This time TO Africa

Hello from South Africa!

Saturday:

So after one 24 hour layover in Salt Lake City, UT and two, yes TWO eleven hour flights, I finally arrived in Cape Town and was greeted by my best friend Laura! We have been traveling and working separately for almost a year now without seeing each other, so it was pretty great to be reunited to say the least!

(Hout Bay Beach)

Sunday:

After my long days of travel, I slept for almost 12 hours and then we were off to explore the area! We have a quaint apartment, which we rented from Air BnB in Hout Bay and it couldn’t be a better location! Yes, it’s a bit far from the city center, but for the price, and the fact that we rented a car, it works perfectly for Laura and I! So after peeling myself out of bed around noon, we walked down to enjoy the Bay Harbor Market. There were tons of unique stalls and interesting goods to buy and SO MUCH FOOD! We walked by the food stalls at least 3 times trying to decide what to get! Finally settled with some sandwiches and beers! We came home to relax and I promptly took a 2-hour nap before we decided to head on down to the local pub- Woodcutter’s arm for some beer and food. See a trend yet?

(Nelson Mandela)

Monday:

Monday was relaxing. Laura and I splurged and went to afternoon tea at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel. Here, we were treated to a plethora of mini sandwiches, scones, South African MCC sparkling wine, desserts, and yes- tea. After a filling two hours of eating and drinking, we walked off our stupor in Company’s Gardens. These gardens are huge and lovely, and have so many twists and turns, that it was confusing sometimes! Afterwards, we headed home and stopped to watch the sunset at one of many cliff sides.

(Tea and Scones!)

Tuesday:

Excursion Day! (aka “let’s do every physically draining activity possible” day!)

We started the morning off by hiking Lion’s Head Peak. This climb takes 45 minutes according to the guidebook, but took us nearly and hour and a half due to the fact that it was soooooo crowded. It started off as a nice wrap-around walk, then quickly turned into a sheer scramble up the rocks. There are a few ladders aiding you when the rocks get too steep, as well as sets of chains and staples bolted into the rock face so that you can climb up. Going up was fine and it was fun hopping around from rock to rock! Coming back down, well that was more difficult! Laura and I didn’t want to wait around so we just freehanded it down the cliff. Yeah, it was terrifying and hard to find purchase sometimes, but hey! We both made it down safely! After our extended hike, we headed down to the Promenade and grabbed some lunch before checking out the beaches at Clifton Bay. Then we headed to meet up with our sea-kayaking group for a 2-hour adventure in hopes of seeing some seals, whales or dolphins, and penguins! It was mostly me paddling while Laura admired the one penguin and seal we saw. Nonetheless, it was really cool being in a sea kayak and learning how to steer and navigate the waves! After exiting the frigid water, we headed to a nearby restaurant called La Perla and stuffed our faces with pasta and wine!

(On top of Lion's Head overlooking the ocean)

Wednesday:

SLEEEEEP! Finally I got the chance to sleep in a bit (much needed after Tuesday’s excursions), and we started the day with a visit to the beach! We went to Llandudno Beach, which neighbors the “unofficial” nudist beach of Cape Town. After spending a considerable amount of time there, getting sandy, soaking up some sun, and cutting up my hand on some rocks, we were off to the Waterfront, one of the most popular Cape Town destinations! So imagine your hometown mall. Got it? Now times it by a THOUSAND! This area was so large and confusing, we got lost a few times! You’ve got the main mall area- which is so huge in itself and has every store you could ever think of… (even a Cinnabon!), and then there’s the Watershed next door- which hosts local artesian, goods, and stalls of all sorts, and then there’s the outside attractions- like boats, boats, boats and a Ferris wheel and a ton of food places! Overall, huge. After checking everything out, getting some gifts and souvenirs we went to The Baia seafood restaurant for dinner. Delicious. No other word for it.

So that’s a low down of the past few days. Since Laura and I are doing so much, I figured it would be easier to do a couple of Cape Town posts instead of just one super-dooper long one. So enjoy and TTYL!

(Sunset over the Cape)