Cape Town Part Two: Wine and Penguins

The day after table mountain Chase and I took a little trip to Stellenbausch the wine country of South Africa. I've always wanted to take a trip to California wine country and have been talking about it for years with several of our friends. So, naturally when we moved to SA I replaced my California dream with Stellenbausch. Thankfully, having Elizabeth with us we were able to make that dream happen in a more romantic way for just Chase and I. I am sure it was also more fun for the children playing with her at the house versus being toted to a couple different wineries. On the suggestion of my golf instructor we made our first stop Ernie Els Wines.  The winery was breathtaking the mountains and rows of grape vines were picturesque. Being there at the end of May all the grapes had been harvested and the leaves were turning colors, it made for a wonderful fall day.  It was interesting learn about the wines, the various flavors, and how they are made. We chose to do their red wine tasting and were able to enjoy each wine with a light lunch. Following lunch we had a little tour of their barrel room, it was pretty impressive. As we were leaving we purchased a special bottle to bring back with us. The gentleman informed us it would be best in about 2 years, so apparently we have something to look forward to before we move back to the States. Our second stop was just across the road from Ernie Els at Hidden Valley Winery. We came across Hidden Valley wine at a dinner one night with some friends and it worked out perfectly that it was close to Ernie Els. At Hidden Valley we chose to do the Chocolate and Wine pairing. They brought out a block of chocolates and then brought out a new wine to taste with each one.  Apparently, most couples share their chocolates, but as soon as they were brought out I was sure I wanted each one to myself! So I ordered a second board!   We didn't want to be away from the boys for too long so after the two wineries we headed home. Out of the two, Ernie Els was my favorite, the views from the winery itself were amazing.

Window out of the Barrel Room, What a View!

Barrel Room

 Ernie Els Winery

They have a large green area... no hole just a flag pole. I thought it was kind of funny

Hidden Valley Winery

Hidden Valley has several nature trails that you can take around their grounds.  You can pre order picnic baskets to take with you on your nature walk. If I had known we for sure would have done that! 

On Day three of our trip we headed off to Simon's Town to see the penguins at Boulder Beach. Boulder Beach is home to a unique colony of African Penguins. Boulder Beach itself is relatively small in size but is home to about 1,000 of these birds. This number of course use to be much larger but over time and with man building around their home the numbers have shrunk. In the summer time you can swim off the beach and around the boulders. We were there in the middle of their nesting period and got to see lots of baby penguins keeping warm under their mothers. There is a board walk that leads around the beach to another viewing area where you can watch the birds. We had so much fun watching them swim, and waddle around on the sand. They are just too cute!

Elizabeth and the Boys 

Baby Penguin

More Baby Penguins

In the afternoon following our penguin viewing we intended on heading down to the Cape of Good Hope, but the weather wasn't cooperating and we decided we needed to do something more fun for the kids. So, instead we went off to the Two Oceans Aquarium were we got to view some marine life and enjoy watching a shark feeding. The boys love aquariums, and it was nice to get out of the chilly air for a bit! We ended the day with another dinner with Carolyn and Cara, said our Goodbyes, and called it good for Cape Town.

Cape Town is a lot different then Pretoria. Chase and I compared it a lot to San Francisco and California in general. The people there were friendly and laid back and there were a lot more foreigners there too. The University of Cape Town brings in a lot of international students, and Cape Town is a huge tourist destination, we definitely noticed a lot more American accents around us as we were out and about.  I am not sure if we will have another opportunity to get down to Cape Town, but I feel like there is still so much there to see and we just did a small small portion of it all. Hopefully we can go back, maybe when the weather is nicer and we could enjoy the beach a bit more. If not, I am happy we got to see what we did and experience another little chunk of South Africa.

Cape Town Part One: Table Mountain

Last weekend we headed off for our first trip to Cape Town. My friends Cara and Carolyn were there working at the Red Cross Children's Hospital for the month so we planned our trip just so we could visit with them. The end of May isn't necessarily the best time of year to go down there, it was chilly, and we had a little rain, but it was well worth it to see those two ladies, and we loved being down there in the off season with no lines of tourists.

We rented a three bedroom house in an area called Muizenburg just outside of the city. Muizenburg is a small little surf town known for it's great beach. The house ended up being perfect for our family to stretch out and relax. It also had some fantastic views. Being nestled on the side of Muizenburg Mountain we had hiking trails out our backdoor and a glorious view of the ocean. The extra bonuses to the house were the hot tub, ping pong table, and basketball hoop, which all came in handy for entertaining the kids. It was also nice to be able to cook meals at the house. After sight seeing during the day having the opportunity to cook dinner there and just relax made things a lot easier on us all. Being outside of Cape Town proper was more affordable then a hotel and actually was well situated between all the areas we wanted to visit. We were 30 minutes from Cape Town, 30 minutes from Simon's Town (penguins), and 45 minutes from wine country.

a few pictures of the house 

View up out backyard

View out the front

Muizenburg Beach

I fell in love with these bright colored beach shacks. 

