Cape Town

Well, hello there and welcome back guys. I am so happy to be back. I know it has been quite a while since I have last updated you guys, but trust me when I say, life has been crazy busy. Now that things have settled down a bit, I can fill you guys in on my latest adventure. And what an adventure it was!

One night while sitting at the dinner table with Rudi and Karina, I scribble out possible travel destinations for 2019 and 2020. I had small travel ambitions for 2019 since there was and still is, so much going on in my year already. Cape Town, South Africa wasn’t on my radar for this year at all. I was saving it for possibly 2020. I had kinda already decided that 2020 was going to be my year to do extensive travel through Asia since it’s relatively cheap and I can just try and knock out several of the little islands and counties all in one go. And I’ll have you know that traveling to the content of Asia is at least a two-day journey from the East coast of the United States and if I have to be in the sky that long to get to one place, I might as well see as much as possible while I am there. But it’s funny how the universe works. While I had been saying for a while that I really wanted to go to South Africa, I never really set the ball in motion to go. Fate would have it that the very next day a flight deal would pop up in my email to go to Cape Town. Now, mind you, I had no large travel plans for this year except to travel locally in the United States and maybe go to Egypt at the end of the year, so when the flight came through for Cape Town, it was a deal I couldn’t resist, and I brought the tickets. I cannot begin to tell you the level of anxiety that I experienced after purchasing my tickets. The travel dates for South Africa were overlapping with our big move back to Virginia. Oh boy, what I have gotten myself into. Is this doable, what was I even thinking? I get all of the logistics sorted out with Karina, and we tweak some moving parts and voila, we’re moving back a little earlier and literally the week after I am off to Africa for the very first time in my life.

I must warn you that this may be quite lengthy getting into it because there is so much to unpack here, but hang in there because I promise that there will be tons of pictures.

So, in true storytelling form, I will try and take you on the journey as if you were there with me.

The day of my flight, I wake up very early to shower and do a once over my house and shut everything down since there will be no one home for the next several days. All of a sudden before I can get my clothes on good, there's an aggressive knock on my door. I am not the most savory person to deal with in the morning, so this better be good if your knocking before 7 a.m. I quickly jolt down the steps half dressed and opened the door only to find the head of the condo association standing outside of my door, demanding that I move my car immediately. I know what this about. It's about the roofers coming to put on a new roof; however, they are here way before the scheduled time, and I don't appreciate it one bit. Especially when an old man is yelling for me to move my car. Sir, I will move my car once I am fully dressed and I have loaded it. I am going away and need to load my car with my luggage. He then retorts, well fine, don't come tell me when the roofers throw something off the side of the house and it falls on top of your car. So that has me all in a tizzy, but nevertheless, I finish getting dressed, lock everything up, load my car, and I'm off to DC to meet my dad. I meet up with my dad to drop my car off at his house and we make our way to Dulles Int' l Airport. Hmmm, I guess I kinda left out the part that I was coming down with a yucky upper respiratory infection. It's allergy season here on the East coast, so I had just assumed that it was allergies and I was okay to fly. Boy was I wrong.

I get through security with no problem and transfer over to the airside and relax until it's time for me to board the first leg of my flight to Zurich Switzerland. You guys, what in the name of pain and suffering is happening to my body at this point. It's time to board the aircraft and there is absolutely no way that I can go eight hours in the air sitting next to someone with mucus flowing from my nose like an erupted volcano. I flag the flight attendant down and ask her if there's any way that I can move to one of the very back empty rows. She obliges and says absolutely. Ha, there is a God after all. However, we take off and reach cruising altitude and I am feeling terrible. My sinuses are stopped up tight as a drum, yet my nose is running continuously. My head is pounding and I am miserable. The longer I sit on the aircraft the more my body rebels. My skin starts to crawl, my teeth are feeling dry (how is that even a thing), and I just want off the aircraft at this point. I flew with United Airlines to Zurich and then from Zurich to Cape Town they transferred us to their sister airline Edelweiss.

