On the edge. Tasting Tannins. Mountains without chairs. Monkey junk. Karoo who?

Cape L'Agulhas

I would like to thank Luke for giving that oh so charming interpretation of our Agulhas visit. Unfortunately, it is accurate. I made the first f-up of the trip, so to say. (At least it wasn't missing a plane, right?) While in J-Bay, we picked up one of those nifty little booklets with info on backpacker hostels in the area since we hadn't booked a place in our next stop, Cape L'Agulhas. Luke drove the entire time (only manual cars here, Linds isn't so inclined to know how to drive one yet, yes I know, pitiful for my 25 years but I'm working on that...) So, I was in charge of navigation (I must admit I am a genius at map reading, Luke would have had us in Asia if it were for my stealthy navigational skills) and anything else that doesn't involve driving, such as phone calls. On our ride there, I looked for a hostel in this little book. I turn to the Cape L'Agulhas area and I see 2 hostels. One was listed as being closer to the city center, so I called and booked us a room. So, we are driving, driving, driving and we come to the conclusion that we aren’t going to make our check-in time. I call to say we will be late and they agreed to wait for us.

Just as Luke said, we get to Aguhlas and its dark and rainy. Its hard to see the street signs, so instead of wasting time, we pull up to a police truck and ask for directions (this goes against my navigational skills/pride but we did it anyway.) The cops look at our book, talk amongst themselves, and come to the conclusion that the hostel I had us booked in is located in another city about 3 hours further up the coast. Oops! (I will admit I f-ed up, but even Luke will tell you that the book was a little confusing in its labeling.) So, Luke and I look at each other and think, "Shit...this place is already shut down for the night, what are we going to do?" And yes, its not like America here, there are NO hotels, not anywhere but major cities. So, your only choice for accommodation is Bed & Breakfasts, hostels, or, in our case, the police station (which the cops so kindly offered to us if we couldn't find some place to sleep!)

Just as we are thinking this is going to be a long night, we see this sign across the street, blinking neon, "OPEN!" It’s a B&B called Tip of Africa and it seemed to have vacancy. Luke knocked on the door and spoke to the owner. After a lame attempt to trick me into thinking that the place was booked up, Luke said the place was empty and the owner was more than welcome to let us stay for the night. Talk about luck, we seem to have some extra laying around on this trip.

The guy who ran the place, Derrick, was incredibly nice. I literally felt like he was taking us in, like lost dogs or something. But, after long conversation about Africa and its places, people and sadly enough, politics, Derrick had officially talked out ears off and we crashed. Next morning, not only did he (and his lovely wife Petro) cook us a huge breakfast, he also gave us tons of advice on what to see in the area. And to top off the whole event, he gave us a great deal on the room (R235 per person instead of R350pp.) Were thanked him for all his help and generosity and headed out to explore the edge of Africa.

The Cape of L'Aguhlas is famous for two things; it being the southern most tip of the African continent and it being the dividing point between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing what our side of the Atlantic looks like, I was half curious to see if there would be a line in the water separating the turquoise blue of the Indian and shit brown of the Atlantic. Of course, there wasn't. The Atlantic is just as blue on this side. (Not fair!) Although there is only a plaque marking the official edge of land and division of water, the rocky beach was something to marvel. The coast line in this area is full of huge boulders that are starting to be smoothed out by the pounding waves. Amongst these boulders are crystal clear tidal pools (in the true sense, not like Sullivan Island's tidal pool) full of sea anemones, mollusks, kelp, and smooth rocks. I could have wandered these pools for hours acting like a kid poking around at foreign sea creatures I've never seen before. This place was incredible.

L'Aguhlas also boasts one of South Africa's oldest functioning lighthouses. We stopped off to take some pics and climb to the top. Climbing to the top of a lighthouse is not for the faint of heart. Although not one of the tallest lighthouses in the world, the almost vertical stairs to the top were challenging and a little scary. After serious concentration on my part not to be clumsy and fall down (or up) these possible death trap ladders, we made it to the top and the view was worth it.

