South Africa part II

Mike and I are now in Cape Town and it has been a great 10 days or so since my last update. We headed to the Transkei aka the Wild Coast. We spent two days in a eco backpackers called Bulungula Lodge. We explored the area and saw a whale breaching (jumping out of the water) in the bay! It was so amazing, it just kept jumping for like 30 minutes. It was probably a southern right whale. We also saw two huge pods of dolphins. Wednesday we hiked 10 miles up the coastline to a spot called "Hole in the Wall". The name is due to the huge rock formation on the coast with a big hole in the middle. The hike took 8 hours because the coast line is very hilly and my pack weighs about 40 pounds. We spent Thursday in Coffee Bay, another few miles up the beach, but this time we hitched a ride there. The whole area is very green and the coastline is incredibly beautiful.

Friday was an adventure as we tried to head west but all the bus companies were full. We ended up getting two stand-by seats from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth with one company and then headed farther west to Swellendam with another company.

From Swellendam we headed south to the southern-most point in Africa at Cape Agulhas (I did the western-most in Dakar at Point Almadies, so I am halfway there.) From there we hitched a ride up the coast a little to Hermanus.

Hermanus is a cool little town and "The best land-based whale watching in the world." Well, we did a hike along the coast but didn't quite catch any whales.I tried to book a day trip shark cage diving but everything is super booked out since South Africa has seen around half a million tourists during the World Cup. Oh well, it just means that I will have to come back to do that.

Tuesday we headed north to Stellenbosch, just outside of Cape Town, which is the heart of South Africa's wine region. We walked the entire town in about 20 minutes. It is very picturesque but small. The most striking feature of this region of South Africa are the huge mountains jutting suddenly out of the countryside. Wednesday we went on a wine tour and got to see four different cellars all around the region. We started out at Simonsig in Stellenbosch and then went to Fairview, Dieu Donne and Boschendal in the neighboring towns of Paarl and Franschhoek. At Boschendal (established in 1685 and the 2nd oldest winery in South Africa) we had a contest to guess the age of the historic tree in their courtyard. I guessed 285 and was spot-on so I won a nice bottle of red wine.

Wednesday afternoon we took the commuter Metro train into Cape Town and found a nice backpackers on Long Street, which is a hopping district full of bars and restaurants in the heart of this big, beautiful city. Yesterday we settled in and today we started exploring the many, many sights here. We had an exceptionally beautiful day so we headed up to the Table Mountain Cableway. It is a rapid ascent to the top in a large gondola that rotates as it climbs to give the riders a wonderful 360 degree view of the city. We hiked around at the top and then headed back down into town. We wandered around the V & A Waterfront, got some great sushi and then headed over to Green Point to see the stadium.

Tomorrow we are hoping to see some more of the city. Cape Town is called the "Mother City" of South Africa. There is a lot of history here, including beautiful old buildings, museums, gardens, beaches, hiking, etc. Saturday morning we are heading north, off to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. South Africa has been a great place to explore and I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing more countries soon.

I hope everyone is doing well. Happy 4th of July (a little late) and take care!