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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 / 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.

South Africa / Travel — Comments Off on Cape Town Day 3: Breakfast in Vredehoek
24
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 3: Breakfast in Vredehoek

Thursday, June 24

Cape Town, RSA

We had big plans for our third day in Cape Town, and as such needed to break up the day’s post up into four smaller, more consumable posts.  We started our day off in Vredehoek for breakfast with Claire at a cool little cafe, the Sidewalk Cafe.  Vredehoek is a beautiful suburb of Cape Town with quaint houses right on the slopes of Table Mountain, just off to the side of the city center.  We had a delicious (and large!) breakfast before heading off to do Table Mountain.

Vredehoek, looking back to city center:

Vredehoek, with Lion’s Head in the Background:

Jeannette & Claire, after a yummy breakfast:

The Sidewalk Cafe, with Table Mountain National Park behind:

Sidewalk Cafe:

South Africa / Travel — 2 Comments
22
Jun 10

Cape Town Day 1: Old Friends, Waterfront & Long Street

Tuesday, June 22

Cape Town, RSA

Claire, our friend and Josh’s classmate from MIT, met us at the airport when we landed.  It was so good to see our old friend!  We picked up our rental car and we followed Claire to her folks’ house.  This was Josh’s first time driving on the left hand side of the road and it was so nice to just be able to play “follow the leader” and stay behind Claire.  We quickly met Carol, Claire’s mom, and dropped off our bags.  Claire took us to where Alistair (sooo good to see Alistair again too!) was already set up at the NeoAfrica tent FanFest near the waterfront.  We met some of their friends and watched South Africa play France.  They won (yay!) but sadly didn’t advance to the next round.  Alistair and Claire took us straight over to Alba after the game to have drinks with a gorgeous waterfront view.  Then we headed to Long Street for South African-style tapas at Fork.  We had an AMAZING dinner with South African wine, ostrich and kudu.  We walked down Long Street after dinner and soaked in the ambiance of the revelers, before heading into The Waiting Room, a bar with amazing views of Table Mountain.

Bafana Bafana:

Fork (photo taken a few days later):

Long Street Revelers:

Claire & Josh at The Waiting Room:


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