My journey into Africa will require me to break this blog up into several posts so that I can share lots of details on my recent vacation: Globus Tours Splendors of South Africa and Victoria Fall. I wanted to mention that this is my 3rd trip to this fascinating country, but my first visit to Cape Town.
Knowing of the long hours ahead of us, we opted to upgrade our coach seats (who can afford business class, leave alone first?) to “economy coach” (what a misnomer!) to achieved a few more inches of leg room. Do not fret about 20 hour plane rides, it is what it is, and if you want to check off another item on your bucket list, accept the long ride as part of the price to pay.
We also chose to arrive one day prior to the actual starting date of the Globus tour. Wise decision, as are scheduled arrival in Cape Town was about 10:30 PM local time. As soon as we gathered our luggage and passed through passport control, we spotted a gentleman holding a sign with our names: our driver right on time! He relieved us of our baggage and hustled us into a waiting van; in a few minutes we arrived at the modern Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel.
Excitement trumps fatigue but it wasn’t long until the turned down beds, with their inviting, fluffy duvets won us over.
One of my greatest pleasures, when traveling, is the buffet breakfast! Everything and anything you can desire is waiting: smoked salmon; flaky, buttery croissants that almost float onto your plate; many varieties of fresh fruits and fruit juices. Omelets with a vast array of inclusions! And good, strong “filter” coffee. The day begins!
After this more-than-substantial breakfast, a stop at the concierge desk for a city map and we’re on the shuttle van to see the very modern city of Cape Town. The hotel is not really at the waterfront, but about a ten minute ride on the hotel shuttle. No feeling of a foreign country! Street signs and shop signs in English, only the money reminds us that we are not in an American or European city.
A stroll through the Victoria and Alfred waterfront “mall” will lead you to the waterfront itself…sailboats and ferries and the bustle of sea food restaurants…wonderful shops and history to discover. Souvenir tee shirts are the first purchase, well made and well-priced. A comment here about money: the American dollar is no longer king of currencies! The South African rand (exchange rate about 7.7 rand/US $) is what you’ll need for small purchases; a credit card for larger amounts. N.B. be sure your credit card company does NOT charge a foreign transaction fee!
There’s a cable car to take you to the summit of Table Mountain where the view, they say, is spectacular. But the mountain is fog bound very often…the locals refer to the low hanging clouds as “the table cloth”. We should have gone on the cable car our first morning before the tour began…but it was to be part of our tour…little did we know that the “table cloth” was never removed while we were in Cape Town, so the magnificence of the view will, I’m afraid, remain unrevealed to me.
Sightseeing is the order of the day when visiting Cape Town, as it is in almost any city in the world. So we were driven along the western coast of South Africa; stunning beaches, charming towns, vast vineyards promising heady wines. It adds to the enjoyment if you have some idea of the history, to appreciate what has occurred here since the Dutch landed in the mid-sixteenth century. But long before the coming of the white traders, this area was homed to humankind 100,000years ago, according to fossil records.
A trip to Robben Island is a must, for here Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for over 20 years! The foe and voice of anti-apartheid, who survived his imprisonment to emerge as the leader and president of the new South Africa. It’s one thing to hear the story of struggle, but to see the actual site is awe inspiring.
The optional wine land excursion was, I thought, neither worth the time nor the money. It consisted of a long and scenic drive and al fresco luncheon (at our personal expense), a fifteen minute winetasting of two reds and two whites. There was no visit to the actual manufacture of the wine: no vats, no pressings, and no vineyard viewing. The cost, $70.00/person could not be paid by credit card!!! Not having that amount of money in rands, I depleted my “cash stash” a bit! Overpriced and not too interesting, I would not recommend this optional. Perhaps its the fact that I love Scotch more than wine.
So much to say already and it’s only been 2 days. Stay tuned for my next blog post as we leave Cape Town and venture into other parts of Africa.
Browse 2012 Africa Tours.
