Here’s the Cape Town group. We would meet up with eight others when we boarded the Zambezi Queen in Namibia. You can see Kathleen and I on the right. And yes, I can pretty much tell you who everyone is. Well, everyone I like ?.
As I write this, I am sitting in our stateroom on the Zambezi Queen riverboat. Today has been exhausting. We have been in four countries, and I can see a fifth one outside our window. But more about that later. Today is about yesterday, or actually four days ago. Does that make sense? (Editor’s note: It has now been four days since I wrote this, and the internet has been so slow that I have not been able to finish it. I have so much more to show you, so please stand by.)
On Sunday, the plan was to tour the South African Winelands, and if the clouds finally cleared, we would take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. Visiting the Winelands is, of course, all about the wine. So, today, Delia passed the baton to Gen, who is a true wine expert, having worked in both the travel and wine industries for several years.
Gen entertained and educated us as we drove from Cape Town to Stellenbosch. I wish I could remember all I heard, but I know I had a great time listening. She (as well as Delia) were very open about life in South Africa and about their own lives. We truly appreciated their frankness about a country they clearly loved, but not a racist system that is still in effect here.
We arrived in Stellenbosch and got out to both do a little shopping and to walk around the downtown. As you can see, I took a few photos as well. Then it was back in the “luxury motor coach” to head to our first winery, Longridge. We tasted six wines (at 10:00 am) from a Chenin Blanc (this is South Africa’s premier white) to a Pinotage (South Africa’s premier red) as well as a sweet dessert wine. All were excellent, although we have grown to love Pinotage.
We spent about 90 minutes at that winery before heading to another one, Lievland. There, we not only tasted their wines but also enjoyed a full lunch in their amazing restaurant. We stayed for at least two hours, having a great feast and another opportunity for all of us to learn a little more about each other.
So, here are my photos of our wine tours. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
A really fun sculpture in Stellenbosch
Loved this tiny sculpture on the front of a building
An entire store dedicated to one of our favorite drinks.
The entrance to Stellenbosch University
And a very dramatic church just as it started raining and I had to run for the “luxury motor coach”
Our amazing guide Gen. I have never known anyone that knew so much about wine. Even my buddies Steve and Bill.
If you look closely through this hole, you can see Table Mountain. Or not. It was covered in clouds at this point.
Our hostess at the first winery.
Pinotage
One of the things we loved at the first winery we went to was that they were training the servers to also…
…become carpenters. The ceiling in the previous room was all wine barrel staves as is this chair…
…and this table.
Another shot of Gen doing what she does best. Talking about wine.
The menu for lunch
After lunch, we were back on our “luxury motor coach” for the return trip to Cape Town. Throughout the day, we could see Table Mountain in the distance. The only major thing we hadn’t done since arriving was to take the cable car to the top. We kept watching it, but we were often disappointed because it was covered in clouds. Delia and Gen told us it wasn’t worth going up if the whole mountain was shrouded in fog, since the main attraction is taking photos of the city from above.
All day long, our hopes sank as it looked like the weather wouldn’t clear up. It hadn’t cleared since we arrived in the city. Delia said they would take us to the lower cable car station, as the view there was pretty good. But, surprisingly, as we drove through the city, the clouds disappeared, and we were able to go up! I’m sure you can see what an incredible experience this was from my photos, so I’ll let you look at them. They do have captions but you have to click on them and run the slide show to see them. Some are just views from the top.
The view from the bottom.
The cable car coming down to pick up us up.
They are round and they rotate so everyone gets to see everything.
Including some amazing views.
Of the city…
Our hotel in the middle of this shot…
Their stadium (big rugby match here the night before)
The rest of the mountain.
Lots of hyrax
They kept posing, I kept shooting.
Adorable but we hear they bite.
But come on. You have to take this photo.
More of the city…
And another incredible view.
Me being artsy at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
And the view from the side.
Come back tomorrow… or maybe later today. Our transition to the Zambezi Queen in Namibia was a journey I wouldn’t want to take again. Nothing bad, just too many border crossings.
Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. —Benjamin Franklin
Just a quick note to let you know we haven’t been eaten by a lion. We’re currently on the Zambezi Queen riverboat on the Chobe River between Botswana and Namibia. The WiFi onboard is equivalent to cell phone service, with all 40 people trying to use the same connection. This means uploading photos isn’t possible. I hope to be back on Friday with updates on what we’ve been up to in the meantime. Not all at once, but day by day. Stay tuned.
I am off for my third animal viewing boat ride of the day. On the first two, I took more than 500 photos…on each ride. Hard to cull them down, but I will do it. About to leave for my third, and the boat itself is headed down the river. I can look out our windows and see elephants, cape buffalo and hippos. OMG!
I think I finished yesterday’s post with a note about the weather, but something happened after I posted it that I want to mention before we start day two. We are on a tour with other people. Imagine that. Although we only have a five-day, four-night river cruise, this entire trip is part of an AmaWaterways tour. So, in the evening on our first full day, after we had checked into the Cape Grace Hotel and noted the weather, we had a very nice group meeting to hear from our tour coordinator, Delia, all about what would be happening in the coming 15 days. We also had the opportunity to meet 20 of our fellow travelers. The Zambezi Queen (our riverboat) accommodates 28 people, and eight others will be joining us for just the cruise. We won’t meet them until we arrive on board on Monday night.
We did have a great time meeting the group and have already made some good friends. It’s a fun group, mostly in our age range, and all American except for two Canadians from British Columbia. It’s funny how we always seem to end up with two Canadians on our trips. I will have more about some of them later on, as they are all really great folks.
Spiced Eggs with Feta at the Cape Grace Hotel
Yesterday started with breakfast at the hotel at 6:30. Here at the Cape Grace, the food is excellent. For breakfast, there is an entire room dedicated to the cold buffet and baked goods, and you can also order from the menu for your breakfast entrée. Who would have thought that my breakfast entrée was and will be again today and tomorrow, the best thing I have eaten on this trip? Not me. But it is! It’s called Spiced Eggs with Feta, but it was so much more than that. OMG! Can’t wait for breakfast again today (I am typing this at 5:17 am, so I am getting close!!!)
Once finished with breakfast, we were off on our first excursion at 7:30. We were in a very nice “luxury motor coach” that was closer to an Airporter-type bus than a Greyhound bus. Since there were only 20 of us, there was lots of room. Our first stop was Boulders Beach, the home of the largest colony of African penguins in Africa. They used to be called Jackass Penguins because of the sound they make. When Delia told us this on the way down, we laughed, but she asked us to wait until we heard them before making a judgment on how they sounded. She was right. I should have done a video so you could hear the sound, but none of them would make the sound when they were visible (not in some bushes), so you’ll just have to take my word for it until you come down here yourself.
So here are the photos from Boulders Beach. If you are interested in knowing more about this colony of penguins, you have to see *Penguin Town* on Netflix. It’s an eight-part series of 30-minute shows narrated by Patton Oswalt, all about this colony of penguins. Don’t forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE… don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
As the sign says
First one we saw. A mom building a nest.
And then it was penguins everywhere…
…all over.
A this finch that was singing such a sweet song, I had to take her picture.
I took more than 600 photos. Aren’t you glad I cut them down to this?
There is a story here.
Mom and young teenager…
who is almost as big as Mom.
You know how Mom’s can be, always pick, pick, pick ?
But doesn’t he look better now?
Up close and personal.
The actual Boulder Beach.
A large group in the water off the beach
A series of penguin antics going on below the boardwalk.
This poor guy looked like he was wanting attention and not getting it.
This one had found a hat that someone had dropped off the board walk. He was defending it from the others. It was HIS HAT!
Just another I liked.
And another closeup.
The lone penguin. Just sitting out on a big rock, all my himself.
