We
ended the evening at the Victoria and Alfred waterfront. This area reminded us of Fisherman’s Wharf in
San Francisco – some shops, an aquarium, a lot of restaurants, and for the kids
a playground that they thoroughly enjoyed after a long day of touring. We had
supper outside at Karibu, a South African chain and made our way back to the
hotel, quite ready for bed!
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| Hello Kitty and Ben 10 to keep the sun and rain away in Kristenbosch Gardens |
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| Gorgeous...and the background is nice also |
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| Enjoying our Gluten and Dairy free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins |
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| The Groot Winery at Constantia |
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| the white was ok, but their red was superb... |
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| Not classy, but rolling down the hill was the least we could let them do after letting us taste wine for an hour |
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| Thokozani Brothers - local African band at the V&A Waterfront |
Day 2 - Cape Town
First
thing this morning we took to the Muizenberg beach for a "learn to surf" lesson. There seems to be a number of these kind of
companies offering the “learn to surf” but this one seemed to be the top rated
on Trip Advisor….so I signed us up.
Surf boards unloaded..check,
Wetsuits
on….check,
Sunscreen applied…check,
Hot
South African surf instructor..check….
uhhh, now
I know why the ratings were so high J
We
had decided on private lessons as we weren’t sure how the kids would do and
didn’t want to have any hiccups ruin it for other tourists. Thankfully we took this approach.. After a
brief introduction and warm-up, the instructor showed us on the beach how to ride
the surf board on our belly. We then
took to the water to attempt this. Keep
in mind the waves are not like in Hawaii, but they were still pretty big, even
in 2-3 ft of water. The first attempt
for Rafi resulted in a complete dumping into the water…and that was it for our
little girl. Unfortunately once Trace say how Rafi was scared, well he then became scared. We clearly didn’t prepare either of them about what would happen and so I think she was
more surprised than actually scared.
Long story short, it was an
expensive sanding castle building exercise for the two of them. As for Carmen and I, we had an absolute blast. We had no problem riding the waves with our
body on the surf board. We tried this
for 6-8 different waves and then went back into the beach to learn the fundamentals of
standing up. After another brief dry
land demonstration by our exceptionally talented instructor…I'm just saying... we headed back into the water. This is where it got a little tougher. We’ll let the pictures/video tell the story,
but it took us each a few attempts to get up on the board….but we both got up and rode the wave a few times. Kills me to admit but Carmen had more
successful rides than me. After 2+ hours
on the ocean we were all pretty wiped.
The
rest of the day was pretty quiet however we took the kids to a place called Deere
Park Café for supper. This place is stuck in the middle of a residential area but many of our South African
friends told us it was a must with kids.
Huge playground and park area, beautiful mountain backdrop and to top it off...gluten free pasta….couldn’t have
asked for a nicer evening. In bed early
as tomorrow will be a long day.
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| Unfortunately one of the few smiles but they were "Stoked" at the start |
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| We came and We conquered |
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| Another great day! |
Cape Town - Day 3
I don’t think we could pack more into our Thursday. We did
the Cape of Good Hope tour with Cape Convoy Tours. It was a private tour just
for our family with a highly recommended guy named Rob. Ironically, he has 6
year old boy/girl twins. He was a great guide, full of energy and enthusiasm.
He knew where to take us and when. We started the tour at Cape Hope, which took
approximately an hour to get to. We were very fortunate to get the most sunny,
calm day. Given this is the most southern tip of Africa, it tends to be windy,
but we didn’t experience any wind. As a matter of fact, we all got a little
sunburned. We had some breathtaking views and we walked between the two
lighthouses. It was a bit of a walk, and we didn’t think to buy water so the
kids were annoyed by the time we returned! Of course we had to stop and take some
pictures at the “Cape Hope” sign.
Our next stop was Simon's Town – home of Boulder Beach. This
is where the African penguins roam. What a cool experience. The penguins are free to roam around so I understand it can be quite
a pain for local residents as they leave quite a big mess. Close by homes have wire
fencing near the ground so the penguins can’t get in to their yards.
From Simon's Town we took off and drove Chapman’s Peak. It's truly one of the most (if the the most) gorgeous road ways in the world. The views were absolutely
amazing! We stopped at a couple of points to take some pictures, but don’t know
if it can possibly do it justice. It is a must drive 9km stretch of road.
We ended the day at Table Mountain. To get to the top you either hike or take the cable car. Since the hike is 2-3 hours, we figured the cable car was the better choice. The queue at the bottom was short so we thought we had a lot of
time, however, at the top the line to come down was crazy long. As a result I got right back in line
so that we could get down in time. That was a little unfortunate as the views
again were stunning and there was a coffee shop and café that would have been
nice to have a drink at and enjoy the views. Next time!
