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Here are
Branko and Tanya at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town with lots
of little fishies in the background. The Aquarium, at The Victoria
and Alfred Waterfront, was built in 1994 and is located at the place
where the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean meets the warmer water
of the Indian Ocean (hence the name, "Two Oceans…")
Find out more about the attractions at http://www.aquarium.co.za/ |
For some
reason, there is a piece of the Berlin Wall on display outside the
IMAX Theater at the Cape Town Waterfront. Maybe it's so the South
Africans can say that bad things have happened all over the world
and not only in South Africa. (You know, Apartheid separating people,
walls separating cities…) In any event, it was given to the
South African government in 1996 to highlight the beginning of military
relations between South Africa and Germany. Danke shein. |
After
a strenuous walk up Table Mountain (just kidding - we took the cable
car) we started snapping away at the magnificent views from all the
angles at the top of the magnificent Cape Town landmark. This one
looks out towards the Southern Suburbs which is what Tanya calls home.
For those who didn't know, Table Mountain is a sandstone plateau.
The top is approximately 3km wide, and its highest point, Maclears
Beacon, rises to 1085m. For more useless info (but pretty pictures),
check out http://www.tablemountain.net/
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Here's
another picture taken from the top of Table Mountain, with a view
of Robben Island on the left and Signal Hill on the right. Robben
Island is 12 km away from Cape Town and has a long history of exile
and confinement. During the Apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela spent
18 years of his 27 year imprisonment on Robben Island. Today the island
houses a museum open to the public - it's worth visiting: http://www.robben-island.org.za/ |
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Here are Branko
and Tanya in Hermanus, which is located near the Southern-most tip
of Africa in Walker Bay. Hermanus is renowned for some of the best
shore-based whale watching in the world, but you have to be there
at the right time of the year in order to see them. Mating season
starts in about June/July and since we were about three months too
early, we just took advantage of the photo opportunity with the Atlantic
Ocean in the background. |
And here are Branko and Tanya still in Hermanus, still taking advantage
of the photo ops with the Atlantic (minus whales) in the background… |
No whales,
no Atlantic, but here's Branko in the main square in the center of
Hermanus on our day outing with Moira and Zack. With all its outdoor
markets and quaint cafes and restaurants, it's harder to imagine a
nicer place to get away for a day than Hermanus… |
For some reason, Branko decided that the entrance to Oom Samie Se Winkel (Uncle Sam's shop) was the perfect place for a little jig. Oom Samie se Winkel is a quaint, old-fashioned shop in Stellenbosch, a small university town 45 minutes from Cape Town. The shop, which has the atmosphere of a museum, has barely been altered since it first opened 150 years ago. |
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The
first stop on our Garden Route tour was Oudtshoorn, where we found
ourselves inside the Cango Caves. Branko was impressed by the magnificent
stalagmite and stalactite formations (but please note - there are
bigger and better caves in Slovenia …) We were good sports and
did the whole 1.2 km tour which ended with us crawling through the
"postbox,"a very narrow gap between two rocks… Why
describe the caves when you can find out all about them on http://www.cangocaves.co.za/? |
For
some reason, we took this picture outside the "Welcome"
sign when we were on our way back to the car. That could explain why
we're both looking so tired and somewhat 'flatter' - all because of
that postbox… |
Branko
had to continue his animal riding spree (just to reinforce his faith
in the whole "survival-of-the-fittest" theory) and so we
spent a day riding the "Southern Comfort" horses in the
forests between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. Branko's horse was aptly
named Billy… Get it?
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At
the Knysna Elephant Park, you can go and meet three elephants that
were saved from culling and translocation programs in the Kruger National
Park during 1992. Here are Branko and Tanya meeting Harry and Sally,
and baby Duma is playing somewhere nearby. Sally sums up their story pretty well on http://www.knysna.co.za/elephant /friends.htm |
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Our
next stop after the Cango Caves was at "Cango Ostrich Farm,"
one of the many ostrich farms for which Oudtshoorn is famous. Here
is Tanya with her favourite of all of God's creatures - a big, feathered,
flapping (and sometimes aggressive) bird. Believe it or not, she even
touched one of their necks (but not without some coaxing!) http://www.cangoostrich.co.za/ |
Branko,
on the other hand, was only too happy to get close to the ostriches,
and jumped (or perhaps wobbled and bucked) at the opportunity to ride
one. He steered the poor animal all around the enclosure by pushing
its neck left and right, until it had its revenge and threw him off! |
On
the other side of Plettenberg Bay is a wonderful primate sanctuary
called "Monkeyland" that houses a variety of species who
are free to roam the 23 hectares of indigenous forest. This particularly
cheeky monkey got rather attached to Branko's leg and he didn't quite
know how to react to all the attention. It's really a highly recommended
place - see this website too: http://www.monkeyland.co.za/
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Just
to kill some time, we decided to go on a bike trip in the Knysna forest,
on the Harkerville cycle route. Tanya's bright red face is testament
to the fact that it wasn't an easy ride, but the view at the end was
more than worth it. Maybe we shouldn't have gazed at the sunset so
long though - we almost got lost on the way home and arrived back
at the bike rental place just as they were about to send out a search
party… |
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Tanya
managed to talk Branko out of Bungee jumping off the Gouritz bridge
when they drove past it on their way to Plett, but he was pretty insistent
on the way home. So Tanya found herself watching Branko jumping off
a 65 meter high bridge with only a rope around his waist. No, she
wasn't stressed at all… The historic bridge was built in 1892 close to Mossel Bay and, for a small fee, the friendly "Face Adrenalin" staff will happily tie you up and throw you off. So now Branko can say that he bungeed off the world's highest jump over a dry river bed! http://members.africa-adventure.org/f/facegouritz/ |
Here
are Branko and Tanya on the balcony of Auntie Anne and Uncle Ernie's
wonderful holiday home in Scarborough. Scarborough is on the Atlantic
Sea Board, on the other side of that pointy, jutting out piece of
land that leads to Cape Point. (On the other side is False Bay and
Simon's Town, where we went to see the penguins. Alas no pictures…) |
Just
nearby Anne and Ernie's house is a market selling beautiful hand crafted
African stuff. Zack was particularly perturbed by how people ship
the huge, yawning, wooden hippos home… Here are mom, Tanya and
Branko enjoying a hug. |
At
the Spier Farm outside Stellenbosch, on our day on the wine route with
mom and dad, Branko decided to pick on someone not quite his own size.