We spent more time that we should have exploring the edge of Africa and we ended our short trip to Cape L'Agulhas Next stop, wine country.

Franschhoek & Stellenbosch

Vino, vino, and more vino, and then just a little more vino. Along with braai, cheese, fun, friends and, as always, more vino. Wine country = indulgence.

As we drove towards wine country, we began to climb mountains. The steep rocky slopes devoid of vegetation didn't exhibit what I thought wine country would look like. But, soon we reached the top and started our decent into the valley. Just as you come over the crest of the mountain, you look down into this valley and see nothing but vineyards surrounded by steep mountains. The view made you feel as if you were in France or California, looking into the Napa Valley.

As we drove through the main street of Franschhoek (which means "French Corner" in Dutch,) I realized I was seeing a part of Africa I never knew existed. The street was lined with shops and galleries, restaurants with sidewalk seating and umbrellas, and quaint B&Bs, all demonstrating how much money was in this little town. It was as if I had been transported to a luxurious destination in Europe. As we left the short stretch of "downtown," we started to actually drive through the vineyards. There was literally a wine estate every quarter mile advertising its prestige with ornately designed gates or lush gardens and fountains greeting you at their entrance. Some estates were small with only a few houses and buildings, but some were immense, covering hundreds of acres. But all grew grapes, all made wine.

We were lucky enough to be staying with a friend who was also head winemaker at the Môreson Wine Estate, a modest estate by some standards. He lived in a cottage on the estate and was more than happy to put us up. Now, before you start to think that we were back in the lap of luxury, let me explain who we were staying with.

The winemaker, the newly appointed general manager of the estate, and the head wine taster/salesman were all kids my age. The estate was basically being run by twenty-somethings. Although they all took their positions seriously, they also took their wine drinking seriously, and by seriously, I mean heavily. So everyday at five, work ended, drinking began. It was like being in college all over again: lots of drinking and braai-ing (grilling out,) lots of kids crashing on couches and floors, and lots of bottles to clean up in the morning. Only thing different was we were drinking very good wine instead of Busch Lite.

For all those who don't know, I am nothing close to a wine connoisseur. I know the difference between your basic types of reds and whites, but not much more. Thanks to our friends at the estate, I was introduced to types of wine I didn't even know existed. Our second day in wine country, Luke and I and our winemaking friend Clayton and his girlfriend Leigh went wine tasting.

Wine tasting sounds snobby and uptight, right? Not so my friends. Most estates have a wine tasting room, and for about $4 you get to sample anywhere from 5 to 10 wines. A wine taster is in charge of pouring and describing the wines to you and also helping you to determine flavors and grapes and all that fancy wine talk. ("I taste a hint of oak, the slight earthiness of leather, the crispness of asparagus, and the butteryness of lanolin. The tannins are strong, the wine is still young, blah, blah, blah..." These are all real quotes made by tasters. Some of the flavors people come up with are insane. Lanolin, I'm told, is found in sheep fat, by the way!) Some tastings are paired with cheese or chocolates. Some estates are a little fancy with huge tasting rooms full of leather sofas, antiques and trophies. But others are huge tourist traps with gimmicks to draw you in to taste their wine. One of these estates was also one of my favorites, Fairview Wine Estate.

Fairview is one of the larger wine estates in the area also entertains the tourists with a gimmick, goats. Yes, goats. Not your everyday petting zoo boring goats. These goats live in a tower, that they climb up and sleep in. Not kidding here. Its a little strange. And what do goats make everyone? Yes, cheese. Yummy yummy goat's cheese. And for a few extra dollars, you can pair your wine tasting with a cheese tasting. So, in between tasting Savinougn Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinotage, Cabernet Savinougn, Shiraz and sweet wines that were similar to dessert wines, we munched on delicious goats cheese, lots of it. I could bore you with more wine talk, but I won't. I'll just say that I learned a lot and now have a little more confidence when looking at the wine list in a restaurant.

