Sadly our last stop in South Africa.
At Lesedi Cultural Village we had a gimpse of the tribal past with traditional dancing followed by a lovely meal of local food.
We were treated to a real South African braai at Monique´s house (Chantelle´s mum).
Jeff starts the fire and Monique comes to check:
Carel (brother) does the coooking YUM!
We felt like part of the family as we listened to Carel sing for us after the meal.
Monique & Inez (aunt) –
We have just returned to Cape Town after hiring a car for 10 days to drive around the southern corner.
First stop was Stellenbosch with its lovely white Cape Dutch style buildings surrounded by vineyards:
At Bergkelder Winery after a tour and tasting we were left alone in the cellar with 2 bottles of shiraz, one of them being the 2007 Allesverloren (all is lost – named after the farm burnt down while the farmer was at church). A case of this is being stored for us here thanks to Katie and Chantelle. It is coming along quite nicely.
The next day we had an all day full on wine tasting at 4 wineries with lunch in between – very enjoyable.
We then headed for the coast where we saw another large colony of penguins then on to Hermanus where from the high cliffs we saw many more whales playing in the bay, very close to shore.
We spent a night at Swellendam with the many styled church:
Swellendam has a house with 2 clocks – one set on church time. When the illiterate workers saw that both clocks told the same time they knew it was time to go to church.
Mossel Bay light house:
Knysna, a picturesque town set on a lagoon with a narrow opening to the sea between high cliffs.
They have the best oysters in the world (and the biggest).
Many colourful little birds were building their upside down nests in a tree.
The Garden Route along the coast:
The rugged coast line and deep gorge of the Tsitsikama National Park
Giant protea:
Last stop quaint Montagu, reached by a spectacular pass through red rocky mountains:
We left Brisbane with just under 20 kilos each in our packs and spent a quiet day in Singapore where we were lucky enough to be there at Ramadan and in the evening sample the street food only available at this time of the year.
In Cape Town we stayed close to the Waterfront where around the harbour are many shops and restaurants with Table Mountain in the background. It was pleasant sitting in the open air listening to South African music while everyone around moved to the beat.
We took a mini bus into the city with lovely music blaring away and even the driver was dancing.
After a morning of strolling and admiring the old Dutch buildings, we visited the very interesting slave museum.
We climbed the hill to Malay Town where the flat roofed houses are all painted a different colour. Here we sampled Cape Malay food. YUM.
By suburban train we headed off to False Bay, getting off at the surf beach of Muizenberg. From there we began walking passing colourful old changing cottages.
As we continued along the coast we spotted 2 Southern Right Whales frollicking some 50 metres from the shore. We were so excited to see such gigantic animals so close that we stopped to watch. They were camera shy.
We hopped back on the train at the fishing village of Kalk Bay where the fishing boats were returning with the night’s catch.
The last stop for the train was Simon’s Town from where we walked to Boulder Beach to see a large African penguin colony, most of them were nesting in scrub high up above the beach.
We couldn’t leave Cape Town without climbing Table Mountain. It was a glorious day and we had a great walk up the steep gorge.
The view back to Cape Town magnificent.
