Beautiful Cape Town

In mid-December we returned to Denver to spend time with family and friends during the Holiday Season. It was wonderful to be home, although tough to suddenly find ourselves in the middle of frigid temperatures, not to mention the snow! We left Denver on January 29 to head for Panama and warmer weather. As we are only now thawing out and getting back into our blogging stride, we thought in the meantime, we would share a few more photographs of our trip to Cape Town and bring a little sunshine into your day.

South Africa is known for its incredible wines and the countryside around Cape Town boasts some of the finest vineyards in the country. With dozens of wineries to choose from, Friday became our day to bite the bullet and drag ourselves from one winery to the next to sample their wares - what a life! The wine from this vineyard (established in 1736) was a lot easier on the tongue than its name!

Many of the original farmhouses on the wineries are wonderful examples of Cape Dutch architecture, complete with thatched roof.

The Cape Town weather and soil conditions are ideal for growing grapes for wine.

The red wine barrels are imported from France at a cost of $800 each. The barrels can only be used to age wine four times before being discarded.

Although Ben injured his left elbow while river rafting in Ecuador, his right arm worked perfectly!

The perfect beach located at Cape Point. Unfortunately, the water is freezing with dangerous undercurrents, and the beach is almost impossible to access!

Popular Camps Bay beach on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula. The dramatic mountain range in the background is known as the "Twelve Apostles".

What could be nicer than a day at the beach, complete with....

music provided by rich, warm African voices.

Cape Town is situated on the Cape Peninsula, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. The city is nestled between Table Mountain (see Lindy's finger) and the Atlantic Ocean.

Table Mountain covered by its table cloth. The clouds are blown in by strong south easterly winds known as the "Cape Doctors". This name was given to the summer winds, as it's believed they chase away all the winter ailments.

A ten minute cable car ride took us to the top of Table Mountain where we were able to walk around for well over an hour.

The views from Table Mountain are stunning! The mountain below is known as Lion's Head. Out to sea is Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for over twenty years.

The 2010 World Football championships are being held in July at four venues in South Africa. From Table Mountain we had a bird's eye view of the new Cape Town football stadium built specially for the event.

View of Cape Town harbor from Table Mountain.

Ben almost took a swan dive into the harbor!

Being on the top of Table Mountain was one of the highlights of our trip to Cape Town.

Oh, here's the little, itty, bitty car we drove for six weeks on the wrong side of the road!

The food in Cape Town was great!

We had a marvelous time in Cape Town and were sad to leave, although we were excited to be returning home after six and a half months of traveling.

Next stop Panama - we'll keep you posted!

Ben & Lindy

South African "Safari"

In search of the "Big 5" (the five most ferocious beasts to hunt), we left the relative safety of Cape Town and headed up the east coast. We understood from the jungle drums that elephant had been spotted near the town of Knysna, a six hour drive from Cape Town.

From the relative safety of the balcony of the B&B where we "camped", we could see the famous Knysna lagoon and Heads, a gateway to the Indian Ocean.

We ventured into town and discovered Dr. Mama had a remedy for all of life's problems.

We were also relieved that commerce was alive and well in Knysna.

We boarded the requisite safari transportation to go in search of the wild things of Africa.

First on the Big 5 list is the lion. This guy was very laid back, probably not informed about his status as a member of the elite five.

We were glad Ellie was so relaxed as we were very up close and personal with her. She even allowed us to tickle her behind the ears for this magical shot!

Ben decided to offer food instead of becoming lunch.

This eight hundred pounds of mean old water buffalo was taking an afternoon nap

The rhinos on the other hand were alert, so we kept our distance.

Although the zebra is not a member of the Big 5, they were very cute.

Technically, the leopard rounds out the Big 5, but on this safari we had to make do with cheetahs. They looked as if they were sizing us up for lunch.

The ostrich is considered the dumbest bird alive, with a brain an eighth of the size of one eye!

Known for being shy animals, this lovely specimen didn't hesitate to pose for the camera.

Although very cute, we were warned about these mischievous monkeys. We were told to hang onto our car keys, wallets and sunglasses.

Our guide told us monkeys are particularly partial to high end cars and recounted the story of how one monkey stole the keys to a BMW. The monkey returned the keys a week later, but the unfortunate tourist had already spent over $1,000 to have a new key shipped from Germany.

These tourists read the warning signs to close the windows and lock the doors, but how the heck were they supposed to get these guys off the roof?

You wouldn't want to meet this guy in a dark alley!

Enough of the wild things - we returned to Cape Town to visit the tourist spots.

Ben & Lindy

Cape Town, South Africa

We were excited to arrive in the beautiful city of Cape Town, where Lindy grew up before moving to Denver 16 years ago. Known fondly as the "Mother City", Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa. The city is a cosmopolitan mix of culture and business, industry and leisure, history and innovation.

The city of Cape Town is nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the iconic Table Mountain.

A little over 100 miles south east of Cape Town is Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans converge.

We are awakened every morning at sunrise by the awful screeching of guinea fowls, which are "protected" and roam freely in residential neighborhoods.

The Protea is the national flower of South Africa.

We took a few hours strolling through Kirstenbosch, a huge botanical garden established on the mountainside just north of Cape Town.

The V&A Clock Tower, named for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (later of tobacco fame), is the entry to the vibrant waterfront district.

These statutes on the dock at the waterfront commemorate South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners: Nkosi Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW De Klerk, and Nelson Mandela.

We spent a rainy afternoon at the incredible Two Oceans Aquarium, a world class exhibit of ocean swimmers.

Our personal favorite - The Thinker!

Fish on a stick anyone?

No, this is not Boulder, Colorado.....but Boulders Beach home to.....

South African penguins.

Also at the V&A Waterfront is the Nelson Mandela Gateway for departure to Robben Island. Here we experienced a moving tour of the maximum security prison where many of the leaders in the struggle against apartheid were incarcerated.

Besides apartheid leaders, other notorious prisoners convicted of violent crimes, were held at Robben Island. Each group had different menus with political prisoners given less food to emphasize their "lowest of the low" status.

Prisoners were given a number and never referred to by name. Billy Nair was known as 6964.

In 1992, after more than 20 years of prison life, apartheid ended and the new regime leaders were freed.

We're leaving civilization to visit the "wild" parts of SA. Coming next the "Big 5".

Ben & Lindy