Escape from Reality

We flew from Capetown back to Johannesburg for one last time then on to Dubai. We had about 10 hours to spend in Dubai, already booked up with reservations, and the airline provided a free day room for us to relax. It was a decent, clean room, but not somewhere I would normally stay. We didn't care. We were so tired that all we cared about was a nap in a real bed. We had a boat ride scheduled for 10:30a and we seriously thought about cancelling it because we were so tired. Instead, we drug ourselves out of bed and took a taxi to the Dubai Marina Yacht Club where our chariot awaited.

The boat was owned by a husband and wife team from the US. They went over safety procedures, handed out the life jackets, and we were on our way. We spent quite a bit of time motoring thru the marina.

We cruised along the Dubai shoreline for a while, admiring the architecture of the buildings and hotels.

The famous Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, the "most luxurious" hotel in the world.

The boat ride was very informal and relaxing and were were so glad we hadn't canceled. Hungry now, we took a taxi back to the Thai restaurant, next to the Burj Khalifa, that we visited on the way over. The fountains were active this time.

Feeling awake and human again, we made our way to Dubai Mall, where Mike had an appointment to fly an Emirates A380 simulator. One of Mike's hobbies at home is flying airline simulators and he was really looking forward to flying a real one.

He didn't crash or kill anyone so it was a successful flight. The simulator pilot was actually impressed with Mike's skills.

The third appointment of the day was a visit to Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world, at 163 stories (1,900 ft). Our tickets allowed us to visit the observation decks on floors 124, 125, and 148. It was one long elevator ride to the top but the view at sunset was incredible.

View of the fountain where we had lunch earlier in the day.

By the time we reached the ground floor again, it was dark, and the fountain show that runs every half hour was starting. It was perfect timing.

The last stop of the day was dinner at TOMO, a sushi restaurant atop the Raffles Hotel. We had a beautiful, night view of Dubai while eating delicious, fresh sushi.

Our flight leaving Dubai was at 3a so after dinner we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest before the flight. We had a couple of drinks at the hotel bar, took our shuttle back to the airport, and ended the trip of a lifetime, arriving back in Dallas at 10a the next day.

After a few long days, we slept in today. We were supposed to visit Robben Island by boat, which we were both looking forward to, but Mike was having a flare up and needed to rest. So I spent the day at the Wharf, by our apartment, shopping and exploring my own. Shopping is usually better on my own anyway. I had made reservations for dinner about six months in advance at the Test Kitchen, a restaurant on the Top 50 Restaurants in the World list. Unfortunately, Mike was too sick to go. I thought about going on my own but honestly wasn't in the mood. Instead, I went next door to the One and Only and had the chef's tasting dinner at Nobu. One of the great things about South Africa is the exchange rate. This dinner would have cost me about $250 in Dallas but in Capetown, it was only about $100.

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Mike was feeling a bit better the next day, our last day in Capetown. He wanted to do a little shopping so instead of going to the Wharf, I had the bright idea to find a market I'd heard about downtown. We took a taxi there and were dropped off. The market turned out to be more of a local shopping market with clothes, shoes, etc rather than a souvenir or craft type place so we didn't stay long. We thought we weren't far from the apartment so we started walking in what we thought was the right direction. It was most definitely not! While we were lost, we came across some shady dudes who made us pretty uncomfortable. Luckily I spotted a taxi and almost got myself run over trying to flag him down. He stopped and took us back to the Wharf.

We did some shopping and stopped off at Mike's favorite tapas place for drinks on the patio overlooking the harbor. While we were there, there was a fire onboard a ship in the harbor. I don't think anyone was hurt but it caused quite the uproar for a while.

After the excitement died down, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at La Colombe, a French restaurant outside of Capetown in the Cape Winelands. This restaurant was previously on the Top 50 Restaurants in the World list and it definitely deserved that award.

One last night cap at the One and Only, a bit of packing, and we were once again ready for a good night's sleep.

This was the day I was most excited about....we were going snorkeling with Cape Fur seals. It was an early morning start as we drove to Hout Bay to meet our guides. When we arrived, we were fitted with heavy duty wetsuits and boarded our boat to head out for the trip. Some seals were hanging out in the harbor.

It was a beautiful ride out to Seal Island. Once there, the guides went over safety information and then gave us free time to snorkel with the seals. They were incredibly interactive and entertaining but the little buggers were so quick, it was impossible to get a decent pic.

We were given about an hour to snorkel but the water was so cold, even with the wetsuits, that Mike and I could only stay in about 30 minutes. We retreated back to the boat and warmed ourselves with some hot chocolate.

The Cape peninsula is scattered with beautiful beaches throughout. On our way back to Capetown, we stopped off at one, Fish Hoek Bay, for a little souvenir shopping and fish and chips at Mariner's Wharf.

We got back to Capetown and as we parked the car, we realized that Table Mountain seemed pretty clear today. Mike suggested we take the opportunity to visit since visibility is such an issue. We didn't want to miss it. So we got cleaned up and drove over.