We arrive at Zurich very early in the morning and I am coming completely undone at this point. When I get sick, I need comfort and rest and nothing less. I can't be bothered with anything, let alone wandering around Zurich's monstrosity of an airport. You guys, I think at some point I just start silent crying. I am in pain, I feel really sick, and I just want to collapse. But you know what they say, when we don't have the strength to go on for one second longer, God gives us his supernatural power. I finally make it to passport control and on to the transit hotel inside the airport. I strip naked, shower, and collapse into a coma until my alarm goes off later that day. I had a 14-hour layover, so I was not going to just hang around the airport the whole day, I went to BED!

I woke up feeling just a little better but still very cruddy. I hydrated like a mad woman and had a quick bite of food, and I was off on the longer haul of my flight to Cape Town. This part of the flight was 12 hours. Another agonizing flight. I am telling you, it was divine powers that kept me together on that aircraft those 12 hours. I took so many drugs on that flight. I had to, I had to get through it to reach my destination. The entire time I would just try to imagine what Africa would be like. I had to stop myself because I didn't want to imagine it too much, I wanted to just experience everything in its fullness just as it was with no expectations.

We land in Cape Town around 10:00 a.m. I exit the aircraft and take my first breath of fresh air. It's about 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside, sunny with no humidity. We wait on the tarmac and wait for shuttle buses to take us to the arrival side of the airport. Passport control was a breeze. I collect my luggage from baggage claim and try to order my Uber to my Airbnb. To my surprise, my phone isn't working in South Africa. I immediately connect to Wi-Fi and call Karina stateside and ask her to call Sprint and see what's up with my data. Long story short, I ended up having to buy a router with data from Vodaphone and using that when I was out and about. It was my lifeline, my only way of connection/ communication while in the country.

When traveling in Cape Town, I highly recommend using Uber to go everywhere. They are very cheap, reliable and most of all, very safe. My experience using them was excellent. I always had the very best chats with my Uber drivers and even hired one to be my personal driver for the day when I went to Stellenbosch to do the wine routes. I highly recommend it. The Uber ride from the airport to my Airbnb in Devil's Peak Estate was about a 20-minute drive. I eagerly looked out of my back window, absorbing the sights as much as I could as the driver took me to my Airbnb. I couldn't believe that I was actually in Africa, it seemed surreal.

We finally reach the Airbnb, and my host comes out to greet me with the biggest hug as if she's known me her entire life. I remember thinking, wow, she is very friendly. I am an introvert when I am tired and not feeling well, so I am not sure if the expression on my face was one of sheer horror when she decided to come really close and hug me or did I force a half smile half grimace as she came in for the hug? I think I may have even shuddered at her touch. I meant well, but I was beyond tired and quite sick. Thankfully, my host had already been informed of my feeling under the weather before landing. I messaged her in Zurich and told her that I would probably need medical care upon arrival. She showed me my around and let me shower and gather my self before giving me the official rundown of South Africa. I want to stop right here and say that it makes ALL the difference in the world to have a local host if possible. You can do your research and navigate any place more or less on your own, but having a local host makes it so much better. Arriving in a new place can be quite daunting at times. I had no idea how much of a culture shock I was in for. It came totally unexpected. That just goes to show that one should always leave their expectations at home when traveling. Go with an open mind and open heart and take the good with bad. Traveling can be a myriad of things.

The day is still young, and although it's my first day in the county and there's nothing more that I rather do than to collapse into bed right now, I must push through and go to Table Mountain. Plenty of people told me that you must do Table Mountain the very first day you arrive because you never know when the clouds will roll in, and your view becomes obstructed. I push myself and head to Table Mountain, one of the seven natural wonders of nature. You arrive pretty high up on the mountain and get on a cable car that takes you even higher up to the peak of Table Mountain. It's finally my turn to board the cable car, and we start our ascent up to the top of the mountain. I step off of the cable car and immediately, my jaw drops. First, I am completely overtaken with how high up we are, second, you can almost see God up here, and third, Oh my God! Words just won't describe this, so maybe these pictures will.

Waiting in line to board the cable car that takes you up to the mountain.

Going Up

Views as soon as you step off of the cable car.

What an incredible view of the sun setting right on the horizon above the clouds as well as the city view of Cape Town below.

I felt like if I looked close enough through the clouds, I would see God.

Standing above the clouds.

This big guy was sitting here waiting for me. I’m not sure what he is, but there were a lot of then up top the mountain.

A view of Lions Head coming down from Table Mountain.

