We started at the District 6 Museum, an apartheid history museum covering the forced removal of the black residents in the District 6 neighborhood. My favorite aspect of the museum was the story written about the racing pigeons who were let out to fly by their owner. The pigeons were set out to fly from the relocated neighborhood and did not return home as they should have, to the new location. The pigeons' owner, drove past the location of the old home (which had been bulldozed after the forced relocation), and 50 or so pigeons were sitting there, as if that was still their home.
After District 6 Museum, we set out looking for the car rental place, needing to trade in our rental car due to an ongoing problem with standing water on the left (front and back) side of the car. It was during that time, looking for the car rental place, that we decided to for go trading the car for another, and turn it in and be done with driving altogether. We reasoned that a cab would not be much more money, if any, and would be much easier and safer than trying to find our way around Capetown.
After turning in the rental car and recruiting a cab driver (John) for the week, we headed down the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (VA Waterfront). Upon arriving at the VA Waterfront, we went to the Capetown Aquarium, an impressive display to all of us. At the Aquarium, we saw impressive aquariums of both Indian and Atlantic fish, coral and marine life. We also saw a frog display, as well as the penguins. We were pleasantly surprised when the penguins came marching up the ramp we were standing on. They had security guards with them, as well as an entourage of fans following them. They were making their daily transfer from one area of the aquarium to another.
After leaving the Aquarium we went the Hildebrand Restaurant, where Grandpa had veal marsala and Grandma and I had the lunch combo of cajun chili prawn skewers, kingklip fish and malva pudding.
After lunch, we wandered around the water front, taking in the scenes and shops of the waterfront. The evening was finished up with the standard rounds of Cribbage.
Tuesday 9-28-10
We started out the day visiting the Castle of Good Hope, which was built by the Dutch in 1666 and is the oldest surviving building in South Africa. At the Castle, we came across the Social Project Art Gallery, which had some of the most amazing artwork I have ever seen in my life. We also thoroughly enjoyed the Carnival Display, which showcased the history and tradition of the annual New Year's Carnival season, which starts on Christmas Eve with the Christmas bands/choirs. The Carnival season runs until approximately March. While at the castle, we stopped into the cafe for a coffee break. Grandma and I indulged in some dessert. Grandma had lemon meringue and I had chocolate cake.
After the Castle of Good Hope, we walked to City Hall, a stunning building from the outside. We only made it into the traffic violations/court area, where a security guard told us he could help us momentarily. After sitting on a bench for a while, we decided there were other things to see, and left City Hall in search of the public library. The library was another beautiful building, both similar and different to the Port Elizabeth library, as well as libraries in the US.
After the library, we walked to the Trafalger Flower Market, a place that I was of course in awe of. There were hundreds of buckets of beautiful flowers, all waiting to be purchased. The many varieties of roses were my favorite flowers among the market.
After the city centre area, we caught a cab to the waterfront area, where we took a steamboat harbor tour. The boat we were on is the only steamboat in South Africa. The engine was manufactured in St. Louis, Missouri. The engine ran at 135 rpm a minute. While out in the harbor we saw boats, seals. Specifically, we saw the boat that does the maintenance on the communication cables that are buried in the ocean.
We ate dinner at Mama Africa, a restaurant serving traditional African dishes. Mama Africa is known for it's live music, which was really high quality. Grandma had cheese and spinach pancakes. Grandpa and I had the wild game platter, which had crocodile, kudu, ostrich, springbok and venison sausage. Grandpa said the sausage was spicy and seemed similar to venison sausage in the US.
Wednesday 9-29-10
We went to see the penguin colony at Boulder, a National Park. There seemed to be at least 50-75 penguins relaxing on the beach. On our way to the Cape of Good Hope, we saw many baboons on the side of the road. They were a variety of sizes, featuring 2 little babies! Although the baboons are known to be agressive, they did not show agression towards us, although John our cab driver/tour guide informed Grandma "Mam, please roll up your window". We went onward to Cape of Good Hope (National Park). Along with Cape of Good Hope, we also went to Cape Point (in the same park). During this time, we saw wild ostrich right off the shore. At Cape Point the Atlantic Ocean is on western side and the Indian Ocean is on the eastern side. The most south western point of Africa is at the Cape of Good Hope.
After leaving the Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope, we stopped off at a seaside restaurant, the Blue Bell. Grandpa had hake and chips and Grandma had sole and chips. I had a seafood sampler basket of calamari, hake, crab bites and some other funny (tasted good) seafood rollup tube thingys.
After lunch, we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which were well kept, stunning and beautiful. The variety and layout of the gardens was very impressive, and well accentuated by the mountains bordering the park. The gardens were serene and enjoyable, up until I got separated from Grandpa and Grandma. After a good hour of looking for them, with the help of our cab driver on the phone, I was able to track them down and we went on our way. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at the B&B.
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