2nd November : last day in Capetown

That's it! All luggage packed but as my plane is planned for this evening I will go to the winery Groot Constantia  and will also visit the township "Imizano Yetho".

Groot Constantia is the oldest winery founded in 1685.
It was 10 am so I was a bit prudent on tasting the wine but could not really resist it. The wines are so good here..

After the winery the bus stopped at the township. To my big surprise no one of the tourists stepped of the bus... except for me. There I was all alone in a township. I must say I  wondered how I could have done that after all the security warnings.  Being white everyone stared at me of course
But you know what: it all went very well. Eric, a local man, guided me through the township.
It is amazing how these people live. The township was founded in 1991 with 2500 people. Now it's 30000 people and keep growing. With help from private initiatives they improve the houses. Many of them have a central water tap for 30 houses and the same for toilets,  but some others have there own electricity with prepaid cards.
He told me that there are a lot of thefts  indeed and you should not walk alone at night in a township.

We walked by the school and visited some local women who made jewelery from anything they can find. 
In the background of some photo's you see the houses of Constantia, called also Beverly Hills of  Cape Town. What a contract so see with one view.

 In the background you see the large villa's

 The local school. Teachers are volunteers from outside the township

Eric, my personal guide!

and.. they do waste sorting!  There they find all the things they use to build/improve there houses.

Driving back and seeing again the beautiful bays like Houtbay, Campsbay... I realized again we are so fortunate. We take things too often for granted.

Back in the hotel now.

In an hour I leave for the airport going back home to my daughter, family & friends.
I love Capetown but I also love Joburg. Joburg is much more authentic Africa while Capetown is more touristic, artificial. I would encourage everyone to come but not just to Capetown as it gives a wrong view of reality.
And don't let anyone scare you  ( like I was)  because of the criminality. It is a wrong perceprion. It is as safe as in any other big city!

I am so happy to have had this opportunity to experience South Africa in this unique way! and I will come back on vacation for sure!
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog! Thanks for all your reactions

Bye for now!!
christel

#ibmcsc south africa

1st November

Today I went for a day trip to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope with Mr Fish as driver.
He brought his 5 year old son so you'll see Tambo on some of the pictures.
It was a great trip with great views of nature: mountains, sea, animals, trees... amazing.
The weather was much better than previous days; around 20 degrees.
The season has not yet started but it was already very busy so I can imagine in a few weeks this really is fully packed with tourists.
We drove of along the coast of False Bay 

 Simon's town: which is also the Navy base of SA

African Penguins:  they are smaller than the ones we know but very cute....  They are in the moulting season: so they change fur;   They do not go into the water for 21 days;   So they eat themselves very full and then they fast for 3 weeks until their fur has changed.

 A grashopper or what we call a 'sprinkhaan' but it was over 5 cm...

Mr Fish and Tambo

This is Cape Point:  the point where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet

 The wales were there but my camera was not reaching far enough to take the picture

 Wild ostriches walking on the road having no fear for people or cars..

Cape of Good hope!

Then we drove back north on the side of the Atlantic ocean.
This beach is 8km long. As the water is very cold there are not so many people who come to this beach.

 the '12 apostels'

Back in Camps Bay.

I am happy I did this trip and that the weather was very good. When there are clouds you see almost nothing.
Now I need to get packed  as I leave tomorrow evening and I want to get most of the last day tomorrow.


#ibmcsc south africa