"South Africa"

Capetown April 17-22, 2009

On Saturday, things were busy at home so we took Jacques, Marc, Sean and Inge to see the new Clint Eastwood movie, "Grand Turino" and then we all went 10 pin bowling. It was a lot of fun, considering we were used to the smaller bowling balls and three chances to knock the pins down!

For supper we headed to "Spur" for their famous rib dinner....delicious...and then back to the house for our nightly dose of pool. It was an early night as we would be attending an Open Show in the morning, where Chris would be judging the Utility Group and Erna would be showing her Papillon puppies and two 4-month-old Shih Tzu puppies.

The day started out cloudy and progressed to a rainy day, however, it did not dampen the spirits of the Show Club nor the exhibitors which turned out in full force. It was a great venue and very well set up, with an indoor area for relaxing and having a hot meal from the canteen.
Erna did very well with her puppies, winning Group 2nd with the Papillon and a Group 4th with the Shih Tzu. Chris had a great entry and gave BIS to a lovely Miniature Schnauzer and RBIS to an equally nice Miniature Poodle.

Once we returned home and had the dogs settled, we returned to the Cape Town Fish Market for supper and once again enjoyed their extensive selection of sushi for the appetizer. Richard had a seafood assortment for his main dish and Wendy had prawns. We, at this point, had pretty much given up the idea of maintaining a diet!

On Monday, we were once again picked up by our knowledgeable tour pro, Christo, for another sightseeing tour organized by Chris. We headed into the city at the bottom of Table Mountain and saw the sights of the Castle of Good Hope, Parade, City Hall, District Six (an area that had been forcibly cleared of its inhabitants to make room for the white people), Bo-Kaap or the Malay Quarter which was where once, hundreds of Coloureds lived 30 or more to a home in cramped quarters but which now had been restored to a colourful, well sought-after area to live.
We then walked through the Company Gardens and into the Slave Lodge Museum, an extensive historical collection of information from the slave industry which then led us to a large tablet in the middle of a road where once stood a tree which was the actual auction location for the slaves that were being put up for sale. What an incredible history these people have had. It was hard to believe people would be treated in such a way.

We had lunch on the Waterfront at a Greek Seafood Restaurant and then headed to Signal Hill for a panoramic view of Cape Town and its harbour.
Our last stop was a wine tasting at the Durbanville Hills Vineyards, which are mainly known for their white wines. We had a tasting of five whites and three reds and decided the Sauvignon Blanc was the best. Seeing as though Erna prefers white wine, we brought back two bottles for her.

Erna had spent the day preparing yet another incredible meal and once again we thoroughly enjoyed a deliciously slow roasted leg of lamb with all the vegetables and for dessert, her mother's recipe pudding....it was to die for!

Tuesday Christo arrived at 2:00 and our main objective was to see Table Mountain. We had been unable to go there thus far due to the weather. It is common for cloud cover to sit on top of the mountain (called a "tablecloth") and also high winds this time of the year. Today was promising and we headed out as soon as it was open.
A visit to Cape Town would be incomplete without a trip up the famous Table Mountain which reaches a height of 1085m at its highest point and has a broad flat surface allowing it to appear as a 'table' from certain angles, inspiring its name. The views over the city start the minute you step into the state of the art cableway (one of only three in the world). The floor of the 65 passenger cablecar rotates 360 degrees on the ascent/descent which takes 5-10 minutes to reach the summit/base travelling at a speed of up to 10m per second. Undeniably the best views over the Cape are to be taken in from this natural landmark mountain which allows all parts of Cape Town to be seen at once in all its magnificence.

We returned home and into Erna's 'state of the art' kitchen as it was our night to cook and it was decided everyone would like Mexican. We whipped up an appetizer of Chili Con Queso and shared that with Cervesa as the rest of dinner was prepared.The main course consisted of Chimichangas, Mexican rice, corn and refried beans. All was accompanied with homemade salsa, guacamole and sour cream. The meal finished with bunuelos, ice cream and honey.
We all then had a relaxing evening playing pool and watching the Celine Dion Las Vegas Concert.

Wednesday was election day in South Africa and a National Holiday. We spent the a lazy morning catching up on e-mail and working on our travelogue. Erna was busy grooming, Chris was off to vote, Sean practiced on his drums and Marc and Jacques were off to school in the morning for some extra studying.

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