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Our Third African Trip, Lekker, By-A-Donkey! #5848
05/14/2007 10:43 AM
05/14/2007 10:43 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31
2007 till now Hanoi, Vietnam (...
keno48 Offline OP
Traveler
keno48  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31
2007 till now Hanoi, Vietnam (...
WARNING, Long report follows. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/typing.gif" alt="" />
Yikes! We’ve been back 1 month already and still no trip report. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Blush.gif" alt="" /> Right then, begin report… this was our (Pam’s and Ken’s) third trip to Africa and our second trip to South Africa (previous trip reports are in the TTOL trip archives). The agenda for the trip (31 March thru 16 April) was to sight see in Cape Town for 10 days and spend a couple of days visiting with our daughter Kristin who lives/works with Campus Outreach in Johannesburg. This time the trip originated on Delta Airlines from Atlanta. The flights over/back were basically un-eventful but very loooong, Ohh, the sore butt syndrome. One interesting note, the plane made a brief stop (both on the going and on the returning) in Dakar, Senegal for refuelling and to drop off/pick up a few passengers and a new crew. Through passengers were not permitted to leave the aircraft. On the return trip, as we left Senegal, the Delta crew advised us that although some passengers may be part of a tour group and are therefore “traveling together”, TSA (Homeland Security) <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" /> regulations forbid people who might be traveling together to “assemble or congregate together” while on the flight. Say, Whaaaaat??? !!!. The insanity of “Homeland Security” continues, but then I digress…
Upon arrival at Johannesburg, we were greeted by our daughter and after a brief dinner and some quick catching up time in the airport lounge, (our daughter had some business to attend to and planned to join us in Cape Town 3 days later), we continued on to Cape Town via the local discount carrier “1Time Airlines”, a foreboding sounding name but it is your basic plain vanilla airline. No free snacks or drinks, but they are available for a reasonable cost on board though. We arrived in Cape Town at 11:30 PM the day after leaving Atlanta and ultimately at our accommodations at 12:45AM the following morning. Whew what a trip! Our daughter had arranged a hotel pick-up for us at the airport, good thing! We were booked into Whale Cottage – Bakoven, located in Camps Bay, just outside of Cape Town’s downtown area, on the Atlantic coast (www.whalecottage.com). The Cottage is a B&B affair with self catering facilities in some units. Daily breakfast can be arranged when booking, however we elected to have our daily cereal and coffee ration at our own pace. Lunches were taken during the day as we toured out and about, and dinner was enjoyed at the many eateries along the touristy beachfront strip in the town of Camps Bay itself.
OK, so, after the long slog from Atlanta to Cape Town you may be wondering, sooooo? What did you do? Well, we managed to see 5 of the Big 6 “must see’s” of Cape Town and its surrounding area. (OK, here they are, Cape Point, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Victoria and Alexander Waterfront, Robben Island, Table Mountain, StellenBosch). We started our touring with a visit to the Victoria and Alexander Waterfront. This area includes a mooring area and dry dock, restaurants, shopping mall, and a few hotels. Of course we just had to take a meal there and browse all the shops. While there, we booked a trip on the ferry to Robben Island for Friday AM. During the RSA’s Apartheid days, Nelson Mandela spent time in prison on that island and it is now converted into a tourist attraction. The following day we were up for more strenuous activities so we drove down the peninsula to Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope). Very nice drive along the steep coast line and since South African’s drive on the left side of the road, we let our daughter drive. On the way to the point we passed through Simon’s Town and visited Boulders Beach, a popular tourist spot because of its population of small penguins. After a quick lunch at the Seaforth Restaurant we continued on to the point and its lighthouse. We rode the funicular railway up the mountain, although a hiking trail was available for the hearty. I scanned the rough sea below where the waters off to my right were in the Atlantic Ocean whilst the waters to my left formed the Indian Ocean. During our time at the point, the wind began to blow quite strong. Back in Camps Bay that evening, the winds continued to increase as the evening wore on. All during the night we heard the wind howling. The next morning we were scheduled for the ferry ride to Robben Island, uh oh, potential for sea sickness big time. Thankfully, when we arrived at the terminal, the ferry had been cancelled for the day, due to the winds. The locals told us that the strong wind was to be expected due to it being the start of the winter season.
On Saturday, 7 April we were all up bright and early to travel to the starting point of the Old Mutual “Two Oceans” 21 K Half Marathon in Cape Town. Our daughter and her roommate have become quite the runners lately and had both decided a few months back that they just had to participate in the run. It was a wonderful experience watching the enthusiastic spirit of the runners as they crossed the starting point in the pre-dawn darkness and began winding their way up and down the hilly streets of Cape Town. We quickly walked up the hill to the finishing line and got there just as the leading runners were coming in to the finish line. We positioned ourselves near the finish line, and at the 2 hour mark, our daughter and her roommate crossed the finish line. Our touring continued with a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, lovely gardens, and a visit to Table Mountain. Looming large over the city is Table Mountain, a fantastically large flat topped rock formation. There are two ways of reaching the top, hike up (our daughter did this last year) or ride the suspended cable car. One look at the almost vertical route(s) of the climbing trail convinced us that the cable car was the best way. On top of the mountain is the usual restaurant and gift shop facility as well as a couple of pay telescopes to help take in the view better. Fantastic views of Cape Town, the StellenBosch wine region and the bay, including Robben Island. Naturally, our trip had to include a visit to the wine region. We arranged a full day tour with the tour company, Hylton Ross which included visits and tasting at 3 wineries and a great meal at one of the wineries, outside under some large trees.<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />
We had one day remaining until our trip back to Johannesburg so we opted to ride the topless red tour bus. This bus is a “hop-on-hop-off” type of tour bus which makes a continuous loop around town and the surrounding areas. Although we had seen everything we cared to see, it was a chance to listen to a tour guide expounding on the various areas of the city as we passed through. Conveniently, there was a pick-up/drop-off stop in Camps Bay, near the waterfront restaurants.

