We arrived to Cape Town Monday at around 1 pm. We rented a car. Matt had a hard time at first staying in the lines while driving on the left. Then we got to our hotel the protea Marriott wharf. We had an upgrade due to our honeymoon in a two bedroom suite with champagne , snacks, and a heart of candy on our bed. We went to the V&A waterfront which is a big area in a wharf w food and entertainment. We ate at the food market which was hands down amazing. All different kinds of food shops! Matt got a lamb burrito and I got calamari. I said I could live in there! Then we drove up to to blouberg beach which gives another view of table mountain. Spectacular. There were kite boarders everywhere which added to the beauty. We got a drink at the ons huisie which is an old beachfront restaurant. We drove back to camps bay- a trendy beach area which is reminiscent of miamis restaurant strip. There were "car guards " which seems to be common but what the guidebooks didn't warn about- basically panhandlers dressed in official vests saying they will watch your car if you pay. At first we were confused bc they looked official and do we need to pay for parking? We asked a local and they said parking was free. Ugh. So we then went to the codfather a seafood restaurant with a unique concept - no menu just pick the fresh seafood from the glass box and they cook it for you and give you a side and dipping sauce. They also had a rotating sushi tray where we picked out sushi. So we got two kinds of tiger prawns, swordfish, and white fish. With wine the whole meal was like 50 bucks for us. Yay! We were exhausted when we got home from our extremely long day
Day 2: woke up early to go on the move. Ate breakfast at our hotel, then walked about a mile to Truth coffee. Such a unique steampunk motif. Wish we would have eaten there. Then we went to the district six museum which was very sad. Basically a lot of black and colored people ( this means mixed race and is PC to say in South Africa) lived here and were forced to leave in 1966. Their homes and stores were then demolished to make way for a white community. How utterly horrible. Now there is a big movement for restitution and some have gotten land back or the equivalent of 1000$. There is a push to make it a national heritage site or else more things could be damaged. There were former residents in the museum talking. Very cool albeit heartbreaking. In the same vein we visited the Bo Kaap museum where it was a big Muslim neighborhood and people were also ousted from it but still people were able to live there. We walked through greenmarket square which reminded me of squares in Europe. We then drove a bit to a cute shops area with a tall old steel mill - at the top was the pot luck club which I was able to book for lunch ( sister restaurant of test kitchen which was booked 6 months out!) the food was phenomenal as well as the view. Everything we ate I almost licked the plate. They even gave us a cute honeymoon desert. The plan that day was to climb table mountain but it was closed due to high winds. The winds were out of this world. I don't think I've felt those for a long time. Glad I wore a dress...not. So we then drove to kirstenbosch gardens which were large and lovely at the base of T mountain with lots of trees and hills. Then to Hout Bay which was cute but not much there and the winds were burying cars in the sands. We had a cup of chowder and then high tailed it towards the city to try the most famous winery groot Constantia- very good reds. We had time to kill before dinner ( had went earlier to try to change the reservation but couldn't by much) so we wandered around the vineyards and took a nap in the grass. The restaurant Greenhouse at the cellars honebert was great. In a fabulously decorated house ( I find that a lot of these fancy restaurants feel like a rich house ). We went all out and got the 7 course tasting menu. Was superb and by many standards the service was great but for that caliber it was a bit lacking and towards the end the courses took a while. I've been sick and was almost falling asleep at the table so I felt bad about it. My favorite parts of the menu were the balsamic butter, the little towels that enlarged when put in water, the bread that sat and rose at the table, the salty seafood spoon w fish eggs, the cheeses served at different degrees of formations, the organic beef and the mango dessert. Also the wine pairings were good as well.Overall a good and packed day.
