Let's at it, then.
When last I wrote, we were in Victoria Falls, whence we flew southward to Cape Town and rented a car, then drove to Stellenbosch--South Africa's wine country. And, perhaps, the most beautiful place I've been in my life, as well as the fanciest accommodations in which I've ever stayed. Ever. (I don't normally write so much about our travel lodgings, but people, on this trip, we stayed in some special places.)
In Stellenbosch, we stayed at the Delaire Graff Estate, which is a winery and hotel, with these insane suites that include a gorgeous, high-ceilinged living room; a fully-equipped kitchenette; a massive bathroom with both huge shower and full-sized tub; big bedroom with fancy hidden TV...
...and our very own plunge pool and deck. Unbelievable. Had we not had other plans, I would just have sat out there all day...
...because this was the view from it. Over the pool, that is.
Oh yeah, and they brought us glasses of house bubbly and freaking canapés at 6:00.
Sunset from the deck.
Dinner at their Indochine restaurant, where we went for the tasting menu and were not disappointed. (Here, the homemade soy bean curd with ponzu, white sesame, edamame beans, and broad bean shoots. Yummmmmmm.)
Our view was cloudy and mysterious the next morning.
Ok, so, here...we made a controversial decision. I was a bit miffed that my trip-planner had given me a single solitary day in Cape Town (you know I'm a City Mouse, people), so we decided to spend half of one of our days in Stellenbosch going to see the Cape penguins and Cape Point (instead of trying to do on the way to, or starting from, Cape Town). Well...it didn't quite go entirely according to plan, and I'm not sure we made the correct decision, but it's what we did. And now I know the real solution would have been just to have had another full day in each place. Sigh. This is what I get for leaving the planning up to someone else. (Must...have...control!!)
Anyhoo. We did manage to see some penguins in their natural habitat, and the drive itself was gorgeous.
Except for this one thing, the scope of which shocked and really disturbed me: the shanty towns. Officially, these are actually still called "townships," which is what they were termed during apartheid to make them sound more livable, when really they were just giant plots of wasteland covered in tiny, shabby homes to house black people forcibly removed from desirable areas in the cities. The fact that people still have to live this way thanks to the sickening policies of apartheid makes me want to burn it all down, so we can start from (socialist) scratch.
At one point we had to take a detour from the highway, and it took us right into a "township."
Obviously it would have been utterly tasteless and inappropriate to take out the camera and shoot within sight of the people standing along the roads, so I aimed from the highway.
What you can't tell from my photos is that this particular shanty town stretches as far as you can see, and while some of the "informal dwellings"--the current, and, frankly, utterly offensive, term for these shacks made of scraps of wood and/or corrugated tin at worst, with a little cinderblock at best--at least have electricity, there are plenty that do not. The streets are dirt, and the shacks appear only slightly larger than the shed in which we stored our lawnmower in Denver. I'm not an idiot, and I know how rampant true poverty is in the world, but this saddens and shames and sickens me. This is not the way anyone should have to live in this day and age, especially in a supposedly free and equal society...and this place is a ten-minute drive from towns with massive beach-front mansions and lovely gardens and streets lined with well-kept colonial storefronts and trendy tourist shops. (In 2018, the World Bank named South Africa the most unequal country in the world in terms of the gap between rich and poor, and you can guess exactly where and upon whom the burden of the most severe poverty falls.)*
But back to the penguins, because there's nothing we could do.
First time I've seen the Indian Ocean. It's beautiful.
At the Simon's Town beach, we saw a handful of penguins for free, and it's not nearly as tourist-crowded as the Boulders Beach colony.
Lookit! Penguins! In the wild!
Entering the Boulders Beach colony, Mike pointed out that we'd have to leave our vuvuzela in the car. (It was remarkable how many of these signs we saw in South Africa. No vuvuzelas, jerks.)
The view across False Bay.
African penguins at Boulders Beach. (Fun fact: these used to be known as "jackass penguins," due to the loud braying sounds they make. Sadly, no one brayed while we were there; I figure that might have given me the perfect excuse to say something classy like, "Hey, jackass, keep it down!" But no such luck.)