We started our day at 9:00 am and retuned home around 7:00
pm, long but wonderful day. We definitely tested our kids patience...As a thanks for being little troupers we found a restaurant that had gluten free,
dairy free pizza. We all sat on the floor
of our hotel room gobbling up our pizza and commenting on how thankful we were
for such a special day.
Cape Town - Day 4
On Friday we were picked up by a family friend of Carmen’s,
Dr. Horn. He moved from South Africa to Tofield many years ago and continues to
this day to do locums in Alberta and reside in Cape Town. He was so good to us,
taking us to Stellenbosch and Franschoek – the local wine country. We stopped
at two different vineyards enjoying coffee, lunch, and of course some wine!
What is great about the vineyards are how family friendly they are. Many have
playgrounds for children to play on while the parents eat and drink…now that is
the liveJ
Again, the beauty of the region is stunning. While walking down the streets of Franschoek we met a local artist who does what is called
“Township” art. He uses vibrant colors and paints township scenes, but also
adds some dimension to his work by using spare tin, cans, nails, etc…We were so
close to buying one of his pieces, but it was quite pricey and done on particle
board so would be hard to transport. We may be kicking ourselves as his work is
apparently starting to sell in galleries around the world.
We spent the evening at Dr. Horn’s home visiting with his
family and having a local BBQ. It was so nice to visit a local home and really
hear and see what it is like to live in this part of the world. Looks like a
good life….maybe our next move will be to Cape Town..he, he!!!!
Cape Town - Day 6
Saturday was Carmen’s day. She got up at 4:30 pm in the morning and took a two hour trip out to Gansbaai, where the great white shark diving takes place. She waffled all week as to whether she should go, worried that it would take the full day, motion sicknesses and the like and in the end I booked it for her so she had no choice. It is something she has always talked about and I didn’t want her to regret not going. It is the end of the season so there was a chance she would not see any sharks, but thankfully they saw five. She said that there were 17 people on the boat and a couple got quite sea sick. She was happy to have met two female doctors from California who gave her some tablets before she boarded and even then she felt queasy. When she got into the cage one of the sharks actually hit the cage with its tale. It was approximately 5 m long so a biggy.
Meanwhile, safely on land the kids and I had a relaxing morning and ended up picking up our laundry from a corner shop and walked through the local markets. Don’t ask me why, but I thought it would be cool to get Rafi’s hair breaded. It turns out the shop was staffed by three Kenyan women. Rafi sat like an angel for nearly two hours while Trace made friends with a little Kenyan boy named Ian. By the time we got the laundry, got Rafi’s hair done, and walked back to the hotel, Carmen was back from her shark dive. We didn’t even give her a chance to shower. The kids wanted a late lunch and chance to play so off to the waterfront we went again. The kids played at the outdoor play park and Carmen and I took turns watching and shopping. In the end there was a great wellness and craft market where we bartered on two beautiful oil paintings.
Day 7 - Cape Town
Sunday…our last full day time Cape Town was just that, full!
We heard about a kids-based tree top adventure company so we thought we would
check it out. There were three obstacle courses and zip line routes in the
trees. Kids under six could go on the easy route, six and over on the green
route and then there was a blue route for adults. Ryan paid for all of us to
get on the green route, but we kept the kids away from the pay area as we knew
they would say something. ATteach phase we were asked about their age, but
managed to quickly say there were six without the kids really hearing until one
final guy helped Trace who was struggling at the end of the yellow route. He
asked how old Trace was and I said 6, knowing we were literally next up the
ladders to the green route. Trace yells out, no, no, I’m five. This was in
Trace’s typical, booming Whyte voice. Carmen tries to tell him not to be silly,
that he is six and he just gets louder saying he is five. I turned around,
pretended I didn’t know them and started climbing with Rafi. In the end, we all
were allowed on, but it was quite embarrassing. Trace also gave Carmen a
lecture about how you are not supposed to lie….pot calling the kettle blackJ We all had so much fun
that it was worth the embarrassment!
From the tree course, we ended back up Chapman’s peak for
another view of the area and for lunch at a café recommended to us called Café
Roux. It was quite a drive, but set in a farm area, again with a play centre
for the kids where they made some tile art while we had some more wine. Boy, it
is going to be hard to get back to reality.
We only had an hour back at the hotel before we ended our
trip by taking in a live concert in the Kristenbosch botanical gardens. It was
packed with people and their picnic baskets listening to a South African icon
named Johnny Clegg. It is the end of the summer concerts so I guess he was the
finale. We were pretty quiet about the fact that we had never heard of him
beforeJ
Ryan and I enjoyed the concert while the kids enjoyed the play zone the whole
time. Trace didn’t want to leave as he was learning to “play” rugby with some
big boys.
What a awesome week in Cape Town. As we packed
up to get ready for a very early morning back to Jo-Burg we wondered how we
will ever top this trip. Truly would recommend going to South Africa to anyone!
