Agulhas, Hermanus & Franschhoek.. Oh My.

After visiting the Cape of Good Hope, and the Penguins, it was time to head out of Cape Town.

We drove down along the coast, through improving weather, to Cape Agulhas – the Southern-most point in Africa. We were surprised by all of the houses along the way – there are all sorts of smaller towns and such along the way which we later found out were summer homes and communities. Some of these houses are quite large. At the same time, we saw a lot of ramshackle buildings that – on the outskirts of Cape Town for intance – go on for miles and miles.

We spent the night in the town of Hermanus, along the coast in a backpackers place – it was really nice for a backpackers place. They had lounging areas, a BBQ area, a firepit, lots of picnic tables, a bar, etc.,

Hermanus is a tourist destination as its bay is visited in winter by whales (though we are about 1 or 2 months to early for that). They are also close to Gansbaai – which is the launching off point to visit “Shark Alley.”

Shark Alley was our destination for the next day. We boarded a fairly large speedboat/small fishing boat and head out in rough seas (10 foot swells) for about 30 minutes until we reached a pair of islands just off shore. Similar to the Faralon Islands off the coast of San Francisco, they attract lots of seals and sea lions, and similar to SF, they in turn attract sharks.

The plan was to get in some wetsuits and get into a cage attached to the boat and watch the sharks from under water, but unfortunately the rough seas in combination with the 30 minute wait, anchored, before the sharks arrived, proved to be too much for our stomachs. One hour in those rough swells, with 25 people crowded onto a boat, just sitting anchored rocking back and forth – in quite large swells.. well… Neither of us was able to make it under water, and we instead spent the time on board in the “VIP lounge” (read: the front of the boat, leaning over the rail).

We were disapointed not to see any of the sharks up close but hopefully our future wild animal encounters will go a little better. Back on land we had some tea and eventually started to feel better.

Yesterday we drove from Hermanus up to Franshoek, taking dirt back roads most of the way there. Along the way we passed a great little winery – Beaumont Winery – this being the S. African wine region. We had some tastes and bought a couple of bottles before heading on.

In Franshoek we stayed in a really nice B&B and spent the afternoon chilling out. In the evening we went to a super fancy winery for dinner and had a great meal accompanyied with good wine.

Last night the rains returned in strenght, ensuring that we would leave Cape Town without seeing Table Mountain. Sure enough the whole drive back to Cape Town was cloudy or raining and while it hasn’t rained since we’ve been here in Cape Town, the cloud cover remains. We returned our rental car, checked in to our next fancy hotel (the Dunkley House) and aer contemplating what to do with our remaining time in S. Africa.

Tomorrow it’s off to Namibia – we fly to Windhoek and then rent another car for the drive out to Swakopmund along the Skeleton Coast.

Cape Town & the Cape of Good Hope

We’ve had a few more days here in S. Africa and things are great.

After writing the other day we went out for dinner and chose an Indian restaurant that was amazing.  Unquestionably the best Indian food I’ve ever had.  We both joked that that meal was reason enough to justify the long flights to get here.  Something tells me we’ll eat there again before the trip is up..

Yesterday we spent the day wandering around (more) in Cape Town, including a visit to the District 6 museum which tells the story of displaced blacks during the time of apartheid.  There was a whole community that was relocated during the 50s and 60s to make room for urban improvement – not unbelievable given the political system here, but remarkably similar to the same kind of efforts going on around the states as well.   The museum was well done – its displays were a bit haphazard which encouraged random wandering around the exhibits and created the feeling of discovery as you checked out the different areas.
We also followed a Lonely Planet walking tour of the downtown area, but it was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday.. The architecture was interesting though, as was the realization that this town is really not all that large.

Today we rented a car and drove down to the Cape of Good Hope (and the Cape Peninsula – or Cape Point as its known regionally).  It was quite the experience driving a stick shift car on the Left side of the road.. took a little getting used to and definitely taxed the nerves.

But the drive was great and we saw some awesome scenery and also drove through Simonstown where there lives a colony of African Penguins.  We spent some time with the penguins which was really cool, and then we continued down to the Cape of Good Hope.  Despite what I remember from my grammar school education, this is not actually the tip of Africa – that we will hopefully see tomorrow – but is instead the tip of the Cape Peninsula (and geographically not far from the most Southern tip of Africa).

One thing to note about the trip so far is the rain!  We’ve had really bad weather here, which is a little unfortunate.  We were expecting to be just ahead of the rainy season, but it appears to have come early this year.  Oh well.  It hasn’t terribly hampered our activities yet, but it certainly threatens to, and it’s prevented us from any sweeping vistas as the low clouds keep visibility to a minimum.  we’ve yet to see Table Mountain which towers above Cape Town..

I think we’re both also a little surprised by the feel of Cape Town.  I booked this early in the trip figuring it would be a good entry point into Africa and help ease the culture shock, but this is ridiculous.  It really feels just like a European city.  I think the next few days in S. Africa will bring more of the same – and probably Namibia as well.  It won’t be until the later part of the trip that I think we’ll start to get a feel for the ‘real’ Africa.

But… that having been said, Cape Town is an excellent city – one definitely worth visiting, for the Indian food alone 🙂 – but really, the surrounds are really beautiful, and a few days along the Cape Peninsula would be as great as a few days in Marin County.

Tomorrow we’re off along the Southern Coast of S. Africa, making our way back to Cape Town in a few days and then on to Namibia.

Frankfurt & Capetown

After an overnight flight from Detroit,  I arrived in Frankfurt where I had about an 8 hour layover.  The flight was great – an Airbus A300 provided a smooth, comfortable flight and 1/2 an Ambien provided several hours of sleep so I arrived in Frankfurt ready to go.

I spent the morning and early afternoon walking around town which I really enjoyed.  My expectation was that Frankfurt was all business – a rather dull financial city.  I was surprised by how different the city was.  There is a great waterfront along the Main river and pedestrian zones filled with shoppers and tourists.

The weather was perfect – about 75 degrees and sunny, so I enjoyed both a breakfast and lunch sitting outside people watching.  For lunch I had a Thuringerwurst with potato salad and a beer.  Excellent.

After walking along the river, I made my way back to the train station for the 15 minute ride back to the airport.  There I met up with Meghan who had taken a later flight.  The two of us eventually boarded our flight to Cape Town.

The flight to Cape Town was about 11 hours long, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take up the 4 adjacent seats that I was able to on the flight to Frankfurt, so lying down wasn’t an option.  I managed to get somewhere between 3 and 5 hours of fitful sleep, which just wasn’t enough.

Arriving in Cape Town at 5 AM, we grabbed a taxi to our hotel where we were lucky to be able to crash in our room for a few hours.  We showered and were out by 11 AM.  We’ve since spent the day walking around town, down to the “waterfront” area (touristy but nowhere near as bad as Fisherman’s Wharf) where we grabbed a beer and watched several military ships coming in to port.

Now we’re just letting folks know we’ve arrived thanks to the use of an internet cafe and then we’ll head back to the hotel before heading out for dinner.

We’ve got a couple more days in Cape Town and the surrounds before heading elsewhere around the Cape Peninsula and greater Cape Town area.   Tomorrow it may rain but hopefully it won’t be as cool as it was today!