Besides the penguins at Boulders Beach, I also took pictures of a few other things that I wanted to include. Here they are with all the usual warnings and such.
Boulders Beach is within a naval base and there are still some old cannons set up. I just was hoping these guys would not fire on us.
My one stab at black and white yesterday.
As you can see, the weather is improving. This rock out in the bay drew my eye.
And these are Rock Hyrax. They are about the size of a large groundhog and their DNA is closest to that of an elephant. Seriously.
As you can see from the photos, the weather has improved. Now it’s more like what we’re used to at home in the late spring and fall: rain at times, followed by beautiful blue skies. It stayed this way the rest of the day, and we are hoping for even better weather today with a little less rain and wind. One of the things we really want to do is take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, but so far, the winds have not cooperated, and the cable car has been closed since we got here.
Speaking of things that are closed, on our first day here (before we joined the tour), I had planned to visit Robben Island, which is the site of the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for many years. Half our group was supposed to tour it today, while the rest of us would tour the Winelands. Sadly, Delia had to inform us that Robben Island has been closed for over a month and is not scheduled to reopen until the results of a corruption investigation are made public. So everyone will be going to the Winelands today.
Back to our day on Saturday. After we left Boulder Beach, we headed further south to the Cape of Good Hope (which is not the southernmost point of Africa, it is the most southwestern point). It was a beautiful drive, and on the way we got to see ostriches, baboons and one lonely eland. Here are my shots from the Cape, including some incredible views, a cool lighthouse and a few of the animals. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
An intersting rock formation in the Atlantic that I took from the bus.
Kathleen letting me climb the stairs to the lighthouse.
What a view! So worth the climb.
Just as I got there, this happened.
And it got better.
I love taking a photo of people having their pics taken. The subjects are two of our new friends, Diane and AJ.
The lighthouse and blue skies.
And some amazing scenery.
Here’s the eland.
And a male ostrich.
And baboons
And a female ostrich. I had to put this in or Delia (our tour guide) would NOT be happy.
After our stop at the Cape (where we also took the photo at the top of this page), we headed back towards Cape Town, but first we stopped for a huge and very filling lunch. There was so much food and it was so good, that we ended up cancelling our dinner reservations because we were stuffed. They had black sesame ice cream for dessert, served with a small cake and panna cotta. Very interesting…and delicious.
When we returned to the hotel (around 4:00), Kathleen was exhausted, so she took a nap, and I went out to take photos around the area. There is a huge shopping and tourist complex, and I thought it would be a great place for street photography; I was right. At least I think so. Hope you agree. You know the thing about looking at my pics on a phone that I mentioned before…stick with that ?. And click the first picture and go through them like a slideshow. That way, you can see my captions as well.
Just a quick landscape shot to set the scene.
This is group of women had just taken a selfie and they were just laughing their heads off about it.
A small band was playing. This guy was terrific.
This busker was performing in a large open area with a crowd around him.
He has an AMAZINGLY photogenic face.
Every shot I took of him was better than the one before.
What a delight.
His act is balancing things on his head or in his mouth.
He is damn good at it too.
And that brings us to the end of yesterday. I worked on photos, and Kathleen napped until we went downstairs to the hotel’s pub for a snack and a drink. However, as I mentioned, the weather did improve, as you can see in the photo below, which I took of our hotel (in the foreground) and Table Mountain behind it. More tomorrow.
Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope, that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores. —Nelson Mandela
I am thrilled to be able to tell you that our second flight (15 hours from Newark to Cape Town) was wonderful in comparison to our early morning flight from Seattle to Newark. As my brother Steve pointed out in the comments of my previous post, some airlines are subpar domestically but superb internationally. United seems to be one of those. Here are some iPhone pics of and from the plane. Don’t forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through it using your arrow keys or by swiping. Since I took these photos with my phone, feel free to view them on your phone.
Our 787 Dreamliner waiting at the gate in Newark.
Inside the cabin. The view forward from our seats.
Maybe the best Business Class seat I have ever flown in.
