We liked Cape Town a lot and we have both said we would very readily come back. What a great seaside holiday destination - plus! It's unique for sure. A bit like Sydney but not really, nothing like any of the few US cities we visited. But perhaps it's more like the East of the US: John and Coral can tell us. It's certainly a city of great contrasts. The haves and the have nots writ large. The poverty in Langa township was startling but what big smiles most seemed to have with, perhaps, a sadness deep down.
Compare these people with those at the Waterfront, yachting, eating, conferencing and painting the clock tower yellow to celebrate Cape Town's designation as International Design City of the Year.
Already we have encountered more wildlife than on our two previous trips combined.
A rather blurry picture of these baboons was grabbed from the car window on our way down to the Cape of Good Hope. Just saying the name of this place, one heard throughout school years and since, sends shivers down the spine. The corny shot just has to be taken:
Apart from this it's a very beautiful and unspoilt place. Cape Point was more commercialised but still very tastefully done - look and learn Lands End!
Two other ports of call were on the recommendation of Mike and Harriet Kendrick, (son and daughter in law of very old friends of Keith's mum and dad, who live in Cape Town and with whom we spent a really delightful evening). We had already planned to go to Hermanus to whale watch but they gave us some other tips for that which were perfect. And see whales we most certainly did.
Extraordinarily mesmerising creatures. Vast grey hulks looking for all the world like submarines trying to decide whether to submerge or surface. There were adults with calves and we spent hours watching them roll and wallow in the shallows mere metres away from us. Stunning.
And one place we might not have gone to had they not assured us it was worth it was Kirstenbosch Gardens which were absolutely wonderful. It was here we saw this eagle owl:
And now we're off to Ernie Els restaurant, The Big Easy, in Stellenbosch.
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