The end of the Garden Route Adventure- Days 5-7.

Almost Tip of Africa

Welcome to the final installment in the Garden Route Series!  Congrats if you made it this far.  You can find Day 1, Day 2,  and Days 3/4 hyper linked here.    Day 5 brought the longest drive in our journey, but some of the most scenic views.   We woke early and left Mossel Bay and headed to Cape Point.   We passed many coastal towns and one of the largest and most famous townships in South Africa, Khayelistsha.  It is the second largest in South Africa, with a population of over 400,000 people.

Khayelitsha Township

Cape Point

The Cape of Good Hope is located in the Table Mountain National Park.   We made our way through the park, stopping at several points to take pictures, our ultimate goal was the Cape of Good Hope.   It was incredibly windy, it felt like we'd be blown into the ocean.   Luckily, we arrived right before 2 tour buses and didn't have to wait long to take picture in front of the sign.

Leaving the Cape of Good Hope, Phil decided to ignore Google and "take a short cut".   This short cut in fact was a pretty intense mountain pass.  Luckily for us, it was two lanes and tar.  It could have been worse.  The views of the bay from the pass were absolutely amazing.

We checked into the Vethos Villa in Camps Bay.   On a previous trip, I had stayed in the business district close to the wharf.    I guess it depends on what you are into, but I would definitely recommend Camps Bay over the business/wharf area.    There is more restaurants, a grocery store (and the beach!) within walking distance, there's a red bus stop right there and a short Uber to Table Mountain and the Wharf.     I felt that in Camps Bay we had more access to activities and night life and it felt safer:  there was just a whole lot more people around and shorter walks to points of interest. Vethos Villa is nice, more of a small hotel/lodge.  The hostess was nice, the rooms were clean and stocked with beach towels and a full bar.  The bathroom door was clear glass, which was a little strange, but fun to harass Phil when he was trying to have private bathroom time.  There was a large common room that always had coffee service and light snacks.  The only complaint was that there was supposed to be parking and we were told all the spots were taken.   There was ample street parking, so it really wasn't a problem.

The first night after check in, we walked down to the beach to play in the surf and watch the sunset. Dinner was on the promenade at The Raj.   The Raj had fantastic  service which we have found hard to find in South Africa as a whole.  There was a large and diverse selection of food (including a large vegetarian selection) and cocktails.

After dinner, it was an Uber ride over to Long Street to check out the night life and a DnB event.   The club had a balcony over Long street, which allowed for some great people watching.  There's a lot of opportunistic crime on Long street.   From our vantage point we could see all the pick pockets walking around... the are pretty obvious from above.  Almost all have backpacks and either walk back and forth or hang out in the shadows.   There was also a TON of police but it wasn't really clear what they were doing.   They seemed to be checking bars, but maybe not.

Our morning began fairly early, taking an Uber after breakfast to Table Mountain.   We had purchased our cable car tickets in advance, but there as a still approximately an hour wait, even though we arrived shortly after opening.  We had considered hiking up the mountain- but heard/read varying reports of time and difficulty  I think we still would of tried, but I wasn't feeling so great when we woke up.   There are some trails on top of the mountain, so we did hike around those... which offered some great views and picture ops, that I hadn't gotten to see the first time.  

After Table Mountain it was off to the V&A Waterfront, which is incredibly crowded and touristy.   We needed to do some souvenir shopping and the V&A Waterfront has a market with upscale Arts and Crafts.   I had eye'd a vendor the first time I was at the market and was happy when Phil also picked the same artist, without me pointing her out.   The vendor we chose sells art made in the townships from recycled materials.   When we can we try to support independent artists or groups supporting the community, rather than just buying something mass produced from a tourist shop.   We also bought some small gifts for our co-workers and some carved animals for our living room.

Dinner was at the sushi place on the strip, which was okay, followed by gelato and a walk on the boardwalk.

Our guide was a political prisoner in the '80s.

In the morning we were off to Robben Island by ferry.   We were treated to views of whales breaching and the African penguin colony that lives on the Island.  The island houses the prison that held political prisoners, including Mandela, during Apartheid. Our guide was an ex political prisoner who was imprisoned in the '80s.   I read the Long Walk to Freedom, so it was especially interesting to see the places that Mandela had described in such detail.   Having read the book, I was able to whisper- fill in details to Phil.   An aside, I highly highly recommend this book, especially if you are coming to South Africa.   I gained deeper understanding of South African culture and history. I think it allowed me to really connect on a deeper level and thus enhanced my experience here.  It also gave me a good jumping off point in beginning conversations on the Apartheid.