What was worse, the poor, innocent little ducky was sleeping…
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Here
are Moira, Zack and Branko at the Spier Farm before we went off to
play with the cuddly cheetahs… |
This
was also at the Spier Farm. Now you don't see Branko so brave about
teasing the animals, do you…? The huge Spier Farm has made land
available for a Cheetah Outreach Program to help fight the dwindling
numbers of these beautiful animals. A group of hand raised cheetahs
live at the farm and you can go in and enjoy a personal encounter
with them. The Cheetahs can also be booked for private functions.
Hmm, now that's really getting back to nature…
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Here
we are in Simon's Town with Just Nuisance, a famous Great Dane who
was born in Cape Town in April 1937. Funny how much he looks like
Gadget, isn't it? Just Nuisance has an amazing story (albeit long)
which you can find on http://www.simonstown.com/ tourism/nuisance/nuisance.htm |
Rhodes
Memorial in Cape Town is one of Tanya's favourite places in the world
and here is her favourite person on the memorial steps. "Rhodes
Mem," in honour of Sir Cecil John Rhodes, has one of the best
views of the city. It was built with granite from Table Mountain and
reflects the obsession of the rather power-hungry politician.
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Here
we all are at Cape Point, the real "Cape of Good Hope!"
Over 20 ships sank here while trying to find a spot for a midway station
for ships on their way to the Far East. Just to clarify all the confusion
- Cape Point is the south-western most tip of Africa, but not the
most southern point at all. That's at Cape Agulhas, 170 km to the
east. And as for the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet,
there isn't a definite one, but the warm Mozambique current from the
east meets the cold Benguela current from the west at Cape Point.
They have a very strange, fact-sheep-type website: http://www.capepoint.co.za/
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Here's
Branko on the path up to Cape Point, with one of the many baboons
that are a little too comfortable with the thousands of tourists passing
through. Note how Moira's glancing suspiciously at the big furry animal
- and rightly so. You wouldn't want to get into a debate with a baboon
- it could kill you for a piece of banana. But Branko doesn't seem
too perturbed… |
Tanya
also had a turn to have her picture taken with a baboon who wasn't
really interested in posing for the camera. Maybe it felt that it
was having a bad hair day?
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Here are Moira, Rachel, Sarah and Tanya at the Green Point flea
market, where Zack runs his baby stall every Sunday. After so many
years, their favourite joke is still that they buy and sell babies…
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In about 8 years time, Tanya will be able
to tease Sarah that her favourite place for an outing was always
McDonalds. In the meantime, it's fun to indulge! This website link
is especially for her: http://www.mcdonalds.com/ |
Ratanga Junction in Cape
Town is purportedly Africa's largest theme park, and guarantees a
fun day of entertainment. Yes, we did the really scary rides including
the Cobra… a suspended looping coaster which catapults riders
from a height of 34m along 910m of track at up to four times the force
of gravity and speeds of close to 100km per hour, with an added thrill
of being suspended beneath the track, feet flying free. Fun, fun,
fun!!! |
Like good tourists
and citizens, we followed the rules of the road and drove with the
lights on. It only took one dead battery to remind us how important
it is to turn them off when you park and leave your car for a couple
of hours of shopping at the Waterfront mall. But we enjoyed the beautiful
view while waiting for help, and couldn't resist taking a picture! http://www.waterfront.co.za/ |
What a wonderful place to have a picnic! Here we are with Sue and Aaron on the rocks at Sea Point, having delicious chicken and mayo sandwiches. Thanks for the yummy lunch Suzie! |
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