We were able to meet up with Anita, Craig, Nevan, and Nylah at Dave's parents house to see their Halloween costumes. Nevan was a dinosaur and Nylah was a strawberry! So Cute!!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Day 12 & 13
Yesterday we said good-bye to Derwent House and Cape Town. Before we left, I thought I'd snap a few pics of the Nelson Mandela artwork that the hotel had up. These are a limited set of signed lithographs of sketches that Nelson Mandela drew entitled "My Robben Island".
We had a long way to go to get home. Total travel time was about 31 hours from Cape Town Airport to Pearson Airport. Thankfully we were both able to get some sleep during the last leg from Dakar to Washington.
We were able to meet up with Anita, Craig, Nevan, and Nylah at Dave's parents house to see their Halloween costumes. Nevan was a dinosaur and Nylah was a strawberry! So Cute!!
Well … that's a wrap - for now :) Till next time!
We were able to meet up with Anita, Craig, Nevan, and Nylah at Dave's parents house to see their Halloween costumes. Nevan was a dinosaur and Nylah was a strawberry! So Cute!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Day 11
Today we rode the City Sightseeing Tour Bus. It's an open top double decker bus tour that departs from the waterfront every 15 minutes. There are several stops along the tour so you can hop off the tour at any of the stops to explore and just hop back on the next bus that comes around. Apparently, we have these in Toronto too. Definitely a great way to see the city.
We took a very scenic drive to Camps Bay. It was so beautiful driving along the coast.
After the tour, we had dinner at Salt, which was located in Bantry Bay (just down the road from Camps Bay). Salt is located on the water and had a great view of the sunset. We made sure our reservation was at a time so that we could watch the sunset.
We took a very scenic drive to Camps Bay. It was so beautiful driving along the coast.
After the tour, we had dinner at Salt, which was located in Bantry Bay (just down the road from Camps Bay). Salt is located on the water and had a great view of the sunset. We made sure our reservation was at a time so that we could watch the sunset.
Tomorrow we fly home!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Day 10
We were happy to find out that the Robben Island Ferry was up and running today! We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and went straight to the tour centre. The tour began at 9am and we were surprised to see a lot of people already lining up for the ferry at 8:30am. We managed to make it on to the middle deck for the 30 min. ferry ride. On board, they played a short video on the history of the island.
The island tour began with a bus ride around the island to see different buildings and key land marks. Robben island was not always a prison. From the mid 1800's through to the mid 1930's is was used as a leper colony. In a way though, the island was sort of a prison for the people with leprosy as they were not allowed to leave. This is a picture of the Leper Cemetery.
We stopped at the limestone quarry which was used as hard labour of maximum security prisoners. The rock was broken from the quarry manually, and then broken down into smaller pieces to be used as road gravel. The conditions were harsh. Limestone dust caused lung damage and the rock was blindingly bright in sunlight. The only shelter they had was a small cave.
At the entrance to the Quarry, there was a large pile of rocks. In 1995, ex-political prisoners attended a reunion on Robben Island. After delivering a speech, Nelson Mandela picked up a rock and placed it on the ground. All other former political prisoners followed suit.
We stopped for photos and got this shot of Table Mountain from Robben Island.
Our next stop was the actual prison. The tours of the prison are lead by ex-political prisoners. We walked through each section of the prison while listening to stories told by our tour leader.
Unfortunately our camera battery ran out when we finally got to Nelson Mandela's prison cell :(
After the ferry ride back, we went straight to a camera shop and bought a second battery :) Then we had lunch at The Fish Market and cabbed it to Table Mountain.
The cable ride up Table Mountain was kinda freaky! Super steep up the mountain and the floor of the cable car rotated so that everyone could have a 360 view going up.
The view from the top was breathtaking.
There was a table cloth cloud starting to roll in from one side so we headed straight for it. There were times when we were totally surrounded by clouds! Pretty crazy!
We then walked to the other side where the cloud hadn't reached yet. This side of the mountain had a great view of the city and waterfront.
Here's a pic of Robben Island from Table Mountain:
The table cloth began to roll over so we decided to head on down in case the wind picks up and there's a mad dash for the cable car ride down.
For dinner, we went to Africa Cafe. The food was so good! The menu is a little different. It's a set menu and they bring out a little it of each dish. Once you're done the round of dishes, you can order more of any dish - if you still have room! We were stuffed after the first round.
