"South Africa"

Capetown April 11-14, 2009

We arrived in Cape Town at 10am after a long 11 hour flight. We had managed to get a good night's sleep and were excited to have finally arrived. We were picked up by a driver and taken to our friend's, Chris and Erna Aucamp's, house with whom we would be spending the next few weeks. We had spent many enjoyable moments with them in New York, Westminster week, and were looking forward to their friendship and hospitality in Cape Town. We were warmly greeted and introduced to their sons,twins Marc and Jacques, and youngest son Sean. We spent the day rather lazily having great fun and conversation with our friends. We gave into the demand and had an afternoon nap which left us feeling very refreshed. Chris was the chef for the evening and BBQ'd a delicious assortment of lamb, chicken and sausages. This was accompanied with vegetables and three bottles of wine from Chris's private collection. We ended our first night with the Aucamps with several games of pool, dominated by Chris and Sean and finally all collapsed into bed looking forward to the rest of our adventure.

Easter Sunday was spent doing some sightseeing and shopping after another lazy morning relaxing by the pool. Our first stop was the Waterfront Craft Market where Africans have stalls to sell their handmade crafts. We picked up some lovely pottery and stainless steel cutlery. It was tempting to keep going but we knew this would be the first of many stops and so, we resisted. Our next stop was the VNA Mall, a very decadent, high-end mall where we browsed through several stores before heading to the restaurant, Karibu for traditional African food. Appetizers included ostrich carpaccio and blue cheese and ostrich pate, main courses were ostrich fillet and venison medallions with accompaniments of putu and chakalaka (a couscous-type grain with a tomato/carrot relish). Dessert was koeksister (a breaded donut-type pastry covered in honey) and milk tart.
We returned home and after several more rounds of our now 'evening pool competition', we all retired to bed.

April 13th started again lazing by the pool while the demands of this busy household were met and Richard coerced Sean to into the pool with him. This is autumn in South Africa and although hot by our standards, 28-34 degrees, the locals consider it quite cool. We all headed out again to do some shopping to a place called Canal Walk along with Aucamps son Jacques girlfriend Inge Wahl. We decided the purchase of a new suitcase was necessary, as one of ours had been damaged on the way to London and there was no way we would fit everything into two! Chris bought dried African meat, an African delicacy, called biltong and droewors, for us all to try, which was a combination of ostrich, beef and kudu. It was jerky-like in texture and very tasty. We all chewed on it as we walked through the mall. Supper had been planned here as well at a sushi restaurant, Cape Town Fish Market. A myriad of choices for appetizers travelled along a conveyor belt while the sushi chefs prepared more in the center. The main courses consisted of curried Potjie (a stew-like meal served in a traditional cast iron pot that is cooked on an open flame), prawns in a garlic sauce and for dessert was sticky toffee pudding. We returned home just in time for Wendy to call home and say hi to Matthew and Caitlin and to wish her mom a Happy 70th Birthday. More pool followed suit and an early night was had as we were being picked up at 9am for sightseeing.

On Tuesday, we were picked up by our tour guide Cristo Bester who was a retired university professor and extremely knowledgable about all things South African and Capetown in particular.We were taken on a private sightseeing tour that Chris had arranged for us. We first took a drive through beautiful Camp's Bay, the wealthiest part of Cape Town. The houses were massive and many of which could not be seen due to the even more massive security around the properties. Cape Town can be very unsafe and people do not take chances with security systems. Razor wire, electric wire, emergency armed-support systems and in-home guns are the norm. Our next stop was Hout's Bay,a marina where local crafts people were selling their wares. The World of Bird's an ecological rehabilitation center was an amazing array of over 3000 birds made up of over 300 species, primates and other species that were kept in a integrated system so well designed that you could easily reach out and touch them. A 'monkey touch' was an enclosure that, when entered, put you in amongst small monkeys that ran, played and jumped through the trees all around you. If you put out your hand, many would climb onto you.

After an hour in this amazing facility, we headed to one of the main attractions, the Cape Point, South Africa's most south-westerly point. We climbed the long winding staircase to the lighthouse and looked over the massive ocean. It is common to see zebras, baboons and ostrich in the area. We walked down to the shore at the Cape of Good Hope and put our feet in the water.

Our last stop was the Boulders, a National Park area that hosts a colony of African Penguins. In 1982, two pairs of penguins decided they would nest in a prestigious residential area. They were so enjoyed by the locals, they forfeited their beach to provide a safe haven for these birds which has now grown into a colony of over 3000. The boardwalk and manmade nesting areas allow for observation of the birds at close range. It is amazing to see them whiz through the water, beach on the sand and waddle up to their nests.

Our tour ended and we returned home to one of Erna's homemade dishes of babotie. A dish of ground beef, egg and raisins. It was delicious and no leftovers remained after the meal. Chris once again, as he had done every night, delved into "the collection" and this night served us KWV Roodeberg Auction wines and a sampling of SA liquor made out of nougat.

Wednesday, was a relaxing day around the pool and beautiful home and property of the Aucamps. For dinner Erna once again outdid herself with an incredible peach chicken dish, served with rice and vegetables. It was a household favorite and we made her promise she would give us the recipe....delicious!! Wendy was quite impressed with Erna's Barbie Doll collection which covered a full wall in the dining room. We ended the evening with another series at the pool table with the Aucamps son Sean being crowned "The Champion".

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