South Africa, Part 2

On the morning of June 13th, we packed up our things and headed back to the airport for a quick 2 hour flight down to Cape Town. (We also spent 4 hours traipsing through the suburbs of Pretoria to get our digital camera fixed, so we could avoid having to buy a new one after having dropped ours earlier. Oops. But, after camping out at the personal residence of some tech guy we tracked down at the mall, the camera prevailed, and all was well.)

After our hectic day, we wound up just checking in to our hotel that evening, and then heading out for some Cuban food, followed by drinks at a local pub where a bunch of rowdy Germans were celebrating their win over Australia. Rowdy (drunk) Germans singing terribly accented and off key karaoke in English = priceless vacation memory.

The next morning we woke up to check out the first major sight on our agenda, the Cape Malay Quarter. This area was originally settled by people from Indonesia, India, and Malaysia, who were captured and brought to Cape Town as slaves. Today it retains much of its Muslim heritage and is known for great architecture and brightly colored buildings. Unfortunately, it was rainy and grey most of our first day in Cape Town, but we were still able to enjoy the neighborhood.

(The huge mountain in the background is Table Mountain, which we visit later.)

Later in the day it cleared up a little bit and we were able to stroll around town to enjoy some of the other sights, including The Company's Garden and some of the city's beautiful and funky architecture.

That night we attended our second live World Cup game: Italy vs. Paraguay. We joined the crowds and participated in the fan walk from our hotel to the stadium. The fan walk was a crazy spectacle full of marching bands, people in costumes, and general joyous mayhem.


Once inside the stadium, the rain started up with a vengeance again. Fortunately our nosebleed seats meant that we were way up at the top of the stadium under the small amount of covered area. The people with the really expensive tickets? Not so lucky. We stayed (mostly) dry during the game, but it was cold. Like hopping up and down and rubbing my hands together continuously cold.

I think Italy won this game. To be honest, since we weren't really cheering on any particular team (and because it was freezing!), this game was a lot less exciting than the US game. I expected to see some crazy Italian fans, but even they were subdued. On the walk home, we wound up getting soaked, but we warmed up with late night tapas and red wine at a little Spanish restaurant we ducked into on our way back. All in all a fun night.

My Russian babushka look... anything to stay warm!

The next day, June 15th, we had planned to take a boat out to Robben Island to visit the prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, but rough seas and high winds kept us land-locked. The good news is that the wind blew away the rain clouds and we were able to make a break for the gondola up to Table Mountain. There were clouds all around the periphery of Cape Town, but right at the top of Table Mountain it appeared to be clear, so we took advantage of what wound up being about a 45 minute sun break.

View from the mountain looking down on Cape Town before boarding the gondola.

When we made it to the top, we could see all the way down to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope. The views were amazing. We were lucky to go when we did because as soon as we got back on the gondola, the clouds came rushing back in.

Later that afternoon we headed back into town to watch another game on the big screen in Cape Town's fan park and do some shopping. We ran into this guy... see what I mean about crazy World Cup fans?

He was holding a phone up to his ear and kept saying "Hello, welcome to Cape Town" in this crazy voice. The tan, round objects to the upper right of his head (just above the soccer ball) are about two dozen eggs glued to his headdress. Amazing. And, because there just isn't an appropriate segue way, after that we went and ate an amazing northern Italian meal at 95 Keerom.

On our final full day in Cape Town, we finally made it out to Robben Island. It's about a 40 minute boat ride from the city out to the island, which originally served as a leper colony, and then eventually became a notorious prison where political dissidents were exiled during Apartheid. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years in prison in a tiny cell on Robben Island, where he was allowed only one visitor a year for 30 minutes, and where he could write and receive only one letter every six months. His daily routine included working in a quarry where he would have to dig up rock, carry it across to the other side of the quarry to build a big pile, and then once the pile was complete, he had to carry it back to the other side to create a new pile... and so on.

View from the boat as we were pulling away from Cape Town.

A very sad place, but I'm glad we got to see it.

View looking back to the mainland from the island.

On our final evening in Cape Town, we indulged in some fantastic Indian food at Bhukara. The dining in Cape Town is phenomenal... you can find cuisine from every corner of the world, and it's all amazing. Jason jokes that while he enjoyed soccer, I enjoyed the World Cup of dining. Very true.

On the morning of the 17th, we woke up to sunny, blue skies and warmer temps. We packed up the rental car and hit the road for a scenic trip out to the winelands. Our first stop was to drive all the way down and around the Cape of Good Hope (seen above from atop Table Mountain.) The views along the way were stunning.

Once at Cape Point, we hiked up to a light house at the furthest southern tip of the point. The Cape of Good Hope is frequently referenced as the furthest southern point in Africa, which we learned is not technically true-- that would be Cape Agulhas about 90 minutes southeast. But the Cape of Good Hope gets all the credit because Portuguese explorers once thought it was where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

Cape Town was gorgeous, but I was ready to continue my World Cup of dining and enjoy some fine South African wines. Next up, the winelands and our drive along the Western Cape coastline.