Waka Waka!!!!

Hey peeps and greetings from South Africa where I am meeting up with LWM for yet another adventure! Consistent with previous visits, LWM was kind enough to bring me some critical supplies for the upcoming leg of my journey, including the all important fruit and nut granola bar! Granola bars are the perfect snack on the go and impossible to find in most of the countries I have visited. As a result, I have made a point of requesting (ok, ok demanding) that anyone visiting me from the US must bring me a fresh supply. LWM has had the honor and pleasure now three times. Of course, I needed a few additional supplies for the African leg of my journey so I went buck wild with online shopping and had boxes of all kinds of goodies shipped to his house. Allow me to elaborate on what exactly I mean by goodies: 2 camera lenses (obviously I need a zoom lens for the wildlife), a sleeping bag (sister is camping for 54 days so this is a must), and some sunscreen (in case you haven’t noticed I’m a bit on the pale side). LWM graciously brought all of this for me so I’d like to extend a huge thank you to him for not only lugging a ton of stuff from the States, but also taking back an even larger load from Cape Town to the US. Three cheers for LWM!!!

As a side note, I have changed LWM’s name to Lottery Winning Millionaire so moving forward please think of him as such.

Now that we’ve got all of that sorted let’s jump into our South African adventure, shall we? Yes, let’s do that! Our first stop was to the V&A Waterfront, which was conveniently located only a few minutes from our super mack daddy apartment. It’s a lovely place to be with tons of bars, restaurants, and shops as well as this fabulous art installation made from something near and dear to my heart. Any guesses?

OK, I’ll give you a clue. Atlanta was the birthplace of the product advertised on these crates.  So, any guesses? 

Ok, in case you haven’t guessed it yet, I’ll give you a closer look.

Yep, it’s Coke crates and in case you didn’t know it, Atlanta is the birthplace of Coke. As you can see, LWM nearly caused an international incident by threatening to topple the Coke statue, but thankfully he did not succeed. Geez, LWM, way to get us in trouble on day 1.

We spent the rest of the day walking around, eating some delicious food, and then taking a little visit to Crazytown with many bottles of wine. I happen to love wine, but it has been either difficult to find or super expensive in most of the countries I have visited so I have had to go without. Not here in South Africa though. It’s wine mania here so you better believe that I’m going to sample as much as I can.

While imbibing the nectar of the Gods, we entertained ourselves with lots of story telling and of course stupid pictures. Here’s a pic of the puppet I got for LWM in India. Notice the nose ring. Hello awesome! I like this pic too because she kind of reminds me of Janet Jackson in her Rhythm Nation days. Work it, girl!

Throughout the trip LWM and I had fun with this little lady, who actually becomes a man if you flip her over. She generally made her appearance late in the evening after enjoying many glasses (ok, ok bottles) of wine.

The next day we decided to take the city sightseeing bus around town to get a better lay of the land. Our first stop on the tour was to Kirstenbosh, a stunning botanical garden that is filled with gorgeous sculptures, flowers, and breathtaking views of the mountains. Check it out.

There are also a ton of trails around the garden so we hiked the Skeleton Gorge for about an hour before turning around after discovering that we had about another hour to go with no water in our packs. Remember, we had a bit of wine the night before so no water plus another 3 hours hiking is probably not the best idea.

Next, we hit the Imizamo Yethu Township, which houses 16,000 people. Whoa!

While in the Township we visited Ikhaya le themba (www.ikayalethemba.com), which offers holistic care in an after school setting for children affected by HIV and AIDS. The air was filled with laughter and screams of joy as the kids packed the trucks for their big camping field trip. They were so adorable and stopped to give us hugs as they raced towards the trucks.

By the time we finished the Township tour it was late in the afternoon and we were ready to gnaw our arms off from hunger. Since nobody likes a hungry Tiffany, we stopped in lovely Hout Bay for a tasty seafood lunch. No eating meditation today. I couldn’t get the food down my throat quickly enough. Who’s attractive and feminine? Thankfully, LWM was equally as starving so he was right there with me, except of course that he takes ages to eat his food.  Ok, enough about the food, let’s check out the views.