Day 3: decided not to climb table mountain and instead start driving to the cape of good hope which was in a national park. The actual spot was just a plaque but the ocean water was a pure blue. We climbed to the cape point lighthouse and the winds were really blowing! It was a tough climb. We then headed to boulders beach. Ate at the lodge which was cheap seafood platters. Then went around to see the Penguins. You had to pay which was annoying. They were plentiful and very cute. Apparently mating season was just over so some fuzzy older chicks. They were jackass penguins but we didn't get to hear them bray. Then we drove to Simons town which was unremarkable, then to fish hoek - nice beach, just had a drink, then Muizenberg beach w the cute colored houses and walked around, finally to kalk bay for some cute shops ( bought a penguin print). We ate at harbor house kalk bay which was touristy but great views of the harbor complete with sea lions ( they were near the fishing pier too). Our waiter was very outgoing so he convinced us to do a bottle of their nice wine. We also did 12 giant oysters, then Matt had the kingflip fish and I had the Mozambique prawns . We had passion fruit and mango sorbet and coffee. All that plus tax and tip:80$! The wine alone would have cost that much in the US probably. I love the rand conversion here. Very nice views and great time and got back in time to pack
Day 4: got up early to head to the waterfront for Robbens island ferry. This is where political prisoners were kept including Nelson Mandela. The ferry was an hour and we saw seals, whales, and Dolphins. Once at the island we took a bus around- 230 people still live there but not really any stores or even a school ( kids take boat to cape town). There are penguins that live there. We heard stories about prisoners such as the man who lived in solitude for 6 years. We then went to the actual prison which had been closed since 1991 and saw mandelas cell. The most moving and interesting part was that our guide was a former political prisoner. Jailed at age 24 for about 7 years and initially tortured it was crazy to hear his story even pointing out the bed that he slept on. It was crazy too even though the prison was for non white people only black people got even worse treatment including less food and no shoes. We met some interesting people on the boat including a flight attendant from Ireland and a bunch of doctors from northwestern. We then had to go to the rugby store as Matt hadddd to have a springbok team jersey. Luckily they had one left in his size and it was cheap! ( jersey for 18$ in the states =unheard of) we then hightailed it over to Devils peak brewery as I'm sure Matt wanted to try at least one brewery here. Food was good ( duck sliders and Caesar salad) and beers were good too. I love breweries that have good food. Something we can both enjoy! Interestingly they had a flier advertising a 3 day camp for home brewers. Matt was so interested bc usually these are for newbies but this was for the experienced and talked about food pairings, trouble shooting, and the business side of it. Wish we had that in the states for him! We then headed towards wine lands and started at Morganstar but they were closed early for a book signing. We then headed to verglegland where we had some great wines. The wineries are all on beautiful grounds. They close on the earlier side and I get the feeling they like to lock up fast. So we went to one last one rust en vrede which was very classy and they only let us do the signature tasting of their two best wines bc they said we didn't have time (15 mins). Honestly if they didn't babble about the wine and with such airs we would finish faster than all these people on their last pairings! I kind of enjoy hearing about the wines but really just want to taste and decide for myself - along w reading the lit provided. We then headed to cavalli which the owner has a horse fetish lol and is also an architect so she designed the place and named the wines after horse stuff ie Pink Pony. The wines were meh but the atmosphere was great. The grounds and stables were obviously designed by an architect very chic. Ha I love that while we were parking one of the guards gestured to Matt saying that he was speeding and his boss saw from the window. Matt's like , so I can't come in? And he's like no it's fine, so we were confused why he even brought it up as we were parking. Meh. Then we went to 96 winery road for dinner. It looked very friendly and is apparently where a lot of people in the wine industry dine. We got artichoke salad and broccoli soup and I got tagliatelle with fresh veggies and Matt had the duck and cherry pie. At this point I wasn't feeling well but wasn't sure why. I really didn't have much wine and didn't feel drunk but I felt very nauseous. I had to leave the building at one point. I made Matt hurry up and we got back to our room. We are staying at the Blaauweim house (b&b) super cute w friendly owners. I tried to go to sleep as we had shark diving in the AM. I could not do it and eventually had some severe vomiting and fever. It kept me up all night. We had to cancel shark diving but they are able to reschedule on Sunday. I was really sad bc we had to cancel our private winery driver. Wah.
Day 5: fever stopped and I got some sleep. We had breakfast In the AM it was really good fruit but couldn't eat much. The owners had been worried about us as we had told them our plans and our car was still here. I took it slow in the morning. We drove out an hour to Betty's bay which has a penguin colony. They were very active. There was almost more than in boulders beach. I also saw a hyrax. The drive was beautiful. We then drove a different way back and into stellenbosch. At this point even though I didn't feel like eating I felt hungry so we found this pizza place la romantica on the side of road. Everyone there was drinking and smoking- like do they eat? And why weren't they at work? We then went to some wine tastings. I had a few sips of Matt's. We went to Warwick where I fell in love w this wine Called trilogy. Some moms were letting their kids run around half naked and playing in fountains. I feel like European parenting is more lax and kids are allowed to annoy patrons. We then went to kanokop winery (cannon motif) which was very regal. They let you walk around the wine production by yourself and over catwalks and such very cool. The wines were good- they win awards for their pinotage and they sell at binnys. The wine man was very nice and he talked about living in Cape Town and traveling around Africa. He waived our tasting fee. We met another couple from Chicago honeymooning. There was a cute little ( well mean and growly) Scottie dog that laid under our car tire. I feel like people here let their dogs run amok I'm always worried we will hit them ( the schnauzer at our guest house named Rafiki!!) we then went to morgenhof winery which was nice but unremarkable. I feel like these wineries are usually nicer than Napa ones in terms of decor, motifs , and grounds . And there are more of them. They are very cheap ( like 2-3 $ for a tasting) and you don't tip and they are easy to get to and not crowded. I think I like this better than Napa. We went back to the house and I still wasn't feeling up to going out to dinner. We used mr delivery a service I had read about in a magazine many years ago where the driver picks up food wherever you want including McDonald's. Matt got nandos a popular chicken place and I got some Chinese food ( it was just ok). It felt good to relax and we've been going to bed early
