Thrilled about our first experience on the African continent
One month down in Africa. In July we made arrangements and agreed to a month's sit in the village of Yzerfontien, just north of Cape Town. Little did we know at the time what an unbelievable adventure this would lead to. We would extend, extend, and extend our experience on the continent. This journey has us awe-struck, and we are happy to share the highlights with you.
Dramatic, clear, sharp, bright, relatively warm, and SWEEEEETTTT ass accommodations was a pretty nice first impression. Our first of 3 stops on the African continent started in the Cape Town Area and the small coastal village of Yzerfontien. Cape Town is easily accessible and easy to plan on your own. You have to be comfortable driving on the left side, which does pose to be a challenge and the traffic is pretty busy.
Our master suite view. Champaign wishes and caviar dreams. It was seriously a dream. The home owner loves to share his space with sitters to enjoy and we did. For about a week we pretty much didn't leave the house other than to walk the coast.
Our daily walk while in the village of Yzerfontein was nothing short of spectacular. It went on for 16 miles if you wanted to. A dreamy coastal walk each morning.
The beaches are right out of the travel brochures. Long, sandy and white. There was just one major problem in our lust for sitting in our beach chairs soaking up the rays. The water temp here would freeze the balls off an Eskimo. Okay, maybe an Eskimo could take it, but at a frigid 60F it sure did make things go numb fast.
November is just turning summer on the western shores. The Village is a mostly white-privileged vacation town. Like Marthas Vineyard but with way fewer people and tourists. There is nothing much there other than very nice houses overlooking the sea. During the week we felt like we were some of the only people around. When the weekend hit it would fill up the empty houses and the local markets with families or college-age kids ready for a weekend party at their parent's vacation home. We talked to a lot of locals who explained what a 'dump fishing village' it used to be and now they couldn't afford to buy another home here.
In the Spirit of our Travels
I always try to read a book or two related to the area or at least a historical fiction that gives me some idea of the culture we experience. I read Winnie Mandela, A Life and Trevor Noah, Born A Crime. Both great view points that helped explain a bit about the country we would be experiencing. Since we were in the posh sea side location with only a beautiful African Grey Parrot to look after, I certainly had the time to get my reading in.
Braai (or BBQ to these Yankees) and Potjie. Braai is what South Africans call grilling and is very much a social custom in much of South Africa. A Potjie is a cast iron pot used when doing a Braai. We prepared a seafood potjie, chicken potjie, and we even tried bread. (tried being the keyword, it did not turn out) The braai was located right in the house. We did lamb, beef, and chicken over open coals for our friends when they visited.
A lot of our time was spent preparing food on the open fire and in the clay pizza firestone. We had lots of cooking lessons with an open fire. Little did we know this would prepare us for the next two months in our not-so-posh Africa encounters.
OUR FIRST HOUSE SITTING GUESTS
Playing Tour Guide is something we have practice at. When we lived in the Caribbean, we were lucky to have many visitors who wanted to experience our island over the years. We are the lucky ones so fortunate to share our love for adventure with our friends and family.
The Eckley family were our first guests. It was only appropriate as Darla and I go way back. The first time Darla was ever on an airplane she came to see me in NYC the summer I was a nanny. Respectively, the first trip Brett and I took to Mexico for their wedding was when we realized that traveling to tropical locations was our jam.
You just can't beat long-time friends. It is so super cool that Brett can now enjoy such an important part of my friendship history. We all consider each other family and end up together several times a year. We consider their beautiful Myrtle Beach home an address we can go to anytime we need some respite.
Thank you, Steve, for allowing our dear friends to come to stay at your lovely beach home for the week. We all had a brilliant vacation filled with lots of laughter.
Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach and the Penguins, Delicious Braii, Gin and Wine Tasting, Golf at the best course in South Africa, Table Mountain Cable Ride, Yzerfontein Beach Walks, Chilling at Steve's Holiday Home, Horseback Riding on the beach and African Safari----The Ecklyes did it all!
Emma, who is 10 years old was a total player, she jumped in and hung with us no matter what we decided to do. She is a lucky girl to experience this culture and vacation with such a loving family.
Cape of Good Hope Scenic Drive
This particularly fun day drive includes a lot of stops and is easily an entire day's activity. Drive down the East side of the peninsula and cruise up the other to see cute seaside towns, such as Muizenberg and Talk Bay Harbor. Getting up early and beating the crowds is a PMA tip I would definitely consider for this day in the car.
Depending on where you depart from you will encounter some of the township housing which includes underdeveloped racially segregated areas or shanty towns which one can't ignore. Crime, unemployment, and HIV/AIDS continue to be huge issues throughout the city.
Boulders Beach to see the Penguins
Brett and I actually visited this beach twice. We thought it was a cool story and such a gift to be able to experience penguins up close and personal and even swim with them if you know how to get to the secret beach!
