car in front of us and to jump into the backseat. The passengers in the vehicle got out of the other side of the car and then the baboon exited, too. Except, he didn't leave empty handed. He took the woman's purse!