The entertainment system on this place worked great. Note the storage area just below the screen. Perfect for iPhones, Kindles, glasses.
Small cubby with bottled water, good headphones and a nice place to store the amenity kit.
Dinner, course one…served in a very classy fashion.
Sorry, I ate most of the pasta before I thought to take a photo. I would fly them again just to get this dish. One of the best tomato sauces ever.
Once we were aboard our 787 Dreamliner and seated in what turned out to be maybe the best business class seat we have flown in, we were welcomed by their purser, who was wonderful, as was her entire crew. They handled everyone beautifully and were very competent. One of the things I really wanted to make sure and snag was a mattress pad for both our seats. We had heard (and it proved true) that there were not enough mattress pads for every business class seat. When I asked our purser (also named Kathleen) if I could get two of them, she said, “They are right up there (in a compartment over the seat across from me), how good a thief are you?” So I got the two I wanted, and they eventually turned our lay-flat seats into two very comfortable beds.
Seeing we had been up since 2:30 am Pacific time, we really considered skipping dinner on the plane, especially with the quality of the food we had encountered on our SEA-EWR flight that morning. However, we knew we wouldn’t get another meal for a while, and by the time they could serve it (turbulence had kept them seated for about 90 minutes after takeoff), we were hungry. We had put in a preorder for the pasta dish. My dinner started with a small salad and smoked duck. Kathleen just had the salad. They were fine, but the pasta dish was so good, it passed the Steve Test. I would go someplace for the sauce on that pasta a whole bunch of times.
Editor’s note: For those unfamiliar with the Steve Test…
I call this the Steve Test because my brother Steve came up with it. I think it’s brilliant. If you eat at a restaurant while traveling and it’s near you once you get home, would you go there again? If it were in your hometown, would you eat there regularly?
Keep this test in mind as we proceed, because I use it to rate almost any restaurant we eat at while traveling. And this is probably the first time I’ve used it on a plane. I might also go back for their dessert specialty. In Polaris Business Class, they offer a special dessert: Tillamook Vanilla Ice Cream sundaes. They bring around a cart with a variety of toppings, letting you create your own however you want. I just told them to give me the works. They did, and it was a wonderful surprise to finish up a surprisingly excellent meal.
Then it was time for bed, and I actually had a bed that would fit me and was comfortable. Kathleen was already asleep when I put my mattress pad on and turned off my Kindle. I slept for about six hours and then dozed on and off for about two more. The best sleep I’ve ever had on a plane. We also had breakfast before we landed, but it wasn’t as good as dinner; however, it was still quite tasty.
United must have done a great job because Kathleen told me this morning that I could book them again for international flights. That says a lot because there are some airlines on our Never Again list (like Virgin Atlantic).
One more note about the seats. If you ever fly Polaris (Business) Class on UA and you are flying with a partner on a 787, you want the middle seats in any odd-number row. As you can see from my photo of my seat, Kathleen was right next to me. The row in front of us had seats that faced out, so you really couldn’t see the person next to you. That said, I would never want our seats next to someone I didn’t know. If I were alone, I would get a window seat in a minute. Our seats were 7D and 7F. See the chart at right. All seats had direct access to the aisles without stepping over anyone like some Delta planes we have been on.
One of the things we’ve been doing on our last couple of international flights is that I’ve been ordering a wheelchair for Kathleen. She can still walk, just not long distances. In fact, she can still walk long distances, but it kills her hips and knees so badly that she sometimes has to sit the next day to recover. Since all the airlines will provide free wheelchairs from the counter to the plane and back again, I order them in advance. This has been a real benefit for me as well, as we get met at the plane, she gets in, and we are off. I don’t have to figure out where to go. The person pushing her knows exactly where we need to be and by when.
When we landed in Cape Town, the plane had to park remotely, and everyone got off using stairs… except the people who required wheelchair assistance. A truck pulled up next to the plane, and an enclosed platform on the back of the truck rose to the opposite side door from where everyone else was disembarking. We then got onto the platform. They lowered us and drove us to where the buses with everyone else were going, just outside passport control.
