Cape Town and the Cape, 2008

We are back from a wonderful trip! What great memories! I knew I wanted to go to Cape Town but didn't know why until we arrived. Cape Town is beautiful, and we spent two days driving around the Cape which is indescribable. The first day our destination was the Cape of Good Hope. It was cold and windy and easy to understand why there have been so many ship wrecks there. The wonderful surprise was the African penguins! We saw them close to the the Cape of Good Hope, and then on the second day of driving the Cape, we found a lesser known spot where they are thriving. Just a while after the picture at the Cape sign with Chris and I, there is a picture of an ostrich about half way up the mountain, and the baboons were also unexpected. Part of our second day drive we looked for and spotted several whales. Apparently they come up into the Cape area at mating time.

The beauty is breath taking and everything is so clean and fresh. It reminded us a lot of some parts of Canada. The vegetation was beautiful and the calla lillies grow wild there. At the best whaling spot we found, there was a seafood restaurant built into the side of the hill just below where we were viewing. We had a wonderful lunch there and were able to see the whales a while longer.

We stayed in Cape Town at the Mandela Rhodes Place which we would highly recommend to anyone. They have loft apartment units and a high rise with more standard type rooms. We had a loft with an open floor plan complete with washer and dryer. We went to the open downtown African market but Chris would only let me buy 5 more strands of beads. He doesn't seem to understand that I will be sharing beads with a lot of folks back home. Besides, Paige and I know that a girl cannot have too many beads.

The weather range was about 45 to 60 while we were there, probably mostly 55 to 60 during the day. This is end of winter there but I expect it never gets too warm there. On our next visit, I will vote to go during mid summer which would be about mid October.

Once again, I found it necessary to create two blogs since the Safari trip was such a big deal for us. It may get published tomorrow but not today. I have Val calling at 1 p.m. and have to leave at 1:45 for Mah Jong. So, tomorrow morning, I will try to get the blog and pictures posted for the safari part of our trip.

To view more Cape photos, goto http://picasaweb.google.com/donniedayp/CapeTownAndTheCape2008

We look forward to seeing you real soon. It's only about 28 days until we leave for the US.

More tomorrow morning!

Donnie