It was quite warm at midday, so these two were sleeping in the shade between some rocks.
So many penguins. (Another fact: these are quite fragrant little birdies, and not in a good way. Also, it was molting season, so lots of them were fairly scruffy and gross-looking, heh.)
Fluffy fluffy baby penguin! The only one we saw.
After this, we tried to get to Cape Point, but traffic there was abundant and at a complete stand-still. So, after dithering for a bit, we threw in the towel and headed back towards Stellenbosch...
...along the way passing such amazing road signs as this. (Which reminds me: that was the second rule we had at the lodge in Kruger: first, no walking home by yourself at night, and second, always keep your doors/windows locked, because the baboons will come in and steal things! True story.)
Baboons, penguins...
...oh yeah, and golfers. Watch out for golfers in the roadway. Disgusting animals.
Back in Stellenbosch, we made our way to the beautiful Waterford Winery...
...where we sat in their cushy courtyard (vaguely reminiscent of Napa) and drank some tasty wines. We wanted to fit in one more winery, but we just plain ran out of time, so instead we headed back to Delaire Graff's main, ridiculously upscale restaurant, where they'd managed to get us a reservation on our second night there.
Parking lot again, just after sunset.
View from the fancy, fancy restaurant! (Where, by the way, they had zero problems with Mike wearing jeans.)
And now, some more excessive photos from in front of the restaurant, because holy cow.
This really might be the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
Naturally, because we're suckers for a good tasting menu, we had theirs, and I have to say, everything was excellent. (Turns out, ostrich and springbok are seriously good.)
Speaking of springbok...yum.
I believe the highlight of the meal for me, however, was this whole bowl of green harissa-butter they brought to me after I asked for it as sorta a joke. (The meal began with various breads and spreads, but the harissa butter was magical, and so I ate it all and then joked that I'd eat a whole bowl of it if they brought it to me. They did, and I did.)
The next morning, after the insane breakfast (both continental-style and a la carte!), we headed for a wine tasting at Uva Mira, where I don't think the wines were quite as good as at Waterford, but the views were amazing.
Pretty.
Amazing orange protea at Uva Mira. The protea is the national flower of South Africa, and they come in all manner of sizes and colors--and the bloom of the king protea can get to be be almost as big as my head. (They're spectacular.)
Next up: Cape Town. I've wanted to see this place for a good long time, for no real reason in particular; I just saw a photo of a friend in front of Table Mountain once, many years ago, and thought, "I've got to get there."
But that'll have to wait for the next post, because, as you'll see, this all keeps getting lengthier and lengthier. The history-major side of me just can't stop writing, so...see you soon.
*I know that these conditions can also create a sense of community and can lead to scrappiness, creativity, improvisation, and hustle--thanks to the autobiographies of both Trevor Noah and Nelson Mandela--and I absolutely do not want to detract from the resilience and courage of the people living there. It just enrages me that these conditions--extremely impoverished, and also sometimes dangerous and crime- and drug-ridden--were deliberately created by racist bigots over fifty years ago, and they still exist! And that most people there still have little hope for escape, for themselves or for their children...and with the rate that government assistance proceeds, probably for their grandchildren as well. If you're feeling as powerless and disgusted as I am by all of this, here's a decent list of poverty-assistance projects to which you can donate, as well as a few Khayelitsha township-specific ones I found on my own: Iliso (helps women and children); Mdzananda (for animals and the people who love them!); Baphumelele (women, children, and those living with HIV/AIDS). (I'm not positive, but I believe Khayelitsha was the immense township through which we drove.)
Wow! Such a gorgeous hotel...i’d Have wanted to stay at least all day, maybe 2! And penguins! But i’ve always associated them with snow, not sand. Guess I don’t know as much as I think I do. So glad you got to see them, even if they didn’t bray.
ReplyDeleteApartheid was/is wrong. Just like segregation was here in the States. And when you are down economically, it’s hard to pull yourself up. But i’ve seen places in Mexico, Greece and Thailand that look similar. Yet another thing I wish I had an answer for.
Thanks for posting. Love you