The nice thing about this place is if you stay a little later, the staff go around performing african songs and dances in each room. It was so amazing! Oh and they walked around and did face painting!
Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town. We're going to jump on a tour bus and tour the city and then enjoy a dinner by the water and watch the sunset :)
The island tour began with a bus ride around the island to see different buildings and key land marks. Robben island was not always a prison. From the mid 1800's through to the mid 1930's is was used as a leper colony. In a way though, the island was sort of a prison for the people with leprosy as they were not allowed to leave. This is a picture of the Leper Cemetery.
We stopped at the limestone quarry which was used as hard labour of maximum security prisoners. The rock was broken from the quarry manually, and then broken down into smaller pieces to be used as road gravel. The conditions were harsh. Limestone dust caused lung damage and the rock was blindingly bright in sunlight. The only shelter they had was a small cave.
At the entrance to the Quarry, there was a large pile of rocks. In 1995, ex-political prisoners attended a reunion on Robben Island. After delivering a speech, Nelson Mandela picked up a rock and placed it on the ground. All other former political prisoners followed suit.
We stopped for photos and got this shot of Table Mountain from Robben Island.
Our next stop was the actual prison. The tours of the prison are lead by ex-political prisoners. We walked through each section of the prison while listening to stories told by our tour leader.
Unfortunately our camera battery ran out when we finally got to Nelson Mandela's prison cell :(
After the ferry ride back, we went straight to a camera shop and bought a second battery :) Then we had lunch at The Fish Market and cabbed it to Table Mountain.
The cable ride up Table Mountain was kinda freaky! Super steep up the mountain and the floor of the cable car rotated so that everyone could have a 360 view going up.
The view from the top was breathtaking.
There was a table cloth cloud starting to roll in from one side so we headed straight for it. There were times when we were totally surrounded by clouds! Pretty crazy!
We then walked to the other side where the cloud hadn't reached yet. This side of the mountain had a great view of the city and waterfront.
Here's a pic of Robben Island from Table Mountain:
For dinner, we went to Africa Cafe. The food was so good! The menu is a little different. It's a set menu and they bring out a little it of each dish. Once you're done the round of dishes, you can order more of any dish - if you still have room! We were stuffed after the first round.
The nice thing about this place is if you stay a little later, the staff go around performing african songs and dances in each room. It was so amazing! Oh and they walked around and did face painting!
Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town. We're going to jump on a tour bus and tour the city and then enjoy a dinner by the water and watch the sunset :)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Day 9
Today we had tickets to visit Robben Island. The ferry was launching at 9am so we got up a little earlier in order to catch a cab to the waterfront. When we got to the waterfront, we walked to the Robben Island tour centre and found this on the door:
Boo. At least this gives Dave another day to read more of his Nelson Mandela Autobiography - Long Walk to Freedom (which he says is an excellent read). We went in and exchanged our tickets for tomorrow morning at 9am - hope it's running tomorrow! It was 8:30am and very little was open. We decided to sit and have cappuccinos at a nearby restaurant. Dave got up a little later than I did this morning and was not able to have breakfast at the hotel so he ordered some breakfast as well.
We figured this would be a good day to look for that second suitcase we needed as well as check out the Two Oceans Aquarium. The Two Oceans Aquarium has over 3000 marine creatures on view. We were able to see sharks, turtles, penguins, and seahorses to name a few.
After the aquarium, we grabbed lunch at Rootis - a Cape Malay restaurant. After lunch, we asked if they had stretched tea but they had no idea what we were talking about! Apparently, the Cape Malay cuisine is completely different than traditional Malaysian cuisine. (That's not my beer!)
While strolling through the mall looking for our second suitcase, we came upon an old english style barber shop. Dave thought maybe his hair was getting too long and would get a hair cut. Here are a few Before/During/After pics:
I guess it didn't help that the guy cutting his hair didn't speak a lick of english!
We cabbed it back to the hotel with our new luggage. Unfortunately, Table Mountain was also closed due to adverse weather conditions - super strong wind and a big giant cloud covering the top of the mountain! Let's hope it clears up for either tomorrow or Friday!
Side note: Our super fantastic wedding photographer, Bassem posted some pictures from the wedding on his blog! Check 'em out: http://bassemblog.ca/married-yvonne-dave-at-la-vedette-banquet-hall-newmarket-ontario/
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