Wine wasn't the only thing Franschhoek had to offer. I met some truly awesome people. We stayed with Clayton, the winemaker, and his girlfriend Leigh who took care of us, even though we slept on couches! They were Luke's friends through his younger sister Lauren. Between braais at different people's houses, going out one night, and wine tastings, I met lots of good people. Some of the other kids were Luke's friends, some friends of friends, I even met 2 Irish girls and a Phillippino one night at a braai/rugby* party. It seems that the kids here are a really laid back. Chillin out at someone's house with wine, braai meat, and friends is a good time. Yeah, they go out too, but unlike us, its not all they do.

*Rugby. This sport is HUGE over here! I happened to arrive in SA at the beginning of the Rugby World Cup. SAT sentence: Rugby is to South Africa as Football is to the USA. So, you get the idea what the world cup of rugby is like... college bowl games. There is tons of country loyalty for all the teams playing. Even the USA has a team. They didn't play so well, but it was still exciting to watch us fightin for it! Dominating countries are South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. France, England, and even Samoa are some other big players.

I'm sure most of you men know the basics of rugby, but for us girls who don't its kind of similar to football (American football, not football soccer.) Guys on a field, ball, running, passing are all similar. It gets different in the movement of the ball. The ball can only move forward by kicking it or running it. When passing the ball, it has to be passed behind you. You can score by kicking the ball through posts (similar to ours, but narrower) for 3 points or by running it to the "endzone" and touching the ball to the ground for 5 points. There is no padding worn and there is full on tackling. Its not uncommon to see blood before the end of the rugby match. And ladies, to keep you interested, there are some seriously hot buff men wearing tight jerseys and short shorts that are somehow very sexy...

But anyways, I've come to enjoy the sport (and not just for the muscles...) Its actually entertaining. These guys are tough, tackling without pads takes some balls. If American guys could get used to wearing the short shorts uniform, I think it could be a big sport in the states. I'd tailgate for it!

I enjoyed my time in the wine country. I tasted great wine, met some great people, and ate lots of great goat cheese. I saw a part of Africa I didn't even know was there. I chilled out on a wine estate for 3 days! But most of all, I made some friends. To me, it doesn't get much better than that.

Capetown

A city, harbored by the blue waters of the Atlantic and guarded by the majesty the mountains, that I could definitely come to love.

When I started planning my trip to visit Luke in Africa, I purposefully didn't do much research on the places I would be seeing. I had Luke as my guide and therefore wouldn't need to know things on my own, so I used this opportunity to be surprised. So far, everything I've seen has blown me away. Capetown was no exception.

This city is amazing. As we drove through the outlying suburbs, the far off view of Table Mountain (the mountain Capetown sits beneath) grew closer. Soon, homes gave way to factories and warehouses which gave way to art deco high-rise apartments and modern office buildings, all with a view of the water and the mountains. Everywhere in Capetown has a view of the water and the mountains.

We stayed with one of Luke's long-time friends Teunis and his wife Bonita. Once again, we were put up by friends, for free, P-I-M-P! (Well, I had it made, I got the bedroom. Luke had to sleep on the blow-up mattress in the living room...ha, ha...) They also took some time off to be our personal tour guides. Our first afternoon there, Teunis showed us the Waterfront, one of the busiest tourist areas of Capetown. It houses tons of restaurants on the water, shops, street entertainment, you name it, its there. We spent some time here (remember, we were playing the role of tourist) checking out stores and sights. Our first night, we went to a posh sushi joint and dined on yummy fish and, you guessed it, wine. Capetown has a restaurant every 10 feet. There is no lack of interesting and foreign cuisine here, Indian, Thai, Chinese, African, Mexican, Italian, sandwiches, wraps, salads, meat on a stick, fish & chips, fruits and even American (KFC is HUGE here...its kinda gross!) And of course, you can always get great South African wine, CHEAP!!! All food & drink here is cheap!!! For example, at the posh sushi joint, Luke and I each had a platter of sushi (about 4 rolls + a few pieces of fish) for R99 (~$14) and split a bottle of SA wine for R115 (~$16.) Add in a 10% tip (which is ample enough tip here) and we had a huge sushi dinner, with great wine, for less than $50. That same dinner in Charleston would probably cost us about $100.

