Month: May 2021

We left for the Cape Town airport early in the morning and had a nice chat with our driver about politics and vaccines along the way. Instead of flying out of the main terminal, this was a private flight going out to Tswalu with just us, our guide at Tswalu and a helicopter pilot for the lodge joining us, so we went to the Execujet terminal. Our plane was a little six seater PC-12NG. For such a small plane, it was really quite comfortable and there was plenty of leg room.

After about two hours flying time, we made it to Tswalu where we were greeted with coffee and snacks in an open air thatched roof building that had hundreds of sociable weavers’ nests in it. They were flitting around everywhere collecting bits of dried grass to add to their nests.

Probably due to low bookings, we wound up with a massive family suite so we have two bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms and a huge private patio right up against the savanna. There are no lions in the area of the reserve where the lodge is located, so it’s safe to be out on the patio at night and to walk around the lodge without an escort. There were however, wildebeest that were playing around 20 feet or so from the patio, so that was exciting to watch.

South Africa is having quite a boom of artisanal gins so the lodge has a pretty good selection of those on hand. Given the importance of gin and tonics on safari, we had a little gin tasting to find a nice botanical option that’s not too juniper forward. We settled on Cape Town Rooibos Red as our go to.

After a ridiculously large lunch and later some snacks, we headed out on our first game drive. We started off going to a meerkat den. They were in the midst of some territorial squabbles and a pack was chasing off some interloper. There were a couple of individuals that hung out by the den near us and watching them go out on patrol was pretty incredible. Hopefully we’ll get to give it another go when there are more around later. Other sightings for the day were some giraffes and oryx.

After we got back to the lodge, we had a gin and tonic by a camp fire before embarking on another ludicrously large and delicious meal.

5/5/2021

Today I was determined to have a fabulous hike and boy did Cape Town deliver! After a quick drive to the table mountain, we decided to climb one of it’s off shoots called The Lion’s Head. This rocky tower sits watch over Cape Town and Camps Bay, jutting high into the air right on the Atlantic. The hike began normally enough with a trail slowly spiraling up the head. Along the way a giant grove of Silver Trees (Leucodendron argentum) surrounded us, shimmering in the early sunlight. The hike got progressively harder and more rocky, soon we were walking purely along rock shelves, the soil left behind. Then the fun began, ladders! After a few of these and some mighty narrow rock faces, taking many breaks along the way, we started a hybrid hike/climb for the rest of the way. It was a work out! And then to Matt’s chagrin, we came to a pure climbing section on metal handholds bolted into the rock face. It was so much fun!!! Then after a little more hike/climb we reach the top, and wow, it was glorious! The views were 360° up in the clouds, with table mountain looming behind us and peeks of Cape Town in the fog below. Just breathtaking. It felt like you were at the edge of the world, overwhelmed by the enormity.

 

 

The hike down we dreaded but it ended up not being bad at all, the rock hopping and climbing definitely easier on the way down. The fog had crept up to join us so the temperature was delightfully cool and about 3/4 of the way down we spotted a falcon, just hanging out in a rock above us. After many a photo we headed back to our car and out for a late lunch.

For lunch we headed to the Victoria Waterfront, a giant shopping area along the harbor near our hotel with lots of restaurants. We picked at random and ended up with just a great meal, scallops with pineapple and grains (trust me it worked), calamari with avocado and anchovy tartar sauce (again, trust), and finally some Mozambique Prawns in a spicy curry sauce that I could eat by the gallon!

Back to the hotel to drop off our car, we had an impromptu gin tasting and a bit of a relax before our reservations at the fanciest restaurant in Cape Town, The Test Kitchen.

Matt had been wanting to go to this restaurant ever since he saw it in Somebody feed Phil and because of Covid, we were able to get a res on very short notice, usually the wait being at least 6 months. We grabbed an Uber to get over there, having a very in depth conversation with our driver about 80’s American soft rock, and he dropped us off in the middle of what looked like an industrial district. After wandering for a few minutes we finally found the restaurant hidden away in an old biscuit factory and were ushered into pure culinary delight!

