"Ons Vir Jou SuidAfrika"

Thursday (Feb 9)

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the train and continued reading and relaxing until we reached Pretoria Station (hard life, I know).

At Pretoria Station, Uncle Marius was there to greet us. Again, it is SUCH a nice feeling to see the friendly face of a family member who you haven't seen for a while when you return to South Africa. Uncle Marius then gave us a quick tour of Pretoria by car -- church square and the Paul Kruger statue -- as we headed to the Blue Crane Restaurant for a quick bit to eat. Aunt Ilze ended up joining us on her lunch break since she works fairly close by. The restaurant is situated overlooking a lake with some really nice birdlife.

After lunch, we headed to the Voortrekker Monument to learn some Afrikaans history. We met our guide in front of the monument, a middle aged Afrikaaner women who misheard Uncle Marius introduce himself and called him "Mario" for the duration of tour (to our entertainment). She proceeded to give us an expansive history of the Afrikaaner people starting with Jan van Riebeeck landing in the Cape to the Battle of Blood River while throwing in some information about the history of the monument and details about its architecture. She also spiced up the tour by including some of her own political commentary as well (again to my entertainment). My favorite part of the tour was when she was finished -- ha, just kidding :) I actually really enjoyed her leading us through the marble panels on the inside of the monument that depicts the journey of the voortrekkers and struggles they had to face to find a land they could call their own. I know this is a significant part of my history as an Afrikaaner and I appreciated learning more about it.

After our tour, we had the opportunity to go to the top of the monument where we had a really nice view of Pretoria -- the union buildings, freedom park, and Unisa (from where Mamma received her Masters). We also got to see the cenotaph. On December 16 ever year, the sun comes through the roof of the monument and lights the words inscribed on the cenotaph -- "Ons Vir Jou SuidAfrika." December 16 is still observed by the descendents of the voortrekkers today to remember the Battle of Blood River.

It was then time to head back to Uncle Marius' house in Ifafi for dinner. We stopped at Jasmyn along the way to pick up a few things and got the chance to appreciate the view of Hartebeespoort dam as well as the gardens surrounding the area.

We arrived at Uncle Marius' house, greeted by the ever energetic Imke, my favorite youngest cousin :) She has grown up so much since the last time I saw her! --from a small toddler to a tall, lanky young girl. After settling in, we sat outside in the garden and enjoyed a nice glass of wine while catching up with Uncle Marius and his family. Imke kept me entertained by showing me her doll who pees after drinking a bottle, how she feeds georgie and porgie cat food, and a variety of stuffed animals. Uncle Marius then got busy with braai (chicken kabobs and boerewors--yum!), so I went down to the kitchen to keep Aunt Ilze company while she made a veggie casserole and pap en sous (especially for Ben). After a delicious dinner, we showed our Sabi Sabi pictures and headed to bed.

Friday (Feb 10)

After some breakfast, Uncle Marius took us over to the Avis rental center, so we could pick up our car to drive to Heidelberg. Ben showed off his awesome South African driving skills once again as we made it safe and sound to Ouma and Oupa Krige's house in Heidelberg. I jumped out of the car and gave Oupa a big hug, and then went to find Ouma in the garden where she was cutting a rose for to put in our room -- so sweet :) It was so nice to be there in the summer and see Ouma's garden in bloom. It was beautiful. After some tea, Aunt Adele popped over, and we all had a nice light lunch together. Then, she, Mom, Dad, and Ben left to check out Diamante en Goud while I spent some time with Oupa and Ouma at home.

That evening Oupa braaied some boerwors, lamb chops, and toasted sandwhiches for us -- so good! He even braaied out in the rain (Dankie Oupa!). After dinner, we headed to bed in the little apartment.