We played tourist a little more the next day on our trip down the coast. Capetown is situated at the top of a small peninsula and the city faces west towards the Atlantic Ocean. The peninsula continues to the south and ends at a nature reserve which holds Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The road down hugs the coastline and is dotted with small fishing villages and communities. We stopped first in the small village of Fish Hoek (Fish Corner) for a carry-out lunch of fish & chips at the world-famous Fish Hoek Fisheries. (I hope you all know what fish & chips are but, in case you don't, its fried white fish fillets (here its usually hake or snoek) with french fries topped with white vinegar and salt.) With our lunch wrapped in white butcher's paper, we walked out to the small beach, found a warm sunny spot over looking the water and ate our fish & chips the proper way, right out of the paper with our fingers. Once again, I found myself feeling like I wasn't in Africa anymore, more like a little European town, eating lunch along the shore while watching the old retirees sunbathe in their "costumes" (bathing suits.)

After our fish in Fish Hoek, we got back on the road and headed south. We found this exquisite male baboon specimen sitting on top a mailbox next to the road. As one would imagine, we pulled off to take some touristy pictures. After a couple of snapshots, we realized our new friend had the hiccups. We had a shared moment of school girl giggles and then looked closer to find that the old chap looked as if he had been hittin the sauce hard last night. To our unexpected amusement, this guy also seemed to be quite the exhibitionist. Without even bothering to get up from his sitting position, he spread em wide and took a piss right off the mailbox. Our school girl giggles quickly evolved into belly aching laughs but that wasn't the end... Our dear friend ended off his mailbox watering extravaganza by unveiling his monkey junk for all spectators to see and encored us with a little jiggle in typical male fashion. Laughing our asses off, we drove off before he could do anything more. After being witnesses to this event, we decided that we had reached a pinnacle moment in our lives and officially had seen it all. Monkey junk.

After we got ourselves together, we headed off to Simonstown, famous for its population of Jackass Penguins. Yes, that's really what they're called, Jackass Penguins. I walked down into a group of them to take some pics and soon after I shot off a few good ones, the little guys started pecking at me, my bag and the camera lens. It was more comical than a threat. But the penguins weren't the main attraction. This time of year is whale season on the southern coast of Africa. We were lucky enough to spot a few Southern Right Whales, which are small compared to some of their cousins. From our spot on the rocks, we couldn't get a very good look at them. But, every once in a while we would catch a glimpse of one of them "skyhopping," that's whale talk for "bobbing our head out of the water." Once again, it is with regret that I didn't buy the zoom lens before I left and have missed yet another awesome photo op. I should have dropped the $1K, it would have been worth every penny.

We left the penguins and whales and drove further south to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. Now, as you all remember, Luke and I were in Cape L'Agulhlas a few days ago visiting the southern most tip of Africa and the division of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Well, apparently, there is some confusion in this matter down here. Some people claim (including the tourist bureau) that Cape Point is the dividing point of the two Oceans. I'm not sure if its competition between towns, or if people are just retarded here, but to us the matter is simple. Here’s a little lesson in map reading for you kiddies. Remember, the coordinates are read: degrees by minutes by seconds. The first set of numbers is the latitude, or the distance south of the equator. The second set of numbers is the longitude, or the distance east of the prime meridian. So, the coordinates are:

Cape L'Agulhlas 34º 49’ 58” south 20º 00’ 12” east
Cape Point 34º 21’ 24” south 18º 29’ 51” east

I'm not a cartographer, but I can read maps and figure our coordinates. Cape L'Aguhlas is further south and Cape Point is further west. In my opinion, the southern most point would be where the oceans are divided. But, there is no shortage of people who believe that the western most point is the dividing point. Who knows which is really true, its only a fake line drawn in the water, right?