Now comes the best part of using the wheelchair service. There was a line that looked like it was going to take about 45 minutes because it snaked about six to eight times across a very large room. But our wheelchair pusher (a wonderful and very friendly young lady) took us right to the front of the line, and we were out of there and into the airport within about five minutes. We were then taken to the luggage carousels and found our luggage.
I want to mention that I believe United has the best airline app I have used. Not only did it provide me with all the necessary information about the trip, both before and during, but it also allowed us to track our luggage in real-time, so we knew it was with us. That’s impressive.
As an exact opposite to the way we started the trip with Welcome Pickups, our driver had already texted me where to meet him in the Arrivals hall. Sure enough, as we were walking through, he was holding a screen with my name on it. He introduced himself, grabbed our luggage and led us out to his car. Our wonderful young lady with the wheelchair got Kathleen all the way to the car before sending us off with a big smile.
Another thing that we have learned in our now 20 hours in Cape Town—everyone we have met has been incredibly happy and incredibly helpful. I want to say that every one of them has been downright joyful. I can’t remember a place we’ve been where we’ve been treated so well and with so much common courtesy and happy smiles since we visited New Zealand about 15 years ago. In fact, they are even happier and friendlier than New Zealanders, and that’s saying a lot.
Our Welcome Pickups driver, Tom, was a great example. He gave us quite the tour on the way in from the airport. He is truly proud of his city, and it shows. He got us right to our hotel and then helped us in, making sure we were all taken care of. Exactly what we have experienced with Welcome Pickups, except for yesterday morning (see previous post).
A tale of two hotels
Some of you may have heard this story before, but others may not, so I will recount it here. We are doing most of this trip with AMAWaterways. They have us booked for the next three nights at a beautiful, luxury hotel—The Cape Grace. It is the Grand Dame of hotels in Cape Town. Since we had decided to fly the night before our AMA adventure started, we would need to book and pay for our own room for one night. Not really wanting to change hotels, I called the Cape Grace and asked if they could book us in for one additional night, and possibly keep the same room during our three-night stay that was part of our AMA tour. The very nice person I contacted said, “Yes, we would be happy to have you here. The cost for the room is $1275 US dollars.” I told her that no, we were only going to pay for the one night, and that the other three nights were part of our AMA tour. She said, “Yes, sir, that is just for one night.” After lifting my jaw off the floor, we decided to find somewhere else to sleep on our first night and then transfer to the Cape Grace.
Initially, we decided to book a room at a hotel near the Cape Town airport, as this would allow us to grab something to eat, rest, and then move to the Cape Grace in the morning. But then we met Dave and Janine (our new friends from Trilogy who live in Cape Town half the year), who told us that the area near the airport was not the nicest and that we really should consider staying somewhere near the waterfront, where the Cape Grace is. So thankfully we listened to them and I got us a reservation at the Radisson Red which is so close to the Cape Grace that I can look out our Cape Grace hotel room window (where I am typing this) I can see the Radisson. And it’s not far away. Since it was pouring rain this morning and we had luggage, we decided to take an Uber from there to here. I took the Uber XL to accommodate all our luggage, and the total amount (with tip) was less than $5 USD.
The Radisson Redis the exact opposite of the Cape Grace in terms of style and vibe. The Radisson checked us in with lots of loud and happy music playing, an offer of a complimentary gin and tonic, and some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. The room was perfect, even though it was supposed to be a King-Size Bed and had two twin beds. We think that worked out better because we just wanted to crawl under the covers and sleep. Kathleen was out by 8:15, and I arrived at 8:30.
Speaking of the beds, they were very comfortable. The shower had an abundance of hot water and excellent water pressure. The breakfast in their restaurant was excellent. I even found two dishes I want to try making myself, and they were around $160 per night rather than $1,275. In fact, now that we have checked into the Cape Grace, I can see that the Red might be more my kind of hotel.
