Cape Town - the vacation destination

My first view of Cape Town from the ship

We’ve asked each of the work-study students in the library to write their favorite port in a logbook that we’re making for posterity. So far, all have said, “Cape Town.” I might have to agree--although I’m waiting until I’ve seen all ports before I give my final answer.

Cape Town was full of tasty food, cheap wine, beautiful scenery, and cute animals! If you’d like to travel there for a vacation, here’s the itinerary I’d recommend:

Day 1: Visit the Victoria & Albert wharf

Day 2: Climb Table Mountain

The cloud covering over Table Mountain is called the "table cloth."

Day 3-5: Go on a safari

This is the view on the drive from Cape Town to the Garden Route Safari

Here's the group I went on game drives with in the morning and evenings

Day 6: Visit a winery and have Indian food on Long Street

Day 7: See the penguins and spend the day in Simon’s Town.

That wasn’t quite my itinerary, but the safari and penguins did happen.

It seems that there are many safaris to choose from in South Africa. All come with beautiful accommodations and amazing food. 

These are the individual chalets that we stayed in. Photo taken by my friend Greg Justice.

Most, except for Kruger National Park, are private reserves meaning that the owner has bought the land and brings wild animals onto the property. Skeptics might say that this is just a glorified zoo, but I disagree. The reserves are expansive and the animals (except for the lions because they would eat everything) are usually allowed to roam free. 

Here is the view of lodge from the reserve. Photo taken by my friend Greg Justice.

Visiting a private reserve also guarantees that it’s much easier to find the animals during the morning and evening game drives. Here’s just a little bit of what we saw:

Cheetahs

Giraffes

This is how a giraffe bends down to eat.

An Elephant

Lions, 

This is me wondering if the tortoise is going to wait for me to move. He wasn't.

Tortoises, White Rhinos, Gemsbok, Eland, Ostrich, and Springbok.

The safari took most of my time in Cape Town, but there was one day left for penguins. I spent two hours basking in penguins—taking videos, pictures, watching them swim, watching them nest, watching them molt, etc. It was wonderful!

 

That afternoon we had to rush back to the ship because Desmond Tutu came on board to give a talk.

If you haven’t read his book, “God has a dream,” I highly recommend it. It explains his experience heading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the end of apartheid and so much more. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the book,

"In God's family, there are no outsiders. All are insiders. Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian, Hutu and Tutsi, Muslim and Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, Pakistani and Indian--all belong (pg 20)."