Most tourists enter the main gate on the east end, but if you drive a bit further to an unmarked entrance with a tiny parking lot you come to the small beach lounging side where you can pitch a blanket, bring your snorkel and snacks and make an afternoon of it. Full disclosure, even swimming with penguins and a wet suit would not incise us in this cold water of the Western Cape. It is seriously freezing, even in the summer.
Penguin at Boulder Beach: Entrance Fee for Foreigners: Adults $10 USD Youth $5 USD
Table Mountain National Park
The Park is home to the Cape of Good Hope and the iconic sign where you can take your photo with bragging rights. It is about a 40-mile drive south of Cape Town, but totally scenic with lots of stopping points. The park itself is the wee tip of the Cape. Once you enter the park it is only a short drive to the point where you will see beautiful secluded beaches and jagged cliffs. There are some hiking trails and actually cabins you could rent to stay in if you are up for a rustic trip.
Climb to the top of the Lighthouse. It is a classic 1850's Red, White and Black Iron Lighthouse with crazy beautiful views! The Lighthouse is a lot of steps and a concrete path that takes you to the top, but don't miss out on what we thought we the coolest viewpoint which was the lookout from the old Radar Station from WWII on the way up to the lighthouse. Looking down from this spot was far more impressive than the top. I am not even sure how we ventured to find it.
Entrance Fee: The fee for the Drive Through Park is $20 USD per adult and $10 USD for youth.
We also saw Baboons being crazy and lots of Male and Female Ostrich. Fact-Male Ostrich are the Black ones and can be very dangerous. Stay clear of all Ostriches tho. The fauna was also beautiful, but just getting into season so we missed out on a lot of the color.
Close your windows in the park--Baboons have been known to grab your sandwich.
Wrap up your day with a cruise through Chapman's Peak Drive one of the most favored scenic drives (very short and a small toll fee) It is easy to find after you depart Cape Point--follow the signs to continue your lovely road trip.
We ate at a pretty local Restaurant called Chapmans Peak Hotel and Restaurant. chapmanspeakhotel.co.za It was fab! We ate there on a Sunday with the funday swanky crowd. Totally reasonable prices to eat out in SA. We had 5 Seafood Entrees, Several glasses of wine and beer, 3 deserts and our bill with the tip was under $100 USD.
Babylonstoren Wine Experience
Even if you are not a wine drinker a trip to South Africa is not complete without a trip through the jaw-dropping wine district. Credit to Darla who was in charge of picking the area and vineyard that we toured.
Babylonstoren Vineyard and Dutch Farm was an event in itself. Darla and I did the tour, Brian Golfed at Pearl Valley and Brett and Emma took a long nap in the car. I don't drink and Darla wasn't going to tackle a proper wine tasting alone so we opted for touring the gardens, farm shops, beautiful grounds and simply just hanging together.
Babylonestoren babylonstoren.com was located just outside of the cute town of Frakenbosch . We grabbed a yummy Lunch at Mykonos Tavern on Main Street and Emma happily shopped her way through the afternoon.
Pearl Valley Golf Course, Jack Nicholas Signature course is rated South Africa's #1 Course for several years running. pearlvalley.co.za Thanks to our House Sitting Host's Son who is a local golf professional, he gave us the tip about the course and the area. With his fancy PGA card, our friend Brain was able to play 18 Holes with a couple of wealthy Sweedish dudes who summer in SA for just under $100 USD including cart rental. When we returned to collect Brian from golfing he was grinning from ear to ear.
Prior to Coming to Cape Town, the Eckley Family landed in Johannesburg and took a private plane to an airstrip to Tuningi Game Reserve tuningi.com to do some animal hunting. Now, this is MY kind of hunting, real hunting of animals a very fair hunt involving no guns. Brian and Darla agree that this was a highlight of their trip and would not hesitate to refer or chat with anyone considering a Game reserve outside of J-town.
Just to be clear, we have not had our Safari experience (yet) but stay tuned we hope to enjoy the animals just as much as the Eckleys in our next stop in Africa. We loved their photos and the stories of their experience were sweeeeeeet. Adrenalin, they ran on it all week while they were here.
Table Mountain--The Cable Car Experience can't be skipped durning a trip to South Africa. No matter where you are this flat topped prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town is a jewel. The cool thing is if you don't want to make the strenuous 3 hour hike, you can take a zippy Cable Car to the top--chill out and ride it back down. Serious fun and worth the $20 USD admission per person. Our final day with the Eckleys before taking them to the airport where they will hop on a 15 hour flight back to Myrtle Beach, NC. Yes, I had some tears.
Our favorite moments on the trip with Eckleys were hanging out at our Housesitting Home, taking in the sound of the waves, sitting at the pool, and cooking pizzas on the outdoor wood fired pizza oven. It was truly a gift to have this time with our dear friends. It was actually just a bonus that it happened to be in Yzerfontien, South Africa!
CURIOUS About NAMIBIA? So Are We.
Africa-the next adventure Starts tomorrow. Come along to our 20-day trip through Namibia. https://www.info-namibia.com
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