In the morning, after breakfast, I embarked on a quest to find Kathleen a hair-curling brush that she had found online and was supposed to be in stock at a drugstore less than 800 meters away from the hotel. I went there and sure enough, they had it. I got it, came right back, and tried to plug it in, but it didn’t fit any of the plugs in the room. It had an EU plug, and South Africa has its own three-prong plug. So back I went and returned it. They said that their other store nearby should have the one I needed, so I hiked a little further out to a very nice shopping area and found that they had it, but it still had a European plug. The manager said to grab an adapter and give it a try. He said that was what most people here did. We have tried hair dryers with our adapters before, with poor results. Hair dryers/stylers/etc. Draw so much power that they quickly heat up and then burn up adapters. However, the manager suggested that I give them a try, and if I have a problem, I should bring it back to them. I went back, tried it, and it worked.
We checked out of the Radisson at 11:30 and took that very short and cheap Uber ride to the Cape Grace, where we were checked in a very different way. Where the Radisson was all about happy-happy/joy-joy, the Cape Grace was all about being classy and sitting down to check in and whispering. The Radisson was more interested in getting us a drink, and the Cape Grace was more interested in taking care of us in an elegant way. I can take either one, but deep down, I have to say it was more fun checking into the Radisson Red.
Our room at the Cape Grace is GORGEOUS! I have lived in smaller apartments. Here are some pics that will show you what I am talking about.
The entry
The hallway 2
The Bathroom 3
The bathroom 2
The Bathroom
The hallway leading to the bathrooms
The Bedroom
The view outside where the storm rages.
Lastly–the weather is ghastly
So we are making the best of the beautiful Cape Town weather. Check out a few seconds of video I shot showing you the wonderful afternoon weather.
See what I mean. But as they say, tomorrow is another day. Let’s hope for a meteorological breakthrough.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. —Saint Augustine
I think I finished yesterday’s post with a note about the weather, but something happened after I posted it that I want to mention before we start day two. We are on a tour with other people. Imagine that. Although we only have a five-day, four-night river cruise, this entire trip is part of an AmaWaterways tour. So, in the evening on our first full day, after we had checked into the Cape Grace Hotel and noted the weather, we had a very nice group meeting to hear from our tour coordinator, Delia, all about what would be happening in the coming 15 days. We also had the opportunity to meet 20 of our fellow travelers. The Zambezi Queen (our riverboat) accommodates 28 people, and eight others will be joining us for just the cruise. We won’t meet them until we arrive on board on Monday night.
Once finished with breakfast, we were off on our first excursion at 7:30. We were in a very nice “luxury motor coach” that was closer to an Airporter-type bus than a Greyhound bus. Since there were only 20 of us, there was lots of room. Our first stop was Boulders Beach, the home of the largest colony of African penguins in Africa. They used to be called Jackass Penguins because of the sound they make. When Delia told us this on the way down, we laughed, but she asked us to wait until we heard them before making a judgment on how they sounded. She was right. I should have done a video so you could hear the sound, but none of them would make the sound when they were visible (not in some bushes), so you’ll just have to take my word for it until you come down here yourself.
After our stop at the Cape (where we also took the photo at the top of this page), we headed back towards Cape Town, but first we stopped for a huge and very filling lunch. There was so much food and it was so good, that we ended up cancelling our dinner reservations because we were stuffed. They had black sesame ice cream for dessert, served with a small cake and panna cotta. Very interesting…and delicious.
One more note about the seats. If you ever fly Polaris (Business) Class on UA and you are flying with a partner on a 787, you want the middle seats in any odd-number row. As you can see from my photo of my seat, Kathleen was right next to me. The row in front of us had seats that faced out, so you really couldn’t see the person next to you. That said, I would never want our seats next to someone I didn’t know. If I were alone, I would get a window seat in a minute. Our seats were 7D and 7F. See the chart at right. All seats had direct access to the aisles without stepping over anyone like some Delta planes we have been on.