We ended the evening with another fabulous dinner and of course some wine.

The next day we visited Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. It’s a creepy place that can only be reached by ferry. Prior to being a prison, it served as a leper colony.

Our driver was fantastic and gave us all kinds of fun facts that weren’t part of the official tour. The crown jewel of the unofficial tour was the story of this bus.

When Robben Island was turned into a museum it struggled to stay afloat financially so a fund raiser hosted by Bill Cosby was held. Dignitaries like Kofi Annan and Hillary Clinton were to attend, but when their handlers visited the island in advance to inquire how these VIPS would be shuttled around the island it was revealed that this bus was to be their sole means of transportation. The handlers viewed this broken down bus as unsatisfactory so a posh bus that was insured for 2 million dollars was purchased for the event. They tried to bring it by ferry, but that didn’t work so they decided to air lift it by helicopter instead. Unfortunately, the straps holding the bus gave out and the bus came crashing down into the sea where it remains to this day. When the insurance company was approached about covering the accident, the claim was denied on the grounds that the bus was never intended to be airlifted by a helicopter. Wow! So after all of that the VIPS ended up being shuttled around in this beaten up old bus. Cool story, huh?

Here’s a pic of Mandela’s cell.

The guides on Robben Island are former prisoners, making the tour even more fascinating. Here’s a pic of our guide showing us the approved meals for the various ethnicities. Gross.

That’s not the worst of it though. The prisoners had to work in the quarries without sunglasses, sunscreen, or proper shoes. To this day, many of former prisoners suffer from eye problems due to the massive amounts of dust from mining the quarries. Thankfully this prison is no longer in operation.

It was a pretty intense day so LWM were thrilled to relax with yet another fabulous dinner and ridiculous amounts of wine.

The next morning we met up with Amar.  

Yep, it’s the same Amar who I traveled with for 3 weeks in India. Hey, Amar!!! Welcome to Cape Town. LWM and I are excited for another playmate. Let the games begin!

Our next stop on the South Africa sojourn was to Simon’s Town, specifically Boulder Beach, to visit the penguins who live there. Yes, I’m serious and I agree that it’s totally awesome! The colony started with just 2 breeding pairs in 1982 and the penguins have obviously been getting busy, as the colony has grown to about 3,000 in recent years.

One thing I learned about penguins is that they are a monogamous species and take lifelong partners. It is adorable to see them hanging with their mate.

Notice how they put their arms around each other. It’s so cute!

It’s easy to spot the penguins that don’t have a mate. Dude, someone is in desperate need of a little grooming.

Oh no I didn’t…

Yes, I did. Sorry, but sometimes the truth hurts, man.

How about another penguin fun fact? You know you want it. This penguin was previously named the Jackass penguin because of its donkey-like braying, but since several species of S. American penguins also make the same sound, these Cape Town penguins have been renamed African penguins since they are the only example of the species that breed in Africa. Interesting, huh?

Of course no trip to Cape Town would be complete without a visit to the wineries so the next day LWM, Raj, and I headed out to Stellenbosch to sample some of Cape Town’s finest wines. Delicious! Our favorite wine of the day was Le Bouquet, which came from Boschendal, the 2nd oldest winery in the country. Another highlight for me was the cow’s milk white rock with apricot cheese from the Fairview winery. Yummy! I had to have a few samples of this tasty treat.

We got home right before sunset, which meant that Amar had to make a mad dash to his hotel before all the crazies hit the streets. Unfortunately, Cape Town has a major problem with crime and come nightfall the freaks come out in full force. LWM actually had a knife pulled on him his first night in town, but the assailant was only 14 years old so he was able to grab him by the wrist and avoid injury. Nice save, LWM!