Day 6: we were supposed to hire a private driver to take us to wineries but since I got sick I didn't feel like imbibing in wines so I told Matt I could drive. We tried to email to cancel the driver but he ended up showing up anyways ( check your email!) He actually ended up driving as we took our time and he also spit out a decent amount of wines. First though we got up early and made our way to table mountain. We were planning to go in the beginning of the week but it was closed due to winds which I guess is common. Another day it was super nice but the line to take the cable car up was two hours! Then another day it was completely cloudy. This day is was cloudy but not too bad. We had wanted to climb up but due to me not feeling great and also time constraints we decided to just get the car up. There was barely any parking up there. It was a very nice cable car but I was scared. Germans in it sang the whole way which was kind of annoying. The car was cool bc the floor rotated 360 so you saw everything. The people walking up looked miserable and on a hot day I'm sure it would be terrible. The top was cold and foggy and we couldn't see much but we got good views from the car. I also saw some rock hyrax up close who were very cute. We then came down and went to Clifton beach lots of locals. Matt was climbing around the rocks and got soaked by a big wave. So he had to wear my flip flops and then I couldn't change for the wineries and looked like a huge scrub. We went to meerlust first. Good wines and a 60s band kind of vibe. The wine lady was no nonsense and threw Matt's wine out after he had like one sip. Then we went to Jordan which is famous for its Chardonnay. Nice river view and yes the whites were good. Next we headed to spier which is very touristy and large. We didn't try wines there ( but I had a pinotage in Tanzania that was really nice) but had booked a big picnic basket ( filled w meats cheese bread olives salad etc). Yum. Since that was supposed to be Sunday we had to cancel tokara which I had been excited to try 
. Then we went to Thelema which was the most crowded. Great reds and peacocks in their vineyard. The wine guy worked at Disney before for a year. Then was delaire graff- the most picturesque of the wineries w statues and art. The wines were just ok. Finally was rustenberg which was some little house thing and decent wines. We went to stellenbosch town and walked around. Cute town but really lacking in little shops. Their famous general store was pretty cool with a ton of weird items to buy including a pile of stinky fish. We went back home and then headed to terroir for dinner. Had heard good things. You order from a chalkboard. We had prawn risotto , Parma ham and fig salad then I had bbq Vietnamese fish and Matt had springbok. All very good especially for the price but nothing out of this world. It's crazy how long people dine. I guess that's all the patrons they get for the night. We sat down roughly when it opened around 7, were the first to leave at like 9.
Day 7: sharks! What I'd been waiting for. I was nervous as the day we were supposed to go was pretty good so what if we didn't see any? The drive to gaansbai was also long - 2 hours. They had told us there were no early am boat trips and the earliest was ten am which was good bc we got to sleep but bad bc the whole day was now gone. (We have since found out that there was an early one!) we got there and had breakfast and watched a safety video. We got out on the big boat and it was only ten min ride until we saw sharks! I took some pics but got pretty sea sick right away. I laid on the front of the boat. A lot of people were getting sick. We anchored for about 3 hours so I had to struggle through it. The first cage got the most action too bad we were last ( and they kind of stopped trying to use the hunk of fish and fake seal to lure them in at the end). In the cage I felt better ( as soon as I had gotten up to go I puked). The staff gave us little white bags and were really nice about taking them from us. Inside the cage it was hard to not stick your arms and toes outside the cage as the bars to hold on we're about two inches away. When one comes the staff yells down and you just hold your breath and go down. I couldn't go too far. We had 7 mm wetsuits and hoods and it was very cold. Only a 1-2 meter visual field. We sat in the cage for like 30 mins before we got out. Luckily then it was then only another 30 mins before we left. Overall we saw five sharks one of which was big like 4.2 meters. It could have been a bit more active but I can't really complain. It was also fate bc we met an older couple on a six month trip around the world and they are from Tampa. Ones nephew actually graduated from the gi fellowship I'm going to be doing a few years ago. They said they'd take us out on their sailboat once we move. Excited for new friends! We got back and I immediately felt better. We left and stopped at woolsworth which is like mark and Spencer's I love that food mart. we then drove back. We rested for a bit then went to Bens on the beach restaurant in Strand. Very nice beach area. The restaurant was a bit weird like a diner and served all kinds of food like Greek food steaks and fish. Ironically our house hosts were eating their too. We watched a whole scene unfold from the window of this probably mentally ill man who was yelling at everyone and kept just blindly walking into the street. I believe the restaurant called the police. One family eating ice cream was very unbothered by him until he face planted onto the daughter on the bench. We then got some big ice cream cones and ate them on the beach. Great night.