After Robben Island it was lunch at the Waterfront before heading off to the airport.

And this ends our trip on the Garden Route!

Stay tuned for my reviews of Chobe National Park (Botswana), Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

And always feel free to leave comments or direct message me!

Wine in Cape Town

My weekend in Capetown Part III-  WINE!

Due to lack of planning and lack of time, we did an incredibly touristy version of a wine tour (The Red Hop on Hop Off Bus Wine Route)-  I may take my wine-ing  a little more serious when the Hubs visits.  Although he's not really into wine-ing so maybe there will be no wine.  As a team, we are more into vodka-ing.  Maybe there's a vodka tour.

I would like to find a really great pinotage to bring home to add to our  very tiny wine collection (I tend to drink the wine faster than it collects).   Pinotage is apparently the South African thing.   I've found some really great ones in the grocery store, but unfortunately none on this tour worth hauling back with me.

Wine:

Groot Constantia

We decided to go with the wine and chocolate pairing at our first stop on the "wine tour" because it was around 1pm and hey, chocolate counts as food right?

Apparently not so much, because 5- 1/2 glasses of wine later I was a little tipsy and I thought this pic of my feet not on a beach was the most hilarious thing in the world.    

The wine was okay.   I found the chocolate pairing, for the most part, pretty interesting.  For most of the pairings, the chocolate really did change the taste profile of the wine, bringing forward certain attributes.   Nothing I loved though.

 Not tipsy enough to stop drinking though, so off to the next stop:
Eagles Nest

We got "real" food and water this time.

Final Stop:  Beau Constantia

This Vineyard is really beautiful, but unfortunately no wine tasting here... T had enough and I had to wait for dinner for more wine.  :(   We did get to check out the "loo with a view" though.   That was pretty fantastic.

When we saw this, we were like what the hell, are there glory holes in this bathroom??

Nope.  Just a kick-ass view of vineyards while you pee.

A little wine buzzed and front seat on top of the drunk bus...err... I mean Red Bus...with Alkaline Trio blasting in my head phones and these breath taking views may have been one of the highlights of the trip.  It was one of those moments you have where you are like "Holy shit, how the hell did I get here?"

Addis on the Cape- Foodie Review.

Part II of my Capetown adventures, since my focus is pretty much zero lately and I get bored of writing in maybe 4 min.  I think my brain is replenishing neurotransmitters after an intense period of flow (aside:  Great podcast on brain performance and extreme athletics: Becoming Superman.  Steven Kotler's book, The Rise of Superman is definitely on my reading list.)

So here's a restaurant review and a couple random pics of food:

Addis on the Cape:

Ethiopian food is something I love, but rarely ever indulge in because it is generally hard to come by.  There are a couple of great places in Chicago, but they are up North and I hate driving and they tend to be pricey, so I only go during restaurant week when there's a set menu that includes the wine.  When I was searching for top restaurants in Capetown, Addis popped up on several lists.   I liked that it wasn't on the Wharf where all the touristy restaurants are located.   It is slightly off the beaten path. A reservation was easily secured through Quando, an online reservation service similar to Open Table. Our reservation was at 7:30 on Friday, which in retrospect should have been later,  since I barely had enough time to get all dolled up and the restaurant was only about 1/4-1/2 full when we arrived.  It didn't get hoppin' until maybe 8, 8:30.  

The ambiance:   A narrow, 2 story building.   We were seated on the second floor.  It was hot.  The AC was on, but not entirely effective.  It was okay, after we adjusted although I had a migraine when I left, so maybe it was the heat.  The decor seemed authentic to me, or at least like they tried.  I felt like I was going to have an experience and not just a dinner, which was definitely a positive.
The chairs were small, wood and cute, I'm guessing traditional, although I've seen floor cushions at other Ethiopian restaurants.   The glass circular table was covered with a grass mat tent top, which was removed when we were seated.  This all helped to set the mood.

The Service:  Our waiter was super sweet, funny and had rockin' dreads.   He was more attentive in the beginning and unfortunately, the service dwindled at bit when he got slammed with tables, which was understandable.    I was just a little envious of the explanations of the food and culture that the other tables seemed to be getting.   Overall, the service was good.

