Cape Town Waterfront

Before I get into today’s adventure (which involved spending a ton of money) let me post a few pics from yesterday. I couldn’t find the card reader for my camera, so I only had the pics from my phone to post. I bought a new card reader today so here are a few photos I took yesterday with my camera.

The wind in this area is so strong, the trees are bent at this extreme angle. The wind actually comes from the opposite direction, but it bounces off the buildings and causes the trees to bend. I wonder how many years it took for this to happen.

Today started with a harbor cruise that was part of the 2-day hop on/hop off tickets. I took an early cruise, which wasn’t the best time as it was a little foggy, but it was still very nice.

The cruise was only about 30 minutes long but by the time it was over, the early fog had cleared, and it was quite nice.

Then it was time for a healthy lunch.

OK, so it may not have been very healthy, but it was delicious. Milkshakes are something else I tend to avoid as they’re usually more like smoothies than milkshakes. But I found a place called Gibson’s which has over 250 different flavors, including Sweet and Salted Popcorn, Rice Crispies Breakfast Shake and Waffle and Maple Syrup. Seriously, who does that to a milkshake? Anyway, it had real ice cream and, while different from an American shake, it was still very good. And, with tip, it cost a grand total of $5.47 so it was very inexpensive lunch.

After my shake it was time for me to do my part to help the South African economy and support local artisans. And, oh boy, did I help! I spent so much I got a fraud alert warning from the credit card asking if it was really me. Unfortunately, it was. But I got some very cool things including some jewelry (of course I did), a hand carved mask and a beautiful piece of artwork.

I had to ship the mask and artwork home which cost almost as much as the items but there was no other way to get it home. I could have probably gotten the mask into my backpack but there was no way to get the artwork home as it is about 24″ wide.

While recovering from my shopping spree, I took a short stroll around the neighborhood and found Somerset Hospital. It was originally built in 1818 and is still in operation.

Then it was back to the hotel to defrizz my hair (humidity is 85%) before meeting with my representative from Timbuktu Travel, Jonty. As you may remember, Peter and I first planned and booked this trip in Jan 22 before he had any ALS symptoms. Jonty was very understanding and flexible as our plans, and lives, changed over the next 18 months. He came to the hotel to meet me, and we had a lovely chat over drinks. It was wonderful to meet him after 28 months of planning this trip.

Since I had only had a milkshake for lunch, I decided to save the ham/cheese sandwich I made from the breakfast buffet for tomorrow and went to Quay Four for dinner. I had seen it from the Harbor Cruise and since it’s just around the corner from the hotel I thought I’d check it out.

The restaurant’s claim to fame is selling the most beer in a day than any other restaurant or bar in the southern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere is everything south of the Equator including 90% of South America, Australia, New Zealand, the islands in the South Pacific and the lower third of Africa. That’s a lot of countries. The record occurred after South Africa won one of their 4 rugby world cup titles. The Quay Four sold over 19,000 liters (over 5,000 gallons) of draft beer that day. That’s a lot of beer.

Tomorrow I’m off to wine country with a day trip to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The trip includes 3 winery stops and lunch. It’s a small group (only 13 people) and I’ve heard the countryside is beautiful. It should be fun. I’ll let you know.

Have a good night, everyone!!