It's got a hemi.
We went to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront our first full day in the city. It’s a functioning port and there were plenty of ships around, however the area with the tourists is full of tour boats including a sweet replica of a pirate ship. We had some very good sushi at Wang Thai…another first in Africa. Unfortunately we were unable to take the ferry to Robben Island, the location of Nelson Mandela’s prison, as it was booked. Had some nice steaks at Nelson’s Eye, an old steakhouse which was conveniently a half a block from our hostel. Ann finally got some of her beloved crème brulee for dessert. It wasn't as good as we've had before, although it's something that we haven’t seen in a while.
The next day consisted of a wine tour to four wineries around Stellenbosch and Paarl in the heart of wine country, just east of Cape Town. The first was Fairview which had wine and cheese tasting. Good cheese is nearly impossible to find in sub-saharan Africa and that was possibly more delicious than the wine! For lunch we stopped at a winery with a restaurant and had some bibooti(sp?), a traditional Afrikaans dish. Also went to Solms, Tokara, and Villiera. At Villiera we were treated to some sparkling wine opened with a sword. Ann and I bought 7 bottles total, 5 of which we took back to Kampala. Also bought some cheese (garlic-parsley camembert and sun dried tomato chevin). Went to Tank in the Cape Quarter for dinner. We both had sushi again…mine was good, however I don’t think Ann was too impressed.
Wine country...
Sleep it off...
The 22nd of January marks the day Ann cut her hair, removing over a foot of length! It was quite a drastic change, but I love it. I almost forget that it used to be much longer. Made our way south to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Along the way we stopped to eat in Hout Bay at Mariner’s Wharf, which had some great seafood and shockingly good bread. I was introduced to the Grapetiser, a sparkling grape juice. I proceeded to drink these the rest of my time in South Africa. The drive south from Cape Town is quite beautiful. You’re basically driving on the side of the mountains following the coast to the southern most point of the peninsula. We stopped in Simonstown to see the penguins at Boulder Beach. Penguins are strange creatures and quite hilarious. Most of the time they stood there with their eyes closed and beaks open pointing upwards. When they would walk around I could hardly keep from laughing. A few were playing in the water and many were keeping their babies warm. For dinner we went to the the place Justin was staying (Ivor and Shifra, some of Justin’s family) for Shabat dinner. I even got to wear a yamukah. Since we had meat, there were no dairly products, however we had a non-dairy ice cream. It was surprisingly good.
Hout Bay
Absolutely no shaking hands with the penguins.
They used to be called jackass penguins...
...but that hurt their feelings. Please refer to them as African penguins.
You can see the road we were driving...
Random view heading south towards Cape Point.
The following day involved an early morning hike up Table mountain. It was a steep hike up large stone steps, like the ultimate stairmaster workout. Maiken and Ann handled it much better than I did…probably because I’m in much better shape than those two. Or maybe it’s the other way around. We took the cable car down, which was a quick 2 minutes compared to our 1.5 hour hike. Ann and I moved to a nice room in a different building, so the following nights allowed for much easier sleep than right next to the pool in our previous room. We drove to Camps Bay to enjoy Clifton 4th beach. It was very warm out and the water looked so nice. A few people were enjoying diving into the large waves breaking at the beach. Unfortunately, the best we could do was to put our feet in the water...once we did they instantly went numb. The ocean current in Cape Town comes directly from Antarctica, so it’s a tad bit like an ice bath. Saw a lawn bowling club near the beach with a bunch of old, white men in funny uniforms (goofy hats, polos and white trousers) rolling a ball towards other balls. That night we met a friend of a friend for dinner and jazz at the Rainbow Room. Before the show the host gave our group of medical professionals from America a shout out, which was cool and embarrassing. A group of teens from a local school performed first followed by Abigail Peterson, who was a wonderful singer/pianist. We had a good time, but were kind of falling asleep by the end. Apparently we're reaching that age...
On top of Table Mountain.
Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain.
Look at those athletes giving it their all.
The next day Ann and Maiken went for a 10 mile run along the coast and they say it was quite beautiful. We spent the day with Maiken and Justin at Canal Walk, a large shopping mall in a suburb. It was one of the nicer malls I’ve been in. The food court was very interesting with a large selection of things I’ve never seen before and of course McDonald’s and KFC, where everyone seemed to be eating. Had some tasty beef shwarma at a falafel place. When you ordered your meal they hit a button indicating what kind of meat the cooks should prepare…justin ordered the lamb and I had the beef. We both enjoyed the silly baaaa and mooooo recordings for our respective meats. Not sure if others see the humor in that, but we do. After searching all over Africa Ann finally was able to find a pair of basketball shoes. She has been practicing with her team, and their season starts in March. I’m excited to see her out there…I think she’ll be the only white person in the entire league, so she’ll probably have her own fan club! Of course I’ll be president. That night we ate at Arnold's, where I had the game platter containing an ostrich fillet, oryx fillet, crocodile ribs and warthog ribs. The oryx and warthog were especially good. Crocodile is a novelty, but not anything special. We then went to see Goldfish, a musical duo from Cape Town, who play a club night every Sunday at the same place right near the beach we had been to. It was packed and the indoor area was roasting. Luckily we were able to secure a nice spot at a table which allowed us to drink our illegally brought in box of wine. Nothing says classy like sneaking in a box of wine and drinking it with styrofoam cups.
Staying classy.
Dinner at Arnolds's.
The following day we flew back to Entebbe. It was a difficult transition as we both seemed to be a little homesick after being in a city so much like what we are used to back home. Although we're halfway through our time here...I imagine the rest of the time will fly by.
The past few weeks our two bosses from the U of Mn have been here along with the deans of our medical school and the school of public health and other high ranking officials from the U of Mn, so we’ve been involved in a few meetings and meals talking to the officials about our experience here. They’re exploring their connection with Makerere University and the IDI to see how it can be more significant. It was kind of fun to be ambassadors of a sort. Ann has started work on her public health certificate from the U of Mn. Between that, basketball, work and socializing she is quite busy. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s probably the most motivated person I know so I’m not surprised that she does!
your pics speak that you enjoyed a lot in Cape Town.
ReplyDeleteI too had a dinner at Arnolds's during my visit to cape town last year