Posting #5 - Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula

We finished up our tour with 3 nights in Cape Town for a grand finale. The first photo is the Bo Kaap district, the very colorful Malaysian quarter. We spent the evening at the Cape Town Waterfront and Ruth tried her hand at the vuvuzela, much to the delight of the locals! The next day we took the spectacular Chapman Peak Drive toward the cape and then visited the penguins at Boulder's Beach. Yes, there really are penguins in Africa.
The Cape of Good Hope area is wind-blown, but spectacular. Rick and Denise were ready to take off on another adventure on little 3-wheeler motorcycles! I got a perfect shot of a mother baboon and her baby, with the Cape in the background. I also managed to catch a shot of a rust-winged blackbird in flight! Four of the group hiked down from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope. Back in the city we had to try sushi for dinner at a beach restaurant. Yum!
Friday morning we spent a couple hours in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, which features all African plants and trees. Particularly the Protea Garden was fascinating and we were thrilled to get to see the national flower - the King Protea!
We continued out to Stellenbosch to the famous wine region and had a tour, a wine-tasting, and a Boerebraai (farm barbecue) at Middelvlai Wine Estate. It was just plain wonderful. Ben, the owner, gave us a private tour and let us taste different wines right out of the barrels. Then they served up the most amazing lunch, including liver pate which Ben had made himself. We didn't need much dinner after that so once it got dark we just drove up on Signal Hill and ate some leftovers and fruit and gazed at the magnificent night lights of Cape Town. A nice "dot on the i" to end our trip.
People flew out at various times Saturday, but we found time to walk through the Company Gardens in downtown Cape Town and also to see the cathedral where Bishop Tutu was based and where the big peace movement was centered. It was moving to see the displays.
Great trip! Wonderful country! Amazing sights! Outstanding Food! Let's go again!!