Fountains Apartments Cape Town

... between we have just been hanging out at the hostel meeting many a folk and sharing all things travel related and having lots of silly behaviour along the way! I have made some wonderful friends already from France, Israel and Brazil as well as the UK and of course various parts of Africa. It feels like I have been away for a few weeks already - the pace of life is so relaxed - this is serious unwind time!
Enjoy the first of many photos!
Until next time......xx

... we found a pathway out that contained the exhibit of the day--BATS. These bats were in huge clumps of anywhere between 50-100, and they were all hanging at the top of the cave, sleeping. Some of the guys decided it would be great to try to knock some down, so they climbed to the top of the wall and did so. We all moved quickly ahead and made our way eventually out without having to tango with them. When we emerged, the sight in front of us almost brought me ...

... Kirstenbocsh gardens yesterday. A vast wilderness within the city, just atop of UCT right at the foot of the mighty T/Bay mount. It was a scorching hot day, as usual at this time of the year with temps in the mid thirties. What a contrast from our last memory of Calgary, at -18 degrees. Home schooling the kids on the road, is quiet an eye opening experience for the us and hopefully, their experiences will stay with them for many years to com.

Our Africa experience was slightly different to the rest of the trip - after seven months of independent travel, we were suddenly thrown into a tour group, being told where to go and what to do, with 20+ strangers. After overcoming our initial trepidation, we had a great time, and made some good friends. Here's my top five for Africa, excluding time with family as usual: 1. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia - This was our ...

... We awoke early the next morning to go visit the township. Townships are like small towns right outside cape town where thousands of poor blacks live. Townships began during apartheid when more then 80% of South Africans land was allotted to whites. Blacks were sent to create makeshift homes on the outskirts of the city. Although apartheid doesnˇ¦t exist anymore millions of people still live in these townships. Most donˇ¦t have jobs (the unemployment rate in South Africa is ...

... Obviously we didn't because they were somewhere else at this time of the year. We dined in Franschoek at a restaurant called Reuben's. Heard it was among the ten best restaurants in South Africa. The food really was excellent. Cape Town - Park Inn Hotel V&A Waterfront - what can I say... a place to be. Astonishingly huge 500 item wine menu in restaurant Belthazar. Table Mountain Robben Island Karoo National Park

... even saying Chris, I'm Sam, we swapped emails about your booking (err is it not me that is supposed to say that since I have only one person to remember not all of the hotel customers!!!) Sam then made a fuss of Mrs Perry, and has refused to call her anything else since. The hotel is tip top, and the room has a small lounge leading to a very decent sized bedroom, with the largest bed in it, before leading into a pretty well designed bathroom, very ...

... it is 11642 km's away. More driving and stopping to take pictures of the beautiful scenery along the Cape of Good Hope Scenic Drive before stopping at Hout Bay to have Wimpy's Burgers which is similar to MacDonalds but alittle better. We sat down the beach and ate and then walked down to the water to feel how cold it was, and it was pretty cold. We then did some more driving through the rich coastal ...

... and Heather, another volunteer made our first trip to one of the many beaches in the area, Cliftons Third with some local guys from Durbanville (one of whom Heather has been penpals with since middle school, how crazy is that??). We all went for supper on the beach and filled them in on Canada and particularly Canadian politics but at some points I wondered if the knew more than we did about our own country! After supper we ...

... us this time. After speeding my way to the top, we had lots of photos of the landscape which was spectacular then we had dinner. We looked round the shops at the top then went for another short walk along the top. We got the cablecar down and went back to the hostel in Rikki Martin taxis! We are just about to settle down to tea after another good day.