Table Mountain was absolutely breathtaking. My only grief with Table Mountain is that is was extremely packed with tourist and locals, so it was hard to get really good photos. People would post up in a spot and wouldn’t move until the sun went down. But, that’s to be expected at places with amazing views.

The sun is almost entirely down as I come down from the mountain and I head home. The research that I had done before leaving the US advised for solo female travelers to ALWAYS use Uber when the sun starts going down due to crime. I personally didn’t experience any problems, but I was always either back at my Airbnb or getting ready to go back once it started to get dark outside. I don’t like to take chances when it comes to safety, and I was already sick, so I wasn’t doing much exploring at night.

Now, before we get into the sights and activities that I did during my visit, I think it’s important that I discuss a few things before going further. According to the 2011 statistics bureau, Cape Town South Africa is roughly made up of 76% Black Africans, 9% White Africans, 9% Coloureds (mixed race people, yes, they call them that) and 2.5% Asians (Cape Malay people). I am going to be honest and transparent with you guys. I experienced more culture shock in South Africa than I expected. I have traveled quite a bit in my life and this was the first time I was utterly shocked and left with so many questions and feelings. I just couldn’t process it. In fact, I am quite sure that I still haven’t processed it completely.

The first thing that I noticed immediately beside the overwhelming beauty of the place was the abundance of White people in Cape Town. I didn’t really see a lot of the African people just out and about. Where were they, I thought to myself? It seemed like everywhere I went, no African people were living in any of the communities that I explored or working in any affluent positions. The majority of White African residents living in Cape Town are either wealthy or ultra-elite wealthy. As I stuck around for a while going about with my day to day activities, I started to realize that there was an extreme gap in the social and economic status between the African people and the White Capetonians. My head was reeling with questions, and I didn’t know who to have this conversation with. I would eventually learn through small chats with Uber drivers and housekeepers at the different places I stayed, most Black South Africans live in townships on the outskirts of Cape Town. In case you guys are wondering what townships are, the townships were created under the apartheid system to separate the blacks from the whites racially. But now that apartheid is over, you still see the lingering effects in the township communities. There are extreme poverty, crime, inadequate infrastructure, and high unemployment rates. You can usually find them very close to wealthy white neighborhoods. Apartheid may have ended over 20 years ago, but it’s hard to not see how blatantly divided it still is. I have never seen or felt division on this level in my entire life. Back home in the states, people are always talking about how racism is still alive, but after visiting Cape Town, it made me think that our problems are slim in comparison to what South Africa is dealing with. It left me feeling so conflicted during my entire visit.

On the one hand, Cape Town is probably one of the most beautiful geographical places I have ever been to, beautiful seaside and mountains views everywhere, ultra-luxe vegetation; a real gem. But how could I not feel disturbed knowing that this incredibly beautiful place, more than twenty years post-apartheid, is still struggling with extreme social divisions? It’s a lot to unpack and discuss, and to be honest, I don’t have the answers. In fact, I encourage people to do their own research. Cape Town is such a unique place in Africa. I highly encourage people to visit regardless of the issues going on. It is very unique and different and to the rest of the African continent. But, please keep in mind that this is only a portion of my experience. There is plenty of good and beautiful to Cape Town. The thing about traveling to distant lands is that it will open you up and challenge your very existence. It forces you to take a more in-depth look and to think about things differently. Travel never takes away, it only gives.

I want you guys to also keep in mind that while reading this, I am not a self-proclaimed historian, I am just a novice traveler exploring different parts of the world. I make it a point to do some research before I leave my home in the United States, but I don’t always research in great depths before I land in a particular country. So my views and experiences are raw and organic first impressions of a place.

Moving along onto brighter things. During my travels in Cape Town, I was able to explore and do a lot of awesome things. My most anticipated thing to do on this trip was to cage dive with the great white sharks. I was so excited to finally be able to face my fear of sharks, only to be told that the shark sightings are rare at the moment. I was told that there was a possibility that we would be out there all day and not see one shark. The reason is that the Orcas are killing the great whites. It was hard for me to believe that Orcas are hunting these Apex predators (the Great Whites), but I wasn’t about to drop a large sum of money for a less than 50/50 chance of me not seeing a great white. I was told that I could rent a car and travel four hours up the coast and I would be guaranteed to see them, but I didn’t have that kind of time on my hands, and to do that solo would be agonizing for me. Had I known a little earlier on in my trip I would have probably made better arrangements. I mean, after all, its cage diving with the great white sharks. It’s a once in a lifetime kind of deal. And not many people can say that have done something that cool.

