The Long Ride Home

A final good breakfast at the 12 Apostles including a fruit spectacular, a quick bypass of downtown Cape Town and we're deposited at the airport early enough for head of line privileges at the counter, security, immigration and the well appointed two-story Emirates Lounge.

The Cape Town International Terminal has some awesome wall artwork and a very good Emirates Lounge.

 

The flight from Cape Town to Dubai is over nine hours and arrives at midnight. The flight to Washington is over 13 hours and leaves at 0230. These A380 seats are the best ever. CJ is in the bar at 40,000 feet over Russia.

 

We're finally back home.  The sadness of the end of our vacation is overwhelmed at 4pm on our arrival day.

CJ is now effectively RETIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

We celebrate back at the hotel with the remaining friends we have on the staffs of the Residence Inn and Renaissance. An ex-bartender even gets into the act buying us a glass of champagne to celebrate.

We'll be back on line from Australia sometime in November or December.  Stay tuned.

Table Mountain

The wind hasn't subsided overnight. When our driver arrives we change the plan.  We will hope for the wind to abate, and add a drive to the Cape of Good Hope while we wait.

The terrain changes from looking like the coast of California with mountains and trees that jut from the sea to the barren small bush terrain of Ireland.

We've made it to the Cape of Good Hope.

 

On the return to Hout Bay we stop to observe the penguins.

 

 

 

The next stop is the market at Hout Bay.  We all know a trip wouldn't be a trip without finding at least one market.  This one is quite disappointing.

 

This sign was photographed specifically for CJ's mom.

Lunch is taken at a seafood restaurant in Hout Bay known for its cray.

 This lobster bisque was perhaps the best ever!

 

The Table Mountain Cable Car is running and that is our next stop. It's a spectacular cable ride in a car with a rotating floor. The view of Cape Town is spectacular from Table Mountain.

 

 

Unfortunately it's time to begin packing for tomorrows return home. During the process we take time out for sundowners (drinks at sundown) at the hotel bar.

 

With more wine than we have room to pack, a bottle of rose champagne is chilled to have with our gourmet room service dinner of splitting a burger.

South African Wines

We contracted a guide to show us around the South African wine region near Stellenbosch. Leaving the hotel, the beach at the base of Lions Head has an eerie gound fog.

First stop is Rust En Vrede. Their specialty is reds and we are not disappointed. First wine tasted is at 0930.

Second stop is at Hartenberg. Here we sampling begins with two Rieslings followed by side by side Chardonnays.  Three very good red shiraz follow; a solo followed by a side by side of their two flagship single vineyard offerings. Our guide has sweet talked them into providing a taste of their flagship blend.  It is not part of normal tastings.  The shiraz cab blend is very good.  We leave with four bottles and no plan how to get them home.

 

On recommendation of South African's in the industry known to Bronwyn and Neil, we're booked into the Jordan Winery Restaurant for lunch.  The white wines are served too cold but otherwise the dishes are superb and the setting is magnificent.

 

 

 

It appears that in South Africa, in order to play in the game, wineries must have exquisitely manicured properties.  The combination of rolling hills, vineyards and the nearby mountain range, this may be the prettiest wine region we've ever visited.

 

 

We forgo a final winery visit and return to a quiet evening in the hotel. The winds are incredible this evening.  We pray they subside by morning.  We're scheduled to take the cable car to Table Mountain in the morning.

Cape Town - Day 1

Today was supposed to be our day diving with the great white sharks.  The season normally runs through mid September. We received an email three days ago informing us that sightings had dropped off significantly and in the past week they've had three days with no sightings.  Locals inform us that orcas (killer whales) have been attacking the great whites and driven them from the area.  CJ is now 0 for 2 on attempts to cage dive with great whites.

The 12 Apostles Hotel provides complimentary shuttle service to Camps Bay and the Cape Town Waterfront.  There is a sculpture garden of South Africa's four Nobel prize winners.  Table Mountain is masked by cloud cover today.

 

 We have an excellent seafood lunch, explore a very good crafts mall supporting the local economy quite admirably and return to the hotel for a great view of the mountain from our balcony.

We arrive at the bar too late for seating but the fellow who checked us in the previous afternoon recognizes our dilemma and arranges for the dining room to allow us the use of their patio a half hour before they open. We have it to ourselves and once the sunset pictures are taken they show us to our table a half hour before the opening of the restaurant.

 

 

The picture above is of the phenomenon known at the Table Cloth cloud descending on Table Mountain.  Part of the 12 Apostles is in the foreground.

Bad luck with shark diving but good fortune with the hotel's schedule.  This evening is the monthly wine dinner.  We have a good time sampling excellent food pairings and six wines from Kanonkop, the first winery of Pinotage. The chef describes his dishes with great passion and detail.  The winemaker is equally passionate.

 

Sigita to Cape Town

We've passed on the morning game drive in order to pack.  What was supposed to be a calm event turns into a panic when we awake to an elephant on the other side of the river.  It is soon joined by 11 more.  They frolic across the river until the very minute we leave when they decide to exit stage left.

 

 

 

 

 

We are joined in our final breakfast by Bronwyn and Neil, our guide Leon and our tracker Rennick. They've had quite a morning watching a pride of 11 lions stalk and hunt without success.

It's an interesting two hour ride to the Kruger Airport.  The bush turns into mountainous sustainable logging forest. Bumpy bone rattling dirt roads to into pavement and then wide pavement.  Small shacks with outdoor plumbing stand next two upper middle class houses. At one point you could easily mistake the ride for New England or Colorado.

 

 

Kruger Mpumalanga is a real airport and we fly a four  engine Avro RJ85  small jet to Cape Town.  Had it not been an hour late, we'd have made it in time for sunset.

 

 Cape Town has mountains.  It's a beautiful day as we approach Cape Town.

 Any question why this is called Table Mountain?

 

Fatigue strikes both of us at once and we barely make it though dinner.  We crash by nine.