We'll start with a fun story: last October (when I happened to be in DC), my mom saw an ad for a 'big cats' show and commented that she'd very much like to go see them in Africa. Dad wasn't interested, but he made a throw-away comment -
"I tell you what, if you take her, I'll pay for it." WHAT?! Don't have to ask me twice! Since my older brother also happened to be there, he got invited too... and I wasn't going to go without John, so there
were four of us!
My friend Christy had gone on an African safari a couple of years ago, so the first thing I did was pick her brain. She recommended Go2Africa, a travel company that arranges safaris and trips all over the continent. I gave the specialist our requests and requirements, and she came back with a plan that included about five days in Cape Town and five days in Kruger National Park. But even though we paid the deposit and started planning, it didn't seem real (although buying plane tickets to South Africa was a hit to the bank account...).
We heard that it was better to bring soft-sided duffles rather than hard-sided suitcases, so I went out the morning we were leaving and bought a nice
Eastpak rolling duffle. I got the medium-sized one in bright teal.
Nothing like last-minute packing! We took our binoculars and good camera, sunscreen, hats, and both cold-weather (Cape Town) and warm-weather (Kruger) gear - although we were forewarned that those 6:00am game drives were pretty chilly too! It was nice to get away from the heat of Barcelona in August to the winter-to-spring weather of Cape Town. And the time zone is the same as CET, so John and I didn't have to adjust our clocks.
So there we were on August 11, flying to Heathrow to meet up with Mom & Jae (see pic). We joined the party on what was already technically Day 2, because they had left for London the day before. The itinerary after that was:
Day 2/3: Fly to Johannesburg, then a quick flight to Cape Town (on Airlink)
Day 4: Recovery, on our own in CPT
Day 5: Table Mountain (or not), plus CPT city tour with a guide
Day 6: Peninsula tour (and PENGUINS) with same guide
Day 7: Wine tour with same guide. Still no Table Mountain.
Day 8: Fly to Hoedspruit, on the edge of Kruger. Arrive Thornybush Game Lodge
Day 9 - 11: Game drives at 6am and 3pm daily.
Day 12: Game drive at 6am and then leave for airport. Fly to JNB, then back to London
Day 13: Say goodbye to family and fly back to BCN
Everything from when we arrived in Cape Town (except the food tour and some meals in CPT) to when we flew back to Johannesburg after the safari was included in the Go2Africa package.
As is our tradition, on our first night in a new place we go for burgers. From the
Victoria & Alfred hotel, the V&A Waterfront mall was a short walk -- one we made daily, usually more than once! There was a supermarket on the lower level, and a wide mix of other stores, including Woolworth's -- which isn't the same as the discount-store version we knew in the States. We had dinner at
Tiger's Milk (which we later found out was a chain all over the city), and were pleasantly surprised at the food. And then we were wiped out and in bed by 9pm! The bacon & avocado burger (without the bun) was yummy!
For our first full day, Jae booked us a food tour, so we took an Uber over to the starting restaurant and met our guide, Olivia. The weather was gorgeous
(it was the nicest weather day we had in CPT). We went to four places, tried traditional South African foods, and learned the stories of the restaurants, the food, and the people. For the record, springbok stew is delicious, and chakalaka goes with everything.
[This plate, at Marco's African Place, had both, as well as pap (white stuff, like polenta), emu steak, and sweet potatoes.] We stopped at an
art shop that showcased repurposed items turned into art, like wireframe animals, license plates, as well as drawings and paintings by a young South African artist. The elephant at the front of the shop was made from used coffee pods! I bought a little wireframe penguin.
The next morning we were up early to meet our guide, Thaffir, at 8am. (
pronounced "Tuffy") Our first activity was supposed to be the cable cars to the top of Table Mountain, but the clouds and fog had other ideas. Instead, we went to the
Castle of Good Hope, a fort and a palace used by the occupying colonists in the 17th & 18th centuries. We walked around the castle, including the fancy spaces where the governor lived, and a rabbit-warren of the
Cape Heritage Museum displaying artifacts, paintings, photos, books, and antiques from the history of the city, including the Jewish population (see pic). We learned a lot! We stopped in the castle cafe for tea
(Rooibos is from here, so I had it almost every day), and shared some delicious chocolate cinnamon rolls.
From there, we went to the Iziko South African Museum to see the rock paintings. Sadly, the rest of the museum was being refurbished, so there was nothing else to see. We walked down the street to The Company's Garden, named for/by the Dutch East India Company, which started the garden in 1652 to provide food for their ships. We wandered through the garden to see the plants -- lots of really old trees, lush greenery, and a powerful Labour Corps Memorial. Read all about the Gardens and surrounding area here.