Monday: we woke up and had a leisurely breakfast and left for our Johannesburg flight . I will really miss the hosts Joanne and Johan at the House and their dog Rafiki. They were great! And their fruit platters were great. Our flight was fine although it descended really fast and scared me. We weren't able to get first class this time. We went to our hotel the protea Tambo right next to the airport. The pool there had been overrun by algae but the chairs were nice. I used their lovely gym. The restaurant wasn't half bad. I would have liked to see Johannesburg but by the the time we got in it was afternoon and the city is like 20 miles away. They also gave us airplane shaped cheese and fruit . You could see the airport from the window but it was loud. The shower was Next to the bed. Craziness
Tues: got picked up for safari at 8 am. Nik is our guide: from here, about 60 years old has been doing this for 38 years but still has enthusiasm. Carmel was also on our trip- older lady from Australian taking the tour while her husband works in Johannesburg. The drive was roughly 6 hours which was long for sure. We got in Kruger park and immediately saw a leopard walking around. Finally number five of the big five ( elephant leopard lion rhino buffalo- named this way bc they were the hardest to hunt). Lucky bc we almost went right instead of left. We also saw hippos walking, baby giraffe, and a bunch of lions sunning themselves next to the road. We had lunch near water w hippos- pretty good. Our camp is called Skukuza and it is nice- little huts but w Windows , air con , etc. we even saw pumba family rooting around our place. We went on an afternoon drive then ate around seven- had steak it was nice. Lol our guide had his own bottle of wine.
Weds: up to leave at 530 I was like ugh. But it was ok. We immediately saw hyena. Then 25! Wild African dogs playing by the road- rare as only 2-300 in park. Eventually we saw a ton of elephants and white rhino by Side of the road. 5 rhino are poached here daily I hope they don't find that pack. We saw a mongoose. Lots of dead animals including a buffalo that lions had killed. We saw more lions. We ate breakfast on a river and headed back for siesta (after seeing a leopard on the run). We then went on a night drive that started in the late afternoon. This one lady made a fuss that the driver was too slow (only park rangers can do the night drives). We saw some elephant. At night they use rudimentary spotlights to see stuff. French kid kept shining it all over the place. We saw wild dogs, hyena in pool w hippo, ?bushbaby, scrub hare and I saw a tail that looked like a lemur but I guess was a genet.overall did not see a lot but cool experience and eerie
Thursday: got going again at 530 am. Not much seen- elephant, some lions somewhat in the distance, closer hippo, that hyena swimming w the hippo again. We had breakfast at our place. Carmel left :( I grew to like her a lot. Funny how we will never be in touch again! We then drove south to our new camp- hoping to see cheetah. Saw a lot more elephants and it is more green over here. Sadly it is supposed to be rainy but it is a drought and rivers are sandy and we've seen some dead animals- hippo are especially hard hit bc they eat like 40 lbs of greens a day. :( the camp was called berg en dal and it was smaller but nice ( the little cabins were bigger). Ate lunch with a more limited menu than before. Then we drove around more- more rhinos and elephants and a big hornbill eating a snake but not much more. Had dinner at the same restaurant then went to bed
Friday: went driving at 530 am again- didn't really see much except rhinos. Ate breakfast near a nice river w a hippo. Then left the park- saw a dung beetle rolling dung in the road. We ate lunch at a rest stop- had nandos which is chicken fast food but I always thought it was English (it is really from here!) some farmer there had pet rhinos and they had had their horns removed to prevent poaching. We got to the airport early- very very sad to leave and dreading the 17 hour nonstop ( preceded by 3 hour safari, 6 hour drive and followed by two hour plane ride from Atlanta, hour drive to parents house and then 3 hours to Indy) but it will be good to go home!
Update: Our flight ended up being canceled, and after rebooking a flight, that leg was cancelled, leaving us to go to Amsterdam, then Minneapolis, then Chicago, then Indy :( We got the worse seats too (middle) and were incredibly tired and crabby. At least we got 1st class to Chicago and were able to sleep in the MN lounge, although that flight's AC was broken and was incredibly loud.
South Africa restaurants
The restaurant at Newton Johnson on the 19 at 7 pm- had to cancel due to sickness
Terroir dinner 7 pm feb 20
Potluck on 16 at 1230 for lunch
Greenhouse on 16 at 815 for dinner
Tokara 1230 feb 20
Bens on the beach 1930 on feb 21
Picnic spier feb 21
Codfather feb 15 or 17 7 pm
Harbor house feb 15 or 17 830 or 6 - ended up at the Kalk Bay one
Boulder beach lodge feb 17 1230
96 winery road feb 18 800
Devils tap feb 18 1330
Robbem island feb 18 930