The Foods:

We ordered the set vegetarian meal with teff injera and Tej,  honey wine.   Injera is large spongy bread cooked on a special griddle.  The Wots and curries are places on a large circular injera, which soaks up all the gravy and good stuff.   You used rolled injera to scoop up the different wots.     The starter course was deep fried injera with 2 dipping sauces- one garlic and one spinach/ricotta.   The garlic sauce was amazing.  The selection of wots with the main course were also delicious-  a selection of dals, potatoes and salads.  Desert was a let down and nothing special- a selection of baklava or berries and icecream.   The desert service was special-  a tray with Turkish coffee in a fancy metal pot, popcorn and sage incense.   I just wish the meaning behind the coffee ceremony was explained.   I'm too unfocused to Google right now...but if someone wants to explain it to me in the comments, that would be pretty awesome.

Random story about Tej... the first time I had honey wine was when I was visiting my honorary big bro, Kelby, over ten years ago in DC.  I was relatively inexperienced in Ethiopian food and I dragged him there because a random Peta person handing out fliers on a corner recommended it to us.    We ordered a bottle of Tej because isn't that what you do, when you eat Ethiopian?   It was SO SOUR, but we thought that was Tej was about.  It's not... I realized years later that that bottle was totally rancid, but we were naive and ignorant and just though it sucked.  I'm glad I gave it another try because non rancid Tej is yummy.

Food Porn:

Starter

Main Courses 

Coffee Ceremony

Random Food Pics:

Stuffed Butternut Squash at Karabi

Little cat in a moon-heart with a little thought bubble.

Enough for this post... stay tuned for my review of Capetown Vineyards!

Butt Rubs and Weekend Getaways.

I've lost track of the week count.  13, 14 15?

My shoulder's been sore and in general the hard hotel bed and non-magical pillows and my increasing old lady status are wrecking havoc on my back.    So my co-worker, P, and I had some girly R&R spa time.    We scheduled 90 minute Thai Messages - hers an herbal compression massage and mine, a Traditional Aroma Message.  I've had a few messages during my travels in Thailand, but they must of white-ed it up for me, because this was a somewhat different experience.    P tried to warn me that it may be "invasive" and that she booked us separate rooms, because we weren't to "that point" in our relationship yet.   We arrived.  The spa was nice, clean, almost over the top decorated to look like a "Thai spa retreat".   I was given slippers and a robe to change into, which in the US, normally you just get nekkid and crawl under the sheet and most of the traditional massages I had in Thailand I wore a pajama type outfit that was provided.   I changed into the robe and waited for my therapist, who was a tiny Thai lady.   She immediately yanked my robe off, leaving me awkwardly standing there topless in my grannie panties.   Fortunately, for you, my readers, the awkwardness does not end there. So now, I'm under some towels face down and she washes my feet.. my feet were probably gross, so okay.  But it tickled SO MUCH.   So, I started screaming in laughter.   Next,she busted out the oil, which I knew was coming, but for those who know about my sensitives, it was a little torturous at first.  And the reason I went with the oil was the aroma part...which there was no aroma.  I adjusted until she worked up my legs and yanked my grannie panties down and hello, ass crack to the sky.  I tensed so hard, she asked if I was okay.  I went with it and got the most intense butt rub, I've ever gotten with forearm use and everything.  Actually, I'm not sure I've ever gotten a professional butt rub before unless it was running injury related.  It seemed to last forever, but eventually (thankfully) ended and she moved on to (literally, on to) my back during which she surprised me by grabbing my wrists and yanking me hard backwards throwing the towel off and almost putting the crown of my head to my back...., which may or may not have caused me to pass gas. Loudly. While she was sitting on my back.   I'm not actually admitting this happened, but in a case where it had, the therapist's response would have been "Sign Good Massage:  Toot, toot, toot!!"   In this hypothetical situation,  it would be the first  thing I would have rushed out to tell P, if this had actually happened, which I'm still not admitting it has.

Due to the massage and work overload lately, I've had a few very fatigued for a few days in a row.   Luckily, we had a a pretty low key weekend getaway in Cape Town.   Overall, it was nice, very rich-y, resort-y, lacking  the cultural grittiness of Durban and very much like most resort cities I've been to.  Phil and I will be back in a few weeks and I hope to check out some of the more historic places that make Capetown, Capetown, more of the nature stuff and less of the touristy stuff.

So Capetown Part I- because I'm too unmotivated to upload it all tonight...

The main attraction:  Table Mountain.   You can hike 2.5 hours up (Phil and I will), but T and I took the cable car up.

Arrival.  Oh, hello mountain.

Yay!  Mountain open.   

Views

Park on the table top

Views

Scrunchie face selfie on top of the table

 

clouds rollin' in

Stay tuned for more Capetown goodness this week....