We are back and have recovered from jet lag.

In the interests of easy reading (and to limit boredom), I’m going to split this blog into two – pre-safari and post-safari.

I may then write a bit about the rest of the trip that doesn’t involve animals.

Unfortunately I can’t find the camera cord at the moment so photos may follow.

Day 1 – Rock Dassies – Table Mountain
We landed in Cape Town at about 1pm and were collected at the airport to go to the hotel. The driver was the first of many to ask if we’d been there before. A standard question but it stumped me. I’d left when I was one and hadn’t been back so I guess the answer is ‘yes’ but any follow up questions were likely to be tricky.

Having luckily been upgraded to business class, we weren’t too tired. Given it was a clear day, we decided to go to the top of Table Mountain as we’d been told by a number of people that these types of days aren’t around too often.

Luckily we did as the wind picked up while we were at the top and by the time we’d caught the rotating cable car back to the bottom, we were quite cold and they’d cancelled all subsequent trips up.

This is where we had our first encounter with South African wildlife. The rock dassie / hyrax is about the size of a guinea pig, looks more like a rat and interestingly, is a close relative of the elephant.

Dinner was ostrich tangine. It was very chewy and I preferred the gravy with the couscous to the meat itself. As it turns out, it was just cooked badly.

Day 2 – Seal – V&A Waterfront
For the morning, we had a slow walk down to the V&A Waterfront as we were feeling tired but needed to exercise. This area reminded me of Darling Harbour and Circular Quay combined though no cruise ships that I could see.

The main difference is that seals are attracted to this area and we saw one lazing about and doing some somersaults in the water.

One of my family members currently lives in Cape Town and he invited us around for a late lunch / early dinner with some of his friends. Mr Shallot was introduced to a few different beers (some would say ‘a fair few’) while watching provincial rugby on TV.

Day 3 – Baboons and penguins – Boulders Beach & Cape Point
We were due to meet the same family member in the afternoon for a drive to Cape Point, mistakenly referred to as the southern most tip of Africa (Cape Agulhas) and where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans collide (this actually shifts so it’s difficult to pinpoint).

It was a drizzly day which added to the silliness of getting out of the car at Boulders to see wild African penguins. There were none there so we drove along to the next spot, and stepped out again – it was pouring with rain at this stage but the penguins were there. They were bigger than I expected, a little shorter than knee high, and were in scrub rather than out on rocks or sand. These particular penguins are sometimes referred to as jackass penguins due to the sound they make. Yes, the name fits.

Back in the car on the way to the Cape we see baboons crossing the road. As with Indonesia, these can be quite dangerous in spite of how cute some of them looked. There were also a few when we finally arrived at the Cape.

Driving home on Chapman’s Peak Drive, there was concern that we would run out of petrol. I’ve been in this situation before with Mr Shallot driving so I’m familiar with the drill. Luckily we made it to a station in time with about four litres to spare!

Seafood for dinner at Hout Bay.

Day 4 – Cheetahs – Wineries
We sat on the open-top floor of the Red Explorer bus to take in the rest of Cape Town. I have a photo of Mr Shallot in a thick jacket and a beanie. He would have worn gloves too if he’d brought them along!

This was a great way to see some of the highlights that we knew we wouldn’t have the time to see more thoroughly. We stopped off at Bo-Kaap as I’d wanted to see the colourful houses of the Cape Malay people that use to live there (some may still live there but I’m not sure). The houses are in various pastel shades and reminded me of the inside of Clinkers. We also had one of the nicest lattes in a small café here.

The afternoon saw us with another driver so we could explore some wineries. Lucky for us, the people that we had met at our family members’ place (the ones that introduced Mr Shallot to the beers) had vineyard recommendations.

With not much time in Cape Town, we concentrated our wine tasting to Franschhoek (loosely translated it means the French Corner) rather than Stellenbosch though we did pass through there on the way back to the hotel.

Interestingly, we had to pay to taste. I’ve never had this happen before but that didn’t stop me! We bought some wines which we’ll try not to drink all at once.

Our drive through to Spier Wine Estate was disappointing as it was closed when we arrived. We went for a walk there and found the Cheetah Outreach Centre which also had owls and eagles. Unusual combination but they seemed to be doing fine.

Dinner was at Bantry Bay at a restaurant called Salt. It is perched on a cliff face and the food is great. I had fish again (when on a Bay, it makes sense to me) and dessert was pear samosas. Interesting is how dessert is best described but it did taste good – stewed pear in an Indian style wrapping.

Day 5 – Whales – Oudtshoorn
It was time to leave Cape Town and make our way to Port Elizabeth via Oudtshoorn. This is where we intended to stay the night.

Driving along the Garden Route, we detoured at Hermanus to see the whales. The week prior was the whale festival and I figured they probably didn’t know the festival was over so they may still be hanging around. They were. They are huge.

Arriving in Oudtshoorn a lot later than we expected, meant that we checked into our bed & breakfast and stepped out for dinner rather than tackling my grade 6 project visit (Cango Caves).

This is the ostrich capital of South Africa so not surprisingly, ostrich was on the menu for dinner.

This time, it was so tender and juicy. It’s known as one of the healthiest meats and even has the Heart Association tick of approval.

Day 6 – Cheetahs – Port Elizabeth
Opposite the B&B was the Cango Wildlife Ranch which includes the Cheetah Preservation Foundation. We did the tour, which also included a wallaby and emu section, and went to see the cheetahs.

They are breeding the cheetahs as there is a shortage of them in the wild. We were fortunate to be able to go in with them and give them a pat! This is one of my trip highlights. There were two in a large enclosure that had trees, sand and water. We were able to walk behind them while they were lying down and pat them. They are the only large cat that purrs and the one that I was patting started to purr. The fur feels like a German Shepard and they apparently are that strong at six months of age.

From the Centre, we made our way to the Cango Caves so I could see how my grade 6 project looked in person. Stalagmites and stalactites were all pretty spectacular and the lighting they have installed so you can see (it’s pitch black there with them all off) showcases them further. The best part though was a group of school children walking through that began to sing. The acoustics are great and their voices were beautiful. Previously, concerts were held there but due to vandalism, they stopped hosting them.

Later that day, we arrived in Port Elizabeth for a sleep before being collected by our safari people.

* Thanks to Toto (can you believe they’re touring?!) for the title to this post. Check out this acapella version.