Although the dividing point might be at high debate, the beauty we saw at the Cape was not. This was by far one of the most beautiful places I've seen so far in Africa. We skipped riding the incline rail to the top and decided to ascend by foot the rather steep few hundred feet to a post of yet another light house. After sweating it out, we found a spot amongst the other tourists to take in what we could see from high atop this vantage point. The view was incredible. On one side, enormous rocky cliffs dropped straight down hundreds of feet onto tiny white sand beaches that were being pounded by the azul waters of the Atlantic Ocean. On the other side, the flower covered hill side eased itself into the calm waters of False Bay which lapped at the feet of hazy mountains off in the distance. This was a beautiful place.

Our day of exploration and baboon sightings left us exhausted. We took it easy that night in order to get up early for our next day of being tourists, Tuesday was Table Mountain day. Table Mountain sits right in the middle of Capetown. Its more of a peak than a mountain, though. The fun thing for us tourists to do is take the cable car to the top and look around from a height of 3500 feet. We did. And yet again, I was blown away. Seeing Capetown from this high us was pretty cool. Its really true that almost every part of the city has a view of the ocean and the mountains. From this high up, we were able to see Cape Point far off in the distance. It was strange being this close to a huge city, but not being able to hear it; it was absolutely quiet up there. We had lunch at a restaurant at the waterfront which reminded me of Shem Creek, minus all the drunk "fisherman."

We planned to take the ferry to Robben Island, the island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner, but the tours were booked for days. So we visited the Capetown Aquarium instead. Its supposedly rated as the #3 Aquarium in the world... not sure about that one, but it was pretty cool. But, it is one of only two aquariums with an indoor kelp tank. I think the only other one is in California somewhere. We got to see little Nemos, box jellyfish (deadliest in the world,) giant 3 feet tall deep water crabs (scary as hell!) and some seals (which actually live in Capetown's harbor.)

We ended our last day in Capetown atop Signal Hill for sundowners. A perfect end to my first time in the city I think I could fall in love with.

The Road Home

We left Capetown and headed back to wine country to kill a few more days. We also killed a few more bottles of wine and a few more braai fires. Two days later, we figured we had worn out our welcome on the estate and we headed back to the farm. The way we came down along the coast was lengthy. A shorter route existed north, through the Karoo Desert. Our friends kind of laughed when we mentioned the drive saying that some of the stretches are so straight that you could fall asleep while driving them. They weren't kidding. The Karoo isn't really a desert as you would think. (No rolling sand dunes with camels and cacti.) Its more like rolling hills way off in the distance and a road flanked with flat land and dotted with low scrubby trees and the occasional cow or rhino. This scene went on for 10 hours. Ten long hours of hot sun, hot wind, no rest stops, only 3 possible pit stops, road work in strange desolate places for what seemed to be no reason, and no driver changes (Linds still can't drive stick.) I was actually afraid Luke might be getting hypnotized by the never-changing straight roads but was reassured he wasn't by the frequent "Driver Alert Zones" which consisted of the loudest, longest rumble strips I've ever come in contact with.

Although the Karoo didn't provide any new amazing sights nor provide us with great food and wine, nor do much of anything expect bore us, it did give us time to think over the trip. I hadn't traveled with Luke since our Euro trip two and a half years ago and was anxious to see if we could still deal with each other for days straight. After our 11 day stint across southern Africa, I realized we still make a pretty good team. He proved himself to be an adequate travel guide and came through with some good friends, most of which were willing to feed us, give us wine, and even put us up for free. I saw incredible sights, met awesome people, ate and drank more than I should have, and saved a bunch of cash. I just want to say thanks to Luke, I couldn't have asked for a better trip around South Africa.