Cape Town - Day 4

A bit of a trying day here in Cape Town, as my camera was stolen/lost (not sure what happened), but overall we were able to see quite a lot. Unfortunately my pictures from the day have also disappeared, so this will be my least favorite type of blog until I figure something else out (words and no pictures).

We had planned to take a full day peninsula tour today to see the Cape of Good Hope, botanical gardens, boulders beach, and the penguin beach. Up bright and early, we grabbed a quick traditional breakfast of yogurt with muesli and fruit to go. The coffee here is delicious. There are Starbucks quality shops everywhere with drinks at half the price. Back in my days at working at Panera, I always found it odd when people ordered an Americano (water mixed with a shot of espresso), but behold! It all makes sense now! In Cape Town, it seems, you can't just order a cup of traditional American style coffee (hot water brewed over coursly ground, unpacked coffee beans). It literally does not exist. Instead, everything is made with espresso (hot water brewed over finely ground, compressed coffee beans). So when American visitor asks for coffee, they will give you an "Americano", which is essentially watered down espresso. Is this their notion that we are wimpy coffee drinkers? Maybe. But I'm fine with the fact that they still give you a little square of 70% cacao dark chocolate to drop right into that wimpy Americano! It's possible that this is all old news to all your coffee aficionados out there, but I was fascinated by my little discovery.

We waited for almost an hour for our guide to pick us up. Turns out they never showed, and upon calling the company we found out that when our shark dive was cancelled due to weather that they accidentally cancelled our day tour as well! (Whoops!)

We ended up rescheduling with the company to take a half day tour instead, so we had the remainder of the morning to do as we wished. I dont know if Chris shared my enthusiasm, but I was pretty pumped to wander around in some local clothing stores. Everything is SO CHEAP here! I got a nice Nike-esk running jacket for R220, ($22), and four other workout shirts for around $8 each, which will also.be nice to wear in this heat. I'm not sure if I packed enough extra empty suitcases for all of my purchases! Hah.

When 2 o'clock rolled around, we once again set out to wait for our tour. And once again, it didn't show. So after about 20 minutes of waiting we decided not to waste any more of our last day in Cape Town. We headed to the local bus stop so that we could find our way to some of the scenic spots ourselves. Just as we were about to leave, however, along came our minibus tour company! An elderly British couple on the tour informed us that if we wanted to be picked up in a more timely manner, that "next time, you need to just need to flap your pants a bit at us!!" (in the heavy Susan Boyle-ish/Dr Brown accent, of course). She helped demonstrate her method by taking the corner of her giraffe-print pants and waving them around at me. Lovely. Lesson learned, I guess.

Anyways, we were off to Camps Beach, another beautiful bay with tons of sand and pretty turquoise colored water. We then went to a small fisherman's wharf where the locals had managed to learn to make money from the tourists by luring the sea lions up onto the dock. It was literally like a unofficial sea world, as they had actually trained some of the sea lions to wait on command to take fish right out of our hands (and grossly enough, out of the local's mouth!). It was easy to see that they thrived off of this, as the sea lions were HUGE, at least 700 pounds.

After this quick stop, our driver urged us to get back into the minibus so we could hurry to the next spot, the Cape of Good Hope. This was a very rough ride with lots of bumps and windy roads... I just held on and hoped I would get car sick! The views were worth the trouble. I just wish I had the pictures to convince you of that! We saw baboons, tons of cute little penguin, a whale jump out in the ocean, lizards, and some really pretty plant life.

Dinner was back down by the waterfront, and we opted for some African braii (barbecue)! The dinner special? Grilled zebra, of course!. They also had warthog, ostrich, oxtail, beef, mutton, and various seafood choices as well. Although I was feeling adventurous, I couldn't quite bring myself to eat zebra or ostrich yet... at least knowingly so. So I ordered the bobotie, described on the menu as minced meat with an egg-based topping, mostly because that way I had no idea exactly what kind of meat I was eating and wouldn't freak myself out. I also asked for a side of traditional South African pumpkin pie, because seeing that it.was listed on the menu as a side item versus a dessert, I found that to be the perfect excuse to try some.

The bobotie, to my surprise, was delicious and not at all what I was expecting. I thought it would be more like a grilled meatloaf, but instead it was like a sloppy Joe casserole topped with a baked egg layer. It was served with a chutney and rice. The meat had a hint of sweetness, which I believe was small pieces of dried fruit, with a hint of mild curry flavours.

Bobotie (not my picture)

BI am told this dish originated from the  Dutch East India Company colonists in the 1600's, but has since become a traditional African dish in South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. Traditionally it was made with mutton and pork, but now it is more often composed of beef or lamb. Anyways, I was glad I ventured to try it, and I will definitely look to order it again before I leave Africa!

Chris and I will be off to our final destinations tomorrow morning! Wish us luck!