Today was the 41st day of our adventure, which means we have passed the halfway point of our journey: Having traveled to 7 countries, 14 cities/places, we are doing remarkably well all in all. At the risk of jeopardizing our good fortune and inviting the evil eye (sorry, mom!), so far there have been no life-threatening injuries, no missed flights and, happily, no credible threats on my life by Jackie or the kids!
We spent our 40th and 41st days much like the 2 days before it: enjoying Cape Town, South Africa, and its surrounding areas. We visited Kirstenbosch Gardens, Hout Bay, took a sunset cruise in Table Bay, and a trip down the peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope and Simon’s Town (penguins!). I must say, Cape Town has been a surprisingly great experience. It is a very international city of about 4.5 Million people, with lots of fantastic high quality food, and tons of things to see and do throughout the city and peninsula. It doesn’t hurt that Cape Town’s cost of living is well below cities of comparable size (and is about ⅔ the cost of substantially smaller U.S. cities like Indianapolis). The only downsides, which we did not experience, are reportedly high crime (in districts we did not stay) and the crushing poverty that afflicts many people here… again, not a part of our experience, though it was something I was mindful about simply because the place would otherwise seem idyllic.
Without further ado, here are the pics of our last few days:
Kirstenbosch Gardens: Set against a backdrop of the Table Mountain range, the Kirstenbosch gardens are incredibly scenic and serene! If not exclusively, it is largely comprised of local/indigenous flora.
Hout Bay: Our next stop was Hout Bay, a suburb of Cape Town, but really just a seaport/bay with seafood processing facilities, seafood restaurants & other food/drink establishments, … and the bay.
There was a cool outdoor art/sculpture gallery
Sunset Cruise: Our hop-on/off tickets entitled us to free access to all of the activities we have done while here, including (happily) a sunset champagne cruise in Table Bay, just off the coast of Cape Town. It was a lovely cruise and the weather was perfect (well, for winter, anyway – temps were in the 50’s/low 60’s):
After the cruise, we had a great dinner of sushi and a ride on the wharf Ferris wheel (yes, I know, completely touristy thing to do, but it was included, so why not?!)
Day 41 – Down the Peninsula!
Cape of Good Hope: Apparently, the name “Cape of Good Hope” is something of a misnomer, as there have been frequent and numerous shipwrecks along the coast and around the Cape. But calling it the Cape of Dark Storms or Cape of Disasters was, apparently, not a marketing “win” for the place. Thus, Cape of Good Hope. It is about 2 hours south of Cape Town, and it rewards visitors with magnificent views in all directions. Below are just a handful of the photos from the trip:
Penguins! On the way back to Cape Town, we stopped at a place called Simon’s Town, on the eastern side of Cape Peninsula, home to the South African Navy — and a colony of about 3,000 penguins. (Apparently, fewer than that number are there most of the time, but that is the total number of penguins that nest there). They are pretty cute.
Penguins look at me much the way my friends do (I am told)
On day 37 of our journey, the family was having breakfast and discussing the fact that, amazingly given all we’ve done, we were still less than halfway through our adventure. Though the kids and I miss friends and family back home, the three of us were still quite happy with the thought that so much of our journey remained ahead of us. Jackie, on the other hand, had this reaction:
In fairness, Jackie has been an awesome traveler — upbeat and eager to engage in all the activities (save the thrill-seeking, “microlight flight” variety). She has also — much to may happy surprise — been up and ready to go as early as our day’s activities require. But at the thought that she still had more than 40 days left to see the MOST IMPORTANT member of our family — buddy (the dog) — she got a bit sad. Meanwhile, I have been surprised by how little I have thought about work or the other things that usually occupy my waking thoughts when home… Its been a great sabbatical, and I am nowhere near ready to return home…. which is good, b/c we have another 39 days left at this point! I just hope the rest of it goes as well as the first half.
Next up: Europe! While we still have tomorrow in Cape Town, we fly to Paris tomorrow night to kick off the European leg of our adventure.