Saturday (Feb 11)

The next morning I spent some time reading and relaxing while keeping Oupa and Ouma company until the Ifafi Kriges got there with the food for our Saturday family lunch. As they arrived, we helped carry all the supplies to Aunt Adele's house where we would be eating. While we waited for Dinele and Con to arrive, Imke kept me busy -- feeding the fish, feeding the chickens, playing with the cat, and keeping her way from Juliet. Once everyone was there, we sat down to an incredibly delicious meal of chicken pie, roast leg of lamb, pumpkin fritters in caramel sauce (a big favorite), veggie casserole, salad, and more! Eating delicious, traditional South African food, surrounded by the family I love -- it was the perfect way to wrap up a wonderful visit in South Africa. I didn't want to leave, but the time came that we had to head to the airport. So, we said our goodbyes and drove up to O.R. Tambo where we had one more family meeting before heading back to the states.

After checking in, we found a little cafe near the terminal to meet Marita and Stuart. I'm so glad they were able to meet us at the airport, so we could catch up. After a quick drink, we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes as we headed to passport control where we were met with incredibly long lines and complete chaos. We eventually made it through and headed to our terminal, so we could settle down and buy some last minute (duty free) gifts. Just as we are about to sit down, they announce "All Delta passengers, please proceed to the end of the terminal for security check." Are you kidding me??? ANOTHER security check? But, we go stand in line and by some stroke of luck, manage to be first in line. We proceed through this "security check" where they barely glance in your bag and give you a body pat down, and put our things down in the terminal. We leave Dad with the bags as Mom, Ben and I hurry to the closest shop to buy our gifts. We return right as our flight is about to board, and we again get stopped by the power hungry airport personell telling us we have to go through the "security checkpoint." We try and explain to them that we already have gone through their security checkpoint and we just left to buy some items in the duty free shop. One employee lets mom and me through, but I make the mistake of trying to go back for Ben :P He is having more trouble probably because he is letting these people know his frustration. Eventually, we just walk past them to our bags and they either give up trying to harass us or realize that we have already gone through their BS security checkpoint.

We finally make it aboard the plane, settle into our seats, and toast to the exceptionally wonderful vacation we had in South Africa.

"A Window to the Soul of South Africa"

Tuesday (Feb 7)

Technically, this was our "free day" in Cape Town, but I have trouble just sitting around relaxing when there is a whole city to explore! :)

We did lounge around pretty much all morning and enjoyed the hotel's buffet breakfast. Table Bay breakfast is no ordinary hotel fare. It's a HUGE buffet offering anything you could possibly imagine for breakfast -- fruit, cereals, yogurt, muffins, croissants, pastries, eggs, bacon, breakfast meats, hash browns, sausage rolls, waffles, sushi (?), oysters (?), spreads, juices, and so much more. We definitely enjoyed making breakfast the main meal of the day everyday we were in Cape Town. It was also just so relaxing to sit outside on the patio overlooking the harbor, the waterfront, and Table Mountain while enjoying your breakfast (and sometimes fending of seagulls). The breakfast item I got most excited about? Lichis! I've missed these delectable little fruits and they are NEVER in season when I usually visit South African in June/July, so enjoyed them while I could.

After lounging around the hotel, Mom, Ben and I headed to greenmarket square to do some curio shopping and to meet Imar and Nadia for some coffee on their lunch break. As we got out of the taxi at the square, we saw Imar and Nadia walking down the road -- perfect timing! After they headed back to work, we started wondering around the different stands looking at all the different bracelets, necklaces, belts, t-shirts, placemats, decorative items, paintings, bowls, purses, and other wares the locals were selling. I enjoyed browsing among all the different shops, but I wish you could do it in a more relaxed atmosphere because the moment you set your eyes on any object, the own of the stand would start trying to get you to buy it. "You like it? You want to touch it? Touching doesn't cost anything. What do you want to pay for it?" I did however manage to get myself the best priced necklace in the square as well as some other gifts.

We sat down at a nearby cafe to enjoy some kind of ice cream/coffee concoction before heading back to the hotel. We asked our taxi driver to drop us off at the One and Only instead of our hotel because we wanted to see what it looked like since we had almost stayed there. It was very...modern and sleek. It looked like a fun place to stay, but I'm glad we got the Table Bay instead. The Table Bay may be more traditional, but it's beautiful and the service and location can't be beat. After our stop at the One and Only, we walked back to our hotel stopping at a local market on the way. This market had some great stuff! I wish we had more time to spend there (and more space in our luggage -- ha).

