Cape Town

I only had to wait until the morning after I arrived to reaffirm that Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world. I had a little over a week to be reminded daily of this.

My first morning I woke and after sitting in a car for days, I decided to go for a run. I was staying with Judy and Richard at their house in Constantia, a suburb of Cape Town, on the back side of Table Mountain. I went out heading towards the mountain and soon found myself running through vineyards and wine estates. It is hard to describe how beautiful it was to be running through the estates, with the cape dutch houses, the rows of vines with ripening grapes, and the smell of sea air coming from the coast. There is nowhere else like this.

I had a few days to spend with Judy, as she was still on vacation, not starting work again until February. I had met Judy twelve years ago on a trip to South Africa that I did with a high school group going to learn about the new South Africa. I had kept in touch with her since then, visiting whenever I was able to make it to Cape Town. She is an artist and anyone interested in looking at her work just google Judy Moolenschot and you will find her website with her amazing work. I must say that I am quite jealous of her studio which is in the loft of an old wine estate, right next to Buitenverwachting. The views from the studio are amazing and I can see how anyone can be inspired here. In the days that I spent with her, we had an amazing time driving around the Western Cape, taking in the views of all of the sights around the cape. We had some amazing days exploring the local wineries, spending our days eating olives and drinking wine. Judy gave me some lessons on wine, explaining what to look for, how to hold a glass, and how to taste. I wasn’t willing to spit out such good wine though. My favorite was a newer winery that opened called Morgenster. If anyone is in Cape Town, I suggest heading out to this winery. It had the best wine that I tasted and even better, it was an olive farm. I learned a lot about olives, what makes a good olive, and what makes a good olive oil. We did the olive oil tasting and it was amazing how good it was. I got a contact in the states that hopefully distributes their wine and oil, it is www.twgrape.com. Anyone interested, try the Lourens River Valley, one of the best wines I have ever had. The days that I spent with Judy were amazing, as she took me for quite a tour of the cape. I didn’t want to leave, but again I had to say goodbye and keep moving. I know I’ll see her again, hopefully being back in Cape Town soon.

Cape Town always allows me to catch up with old friends and family that I haven’t seen for a while. This trip was no different. I was able to spend a day with my aunt and uncle from Kroonstad. I went out towards Paarl for the day with Eve, Wally and Marcelle. I hadn’t seen the family in years and it was great to catch up with everyone, spending the day in the winelands. I was lucky that the family was in Cape Town while I was here and it was good to see everyone again. I even got a surprise from a close family friend Henry from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe who was in Cape Town as well. I was able to meet up with Henry and spent the day with him, catching up. He even offered me a job managing his crocodile farms up in Zimbabwe for him, but I graciously turned down the offer.

I didn’t go very far on my way to my next stop, but had quite an adventure getting there. My cousin Gavin picked me up from Constantia in the afternoon and we headed for town to go climb Table Mountain. We left from the cable car station and headed towards Plattenklip Gorge. The walk to the gorge gave us some incredible view of Cape Town in the late afternoon. Once we reached the gorge, it wasn’t far to the top of the mountain, but it was a difficult climb up the vertical slog. After about an hour of climbing up the gorge, we made it to the top of the mountain. We walked around the top for a bit, taking in the different views. As you look south you see the Twelve Apostles, and the mountains all the way down to Cape Point. As you look north you see Signal Hill, Lions Head, the city bowl and Robben Island. We decided to stay at the top to watch the sunset and then we would take the cable car back down. I’m glad that we stayed because we were treated to an amazing sunset from the top of the mountain. We took the cable car back down to the base of the mountain and then headed off for Sea Point, where I would be staying for the next few days.

While in Sea Point I was staying with my dad’s best friend growing up, David, and his wife Elmarie and two daughters Cara and Tahlia. I had such a good time with the family, telling them about everything that I had done and everything that I planned to do. Elmarie even tried to convince me to stay with them and just go to the University of Cape Town. I would have loved to stay with them, but I had to move on to go and see the rest of my family on my way around the world. I had such a fantastic time with them though that I really didn’t want to leave. They treated me to dinner on my last night, heading over to Table View for dinner and the most amazing views of Table Mountain with the city below at sunset. It was the perfect end to my visit to the cape. It was hard to say goodbye, but I know that I’ll be back, after all it is my favorite city in the world.