Holiday Part II

Beautiful Cape Town

The second part of my holiday was even better than my first. Following my trip to Zanzibar I flew out to beautiful Cape Town. Cape Town is easily one of the most gorgeous cities that I have ever been to. A lot of cities have beautiful architecture, but very few have natural beauty as stunning as one finds in Cape Town. The pictures that I have attached to this blog post simply do not do justice to the gorgeous city. I was in South Africa for about 2 weeks and it was a wonderful trip. I will share a few of the key highlights with you:

 

Wine Tasting

Since I have my priorities straight, the first thing I did on arrival was to book a wine tour. South Africa is known for great wine, and obviously I had to sample some! They say that you learn something new every day and I think that saying is very true. What I learned from my wine tour day was that if you plan to go on a wine tour, you really should have breakfast before you leave. Luckily one of the first vineyards that we visited also makes very nice cheeses. Good wine and good cheese enjoyed in what may very well be the most beautiful location on the planet – does life get any better than that?

Yup... The Sign was Right, The Penguins Were That Way

 Penguins

One of the key things that I was looking forward to in South Africa (probably second to wine) were the penguins. I like penguins cause they are both fancy and silly all at once and that’s a good combination. I was really hoping that perhaps I would find a penguin to chase and maybe even catch, but they tend to protect them from people like me so I had to settle for a few photos, which was still good. 

 

Game Drive in Addo Elephant Park

Prior to going on any game drives, I had a list of things that I really wanted to see. Most people are interested in seeing the big 5 (lion, elephant, water buffalo, cheetah and rhino). I had sort of figured that some of those animals were givens and I would definitely see them so I put together my own list. While a couple of the items match, a few do not. This is my personal big 5 list:

I Loved Him.... But He Also Scared Me.

• Hippos – Most people who know me know that I love hippos. Nobody messes with hippos in the wild, not even lions. They are tough creatures and if you try to mess with them you’ll very quickly wish that you had not.
• A kill - I don’t so much care what is killing what, but ideally it would be one of the big cats chasing something down and then sitting down to lunch with all of her lion friends. 
•  Animals mating - Again, I don’t have a specific preference as to what animal, but I would prefer something large – giraffes would be ideal. 
•  Rhino – Not everyone gets the opportunity to see these animals. There are fewer than 5000 black rhinos in the wild, and while efforts to protect the animals have been somewhat successful and their numbers are increasing, poaching is still very much a problem. 
•  Cheetah – They are difficult to spot, highly endangered and beautiful creatures. They are also the only large cat that purrs. The reason that I know this is that I had an opportunity to snuggle with a young cheetah while in South Africa and he purred for me! It was really special.

Bore Beauty

I have already seen hippos and while visiting Addo, I was happy to be able to tick off 2 additional items on the list.

It was a VERY cold morning and we set out on the game drive before the sun came up. After driving for about an hour and not seeing much of anything I was starting to feel disappointed.... but I didn’t stay disappointed for long. One of the passengers in the front of the car alerted the driver that he had spotted a black rhino! I searched the plains for him and when I spotted him I quickly realized that he was NOT happy to see us. He was charging straight towards the car, and more specifically straight towards where I was sitting in the car! 

Not the Rhino that Charged My Car

For such a large animal, rhinos certainly can move quickly. He rammed right into the back of the car and then swung around to the side of the car (again, the side I was on) and rammed us once more before continuing on his way. It was so so super cool!!!!! I was rather stunned and a little frightened so unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to snap a photo and I will have to rely on the camera in my head to remember my awesome rhino encounter. For your viewing pleasure, however, I have included a photo of a rhino who lives at the Elephant Orphanage in Kenya. He is blind so unfortunately he will never have an opportunity to be re-introduced into the wild. When I saw him he had just awoken from a nap.... and just like a man who has just woken up...........

 Bloukrans Bridge

Now normally I’m not all that passionate about bridges, but this one was rather exciting because in addition to being the highest single span arch bridge (216m), it is also the highest commercial bridge bungee in the world. I have never considered bungee jumping in the past as it’s really not all that safe. In fact, sky diving is far safer than bungee jumping. It really is not all that rare to hear of ropes snapping and in addition to the worst case scenario; there is also risk of injuries such as whiplash. So like I said, normally I would not even consider jumping off a bridge. But here’s the thing, it’s the HIGHEST in the world, not just some random jump, and they have a very good safety record. In addition to that, has your mother ever said to you something to the effect of: If all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you? Well I suppose that in my case the answer is yes because I did it. 

The terror starts before you even get close to the platform from which one jumps. You have to walk out to the center of the bridge across a catwalk that hangs just below the roadway of the bridge and there is no floor.... it’s just a cage. I’m sure it’s secure and all but I still was not able to look down without feeling instant nausea. They have a great staff working at Face Adrenaline (the company that runs the jumps) and they really get you pumped before it’s your turn to jump... still though, I had to ask them to push me because I certainly did not have enough courage to jump on my own!

Camps Bay.... This is Where the Fancy People Hang

It was the most exhilarating and terrifying thing that I have ever done! I kind of had assumed that the fear would subside once the free-fall was over and I would be able to enjoy the gorgeous scenery while I waited to be brought back up.... but the thing is once the free-fall part is over your senses are able to concentrate on other things and although I double checked all my knots and carabineers I swear my feet were starting to slip. I suspect that they weren’t actually slipping, but it certainly felt that way and I did not feel comfortable again until my feet were firmly planted back on the bridge. Oh... and the walk back through that cage following the jump? You’d think that would be easy once you have actually jumped off the bridge. Well, if that’s what you’d think then you would be wrong! One of the guys that has worked there for years and has had to walk through that cage several times a day says that it still freaks him out. I welcomed the drink that was waiting for me at the bar after the jump!

Me on the Top of Table Mountain

 

Those were the key highlights, but I have included some photos throughout this post of some of the other breathtaking sights that I visited while in South Africa. As I mentioned, it is one of the most beautiful places I have been to date and I look forward to having an opportunity to go back!

Miss you all,

V