By the time we returned to the hotel, it was time to get ready for "High Tea" in the lounge (smart casual dress required). So we dressed up, prepared our pinkies to stand straight while sipping our tea, and headed down. It was a "3 course" tea with sandwiches/quiches served first, then a variety of scones for second course, and a buffet of sweets/pastries for the third course. Needless to say, we were feeling very full after our tea.

After tea, I decided to spend some quality time with my kindle at the pool -- very relaxing -- until Ben wrangled me into going pants shopping with him in the adjoining Victoria & Alfred mall. After roaming around the entire mall, not finding anything he liked, we decided to settle for Woolworth's to find Ben some pants. After some quick math to figure out his pants dimensions in cm, we were able to find a pair before heading back to meet Mom and Dad for some pre-dinner drinks in the hotel (we shared a bottle of the Rose from Avondale).

Earlier in the day, we had asked the concierge for dinner reservations -- something not too fancy, not too casual, with a nice a view, not in the mall. He recommended Cafe Balducci, so we made a reservation. We arrive at Cafe Balducci to find it is in the mall and our "view" was the mall entrance :/ However, we weren't about to try and find another place to eat, so we settled in and ended up eating some very tasty food (I got the Regina Pizza, yum! -- another South African classic I miss). After dinner, Ben and I decided to ride the Ferris Wheel in the waterfront. It was...ok. They play this cheesy video in your little pod while you are going around. I also wish it was more open instead of an enclosed little box.

The next morning we were departing early for the Blue Train, so we headed back to the hotel, enjoyed a bottle of champagne and went to bed.

Wednesday (Feb 8)

William (the same driver from the airport) was there to pick us up to take us to the train station. He was just as friendly and conversational as before and got a kick out of Ben calling a "braai," a barbeque.

Upon our arrival at the station, we had a porter take our bags while the Blue Train staff checked us in. We could then enjoy some pastries and tea in the lounge while we waited for the train to be loaded. Prior to boarding, they also introduced us to our own personal cabin butler -- pretty fancy. Ben and my butler's name was Joyce and she was very friendly.

Once aboard the train, we settled into our little cabin as the train traveled...about 10 miles, then stopped. We were stopped at a small station for about an hour while they replaced a device on the train. We spent our first few hours exploring the train. It was really beautiful -- wood paneling on the walls, marble bathroom countertop and bathtub, plushly upholstered couches and chairs. We also spent some time in the observatory car (the last car in the train with a big window in the back) and the lounge car. We found the lounge car to be more comfortable, so we settled in there drinking tea and reading. After we finished tea, Ben was feeling a bit tired, so we asked Joyce to set up the bed in our room. He then proceeded to nap until we reached Maitjiesfontein while I continued to read my book -- "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest."

At Maitjiesfontein, we were allowed to get off the train for about 40 minutes. The conductor mentioned some sort of "tour" we could do, but I wanted to explore on my own. However, we somehow ended up this tour bus from the twilight zone. The tour guide was....weird and cheesy and I felt uncomfortable for the whole 5 minutes the tour lasted. He kept speaking like a circus ring leader and kept saying "showtime" in a weird little whisper after every sentence. All the while, one of the guests from the train, and older British man, kept hysterically laughing. All I could think was "get me off this bus!" The 5 minute tour eventually ended, and we could go inside the old hotel for a glass of sherry. I didn't particularly like the other guests from the train, so I decided to head over to the local cafe and do my own thing. Here I was able to order some koeksisters for Mom and Dad to try (unfortunately, they weren't the best example to offer). The strange thing is that I almost had to serve myself. The owners/workers in the cafe didn't seem to be too concerned about attracting business/serving customers even though it looked like this little town hardly got many visitors. After leaving some money on the table for our koeksisters, we went back to board the train where it was time for the afternoon tea.