Collecting Shells with the Boys

A couple of weeks before we invited Elizabeth (our nanny/housekeeper) to come with us on the trip. Not knowing if we will have another chance to get to Cape Town, Chase and I wanted to be able to have a few adult experiences too, and having her with us made that possible. She also got to experience a lot of firsts in her life as well and we were happy to help make that happen for her.

After we settled into the house we headed out to dinner to meet up with Cara and Carolyn. It was so nice to be able to catch up with old friends, and really it seemed like time hadn't passed at all. We had a great dinner and chatted about all the happenings in our lives.

Our first full day we headed off to Table Mountain and Elizabeth went off for a tour of Robben Island. In our rush to get to the tour on time I fell down a flight of stairs at the waterfront, which not only was embarrassing in front of a crowd of strangers, but also painful as my tail bone took the brunt of the fall. The fall mixed with a sinus infection I was already experiencing was not helping this vacation to start out on a good foot, but we pushed ahead. Elizabeth got to her ferry on time and we carried on to Table Mountain. Table Mountain is a flat topped mountain and a prominent landmark overlooking Cape Town. You have the option to either hike or ride the cable car to the top, with the kids we chose the cable car. Once at the top there are several small trails that take you all over the area. The view is amazing, and we were lucky that our morning there was one of our clearer days in Cape Town. We had sunshine and could see out into the ocean. Mitchell loved climbing on the rocks and running on the trails.

Table Mountain

Riding the Cable Car, Mitchell give it his approval

View down the cables

View From the Top

It was really neat to watch the clouds roll over us. A new meaning to having your "Head in the Clouds"

Elizabeth enjoyed her trip to Robben Island as well. Robben Island is the island off the coast of Cape Town that during apartheid Nelson Mandela and many others were imprisoned. Today you can tour the island and learn about what imprisonment was like there. The tour is 3 to 4 hours long and your tour guides are former prisoners.  Though it would be fascinating to me, I know it wouldn't of held interest for a 2 and 5 year old. So, Elizabeth took the tour and told me all about it when she returned. She was speechless and tearful at times telling me the stories of what had happened there during apartheid. I am happy that she had the opportunity to take the tour and learn more about her country and people's history. She took lots of pictures and is allowing me to share them here with you all.

a Church, the only building they did not demolish during the apartied war. Now it's called a anglican Church

Sipho Ikosi, ex confict who lead her tour

Outside of the jail

picture of Mandela

Mandela's Cell

Inside his cell, his plate, mug, and blanket were left inside.

view of Cape Town from Robben Island

Even with the head cold, and a tumble down the stairs, our first day in Cape Town shaped up to be a good one and the rest of our trip had some great moments too. Once again there are too many things to talk about in one post so Cape Town Part Two will be out for your reading pleasure soon!

Golf: A Family Sport

Typically when I meet non Black & Veatch people I tell them that we are living here in South Africa for my husbands work. Usually after I say this I get asked "So what is it that you do?" and typically I respond with "I am mom". However, the truth is that since I am currently not working, the kids are going to preschool, and we have a housekeeper I do have a lot of free time. My first thought was that I would take time to volunteer weekly. I reached out and made contacts with several people here in Africa pursuing Child Life and have found a few different areas that my skills can be a service to. But, I have found with many things here in Africa sometimes you have to wait for things to take off. So, in the mean time while I wait for work to pick up I am finding some fun ways to fill hours in my days.
As I've mentioned before our neighborhood has it's own golf course, and so living here has been the perfect opportunity to pick up the game again! Back in high school I was able to join the ladies golf team and learn how to play. At the time I was never very good, but it did teach me the basics of the sport, and got me interested in something I'd be able to do my whole life. However, after high school with the exception of 9 holes once a year or the occasional fun at the driving range I pretty much stopped playing. Shortly after moving here I started going to a ladies hour long golf clinic on Thursday mornings with some of my new SA friends. The clinic covers specific skills each week and and recharged my love for the game. A few weeks after starting the clinic a group of us started playing nine holes every Tuesday morning, and we have made this our weekly routine! I have even started taking a few private lessons to try an improve some specific skills. As you know in America it's a pretty pricey sport and I would never be able to afford to play weekly, let alone take private lessons. But, here we have found it to be very affordable. Just to give you an idea my group lesson is the whopping price of $10 a week including the bucket of balls, and to play 9 holes in the middle of the week it's another $10! Incredibly reasonable compared to the inflated prices charged in the States. While at times this sport is very frustrating, it has been a blast playing weekly and improving my skills. On top of that it has helped me form some fabulous friendships that I feel incredibly lucky to have so far from home.

Chase and I have had fun on our Day Dates out on the course! 

My Golfing Buddies

Mitchell is loving it! 

Silver Lakes Golf Course

Another view from the Golf Course

The wonderful thing about playing golf is that it has also become a family sport! Mitchell now takes a group lesson once a week and Chase is taking lessons as well. We also try to get to the driving range when we have time on the weekend. Spencer will hit a few balls too, but right now he is the family iron cleaner as he prefers to spend his time at the range "cleaning" the clubs in the buckets of soapy water they have out. Over all we have all fallen in love with the sport, and as Chase points out the best thing about having two kids is that we will always have a foursome to play with!