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South Africa / Travel — 1 Comment
26
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 5: Cape of Good Hope

Saturday, June 26

Cape Town, RSA

After seeing the penguins, we headed the rest of the way down False Bay to the Cape of Good Hope.  There were all sorts of signs for baboons and Josh finally got to see some on the way into the National Park (Jeannette was taking a cat nap).  The old lighthouse was beautiful and we had a good time exploring around Cape Point.  It was SUPER windy (as will be evidenced in the photos below).  All in all, this day out on the Cape of Good Hope was a very successful trip for Josh’s inner child to finally see where Prince Henry the Navigator dabbled in exploration, as it had fully captured his imagination when he was a boy.  When we left the park, we decided to go home the “quick” way so that we could catch some of the Round 2 Uruguay-Korea game.  We were able to do just that and watch the second half at home before heading back downtown to watch the USA play in the second round.

Our drive from Kalk Bay, to Simon’s Town, to Boulders Beach, to Cape Point:


Inside the Cape of Good Hope National Park:

The old lighthouse:

Hold on to your cap, Josh!

Needless to say, we needed a comb after we left!

You’re looking at the southernmost tip of… Cape Point! (They have determined that Cape Agulhas is farther south on the African continent, though most Cape Towners still talk about the Cape of Good Hope as the southernmost tip.  When you remind them it isn’t, they say “Well, it’s the symbolic southernmost tip of Africa. They have no need for L’Agulhas. Haha!)

This is the modern beacon for the Cape Point.  The old lighthouse is no longer functioning.

A story of the bad hair day to come:

Looking North:

South Africa / Travel — 2 Comments
26
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 5: Simon’s Town & Boulders Beach

Saturday, June 26

Cape Town, RSA

From Kalk Bay, we drove to Simon’s Town.  Jeannette was feeling pretty poorly by this point so we stopped in at The Meeting Place for cappuccinos and tea.  This little pick-me-up did the trick and after a quick walk around Simon’s Town, and a pet of their beloved hero dog, we drove down a bit farther to Boulders Beach to see South Africa’s penguins (according to the postcards we bought, these are called Jackass penguins).  We had a great time walking through their habitat on the special elevated boardwalks that allowed us to get so close!  They had hundreds of numbered, little plastic homes for them, though some had clearly made nests in the brush and roots of trees.  As we walked back to the car, there was one penguin that had gone on an adventure and was exploring a drainage pipe out in urbanity.

Simon’s Town:

A hero dog:

Penguins at Boulders Beach:

Other birds at Boulders Beach:

Swimming:

Coming in from a swim:

Hanging out on the beach.  You can see here some of the babes aren’t so much babes anymore – they are losing their baby fluff in stages, some adult feathers and some downy ones in patches.  Ah the awkward preteen years.

Looking right at us!

Hanging out at home:

We watched him come out of the pipe, look around, and then start to head back in!


South Africa / Travel — 1 Comment
26
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 5: Kalk Bay

Saturday, June 26

Cape Town, RSA

This morning we followed Claire and Ali to Kalk Bay.  We saw fun wildlife signs:  “Caution Porcupines!” and just simply “Baboons!” Sadly, we didn’t see any porcupines or baboons.  We had an amazing breakfast at Olympia Cafe – Jeannette even grabbed a pastry for the road.  We walked around the pier at Kalk Bay before driving further down False Bay with Claire.

South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Cape Town Day 4: Kirstenbosch Gardens, Foresters Arms, Miller’s Thumb, & Rafiki’s
25
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 4: Kirstenbosch Gardens, Foresters Arms, Miller’s Thumb, & Rafiki’s

Friday, June 25

Cape Town, RSA

After yesterday’s long day, and due to the increasing intensity of Jeannette’s illness, we slept in.  We watched recaps of all the different soccer games on TV and then we filled out our World Cup schedules with all the updated information on who was playing who, when – now that many of the Round of 16 matches were set.

We decided to head to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.  Carol highly recommended the Tea Room, one of the restaurants on site there.  After we ate, we explored some of the grounds and saw some amazing South African flora.  It was unbelievable how gorgeous their flowers are, even in the dead of winter.

