Day 3 Capetown and Winelands

The Table Bay Hotel is beautiful and the location is fantastic - right on the harbor. Buffet breakfast is included, and it is awesome. All kinds of fruit, fresh juices, American foods, mushrooms, yogurt, local foods: the list goes on and on. We spent the morning walking around the wharf (we needed to after that big breakfast). I went to Vodacom and rented a phone for the week – it only cost about $2.50 per day plus $1.99 per minute. I hope I don’t need to use it much, but it gives me peace of mind in case family needs to reach us, or Sharon has an emergency at the office. I can return it at the airport in Johannesburg, so it’s very convenient. (Of course, if my cell phone provider had service in South Africa, I wouldn’t have to rent a phone at all). We had fish and chips for lunch – linefish (equivalent to our fresh fish of the day), calamari, shrimp and snoek. It was a little greasy but very good.













After lunch, we met the rest of our group for the first time – 14 in all.: 2 couples, one mom and her 25 year old son, 4 girlfriends, and a dad and his 12 year old son. We have a very diverse but congenial group. This should be fun! Our tour this afternoon is of the winelands. South Africa is known for their wineries, and especially for pinotage, their signature wine which is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. The drive was beautiful and we saw our first wildlife: a herd of zebras and ostrich along the way. After wine tasting at Neethlingshof Estate we drove back through Stellenbosch, a college town which was very charming with oak trees dotting the streets. We had about an hour to check out the stores and take pictures before returning back to our hotel. Here is where I made my first faux pas when it comes to currency exchange. I bought a fun little bracelet for what I thought was $5 and I it was really $50. I've got to get this money thing down! I won't make that mistake again.

We had one dinner at the hotel included in our package, so we decided to use it tonight. Dinner was fantastic, with the chef surprising guests with a complimentary appetizer, soup or dessert. We received a complimentary soup (in addition to the soup we ordered) which was fantastic (cream based, but I don't really know what it was). Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing, so it's off to bed.

Day 2 We're finally here

Our overnight flight from D.C. to Johannesburg wasn’t that bad. Dennis and I both got a decent night’s rest even though we woke up every two hours. After catching our connecting flight, we arrive at our hotel around 8pm. Capetown looks like any other big city until you reach the harbor with Table Bay mountain behind it. Beautiful! We are excited about seeing Capetown in the morning, so early to bed.

South Africa - Day 1 The Journey

We rise and shine (not!) to catch a 6am flight to Washington D.C. We could have taken a later flight, but with the undependability (I may have made up this word) of flights these days, we didn’t want to take any chances with missing our connecting flight to Africa. As with all of our trips, there is always drama. I just didn't expect it to start so soon. While standing in the line at the airport, I realize my camera is missing. It was dark when we arrived at the Parking Spot, and it must have fallen out of my purse onto the floor of the car (at least I hope that's where it is). Going on safari without a camera – no way! I talked Dennis into going shopping for a new camera during our 5 hour layover in D.C. As luck would have it, we met an army officer who just returned from Afghanistan and needed a gun case in order to check his rifle. We share a ride to Wal-Mart, and I came out with a cute little Sony digital camera.

Most people hate long flights, but when else am I strapped into a seat for hours and forced to relax. I watched 2 movies and caught up on my reading. The food was surprisingly good. Fortunately for me, I tend to fall asleep in anything that moves, so I am off to bed (so to speak)! More tomorrow!

South Africa - How We Got Here

First of all, I need to tell you how this trip came about. As owner of a travel agency, I get to travel more than the average person. I have a long list of places I have been and an even longer list of places I still want to visit. South Africa has always been at the top of my "want to go there before I die" list. Last December I was invited to attend an in-depth training session in Las Vegas on South Africa. Not bad - Las Vegas and training on my top dream destination at the same time. The only thing that could be better is actually visiting South Africa. The company hosting the event was going to hold a costume contest on the final night, and the winner would receive free air, a safari and more. I reaaaally wanted to win, so I activated the creative side of my brain. I knew I couldn't win by dressing up as some "tribal woman of little clothing" so I decided to go to the other exteme - an elephant. I wore grey sweat pants with a grey sweatshirt and grey slippers with pink toenails (I don't think elephants have pink toenails but the image of the dancing elephants in "Fantasia" came to mind - or maybe that was dancing hippos). Unwrapped cans were wired together for my trunk, and a paint brush was sewn onto my derriere to create the tail. I was selected as one of the finalists, and as I paraded around the room and across the stage, I threw peanuts at my peers for an added touch. At this point, you are probably thinking that I won (with such a great outfit), but I didn't. A cute little blond wearing furs won. However, I did come in as one of the semi-finalists and won a roundtrip ticket to South Africa and two free nights in Johannesburg. I combined my free trip with a safari and visit to Capetown and the adventure began!