We got a full 7 course tasting menu of delectable treats too numerous to count. Our favorites were a broth extraction made out of celeriac and dashi with the most umami mushrooms you have ever tasted, a coconut laksa that was spicy and savory, and a beef tairtare with yorkshire pudding that was fabulous! Along with these we got to try many wonderful South African wines and just had a splendid time! After a very filling meal back to the hotel, tomorrow early we’re off to Tswalu Kalahari!!  

5/4/21

5/3/21

Wow was today a plant day! I was in heaven!!!! We started off the day visiting one my favorite spots on Earth, the incomparable Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. This garden was established in the early 1900’s and specialized in the Fynbos plants, the local ecology around Cape Town and the Southern Cape made up of what the Dutch derogatorily called “little bushes”. These are my absolute favorite, at least half my garden is made up of these plants and I’m sure many of you have many plants from here as well. Geraniums, Heathers, Proteas, Gladiolas, Pincushions, Bird of Paradise, Freesias, all come from this area. It truly is a plant mecca.

 

On week days they offer free tours of the garden and we were lucky enough to be the only ones there, so we got a private tour! Our tour guide was a lovely lady named Dot that had been volunteering there for over 35 years. She knew all the history of the garden going back to when it was originally a farm to supply trade ships going between Europe and Asia. Her plant knowledge was astounding so we just had a ball! After a three hour tour we went for lunch and then got back into the gardens by ourselves. The backdrop of the gardens is the awe inspiring Table Mountain, making the whole place feel like you’re in Jurassic Park. The whole area is a buzz with sunbirds, the South African equivalent of a hummingbird, honking Ibis, nannering Guinea Fowl, and Egyptian geese, completely unphased by anything. After exploring all the wonderful plants, Silver Trees, ancient Cycads, and rare Aloes, we called it a day and headed back to hotel. We ended up spending 7 hours hiking around that truly special place.

5/3/21

What an awesome day, great views, great animals, great food, and best of all great company!

Today we’re started with a drive along Chapman’s Peak Drive, think Devil’s Slide pre-tunnel, on the wrong side of the road, and curvier, and cliffier! Luckily driving on the other side of the road was easier this time so it wasn’t nearly as daunting. We stopped at Chapman’s Peak trail and hiked up it for awhile. Talk about straight up, it was a grueling trail, hopping from boulder to boulder, going up the mountain, it was too much! We made it half way and called it quits. Still got some gorgeous views, beautiful flora, and our workout for the day.

We then drive to Hout Bay for lunch at a famed fish and chips place. Gorgeous bay with old cannons and a fun atmosphere, we grabbed our food and took it to a brewery a block away to eat. Got some great hoppy lager at Urban Brewery and had a lovely lunch of calamari, fish, peri peri shrimp, and chips. Peri peri is a red creamy sauce with a kick!

 

After a most filling lunch, we continue our drive along Chapman’s Peak road with it’s terrifying curves and its sheer cliffs, to Simon’s Town. It’s about an hour out of Cape Town and is one of two places you can see African penguins on the mainland. On the aptly name Boulders Beach, numerous penguins are just hanging out, doing their penguin things. They have such quirky personalities, they really make you giggle. Occasionally looking at your like you’re a really big worm and trying to figure out how to eat you, to cleaning their wings in what feels an almost superstitious way, to finally braying like donkeys at each other for imagined infractions. They are great fun! We decide to walk around the beach a bit and along the way saw some Rock Hyraxes sunbathing on the boardwalk. They’re a cute animal the looks like an enormous hamster and is the closest living relative to an elephant. Then along the boardwalk a few meters later, I was walking down some stairs and something attacks my feet! Let me tell you, I jumped! I turned around and two penguins were cuddling under the stairs and I had rudely disturbed them! So grateful I was for wearing shoes that day, those pecks would have hurt!!!!

That evening we had the delight of meeting our travel agent for dinner in Camps Bay at a delicious seafood place.  Bianca has planned trips for us for many many years and has been a life saver so many times.  She made this current trip happen in two weeks which is unheard of for African safaris.  She was such a delight, we stayed late (for our jet-lagged selves) chatting about our lives, travel, politics and you name it, it was fabulous! Over the years we’ve gotten snippets of each other’s lives through email so it was truly wonderful to finally meet this friend in person!

5/2/21