Soon it was time to have a second go on “1Time Airlines” and head back to Johannesburg. We spent a few days there visiting with our daughter in her “work environment”, touring the campus, the local area and managed to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. The museum is a very well arranged presentation of how Apartheid was initiated and operated. At various points along the way (inside the museum) there are TV monitors hanging overhead with continuously playing news videos of the time that help tell the story of before, during and after Apartheid era. We would recommend a visit.

Trip reflections: We enjoyed our trip, except for the long plane ride from Atlanta. Other routings, i.e. over Europe would likely be as long (overall flight time), however, there would be opportunities for breaking up the trip with side trips / stop over’s, etc. We waited until our daughter arrived in Cape Town before renting a car (VW Golf “classic”, essentially same size car as a VW Jetta) because we felt that after the long flight, driving at “Zero-dark Hours” on unknown roads to a place we have never been to before would not be a very wise move. Had I done more investigation, before hand, we could have included a tour along the “Garden Route”. These tours involve 4 days and have various hotel stops included in the package. Maybe next time. We found the prices for dining out, lodging and tours to be VERY affordable. While the initial price of R285 seems expensive for a very nice lunch for 4 at a beach from touristic restaurant, some quick mental ciphering determines that the tab is only about USD 43.00. Oh, regarding local currency, we always use the local ATM machines. We have found that you get a better exchange rate and yes, both the dispensing machine (bank) and the bank at the US end charge a modest fee, but in the end this is much less than going through the money changers.
During the past 4 ½ years as expatriates, living/working in the Middle East, many of our UK and Canadian friends had highly recommended Cape Town as a place to visit and perhaps buy a retirement home in. We concur! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> We were impressed with the Cape Town area and would highly recommend a visit. Oh, regarding the title of this report, “lekker” is Afrikaans which loosely means (Very) Nice, whilst the phrase pronounced “buy-a donkey (dankie)” loosely means “Thanks a lot”.

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Re: Our Third African Trip, Lekker, By-A-Donkey! [Re: keno48] #5849
05/15/2007 09:11 AM
05/15/2007 09:11 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,467
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
Traveler
Carol_Hill  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,467
Central Florida!
Thanks so much for that report! I don't know if we will get to Cape Town or not in the near future, although it certainly does sound interesting! We didn't have time on our Africa safari to get there, even though many of the other folks on safari did so. Not sure I personally will ever get to the top of Table Mountain, even if we do go though, as I have a 'thing' about cable cars! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Shocked.gif" alt="" /> Anyway, thanks again for the interesting report!


Carol Hill

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