Table Mountain is a plateau that sits about 3,000 ft above Capetown. There is a cableway that takes you to the top where there is a restaurant/bar and a viewing area with multiple platforms. The views from the top are outstanding (so is the wind).

From the bottom

In the cable car on the way to the top

The cables at the top

The restaurant/bar at the top serves wine and beer, too. They would never do that in the US.

These brazen birds were everywhere, much like grackles in Texas.

View of Signal Hill, where signal flags were used in prior times to communicate weather warnings and anchoring instructions to ships. Now, every day at noon, the South African Navy fires cannons from the top of this hill.

View of Capetown Arena, built for the 2010 World Cup.

View of Lion's Head, a 2,195 ft peak.

View of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

We stayed for a few hours on the Mountain and the clouds started rolling in.

We decided it was time to go as we certainly didn't want to get in a crowd trying to get off the Mountain.

We had a lovely seafood dinner while listening to music that night at Pigalle and our standard nightcap at the One and Only. It was a long day and we were ready for bed.

Our plan was to start the day off with a visit to Table Mountain but unfortunately, the clouds and weather were not cooperating. This is a very common problem with visiting Table Mountain so the general travel advice is to check every day and fit it in when you can. Today was not that day.

So instead we drove to Simon's Town, a small coastal town about 20 miles south of Capetown. If the weather had been clear, the drive would have been a beautiful one along the coast. For us, the drive was drizzly and long due to construction on the two-lane road.

We arrived in Simon's Town, where the weather had cleared, a little hungry so we decided to stop off at the Seaforth Restaurant for some lunch.

We had a beautiful view of the water while eating lunch and passed the time watching people enjoy themselves on the beach. I have no idea how they were able to tolerate that cold water.

From the restaurant, we walked down the road about a mile or so to Boulder's Beach. This area is a safe home for African penguins, animals that are on the verge of extinction. The colony started with just two breeding pairs in 1982 and has since grown to over 3,000 penguins.

We left Boulder's Beach and continued south on the Cape to Cape Point, stopping off at an overlook along the way.

Cape Point is the highest peak on the Cape Peninsula. To reach it, you park in a lot below and ride the Flying Dutchman Funicular railway to the top.

Flying cormorants with their funny looking webbed feet.

Mike hiked to the top to see the view from the lighthouse, which was built in 1860. It's no longer operational as it was built at too high an elevation. It was frequently not seen by ships because it was covered in clouds.

Down from Cape Point is the more well-known, Cape of Good Hope. This is the point on the Cape where ships round the peak of Africa and change direction from south to east. It's commonly thought to be the southernmost tip of Africa; however, the southernmost tip is actually Cape Agulhas, where we visited from DeKelders.

It was getting late in the day so we started back to Capetown. The GPS, which had worked perfectly up until now, decided to take us on a short cut. This short cut was a one-way dirt road that got so narrow at times the bushes were scratching our rented BMW. I cringed when I heard the scratches and felt the potholes. We could see the highway up ahead. Yet when we finally got to the end of this road, there was a locked gate separating us from the highway. We had no option but to turn around and go back down the rut of a road.

Once we made it back to Capetown, we cleaned up and took a taxi to dinner at NV-80. I had a delicious steak and Mike had some beautiful prawns.

We ended the evening with a nightcap at the One and Only Hotel next door.

Finally feeling somewhat rested, we left Cliff House in the morning. We were driving to the winelands, specifically Franschoek, spending the day there, and then heading on to Capetown for several days. Driving in S Africa is quite easy once you get used to the steering wheel on the right and driving on the left. The roads are well-marked and well-paved. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at an overlook above the town of Franschoek.

Although the surroundings were beautiful, the town itself was crawling with tourists. There was slow traffic, difficult parking, and crowded restaurants. I was starving, however, so we stopped off for lunch before our wine tasting.

The wine tasting we chose was a vineyard just outside of town called Rickety Bridge. A beautiful setting, amongst the mountains, where we sat on the porch and tasted five different wines.

They had a red that was our favorite and we ordered a case to be shipped home (which we later split with our friends who took care of the dogs for the three weeks we were gone). It was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to reach Capetown without a lot of traffic. We arrived in Capetown about an hour later and made our way to the wharf area to our apartment at Lawhill Luxury Apartments. We had a beautiful, two-bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the water. I loved the artwork and tried to figure out how I could smuggle the wild dog picture back to the US.

This is the One and Only Hotel where would go for a nightcap at the bar before heading home each night.

The view from the parking lot was of cloud-covered Table Mountain.

We wanted to explore the wharf before it got dark so we freshened up and walked around the area to find dinner as well. These locks were just down from the apartment and are used to adjust the water level as boats enter and exit the marina. We caught a small boat exiting as we were passing by.

We walked around the wharf a bit, just checking things out and getting the lay of the land.

We settled on a tapas place for dinner and sat upstairs on the deck so that we could people and boat watch.

After dinner, we stopped off at the One and Only for some of my favorite Havana Club rum then collapsed into bed in anticipation of a few busy days ahead.