We met up with Claire and Alistair nearby at Foresters Arms Pub to watch the 4pm games, specifically the Brazil-Portugal game.  It was wicked packed with young people and a fun place to watch the game.  We all wanted to catch a good dinner before the next two games started at 8:30pm.   Claire & Ali took us to Miller’s Thumb, knowing there were no TVs, but enough time and super good South African seafood.  We had all sorts of good food: springbok carpaccio, kingklip, and cape salmon.  We headed right across the street to Rafiki’s to watch the Spain-Chile game.  For the first half we could only find seats in an outdoor, but enclosed, smoking section.  It wreaked havoc on Jeannette’s cold.  But we maneuvered for great indoor (non-smoking) seats before the start of the second half.  During the second half, two of Claire’s friends met up with us, one friend from childhood, and one MIT friend from Spain (so he was particularly invested in the game – that was fun!).

After getting home, we continued what became our almost nightly ritual of tea and toast or wine and snacks with Richard (often Carol or Claire joined us too).  Tonight we had tea and toast with Richard and while we didn’t have as eventful a day as yesterday, we analyzed the day’s games and Richard told us about South Africa and what the world event of the World Cup coming to South Africa really meant to him.  Over all our late evening conversations, we feel like they gave us special experience of South Africa and we really came to cherish our time with Richard and Carol.  We look forward to the day our paths cross again.

Kirstenbosch Gardens:

Josh really liked this sculpture – we saw it again later out near Stellenbosch College.  I think it is called Cheetah and Springbok or something like that.

Pretty flowers:

Guinea fowl:

Jeannette on the boardwalk that went through a more natural growth area, in swampy marshy spot:

Calla Lily!  One of our wedding flowers! (This is exactly 1 week before our 5 year anniversary!)

They has a lot of sculptures and nicely manicured gardens (though there were less manicured spaces as well):

This was a temporary building and exhibit:

The living walls:

The original avenue lined with Camphor trees that Cecil Rhodes planted:

A restful spot:

There were gorgeous flowers everywhere:

The weather was a little overcast in spots as we waited for the sun to come over the Mountain.  But the gray mist only made the garden’s colors stand out even more.

South Africa / Sports / Travel — 1 Comment
24
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 3: Netherlands v. Cameroon @ Green Point Stadium

Thursday, June 24

Cape Town, RSA

After driving back to the city center, we parked at Claire’s Dad’s firm on Long Street.  While we were waiting for everyone who had tickets to the game to gather, the two of us headed to an English Pub, 3 Lions, just around the corner for a few pints while we watched the first halves of the Slovakia-Italy and Paraguay-New Zealand games.  After we all met up on Long Street, we walked the Fan Mile to the stadium, stopping halfway there at Lazari at the Cape Quarter for dinner, care of Malcolm.  After a fun dinner with good people and conversation, we walked the whole Fan Mile (a lot of Dutch fans!).  We want to note here that the Fan Mile in Cape Town is much longer than one mile.

Once we were in the stadium we found that we had amazing seats!  We were right at the yellow corner flag, and two rows up from the railing.  Where we sat wasn’t as loud as the Soccer City stadium, but we were right at the corner where two goals were scored – and the subsequent celebrations were had.  Once again we were rooting for the African team, but most people in attendance were pretty stoked that Netherlands won 2-1.  We enjoyed seeing Eto’o and Robben play.  Josh spilled beer (a full bottle) on our camera bag due to an exciting PK in our corner – luckily Jeannette had the camera out on her lap at the time, so no harm done – but the great seats only served to heighten excitement.  Josh had also practiced his vuvuzela skills and was one of the better blowers in our section.

We all met back up for some wine to sit and recap the game together.  Jeannette had started to feel a bit sick for the last couple days and by the end of this long day, her cold had come on quite strong.  Luckily one of the people we had just met for dinner, and again postgame, was a nice doctor.  She offered some advice, and prescriptions if desired.  Jeannette decided to hold out for a bit longer (bad idea) but did snag a box of kleenex that was gone by the end of trip, along with a second full box.

By the time we made it home, we were feeling peckish and still pretty riled up and excited about the game so we stayed up and ate snacks with Claire and her parents, Carol and Richard, before hitting the hay.

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