Uneventful, but long 11 hour plane trip from Heathrow to Cape Town—especially with the fellow behind me who stretched out over 4 seats, and snored from midnight on…Steve and I each caught a few hours sleep--ready for our morning arrival in Cape Town.
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| 2Inn1 deck |
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| Breakfast area |
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| View from our chaise lounge at 2Inn1 |
Interesting getting used to driving on the other side of the street! We made our way to the lovely Kensington2Inn1, parked the car, and don’t plan to use it again until we make our way to Sanbona Wildlife Reserve on Monday (limiting the amount of crowded city driving). We are in the shadow of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head at our little 10 room boutique hotel, and about a 45 minute mostly downhill walk into the city. Quite the nice walk, but Steve’s knee paid for it later. We strolled down Government Lane, and The Company’s Gardens, where the Houses of Parliament, St. George’s Cathedral, SA National Gallery, the Planetarium, the School of Fine Arts, a Rose Garden, and other interesting buildings are located. Saw a white squirrel on the walk!
Interesting to note the former Slavery Lodge, now a museum with Slavery Signs as part of the display.
Stopped by the Greenpoint Market—a kind of typical souvenir market place of local items (t-shirts and clothing, local art, etc.) Nice opportunity to sit outside and have a drink!
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| View of Table Mountain from V&A Waterfront |
Went to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront on our first evening in Cape Town. Huge shopping area with indoor and outdoor malls and a gigantic ferris wheel that have been developed since the ‘80s. Beautiful port area.
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| V and A Waterfront |
Good dinner at Baia—first of many nights of seafood ahead. Fell exhausted into bed at 9:30!
Sunday…After our complimentary breakfast at our terrific little hotel (Kensington 2Inn1), we spent day 2 on a double –decker tour of Cape Town and north. Thoroughly enjoyed the day, including the renown Jewish Museum (and the stirring Nelson Mandela short documentary), the Aquarium, a winding drive up the omnipresent Table Mountain--(unfortunately cable cars closed today due to winds—will try again later in the week) , a beautiful trip up the Atlantic coast through several seaside towns, and back to2Inn1 to recharge.
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| Atlantic coastline north of Cape Town |
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| View from Table Mountain |
Can you imagine a hotel where the owner offers you a complimentary cocktail upon your return at 4 in the afternoon, then goes to great lengths to determine your preferences for a dinner restaurant, brings over printouts from two choices, spends time kneeling by your chaise lounge poolside to discuss your options, makes dinner and cab reservations, and follows up with a printout and discussion of your route the next day to your next location? Fabulous hospitality—a great choice for our first two nights in Cape Town.
Great dinner at the recommended Panama Jacks. Met our first Americans (from Minneapolis) and shared a taxi back to 2Inn1 where we coincidentally were staying!
Onward to safari in the morning. Probably will only post every few days, as it takes quite a while to get narrative and photos set up and loaded. Nice to have wi-fi at each of our locations!
1 comment:
Joan and Steve, This looks amazing. Thank you for sharing. Some food we enjoyed in South Africa was Grenadilla (fruit), Mosley, blackcat peanut butter and the best was the South African Fish called Lungfish. Enjoy the safari.
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