At tea the fun continued as the other annoying American family had planted themselves smack dab in front of the tea table. While I looked for some tongs to pick up the sandwiches to put on my plate, they decided to deliver commentary -- "oh, don't worry. We're not looking at what you're eating." -- except they clearly were. Oy. This was the same Texan family that held their conversation during lunch loud enough for everyone to hear -- "Oh, well my son who is a doctor does this," "I ran everywhere in Cape town, I don't know how I'm not going to exercise on the train," "I think you should be allowed to shoot immigrants you find on your property." YUCK. Other than these annoying guests, tea was pretty enjoyable. They had a nice selection of tea sandwiches, chicken pastries, carrot cake, chocolate cake, and fruit.

Between tea and dinner, we had some more time to read and relax while enjoying watching the Karoo pass us by. Dinner was apparently a "Jacket and Tie" affair which didn't make Dad and Ben too happy since that had neither a jacket nor a tie (thank goodness we had bought Ben pants the previous day!). Luckily (or unluckily, however you choose to view it), the Blue Train had some jackets and ties to lend -- not the best fitted jackets or the classiest ties, but a jacket and tie nonetheless. Sufficiently dressed up for dinner, we headed into the dining car where we had a wonderful meal -- smoked chicken to start, followed by the main course of Karoo lamb chops, finished off with a nice dessert. After dinner, we went to the observation car to enjoy a nightcap of Amarula before heading off to bed. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy evening, so we couldn't enjoy the beautiful night sky the Karoo is so well known for. We lay down in bed with the train rocking us to sleep.

"The Fairest Cape"

“This cape is the most stately thing and the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth.”

– From the journal of Sir Francis Drake, on seeing the Cape for the first time, 1580

Monday (Feb 6)

The Cape Peninsula tour -- unquestionably a very full day, but probably my favorite day we spent in the Cape Town area.

We started off going through Sea Point, passing Clifton Beaches, to make our first stop at Camps Bay where we got out of the van, stretched our legs, and took some pictures of this beautiful beach -- surrounded by boulders, against the backdrop of Table Mountain -- SO beautiful.

Next stop -- Hout Bay Harbor. Along this scenic route, we drove with the Twelve Apostles mountain range on our left and ocean and beaches on our right -- gorgeous. As we turned the corner after Llandudno Beach heading into Hout Bay, I saw a sign for Suikerbossie. I asked Angie if we could make a quick detour there since I know that was where Imar and Tamara got married, and I wanted to see it. Unfortunately, the gates going up to Suikerbossie were locked, but at least we gave it a shot.

Our first order of business getting into the Hout Bay Harbor is to get ourselves tickets for the next boat heading to "Seal Island." I think it's actually called Duiker Island, but everyone calls it "Seal Island" since there is a large colony of african fur seals inhabiting it. We got ourselves tickets for the boat leaving in 10 minutes, the Calypso. Standing in line to board to the Calypso, we realized we were the only people not part of a large Indian tour group going on this boat ride. We found ourselves a bench on the boat and settled in to enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding us. We soon arrived at "Seal Island" and were entertained by the hundreds of seals on this small rock island. Some were swimming, others waddling as fast as they could to dive into the water, others napping in the sun on top of the rocks or each other, and others showing off their tricks in the water. Ben was just commenting how he was surprised it didn't smell bad, and then we turned a corner -- into the wind. BAM! Seal smell wafted in our direction. Luckily, we only had to endure it for a few minutes as we turned around to head back to the harbor.

Once we returned to the harbor, we spent about ten minutes looking around at all the african curio shops and what they had to offer. I bargained to get myself some Africa earrings and a UGA colored belt. Next, we were off to Chapman's Peak.

Chapman's Peak Drive is an incredibly scenic route along the peninsula overlooking the Hout Bay area with the Table Mountain Reserve on the other side. We stopped at the Peak to taking pictures of the gorgeous vista -- one of the most beautiful panoramas I have ever seen.

