South Africa: Days 16 – 20 (Cape Town)

It was a beautiful drive to Cape Town, over some amazing mountains and through breathtaking scenery. We did have a lunch stop in the town of Hermanus where I saw something that I never thought I would see: Whales mating. TONS of them. Sperm whales, humpbacks, it was nuts. They come into the bay and right up to the cliffs where you can watch them. So we found a restaurant with outside seating and proceeded to eat with a few of whales coming up and down out of the water and rolling around and it was awesome. Then about an hour or two later we were at the inn in Cape Town. We were on our own for dinner and the next day we would hopefully be climbing Table Mountain (weather was the key factor), driving to the Cape of Good Hope, and to see the African Penguin colony. We ran into a polish couple who had been travelling along our route but separate from our tour who I had recommended in Knysna to do the Great White Shark dive and they had gone that day (the first good weather day in a week) and said how amazing it was and how I was going to love it. I was so excited!

The next morning we awoke to howling winds and we were told the hike was off because the road leading up to the mountain was closed. So we went to the Cape of Good Hope and hiked to the lighthouse and across the ridge to the actual Cape. The wind was so fierce we weren’t sure why Table Mountain was closed and this was still open. We were along the cliffs struggling to stay upright, only to fall sideways when the gusts would stop.

We eventually ditched the trail where we thought it just realistically couldn’t be that safe and hopped down the side of the mountain to get our picture taken at the most South-Western place on the continent. We proceeded then to wait for the truck to pick us up and watched as other buses full of tourists were blown around while trying to get their picture taken. Brigitte even got blown off the rock she was standing on and fell to the ground, uninjured thankfully. After we were picked up we were off to Boulders, which is where the African penguins live and breed. They are ¼ smaller than their Emperor cousins in Antarctica (who grow to be 4 feet!). It’s also strange to see penguins on a beach and not in the snow. But this is how these ones live. Along the trail which is fenced off for their protection you see them in their nests, sitting under a bush in a dirt hole in the ground. When you reach the beach they’re just hanging out, posing for pictures for all the Japanese tourists pushing us out of the way to get a good shot on their cell phones. After that we took a quick break for lunch and then back to the inn for a break before we boarded a local bus to the Cape Town marina for our final dinner together. The Cape Town marina is pretty nice (think the Cannery in Monterey Bay, but nicer). Cute shops, nice restaurants, the aquarium. We wandered awhile and then met Andy, Johann, Seb, & Lize at a Scottish pub for a beer before we met everyone else for dinner. Then after dinner we all went back to the pub for a final drink together. (Andy, Johann, Seb, & Lize stayed on).

The next morning we awoke to rain, and after breakfast headed to South Africa’s Cape wine region for a bit of tasting. It was a bit odd for 10 in the morning but oh well, right? It was good and I thought of buying a bottle had I not had to lug it with me to our next stop in India. Plus I already had a bottle from earlier on our tour that we hadn’t drunk so we needed to finish that first. After tasting we went to an old French town to wander before lunch. Since it was raining we ducked into a coffee shop for some tea (I added some pumpkin soup). Alex wandered in and sat with us until it was time to head to the bistro for our final meal together. We reminisced about the tour and our favorite memories. Alex, Andy, and the boys weren’t leaving until the next night, and AJ, Sonja, Brigitte, and I weren’t leaving until 2 days later so it wasn’t totally goodbye. So at 3:00 pm we were back at the inn and officially the tour was over! How fast 18 days goes by! That night AJ and I had dinner with Alex, Sonja, Brigitte, and Andy at a place called Marco’s – a local popular restaurant with African specialties. The waiter was SO helpful and explained so many things to us and made sure we had the perfect wine to go with our entrees. I ate crocodile carpaccio which kinda tasted like deli sliced turkey actually. An African band played while we ate and we just reveled in the local flavor which so perfectly ended our tour.

We went to bed hoping that the weather would be ok the next day so that we could go diving with the Great White Sharks. The innkeeper told us before heading home for the night that we would be told first thing in the morning by the tour company. Andy & Alex and the boys were hoping to go to Robin Island but weather also threatened to change plans for them.

Throughout the night the weather sounded a bit rough but when we awoke the sun started shining briefly which gave us all a good feeling. After the innkeeper arrived we were like kids on Christmas waiting anxiously for the all clear to tear into our presents. Sadly, Scrooge came out and said the tour was cancelled. I was SOOOOOOO bummed, as this had been the climax I had planned to an amazing African adventure. If I had a dollar for every time AJ said, "I’m sorry" I could have bought a boat and done it myself! So we found an actual working internet café and caught up on all the stuff we had missed over the last 3 weeks. Then after lunch we decided to go down to the marina and catch the Cape Town Aquarium. It was smaller than I would have expected, but it was pretty nice. They did some really interesting tank displays that we hadn’t seen in our many trips to the other aquariums we had seen so far. They had a teeny turtle swimming in a round tank and it was so curious that it would come to wherever you were standing, and another tank FULL of clownfish (Even the little kids were screaming "NEMO!!!!")

After the aquarium we went back to the inn and said goodbye to Lize and Petrie who were leaving and Andy, Seb, & Johann who we wouldn't see before they left. Then we ate dinner with Alex, Sonja, & Brigitte before saying goodbye to them. We spent that night at the inn alone which was pretty creepy considering that besides another American couple from New Jersey on their honeymoon no one else was there. So we split our bottle of wine and filled out postcards and thought about how wonderful our time in Africa had been. It is one of the most special places you will ever visit if you are lucky enough. It has changed us forever and we want to go back and see more of it!

The next morning we had breakfast and then went to the internet cafe until lunch before heading back to the inn and waiting for our airport transfer. Then it was off to the airport and our 3 flights to get to New Delhi. Lots of flying ahead...!