Every morning in Cape Town I would start my morning early by sitting outside on the patio right as the sun comes up listing the beautiful melodies of the birds singing and chirping, mixed with the faint sound of the Azan (the Muslim call to prayer) in the background. Usually, once the sun comes up, I would place an order with Uber Eats and fuel up for a full day of exploring.

Gluten free waffle with strawberries and coconut whipped cream. YUMMM

One of the joys about Cape Town is that it is indeed a food lovers paradise. There is no shortage of culinary greatness here in Cape Town. There are some amazing markets that are held around town on the weekends that are not to be missed if you’re wanting an extraordinary gastronomical experience. Being that I live for exquisite cuisine, one of the first things that I did to get my feet wet was to explore the Old Biscuit Mill Market and The Oranjezicht Market. Both are wonderful if you’re looking for a smorgasbord of options for food. The Old Biscuit Mill Market offers live entertainment, vendors that sell artisan crafts, clothing, jewelry, unique shops for souvenirs, and most of all, a beautiful selection of glorious food. It is best to arrive early to avoid the crowds and long lines if you want to do quite a bit of food experimenting. I walked around and ate from at least three different vendors while there. I had a lovely butter chicken from one stall, shawarma from another, and a mushroom shish kabob that would leave me drooling long after at the thought of eating another one. I will just say that Old Biscuit Mill was a real treat for me. I arrived around 10:00 a.m. and the crowds were already massive and thick. I just breathed through my anxiety and squeezed my way onward and about to culinary greatness. Sadly, there are no pictures of my food. I devoured it as soon as I got it in hand. And the crowds were too thick to be whipping out my phone or camera to try and take a picture worthy enough to do it justice. There was barely standing room.

The entrance of the Old Biscuit Mill~Lively on a Saturday morning.

Live music of the front entrance seating area.

Entering into the heavenly food section of the market.

I managed to squeeze these hips into a small sliver of space on the bench to devour my food before even taking one single picture. This picture was an after-thought, sorry guys. None the less, this is what seating looks like in the back of the market where all the amazing food is located.

Tons of vendors set up out side with beautiful crafts.

Views leaving the Old Biscuit Mill while waiting for my Uber to arrive.

Art murals can be found all over the city of Cape Town.

The Oranjezicht Market has more a farmers market feel to it. You will see more of the local Capetonians here than at the Old Biscuit Mill. It offers a vast selection of green life (plants) in all forms and some of the most beautiful produce that I have seen outside of the open street markets in France. You can find local farmers set up with fresh cuts of pasture-raised meats, fresh cheeses, jams, and honey. It’s a gem if you’re a local that is looking for excellent quality food to prepare at home or even tourists who are spending extended time in Cape Town. The food vendors are not to be missed here as well. I had some of the best shakshuka in my life there. Shakshuka is an Israeli breakfast specialty that’s made of a tomato red pepper sauce spiced with cumin, paprika, and cayenne that’s topped with a few eggs overtop. It is heavenly stuff. I was amazed at how lovely I had it there in Cape Town.

Beautiful flora throughout when entering the Oranjezicht Market. I wanted so badly to buy all of the beautiful things and bring them back to the States with me.

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than this produce?

Food vendor section. All the yummy things reside here.

Because food is obviously the only reason I travel ( just kidding, but am I really though), I decided to book a cooking experience through Airbnb with a local resident in the Bo Kaap neighborhood. My lovely host Fayruza, who led the cooking experience, welcomed us three girls into her home with an open heart and much kindness. I felt like I was in my mom's kitchen cooking alongside her. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual, and the flow of conversation was beautiful. This is absolutely 100 percent why I travel, for the authentic cultural exchanges such as this one. It fills you richly and leaves you with so much more than what you had when you first started the journey.

Our host welcoming us into her home with a special occasion celebratory drink. I forget what its called but its a mixture of rose water and some type of milk. When you drink it, you say Bismillah.

A traditional spice dish on the left with a bowl of yogurt, a tablespoon of minced ginger, and a bowl of tomato paste mixed with crushed tomatoes.

