We arrived into Cape Town under the most gloomiest of skies and there it remained until we sailed out. It was a huge disappointment in the way that all I wanted to see was Table Mountain and to ride up the gondolas and see the view from up there but it wasn't to be. In fact the gondals remained closed for the two days we were there and with the gale force winds were not likely to open anytime soon. Apparently the weather, up until the day we arrived, had been glorious and I suspect would have cleared up again the day after we left but there is not much you can do about the weather except grizzle about it.
It was also quite cold, after we had been in temperatures of around the 30 mark it had dramatically dropped to around the 15 deg mark and with the wind chill factor felt colder than that, so weather wise it wasn't a great success but everything else was. For some strange reason it felt familiar, it didn't really feel like we were in another country despite the terrain, African faces and shops full of African artefacts. The gardens had the same plants as back home, the shopping centres were similar, everyone spoke English and were very friendly and generally it really felt we could have been in Wellington NZ even down to the windy rainy weather. I guess the harbour was the same too with hills all around and the city built on the waterfront and up into the cradle of the foothills.
Of course it is far more historic than Wellington with the Portugese sailors being the first to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. After that they use to anchor in Table bay to collect fresh water. It wasn't until a Dutch ship sunk in the bay in 1647 and the shipwrecked sailors set up camp that the Dutch East India company recognised that it would be a strategic place to have a base and finally set up a base in 1652.
Slaves were brought in from Indonesia, Java, West Africa and Malaysia which may account for the most delicious food on offer. I love South African food, it's been the best so far and they even have decent coffee but it was the vines they planted all those years ago that definitely have my interest.
I had to laugh at the suggestions of possible activities in our daily programme magazine. I wonder if whoever writes this publication ever considers the demographics of the ship. It was expounding the virtues of Cape Town and said "to take full advantage of the abundant outdoor space: learn to surf, go hiking or mountain biking, tandem paraglide off Lions Head, abseil off the top of Table Mountain " I mean who writes this shit, half the people here can hardly walk let along abseil off the top of a flipping mountain!
We again decided on a hop on hop off bus tour as the best way to see around town. This one had 4 lines and did a big loop around not just the town but over the mountain into the wine country and right around the coastline including a trip on the harbour in a small boat. There is so much to see its impossible to fit it all in the one and half days we had there, even not going up the mountain in a gondola. We also didn't make it to Robben Island which would have taken more than half a day and we were advised by a local it would be best to see that when we had much more time, there were better things to see in the meantime.
The first trip we did was the tour of the harbour. As it was still quite early we were the only ones on the boat so we had a personal tour of the calm waters of the Harbourside. There were quite a few seals swimming lazily around. On the high sides of the wharf were huge tyres hanging down, acting as bumpers for the boats but the seals also like to make use of them for a snooze. The locals referred to this as 'seals on wheels'.
As the bus took us over the hill towards the wine country there were great views looking down into the city and the bay beyond. Just up the hill on the eastern side was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which the bus made a stop at. The drive heading up there was beautiful, big trees lined the sides of the road and as we drove into the gardens the surroundings and plants were just lovely. Now these buses are double decker and the top deck is half uncovered so you can have unimpeded views all around. The danger of that of course is what we found out in Turkey when Jon was whacked in the face by a tree branch and blood spurted everywhere.
I sat under the covered bit for awhile as it had started to rain and it was cold but Jon braved it outside, being mindful of the trees, ducking every now and then as a stray branch went sweeping by. As we were leaving the gardens I came out to sit opposite so I could take some photos. I called out to Jon to catch his attention for a photo so he turned around towards me to oblige. Just as I took the picture, a branch came out of nowhere and whacked him on the side of the head. I still laugh even as I write this, I guess you had to be there but it was extremely funny.
We wound our way around the side of the hills in a area called Constantia where the likes of Maggie Thatchers son lived as well as Wilbur Smith and other notable folk whom I forget but the houses there were magnificent, the Dutch colonial architecture is just lovely. We had to change buses to go on the wine trail line which then weaved its way around grapevine lined countryside. Being Autumn the leaves were starting to change and were tinged with red & yellow. We got off at Groot Constantia which is the oldest wine making centre in South Africa having produced wine since 1685. The homestead was built in the 17th century by Governor Van der Stel and is the classic Dutch Colonial design. It now houses a museum and some of the side buildings also had information on the history of the place. Slaves were used to take care of the vines, pick and tread the grapes, a job that can't have been that bad. It is a beautiful vineyard graced with beautiful buildings, gardens and trees.
We decided to stay for lunch in the warm and cosy restaurant onsite after we had a wine tasting session in the cellars. It was around $4 for 5 tasting glasses which were quite generous so we thought we should have some food to soak it up. Trouble was we decided that the local Pinotage wine, described as South Africa in a bottle due to its unique grape (grafted from a Pino noir and another grape of which I have forgotten) was such an excellent drop we ordered a bottle to go with our lunch. I ordered a tasting plate which consisted of their local iconic foods one being a dish called Bobotie which is a curried mince with an egg custard on top. Sounds strange but believe me is extremely delicious. After all that we felt like a little lie down and a tummy rub but we had to get back and take the rest of the tour.
The bus took us over to the western coast to the Atlantic ocean and we wound our way through the exclusive suburbs of Camps bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay and sea point. The scenery was spectacular with the soaring mountains of the twelve apostles (actually 17 of them) on one side and the drop down to the ocean on the other. Buildings on the cliff side started from the road and dropped down to the water, hugging the cliffs for up to 10 stories. The roof became the car park as it was the same level of the road because they have been banned from building higher than the road and blocking the view. The cars that were parked on these roofs gave you the idea that only the very wealthy lived in these apartments.
We also took the sunset tour bus which went up to Signal hill, a mere 1,148 ft as opposed to Table mountain which is 3,533 ft to watch the sunset, knowing full well there would be no sunset but it was included in our ticket. It got its name from being an obeservation post since the first settlement and much like Edinburgh, it fires a canon every day except Sunday at noon. When this happens it booms over the entire city, causing tourists to jump and locals to check their watches.
By now the weather was closing in again and the mist had not really lifted from the mountains so our bus wound its way up a very steep and narrow road with a sheer drop on one side and giving me heart failure and then disappeared into the mist. We couldn't see more than a metre in front of us and as we listened to the commentary about the wonderful views and what we could see from there the whole bus was laughing. When we got to the top there was a howling gale and fog all around, giving absolutely no idea what may lay beyond. You were invited to bring a picnic up here and this tour was meant to be 3 hours long. Needless to say we were back at base within the hour.
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