South Africa: Capetown

Howzit! (That is South African for "How are you doing?")

Part two of the South Africa trip! Capetown was a very bizarre and beautiful way to start the trip. I am not quite sure what I expected, but I know it wasn't Capetown. In many ways it feels very much like California - almost an African twist on the SF bay and Napa. I think I was hoping for a bit more of a jolt into South African culture, but Capetown felt very familiar to places I have traveled to before. After that initial surprise I realized I could spend a LOT of time here. It is a truly lovely city with plenty to do and see. I mean really - look at this place:

View of Table Mountain from the Capetown Waterfront

Even the wildlife is happy in Capetown.

Seal at the Waterfront

We had planned to go to Robben Island, the island prison where Nelson Mandela was held from 1964 to 1982. You have to book tickets far in advance so we were lucky that Lawson was able to get them for us. However that morning was incredibly windy so the boat ride and tour were canceled. We were able to spend some time in the Robben Island Museum which was fascinating. It provided a good history of the Dutch colonization of South Africa, Afrikaans history, the apartheid movement, and actions that eventually led to the overturning of apartheid.

The wind also prevented us from going on the cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain the highest peak overlooking Capetown. So what do you do when your carefully planned day gets hijacked by the wind. Clearly you go on a double decker bus tour!

Lawson and Lyndsey on the bus

Now we have this exact bus tour company in DC. I have spent many days laughing out loud at the tourist that would choose to go on one of the City Sightseeing Tour Bus. Perhaps it was karma working in mysterious way, but let me just tell you I am a convert! I loved every minute of it. Nothing is cooler then sitting in the top decker, its the ultimate one-up to cool kids on the back of the bus. We had a helpful guide and listened on headphones to very interesting tour. We saw tons of the city and learned a lot about other placesto visit while in Capetown. All I can say is get on that bus! It was awesome!

Capetown Beaches

On the opposite side of Table Mountain are these incredible beaches. Gorgeous houses, white sand, and crystal blue water. It was breathtaking!

One of the early lessons I learned about South Africa is that you can go from some of the most beautiful things you have ever seen to some of the worst in almost the blink of an eye...
District 6

This area is in the middle of Capetown and is called District 6. This area was declared "whites only" in the late 60's as part of apartheid. The government then spent the next few years forcibly relocating black families to townships and bulldozing their homes. Almost 60,000 people were forced to relocate - and the area had never been redeveloped, except for a very small grouping of houses. You can simply find huge fields of grass like this in the middle of the city where homes used to stand.

Lions Head

One of the other huge peaks surrounding Capetown is Lions Head. Lawson, Andrew and Nick hiked it the day before I arrived. The view from the top is supposed to be amazing!

Capetown from the base of Table Mountain

Sort of like this view over looking Capetown - but much, much higher! After our bus tour was over we headed outside of Capetown and into Stellenbosch (wine country)! As we were driving out to the vineyards you could see informal settlements like this one lining the interstate.

Informal Settlements

In Stellenbosch we stopped for lunch at Moyo. It was a huge restaurants with tables in tree house platforms. There were musicians, face painters, and a huge buffet of South African cuisine. We had a great time, but were fairly confident we just ate lunch at the Cracker Barrel of South Africa. Anytime your meal starts with a walk through the huge gift shop you have reason to be suspicious. However we had a fun and enjoyed the food. Below is the platter of South African breads (I guess the Cracker Barrel equivalent of biscuits and apple butter)

Lunch at Moyo

We then headed to Waterford for a wine tasting.

Its amazing how wine country looks the same all over the world. Is this South Africa or California?

Waterford Estate

They had a beautiful seated tasting room and are know for the chocolate/wine pairing. We tried chai, salted, and rose chocolate that they had developed to enhance the flavors of the wines.

Lawson and Andrew wine tasting

I was halfway through the chai dark chocolate and the Kevin Arnold Shiraz before I remembered to take a picture.

We then headed back to Capetown for an amazing dinner at Salt, the restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel.

Its hard to appreciate how fantastic the view was based on these pictures. Just trust me, it was FANTASTIC!

Looking at these pictures just makes me want to go back to Capetown. My short time there was just a tease. I could happily go back for another week.

View from Salt

If you happen to be part of the elite few that know Lawson and have the chance to go visit him please do. However, if you know Lawson then you should also know the months of planning he does for your visit doesn't come without a price. He will happily send you a 15 page itinerary with every hour planned - but you had better be ready to work for it. Traveling across South Africa with Lawson's new lampshades was just the beginning...In the next chapter we will start to explore the joys of Johannesburg and the most amazing Halloween party ever!

Andrew looks cool - even carrying lampshades through the airport.

Hope you are all having a lovely week. Anders is closing on the house this Thursday and we are so excited! Cross your fingers that everything goes smoothly for us! Also - forgive the lack of posts from Drew. He is finishing up this little project called a dissertation. Countdown to Dec. 11th!