We continued our journey down to Cape Point, stopping at Cape Point Ostrich Farm along the way. Although I think this stop is planned for Angie to get commission on anything we buy at the farm's shop, we enjoyed seeing the ostriches and exploring the store. They had ostrich...everything --ostrich leather purses/belts/cases, ostrich feather jewelry, ostrich biltong, ostrich egg decor, ostrich egg lights. We ended up getting a few ostrich trinkets here (I got an ostrich egg lamp which I'm pretty excited about). Outside the store, there was a nice looking male ostrich in his pen. I decided to get a picture standing by him in front of the pen. I tried to not to get too close though since I know they have a reputation for having a dangerous kick. After the first picture, I glanced at him and he was starting to look a little fiesty, so I darted away.

As we got closer to Cape Point, we got to see some wildlife -- bontebok, baboons, and a few falcons/eagles. I'm actually glad we got to see the baboons up close and personal since we didn't really see any in Sabi Sabi. We then ventured down to the Cape of Good Hope (the most southwestern part of the African continent) to get our tourist photo-op and explore some of the mountain trails around the area. Then it was time for lunch, so we headed over to Cape Point.

We ate lunch at the Two Oceans restaurant outside on their patio overlooking the ocean/mountain vista. While we are waiting for our food to arrive, some older ladies at the table next to us try to get our attention -- "Excuse me! There is a mouse by your feet." Say what?! I look down to see a little striped mouse on the edge of my flip flop -- kind of cute, kind of disconcerting. I lifted up my feet, so he could do his thing and move on, which he did. Our food arrived, and Dad, Ben, and I enjoyed some fish and chips while Mom was more adventurous with a Kudu steak. I tried some, and it actually was pretty good -- tasted like beef.

After lunch we headed to the top of Cape Point via the funicular (aka inclined railway). Once at the top, Mom, Ben and I climbed the remaining stairs to get to the very top point by the light house. Apparently the lighthouse was only in use for a short time because they realized it was to high above the fog level -- so essentially it was useless. We again took the opportunity to get some nice photos of "the fairest cape" before heading back down to meet Angie to go to Boulders Beach.

At Boulders Beach awaited the african penguins! I love these little weird birds, and I was excited to see them in action. Also, Ben's nickname for me is "pikkewyn," so we had to see these little guys. As we walk down the boardwalk towards the beach, we see penguins on rocks, penguins on the sand, penguins in the grass reeds, but sadly, no penguins in the water (I wanted to see them swimming). We settle in among the crowd to watch and take pictures of the penguins doing their thing. We saw and heard them braying like donkeys (hence their former name -- jackass penguins). We saw them mating. We saw them sleeping. We saw them digging their nests while spraying their faithful partner with sand. We saw the holding "hands"/fins. AND THEN -- we saw them fighting. Apparently one male got a little too close to another male's girl, and off they went --fins/wings flapping, beaks biting, little legs chasing. The offended male chased the other one straight into the water, which I was pretty happy about since I got to see some penguin swimming action. The offender eventually returned from the water -- to the other side of the beach, far from his attacker. After all this excitement, it was time to head back so we could make it to Kirstenbosch Gardens before they closed.

We arrived at Kirstenbosch Gardens around 5:30pm, two hours until the park closed, but still too late for tea at the restaurant. So, with help from Angie, we took a quick tour of the gardens. We started off at the top among the proteas and headed down to end up in the medicinal garden near the visitors center. Some of us walked down, and some of us rolled down. There was this lovely grass hill, and I decided I wanted to roll down it like I used to do when I was a little kid -- so I did, and it was fun! (dizzying, but fun) Other than rolling down grassy hills, we also found some guinea fowl, a worm (which I proceeded to chase Ben with), and some beautiful, beautiful scenery. This picturesque garden is set in a valley against the backdrop of Table Mountain -- truly gorgeous. They also have a great gift shop with really unique gifts where I ended up getting Rode a cute t-shirt and some other little trinkets.