Our host walks us through the steps of making the curry. You can use any kind vegetables that you like. For us, it was a mixture of zucchini, carrots, and potatoes.

Next we prepared the dough for the Roti. Roti is a flat bread that uses flour, salt, baking powder, herbs, and olive oil.

We rolled the roti out and made round shaped disk in the shapes of what a tortilla would look.

Next was the chopped salad that would be made to eat with the samosas. A mixture of onion, yellow pepper, banana, cucumber, tomato, parsley, red Chile flakes, and sweet Chile sauce. It’s a strange combo, but it works so well with the vegetable samosas.

Finally, everything has come together and we are ready to eat. The food was absolutely amazing.

Continuing on that day, I walk down to Greenmarket Square and meet my guide for a private walking tour of the Bo Kaap area. The Bo Kaap area is home to Cape Towns Cape Malay population whom many are descendants of slaves that arrived in Cape Town from Maritime South East Asia, Madagascar, and Eastern Africa. Majority of the Cape Malay people were brought over by the Dutch East India Company. Many know Bo Kaap for their distinctively brightly colored homes and cobble stoned streets. My guide was explaining that the houses are painted so bright because it represents their freedom after apartheid ended. The majority of the Bo Kaap residents are Muslim. There are said to be eleven Mosques in the Bo Kaap area alone, all functioning and serving the community. While strolling up and down the cobbled stone hilly roads, you can hear the azan being played over the loud speaker calling the people to prayer. People walking by greeting me and my guide “assalaamu alaykum.” It is so hot that day that my guides frequently stops in the shade to tell me bits and pieces of history as I catch my breath and get ready to keep trekking ahead.

Greenmarket Square is a place of hustle and bustle. There are tons of vendors selling just about anything you could want; art, jewelry, native clothing, you name it, it’s there. Every turn you make a vendor is yelling out “madam, madam, please come an have a look.” It’s okay to look, but you must be strong-willed if you don’t plan on purchasing. They will hound you. A polite no thank you is usually enough to shift their attention elsewhere. I highly suggest that you haggle when shopping at the Greensquare market, they will offer you an outrageously high price at first, but if you haggle a little bit they will come down. But please be respectful and don’t go too low. This is usually the vendors only source of income.

Entering the Bo Kaap neighborhood.

A small art gallery inside the Bo Kaap neighborhood. I ended up purchasing a small piece of art from inside the gallery.

Beautifully colored homes.

A candid picture of my tour guide carrying my bag of native spices that I brought from a local shop in the Bo Kaap neighborhood explaining the mural art on the wall to me. I was struggling to keep up at this point. The heat had me.

A beautiful view of the Bo Kaap neighborhood with Table mountain in the background.

More art murals along the walls in the alleyways of Bo Kaap.

A few days into my trip, despite my best efforts to nurse myself back to some sort of health, I still felt quite crappy. This upper respiratory thing was not letting up, and I didn’t want it to ruin my entire trip potentially. I messaged my host and asked her about medical facilities in the area that would take my insurance, and she took me to see a doctor the very next day. Medical care in Cape Town is very cheap compared to the outlandish price you pay in the States. I paid $135 US dollars for the medical exam and prescriptions. Turns out I had a bad upper respiratory infection and an inflamed tympanic membrane. A round of antibiotics, steroids, and anti-inflammatory pills were prescribed to clear things up, and I was on my back out to do more exploring.

Being that I was still quite under the weather, I decided to take it pretty easy with my sightseeing go and explore the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The V&A Waterfront is one of Cape Towns oldest functioning harbors that boast beautiful views of Table Mountain. There are a variety of things to do around the V & A Waterfront, endless shops, tons of restaurants, both budget-friendly and high end, live entertainment most days, and a huge observation wheel. In the same area, there is also the Two Oceans Aquarium and The Zietz Mocca Museum. I ended up spending quite a bit of time down at the V & A Waterfront most afternoons because of all of the shops. I could never see as much as I wanted to in one visit.

How beautiful is this view, even on a cloudy day?

Another gorgeous view of the beautiful V & A Waterfront.

The Observation Wheel was great for getting an areal view of Cape Town.

Jumbo animal head chess pieces. There would be tons of people actually playing and moving these pieces across the jumbo chess board.