The next day we visited the District 6 Museum. In 1950 District 6 was declared a white group area, and by 1982, 60,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes, which were later flattened by bulldozers. Gross! Prepare yourselves, as the next few pictures are pretty disgusting.

A quilt project was started once the museum opened, featuring memories and hopes from the former residents of District 6. Since the ink kept fading, they decided to sew the words onto the quilt. As you can imagine, it was pretty powerful.

After the museum, we attempted to visit Table Mountain, but the winds were too strong so the mountain was closed. LAME!!!

Here’s a fun fact about Table Mountain for you. Now, they aren’t 100 % sure, but it’s believed that Table Mtn is at least 6 times older than the Himalayas, formed under the sea approximately 600 million years ago. How ‘bout that? Another interesting thing about Table Mountain is the meteorological phenomenon they call tablecloth, which causes clouds to tumble down the mountain slopes like billowing fabric. Here’s a view of the tablecloth from our balcony.

Legend has it that a retired pirate, Jan van Hunks, encountered the devil on the mountain, and in order to save his soul, challenged the devil to a smoking contest. They stoked their pipes and have been smoking ever since. Since the mountain was closed, we headed over to Camp’s Bay to check out the spectacular white beaches and turquoise water.

We walked along the coast for several hours gushing over the stunning views. Some of Cape Town’s most expensive real estate is located along the coast and it’s easy to see why. I’d love to wake up with this view every morning.

At last it was time for sunset. Bring it, baby! I’m ready for my first Cape Town sunset.

We finished the evening off with a tasty dinner of grilled calamari! We had a calamari appetizer while waiting for the sun to set and it was so delicious we returned after sunset to hook ourselves up with the entree portion. I just can’t get enough of this amazing seafood. Keep it coming, baby!

The next day was Thanksgiving so LWM and I took ‘er easy with a little shopping around town. We were super fired up for our Thanksgiving dinner at this highly acclaimed restaurant at the waterfront called Baia. OMG, words cannot express how much I adored this meal. It was, hands down, the best seafood I have ever had. Our server created a platter for us featuring their signature items and every single morsel was scrumptious.

LWM surprised me by treating me to this seafood extravaganza! Aww, thanks, LWM. I will never forget this Thanksgiving dinner. I wish I was eating it again right this second.

The next day we decided to give Table Mountain another go and fortunately for us the weather cooperated. Yeehaw!!!

The view from the top is gorgeous and LWM and I selected the trail that offers 360 degree views of Cape Town. Love it!!!

After losing our minds over the views from Table Mountain, we headed over to the waterfront to grab Amar who was supposed to be visiting Robben Island. Unfortunately though the ferries were experiencing some difficulties, which delayed his trip by a few hours. If he had taken the last ferry he would have missed sunset atop Signal Hill so obviously that was a no go. Signal Hill is the perfect place to see sunset and since it was such a stunning day, it was packed with tons of picnicking locals and tourists who arrived early to grab a prime location. Behold, Signal Hill.

After sunset we headed back to the waterfront to enjoy a tasty Thai dinner followed of course by lots and lots of wine. I’ve got to get in as much wine as possible before I start my 54 day overland camping trip through Africa, right?

Sadly, we’ve come to our last day in Cape Town. It has been such a wonderful trip and I absolutely adore this city. The 3 amigos joined forces for a farewell dinner. Tears…

Bye LWM and Amar! It was so much fun hanging with you and I can’t wait until we hang again. LWM, safe travels back to the US and thanks again for lugging so much of my crap back to the States. Amar, have a ball in Kruger and on your African journey. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you at camp in case our paths happen to cross in Tanzania.

As for me, it’s time to embark on my 54 day overland camping trip throughout Africa. Seeing as I’ve never camped for more than 2 consecutive days, this certainly promises to be an adventure. Go huge or go home, right? Keep your fingers crossed that I survive. I’ll be in touch during my brief visits to civilization. Big hugs from Africa.