10 February 2011

Day Six: Cape Town, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek

Cape Town was lots of fun and we saw so much:  we took the cableway up to the top of Table Mountain, saw museums and gardens, explored neighborhoods, and took a day to drive down the Cape to the lighthouse at Cape Point and to the Cape of Good Hope.  Along the way we saw the penguin colony at Boulders and the wild Cape Baboons.

Today is Thursday, so yesterday was our day to decamp from the city and head into the Winelands and then to another hotel, somewhere between Kleinmond and Hermanus.  The drive was through some very spectacular scenery, along some roads that were harrowingly narrow and curvy.  We stopped for lunch at a wonderful wine estate just out of Stellenbosch and had one of the best meals I can remember for a long time.  We also stopped at two other wineries in Franschhoek to do some tasting ... and buying.

Thereafter, we headed over the mountains and through the passes to Arabella.  We arrived last night at about six o'clock, dog tired, too tired to even think of doing anything but ordering room service and watching the dusk settle in over the bay.  Last night the sky was so black and the stars so vivid.

Today we're set to drive to the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, about 2 1/2 hours southwest.  It's not nearly as dramatic as Cape Point, but how can we resist a visit to the Indian Ocean?!

(I would post photos but the Internet connection at our hotel is so horrible that it'd be checkout time before they uploaded!)

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