A view of the Cape Town Stadium that was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

While enjoying some fresh prawns and garlic sauce, this little fellow decided to perch upon my table and join me for a bite of my food. Did I mention that I don’t share?

African singing and dance in front of the Noble Square Statues with beautiful view of Devils Peak in the background.

In the V & A Waterfront area is the Zietz Mocca Museum. It holds the most extensive collection of contemporary African art in the entire world. If museums are your thing, I highly suggest you check it out. There is a fee of R190, which is equivalent to $13.29 US dollars to enter, but well worth it to have a look around.

I will show you guys a few of the exhibits that I saw during my visit, but I, unfortunately, do not have all the information on every piece of art.

Views that you see as soon as you enter into the museum.

I was cough entirely off guard when I entered into this room. You enter into the room through the doors pictured above, it's very dim lighting with very creepy voices speaking in almost a whispering tone. Very freakish. I did not like it. I actually opened the door and heard the whispering voices and then looked to my left and saw that person looking thing laying there and jetted out the room. It scared the hell out of me. I gathered my composure and stood in there long enough to snag a photo, and I jetted.

This photo gives you an explanation o the next two photos.

This artist recreated Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden except they don’t have heads. I imagine that the artist is trying to portray that no one alive today would able to know what these human being looked like back in that time, so he left them headless. You can’t see it that well, but the snake is also headless.

While roaming around down at the V & A Waterfront, I stumbled across the City Sightseeing office where the Big Red Bus operates tours from all over Cape Town. It was perfect timing because I wanted to book a trip to the Cape of Good Hope and Boulders Beach to visit the penguins. While there I also booked a one day hop on hop off ticket with the Red Bus to get even more sightseeing in. Using the Big Red Bus to get around is a very inexpensive way to see a lot of the sights around Cape Town. I have used this company in many different countries and cities. I highly recommend it.

Below are pictures from the Cape of Good Hope.

On our drive to the Cape of Good Hope, we drove by Muizenberg Beach that is known for their colorful beach shacks on the water. I wish we had stopped there, but that only means that I will have to come back to Cape Town for another visit.

You take a funicular up to a certain point and then you walk up the steps to the look out point of the light house where the views are spectacular.

The baboons run wild around the Cape of Good Hope. They can be quite aggressive, especially if one has food in their possession. It is highly advisable not to have any food what so ever in your hands while walking the grounds at the Cape of Good Hope.

Everywhere you look, there’s a beautiful view waiting to take your breath away.

I can never get enough the sea views in South Africa.

Below are pictures from Boulders Beach. There is a small entrance fee of R35 wish is equivalent to 2.45 US dollars. Boulders Beach is very popular due to the African colony of penguins that arrived in 1982. They can only be found along the coastline of South Africa. Because of awful tourist poking the penguins with selfie sticks and stepping on them and bothering them in general, they have blocked a lot of the areas off where the penguins roam around. You have to watch them on a dock off of the shore, and the space by the water is usually always very crowded with people trying to get photos and videos of the penguins. Makes for a less than pleasant experience, in my opinion. But, that’s what you deal with when people can’t leave the animals alone. It’s not enough to just look at them, but I digress.

Well, hello there little fella, where are you off to on this fine day?

I may have squealed when I saw this cute little colony of penguins.

You guys, come on, how cute is this guy.

Can we all take a minute to appreciate how beautiful the water is?

So sad to have to leave these little guys. I could have watched them all day, but it was extremely crowded on the dock and I needed to get out of there before my anxiety got the best of me.

After the fantastic day with the penguins it was time to rest up for the next day of exploring. By this time I am feeling a lot better, the meds are working and the steroids are giving me an insatiable appetite. I want to eat everything. First stop of the day is to the Kirstenbosch Gardens. Luckily for me, I can use the Big Red Bus to get there since The Kirstenbosch Gardens is one of the stops along the many routes the bus takes. When arriving at the gardens, there is an admission fee of R40, which is the equivalent of $2.81 US dollars.

