Prologue

Ever since Sandy learned about Africa in fourth grade geography, she has dreamed of going there. Well, her dream has now come true. Once again we joined up with Roberta and Elliot Schultz, and the four fabulously fortunate friends headed off to the Dark Continent. After considerable research and emboldened by the success of our self-drive Europe trip, we decided to rent a car and travel across South Africa for a month followed by a short excursion to see Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Chobe National Park in Botswana. Here’s the account of our African adventure. Enjoy!

Cape Town South Africa

Days 1, 2 & 3  10/9-11/06       Travel Days and Settling In

 As the sun settled from a cloudless sky into the southern Atlantic Ocean, the rays of sunset cast a golden glow on the 12 Apostles, the mountain range above our rented condo. The four of us soaked in this magnificent scene while soaking in the hot tub on the rooftop deck of our condo. Once again we have found a gem of a place to stay! The four fantastically fortunate friends are on the road again, this time for five weeks in southern Africa. We will spend four weeks in South Africa then a few days each in Zimbabwe and Botswana.

 Cape Town, South Africa is a long way from Boston. We left Monday and arrived Wednesday morning. Roberta and Elliot traveled through London while Sandy and Carl went via Frankfurt. We all arrived within three hours of each other, picked up our rental minivan and drove to our rented condo in Camp’s Bay, about 15 minutes south of Cape Town. Elliot really picked a winner this time; ocean, mountains and you already know about the sunset and hot tub. After unpacking we had lunch in a beachside restaurant that reminded Roberta of South Beach in Miami and shopped to stock our kitchen. Later, once dried out from the hot tub session, we reviewed our tons of travel literature and decided how to spend our remaining eight days in the Cape Town area.

 Day 4               10/12/06          Cape Town

 We spent the day sightseeing and shopping on the Victoria & Albert waterfront in downtown Cape Town. As expected, the tours to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, were booked so we made reservations for next Tuesday, ate some lunch and shopped some more. We found an excellent African craft market with quality merchandise where the proceeds support local people We then toured the excellent Two Oceans Aquarium and shopped some more.

After a break for ice cream we shopped some more. We drove home in an increasing high wind and fell into the familiar evening routine of downloading and reviewing pictures then watching the video that Roberta shot. Throughout the evening the wind howled outside, rattling the windows.

 Day 5               10/13/06          Cape Point Peninsula

 We all awoke a little groggy since the wind had howled throughout the night. After breakfast we hit the road headed south to Boulders Beach and the Cape of Good Hope. Our first stop was the pleasant little Simon’s Town where we helped support the local arts and craft economy. Then it was on to Boulder Beach, home of the African Penguin Colony (AKA Jackass Penguin due to their loud braying call). We watched and photographed hundreds of penguins. They were not too active since most were molting, a period when they grow new feathers and stay out of the water for about a month.

Soon after leaving the beach we encountered our first troop of Chacma Baboons along the road. We spotted about a dozen animals including several small juveniles. The excitement began when Carl got out of the car to get his camera out of the trunk. A big male baboon walked over to the car and climbed up on the hood and then the roof. Elliot had opened his window to take pictures before Carl shut off the key. Now the baboon had his head in Elliot’s window and he can’t close it since the key is off and Carl is still out of the car. We didn’t have any food in the car so the baboon lost interest and climbed down just as we got the window closed. An exciting and memorable experience, especially for Elliot who came face to face with a big inquisitive baboon. Next stop was Cape Point, adjacent to Cape of Good Hope. We had lunch in the excellent Two Ocean restaurant and took the furnicular up to the lighthouse, well, within about five flights up to the lighthouse. The views were spectacular though the wind was blowing hard.

 Back at the condo we watched another sunset from the hot tub then had our usual supper, photo and video processing evening. Tomorrow we head for wine country!

 Day 6               10/14/06          Wine Country

 Another awesome day. We drove to Stellenbosch in the Western Cape winelands about 60 miles east of Cape Town. Our first stop was Spier Winery where, in addition to wine they have a Cheetah restoration facility where they raise these endangered cats. For $10 we could have petted an adult cheetah but we decided to watch them from a distance. Also at Spier was a raptor rehabilitation facility where we saw dozens of hawks, owls and eagles. Three of us got to put on a heavy leather glove and hold a magnificent Wahlberg Eagle (Elliot passed). Next we headed for the wine tasting. For ten Rand (less than $1.50) we got to taste five different wines. The wines were excellent, especially the whites, and they cost about $4 per bottle. We then drove to Franschhoek, another wine country town. First stop was the Haute Cabriere Restaurant where we had a wonderful, gourmet lunch with some great wines in a beautiful setting overlooking a valley planted with vineyards. A little souvenier shopping in town and a quick stop at the Huggenott Chocolate Shop just before closing, brought our visit to Franschhoek to a close. The drive home took us across two mountain passes with great views. We passed through a nature reserve and the sign whetted our appetitre for wildlife sightings. Sadly, all we saw was one lonely weasel crossing the road but it was still an awesome day!!

 Day 7               10/15/06          Hermanus Whale Watching

 The four of us have traveled enough to be skeptical of claims in travel literature so when we read about the town of Hermanus and their claims of seeing many whales close to shore, we were excited but wary of disappointment. We need not have been wary. We parked in a seaside lot and when we asked the parking attendant if there were any whales around, he smiled and pointed over our shoulders to s small group of Southern Right Whales within 100 yards of shore.

All the whales we saw were southern rights. Soon we saw several other whales including one floating with his tail in the air. It was great fun to see so many so close. A few minutes later we saw a young whale breaching, jumping completely out of the water. We walked along the cliffside trail spotting whales left and right. After lunch in a seaside restaurant, we shopped a little then resumed our cliffside walk. As an added bonus, we also spotted a few life birds along the way including Swift Terns and Collared Sunbird. This was a good warmup for tomorrow when we go out with a professional birding guide for the day.