(the worm chase)

By this time, we had to head back to the hotel. After returning to the hotel, we freshened up and went out to the waterfront restaurant -- Baia. This restaurant is known for their seafood and the view of Table Mountain. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting inside and couldn't appreciate the view. I ended up getting sole again -- so delicious. The food was good, but it was really busy and I think the waiter could have been friendlier.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel lounge where we ended our wonderful day with a nice glass of Amarula.

"Hemel Op Tafelberg"

Sunday (Feb 5)

On the schedule for the day was a trip out to Robben Island on the ferry, and depending on the weather, I was hoping we could go up to Table Mountain in the afternoon (which fortunately worked out).

We met Angie in the hotel lobby around 10:20 where she informed us that she had developed some kind of stomach bug, so would we feel ok doing the Robben Island tour on our own since it's pretty straightforward. We assured her that we would be fine, and Ben flashed me an excited smile that we would be spending the day without her (he wasn't exactly her biggest fan either).

We walked through the waterfront shops and restaurants to get to the departure point for the ferry. We waited in line to board the ferry, and settled in the bottom level when we got aboard since all the spaces at the top of the boat had filled up. They showed an informational video about Robben Island on the trip over as we enjoyed the ocean views around us.

Once we got to Robben Island, we disembarked and headed over to a group of large tour buses waiting for us. Aboard the tour bus, our Robben Island tour guide introduced himself. I can't remember his full name, but he said to call him MP for short. He was very lively and friendly and gave us an interesting and informative tour of Robben Island -- the isolation house, the prison blocks, the limestone quarry where prisoners were forced to work, the guest house, and the clinic. We also stopped for a break at an area with an incredible view of Table Mountain across the ocean where all the guests got off the bus for the beautiful photo-op. It is definitely a sight not to miss -- the rocks, the ocean, the table mountain vista in the distance -- it's so picturesque. To conclude our tour, MP asked the guests on the bus where they were from. For each country, we would give a little informational bit about how that country contributed to ending apartheid or aiding the political prisoners on Robben Island. For the guests from the USA, he mentioned how Andrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta, adopted Robert Sobukwe's children to give them a better life in Atlanta when Sobukwe was imprisoned on Robben Island.

After the bus tour, we entered prison block B to hear more about prison life on Robben Island from a former political prisoner who showed us the different cell blocks, the living conditions in the prison, and Nelson Mandela's prison cell.

Once finished with the tour (luckily we were the first group done), we quickly walked back to the ferry (with a quick detour to see the penguins), so we could get a spot on top of the boat for the return trip. We succeeded, and enjoyed feeling the ocean breeze and watching the seals play while appreciating the scenic view of Cape Town and Table Mountain across the water.

I had suggested we head to Table Mountain afterwards and enjoy a nice, relaxing lunch at the Table Mountain Restaurant. Fortunately, everyone agreed to this plan, so we caught a taxi to the cable car station at Table Mountain. We enjoyed the ocean/mountain vista from a different point of view as we ascended the mountain in the cable car. At the top, we headed straight for the restaurant and relaxed with some delicious chicken pies and cider beers overlooking the Twelve Apostles mountain range.

After finishing our meal, we took advantage of the gorgeous scenery to take some photos and I wrangled Ben into doing the quick (10 min) Dassie trail with me, so we could appreciate the views from both sides of the mountain. On the Dassie trail, guess what we found? That's right... a dassie. I love these little creatures, so I was pleased that we were able to spot one.

It was quite a hot day, and everyone was a little tired from our day's adventures. So, we headed back to the hotel. Ben and I decided to squeeze in a workout before getting ready to meet Imar, Tamara, and Nadia for dinner. Imar and Tamara graciously offered to pick us up from the hotel, and Mom and Dad came down for a quick introduction before we left for dinner. They took us to The Woodlands Eatery where we met Nadia. The Woodlands Eatery is a charming little restaurant with vintage decor on the inside and a patio with twinkly lights adorning the ceilings. We got some sangria for the table and Ben and I split a delicious lamb pizza. After dinner, Imar and Tamara invited over for coffee to see their apartment. It was so nice to catch up with Imar and Nadia and meet Tamara. We had such a good time -- a perfect evening with good food and great company.