Kirstenbosch is truly a magical place. You can spend the entire day just walking around taking in the beautiful scenery of the gardens. It was one of the most peaceful and serene places that have been in my whole life. My pictures do not do this place any justice. This is one of those places that can’t be described, it must be visited. My only regret is that I wish I could have spent more time there. The grounds are expansive and lush leaving you feeling like you’ve stepped back into the garden of Eden (not that I’ve ever been there, but I imagine that’s what it may have resembled). Kirstenbosch is known to have live music and movies on Sundays. People take their picnic baskets and blankets and spread out on the lawn and enjoy the beauty that surrounds them.

Upon entering into the gardens, you will find this statue of artwork. Very impressive.

This looks like something dreamed up inside of a fairy tale, so magical and beautiful.

Views, on top of views, on top of views.

Entering onto the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway.

I felt like I was walking through a lush tropical jungle. The scenery was so amazing. You can literally spend hours in this place and lose all track of time.

I want to believe that this is what the world looked like millions of years ago before we ruined it.

The lawn where they have live music and movies at sundown.

The natural Flora that grows here in the gardens.

Kirstenbosch was an absolute gem, definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Now that I had explored possibly one of the most beautiful gardens that I have ever laid my eyes upon, it was time to eat. I headed to the restaurant nearby and grabbed some delicious prawn curry. Just a little food to hold me over, and it was off to my next adventure.

I’m drooling just remembering how delicious this was.

Later that evening, I decided to advantage of the Big Red Bus’s sunset ride to Signal Hill. The bus departs a little before sundown, and they take you to the top of Signal Hill to experience a beautiful sunset. Usually, people bring tier blankets a light snack and a sundowner to enjoy the view as the sun settles below the horizon. The ride up to signal brings you more amazing views as you drive the scenic coastal route; I highly recommend it. On the way down the mountain, we actually got stuck in complete gridlock traffic, but I didn’t mind it one bit because the views of Cape Town coming to life at night were just as amazing.

Views form our drive along the scenic route.

It never gets old looking at the views of Cape Town.

Twelve Apostles side of Table Mountain.

Almost to the top.

The view that greets you at the top of Signal Hill.

Everyone gathered here at the slope of the mountain to watch the sun settle beneath the horizon.

As beautiful as the Western Cape can be, it did rain a few days while I was there. Cape Town was going into their Fall season while here in the states, we were going into our Spring season. The rain didn’t stop me from going out and continuing to explore. The District Six Museum and Truth Coffee were excellent options for a rainy day.

District Six was a former residential community made up of freed slaves (both Malay and African) and immigrants that was destroyed under the apartheid regime in South Africa. Forced relocation and the destruction of homes left District Six laying in rubble never to be re-built long after the apartheid regime ended.

A fresco painting covering the entire wall dedicated to human rights in the District Six Museum

Covering the floor is a map of District Six where letters were written by the inhabitants that used to live there are placed around the border of the map.

The museum had many items that were found in the rubble of District Six, a lot of family heirlooms. This is a recipe of a curry meatloaf that comes from one of the former Cape Malay inhabitants of District Six.

The District Six museum is small and only takes about an hour or so to see in its entirety, but It is well worth a visit to learn about the history. I highly record that you stop by if you’re Cape Town. Sad, but very eye opening.

After spending some time in the District Six Museum, I make a mad dash in an attempt to dodge the pouring rain and head into Truth Coffee Shop. The shop was right across the street from the museum, so I didn’t have to run far, but I was drenched when I walked through the door. A man in full steampunk attire greeted me and asked me if I would like a seat at one of the tables. Truth Coffee shop is known for its unique steampunk vibes while serving up some of the best coffee in Cape Town. I order a hot chocolate and croissant and chatted up the lovely American expat who is currently living in South Africa. We chat about this and that and before you know it, two hours have passed by. It was an excellent way to spend my rainy day in Cape Town.

Steampunk greeter at Truth Coffee Shop

This is what I’d like to call the coffee concocter. They actually use the coffee beans from this steampunk looking machine and make coffee.

This place stayed pretty full, and it’s not uncommon to have to wait for a seat.

Also, on my agenda was a trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and over 3000 other political prisoners were held during the apartheid regime. The island is only accessible by taking the ferry, but if the weather conditions are not right, they cancel the boat. I had initially booked my trip to Robben Island for the beginning of my trip just in case they had to cancel, and I’m glad that I did that because they ended up canceling the ferry twice. The good thing is that once you purchase your ticket, if they end up canceling, you get your money back. Robben Island is no longer a prison, but a museum.