After that, we went back to the hotel for naptime and a trip to the supermarket. Friday night, we had dinner at
Mozambik at the Waterfront. It was packed and bustling, but the food was tasty... except for Jae's neon pink "Mai Tai," which seemed a little off.
Our third day started at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden outside of town. They have a beautiful wooden tree canopy walkway (see pic of Jae on the walkway) that goes over the grounds and through the trees. We saw (and heard) lots of interesting birds, and were awed by the flowers, trees, and sculptures. I was impressed at their seasonal exhibit explaining what plants were in bloom at the moment. The whole place was lush and green and very quiet early in the morning.
Next was my
ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing we did in Cape Town: we visited the penguins at Boulders Beach. Have you seen the Netflix show, "
Penguin Town", narrated by Patton Oswalt? Well, this is the town! I remember watching it and thinking, huh, wouldn't it be cool to go there? But I never thought it would happen. I was impressed with Mom's stamina -- the wooden walkway to the penguin beach had a lot of stairs up and down, with
penguin nests under the bushes on both sides. We also learned about the
rock hyrax, which became Jae's new favorite animal. They live in harmony with the penguins and run around on the beach and the rocks nearby.
(And somehow they're genetically distantly related to elephants!) From there, we went to the Cape of Good Hope. We passed a family of baboons on the road, and then a lone ostrich taking a walk. The restaurant at the Cape wasn't the greatest, but if you go up there you're basically stuck, so it's good enough. (I ate a lot of prawns on this trip, and got really good at beheading them!) After lunch we had to board a van to go up to the lighthouse at the top of the hill. Unfortunately, even though she's in great shape, Mom slipped trying to make the big step and scraped the front of her shin. But we didn't know how badly until we took her sock off later.
At the top of the hill there was a staircase up to the lighthouse itself. The sky was so blue, and the view was amazing! We took a few pictures from the top, and went back down to find Mom and pile back into the tour van. From there, we drove to the southernmost point of the cape, where everyone takes pictures with the latitude/longitude sign.
(I snagged this photo right before a horde of tourists descended, so we took our picture without the sign)On the way back to town, we drove along the highway along the water called Chapman's Peak Drive... it reminded us of Hwy 1 in California. Supposedly, some scenes from a James Bond movie were filmed here. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Saturday for dinner, we went to the Time Out Market next door to the hotel. [There's a Time Out Market in Barcelona, too.] They had Greek, Japanese, Spanish, Mexican, Italian, and a couple of other options. Unfortunately, they were also having Drag Queen Bingo or Karaoke or something, so we took our food and ate outside on the patio.
For our last day with Thaffir, we went wine tasting. We left the V&A at 8am, and were tasting wine by 9:30am. (!!!) We were definitely the first people at
Fairview... they were still cleaning, fixing, and replacing light bulbs while we chatted with our server. The weather was chilly and foggy, but the grounds were beautiful, and some of the wines were tasty. John definitely enjoyed the cheese-tasting that went along with our wines. :) They also had a huge shop with cheeses, meats, jams, etc., all made from the farm on the premises
(with a little help from the goats).
Second stop was
Eikehof, a cute little winery where we got cozy-comfy with sofas and blankets during our wine tasting. Still didn't buy any wine, but John got to taste some port, which he enjoyed.
After that, we'd had enough to drink for a while, so we went to Delaire Graff for lunch. Most of us napped on the way there, so we woke up to gorgeous scenery and a wonderful meal (at a Relais & Chateau property!), followed by our last wine tasting of the day. We could see Table Mountain the whole day, but by the time we were driving back, it was foggy over CPT again. Sigh.
When we got back to the hotel, we said goodbye to Thaffir. We also became very aware of the one big extra expense that comes with these kinds of trips - tipping! Lots of tipping. Lots of cash is required, especially for the safari lodge staff. Dinner on Sunday night was at Cafe Sofi by Tasha, which was recommended by one of my co-workers in Barcelona. Other than the food tour, it was the only time we went away from the V&A Waterfront without our guide, but Ubers are plentiful, and it wasn't too far away. The food was delicious - Mom and John had chicken pot pies, and Jae and I had pasta with short rib ragu.
Monday morning super early our ride was waiting to take us to the airport for our flight to Hoedspruit. Next stop, SAFARI! (and part 2 of the blog, coming soon...)
Check out the rest of my week 1 photos here.
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