Ok, we will start the story at the end. It is hard to top sitting in your “hotel room” (a tent in the wild) and looking over your toes out the screen door, and seeing an elephant walk by not 25yds away. He was just passing through, looking for food and water at the kitchen, and didn’t seem overly interested in us (thankfully) or our tent (awkward because Mike was taking a shower at the moment).
Yes, we think this is what the cool kids call “glamping”. A heavy vinyl tent, with screened windows with roll down shades, an attached vinyl set of sink/shower/toilet rooms. The bed has mosquito netting (hmmm, never a good sign, but no mosquitos yet), and the bed is too short. Meals are 50 yds away, and we need an escort any time it is too dark to see your feet. We have a radio to summon an escort if needed. Sunset is 6:30, dark is 6:40.
We return to our cliffhanger from yesterday. Your intrepid explorers head out into the darkness, full of hope, fully tired of airports, and optimistic that this airplane adventure would all go smoothly. Join us in their moment of excitement as they walked across the pavement to their plane:
That is enough foreshadowing. The short summary before we get back to the pictures is: The adventurers arrived at the JRO airport. The bags decided they liked Kenya better and stayed behind in Nairobi.
We cast the “bag summoning spell” (paperwork) at the airport, and then headed out for the 90 min drive to our lodge. Now, back to the pictures. You are only here for the pictures, right?
Just before we turned off the bigger road, we saw this:
Arrived at the lodge at midnight, and up for a day of hiking at 6.
In which our characters attempt to travel to a new country via a third country using a set of airplanes.
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley, and leave us nought but grief and pain, for promised joy.”
The initial plan was simple: Fly from Johannesburg to Kilimanjaro, changing planed in Addis Ababa. Inspired by Robert Burns, things changed. The airline canceled the second leg and moved us to the next day. The schedule was now broken and it was time to replan.
With a week to go, Carolyn’s wonderful team found a Kenya Air routing that made the trip in one day, All was good and we headed to Capetown. Robert Burns was not done with us yet.
Two days ago we checked in to the first leg of the flight but needed to wait for the second leg (different airline). Yesterday, with one day to go, Kenya Air moved our flight six hours later and now we could not make the second leg. Kenya Air also announced they were no longer code sharing with the second airline so they didn’t seem to care that they had broken the system.
Back to the wonderful people at the travel agent flight desk.
One leg complete, we now wait in Nairobi for our plane to arrive. The boarding pass is only useful with an actual plane in hand.
Time to go find animals. We got up at 3:40am, at the park at 6:20 when it opened, and stayed until 17:57 (closes at 18). Cool in the morning and eve, low-mid 90s mid afternoon. Here is a sampler of the wildlife.
Years ago, Kristine’s brother Jeff found a driver in Cape Town. He is now the “go to guy” when anyone who knows Jeff visits Cape Town. Beyond Jeff and his colleagues, Raymond has introduced multiple Bakkens, Carascos, and now us to the wonders of the south west Cape. Yesterday was the tour of The Cape of Good Hope. Today we went inland to Wine Country.
All trips involve short detours to see bits of history. Today we went through an old neighborhood that is going “trendy” just up the hill from our hotel, and then we headed out to the edge of the city to drive through the old Black Township, and then a Colored Township. Before the “freedom of movement” law in 1994, these were segregated neighborhoods where the residents rented. In 94, the residents could buy the land (cheaply) and many did.
The neighborhoods have old tiny houses, old houses with tin sheds in the back yard (for tenants). Many of the houses have now been fixed up (fancy fences, nice garage doors, etc) but there are still tin shacks packed in between.
From the outside, the neighborhoods look very poor, but the roofs are covered with satellite dishes, and there are frequently newer cars in the driveway. I think the realtors call this a “transitional neighborhood.”
It was 9am as we went through the townships and the street venders were getting ready for the day; starting fires for the grills, chopping meat, unloading produce. It was a classic street market coming together.
History tour over, it was time to head east for wine tasting. The first stop was Meerlust Wine Estates in Stellenbosch. The farm dates back to the late 1600s, and has been making wine since about 1980. One family has owned the estate the whole time, and the owner still lives in the original (now expanded) house. No tours.
The wine was good, but we have no room to carry any back.
We did the tour of Stellenbosch (second most important university in the Western Cape), and then headed farther east to Franschhoek (lit. French Village). The drive from Stellenbosch to Franschhoek was like driving through Napa with large wineries all along the road. Franschhoek is the small town full of weekend shops for wandering around — it felt very familiar like many such weekend escape towns.
Raymond selected lunch at “The Chef’s Warehouse at Maison”. and aimed us at the 5-course tasting menu. We looked at the menu in detail, and made the necessary gluten adjustments, and crossed our fingers just for luck.
We ate some food we never would have considered before and found it very good. It was all about “the sauce” for almost every course……and it took 3 hours.
The entertainment between courses where the local wildlife, and watching the grapes grow.
Looking at the clock, it was time to head home — no more wine searching. we had a long drive ahead.
Evening dessert on the V&A waterfront (big mall, restaurants, street musicians), and home to pack for the flight tomorrow.
We end with a big “Thank You Very Much!” to Raymond for the wonderful tour of the area. We learned more than we hoped for, saw more than we thought possible in two days, and leave with a deeper appreciation of this corner of the world.
Our door at home is “normal” (to us), but after four airports, three flights, two nights, and one new continent, we have arrived in Cape Town. The hotel door is not “normal” but comes with an attendant. He has other jobs too. The English influence still lingers.