Such a haunting statue to see while waiting in line to board the ferry to Robben Island.

Arriving on the island, you immediately know that you’re here for a prison. Through that entrance is the prison.

The ferry that brought us over. It’s a lot bigger than it looks.

The prison area is dry and desolate. It is eerily quiet here. It makes me think what it would have been like to have been here as a prisoner.

A very long and sterile corridor. On the other sides of those steel doors are cells that housed inmates.

Toilets were not always a luxury that the inmates had. They usually had one bucket for several prisoners.

Open showers.

The prison bay. The bunks were not always there. For many years there were only those thin mats that lie in the middle of the floor.

Our tour guide. He used to be an actual prisoner here at Robben Island for several years. An outstanding man full of knowledge.

This photo goes with the one below it. The stories of former prisoners inside different cells, most of the stories spoke about the inhumane torture for the prison guards.

Nelson Mandelas cell. That red bucket was for his waste and the thin mat is where he slept.

Guard tower.

A view of Cape Town from Robben Island.

The tour through Robben Island was such an experience. I would always hear about Nelson Mandela and what he fought for, but I never thought I would get to see the place where he spent 18 out the 27 years he was imprisoned for fighting apartheid. Mandela went from political prisoner of the state to the political leader of South Africa. Nelson Mandela’s legacy will live on, forever.

As my time is winding down in beautiful Cape Town, little did I know that I was saving the best for last. I decided to keep the wine routes for last because I am not a big wine drinker. I can enjoy a glass of wine every now and then, but you will never see me just going and buying it to drink regularly. However, I regret big time that I saved this for last. This experience was hands down, the highlight of my entire trip. Who would have thought that I would enjoy wine tasting so much? South Africa is known globally for having some of the best wines in the world. They weren’t exaggerating when they made that a statement! I was only able to visit one winery, and I am kicking myself for this. I hired one of my Uber drivers for the entire day to take me to Stellenbosch to go wine tasting. There are tons of wineries along the Stellenbosch route, the hardest part is to pick one. I decided to go with Fairview Wine and Cheese Farm. Oh boy, I was in for a top-notch treat and didn’t even know it.

Entering Fairview Wine and Cheese Farm.

Welcome to the winery. This is where all the fun happens.

I would like to tell you guys just how exquisite these cheeses were, yes the wine was delicious, but the cheeses stole the show. There was a variety of cows milk and goats milk cheeses. The goat's milk cheeses are made right here on the farm, and they are out of this world fresh and delicious. Everything was paired so perfectly.

At this point, I have had four generous tastings of wine paired four different types of cheeses. The olive oil and bread are there to eat in-between each tasting to cleanse the palate.

This is where all the magic happens. A lot of the wine we tasted is made right here on the farm from the grapes grown outside.

This is where you do the basic wine tasting. I decided that I wanted the master tasting. It was 100 percent worth it.

Fairview’s grounds are lush and expansive. I almost thought I was somewhere on a private estate off the coast of Italy somewhere.

Beautiful lush gardens around the property.

Such a beautiful and serene place. One of the best farms I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

A view of a portion of thier vineyards.

How amazing is this view of the vineyard with the mountains in the back.

The goats of Fairview.

Cape Town South Africa has left me with a myriad of emotions. Never in my life would I ever think that I would someday travel to lands so distant. Cape Town, while still having a lot of underlying issues from its dark past is an amazingly drop dead gorgeous place. It’s hard to remember that you are in Africa at all at times. Cape Town is a place that will be with you with forever, it shakes you up, challenges you, and sticks to your soul for years to come, begging you to come back and see more. I didn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg with everything that I saw and did while visiting. There is so much more to do and explore. If God wills it, I will be back one day to explore once more, all the things that I missed this first time. I am just getting started. South Africa isn’t only Cape Town, there are so many other cities such as Johannesburg, Soweto, Durban, and Pretoria. Thank you, God, for giving me the grace to see more of your majesty. I realize that not everyone has the privilege to travel, so my heart is extremely grateful.

Well, guys, if you made it this far, you are a faithful OG. I know this was quite lengthy, and at times, I was rambling, but I promise you that I am working on this whole blogging thing. It will get better.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed sharing. Please come back soon for my next adventure around the world.