For starters, sorry I can't come up with any cool/catchy titles on this trip; when I've been putting up these blog posts, I've been so tired nearly all creative abilities have abandoned me. Anyway.....
Today was slow compared to yesterday's adventures, and the festivities were hampered by some miserable weather. Things looked ok when we got out of bed, but in the afternoon the Cape Town deluge struck.
You may remember mention of a Hop on Hop off bus tour with two lines, red and a blue. Well, we had already done the red, so today we were gonna give the blue a shot. We picked up the bus at the nearest stop just a view blocks down and off of Long Street, and were off. The first stop was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Gardens cover a swath of land at the foot of Table Mountain. As two budding photography enthusiasts (full disclosure: Joe is SO much better than I. He actually knows what he is doing. I really should give my camera manual a closer look. He does seem to have a better camera though, I will use that as my weak defense), we thought it might offer up some photo-shooting opportunities. It was a bit windy and chilly, a sign of things to come, as we took to the grounds. The area did offer some decent views of Table Mountain, but on the whole we weren't that impressed with the Gardens. It is a nice place, don't get me wrong, but many of the plants and flowers look like they have seen better days. The flower that Nelson Mandela himself planted looked pretty sad. There were still some nice scenes to be taken in, but we headed up making it a short visit.
We hopped back on the blue line to the next stop, Groot Constantia. GC is South Africa's oldest wine vineyard, established 1685. You are correct in thinking that we had already visited a vineyard, but you may remember hearing that the scenery there wasn't considered to be anything to write home about, and that visit was more for gift-purchasing (cat out of the bag). This time we were more interested in exploring the vineyard grounds. We caught a lucky break at GC, as the clouds broke and the sun shone, warming the air and bringing more color into our photos. We both had a really good there, neither of us has ever been to an active vineyard, and I'm not sure that many exist that had GC's surrounding natural beauty. The vineyards seemingly stretch up onto the slopes of Table Mountain. Combined with the clearing sky, we were treated to some beautiful images. The grounds were very well kept to, with flowers planted to break the monotony of green vines, and the grass areas were mowed immaculately. Just another gem offered up by Cape Town.
The next stop on the line was the World of Birds, Africa's largest bird sanctuary. We both thought this would be neat to check out. Well, we got to check out some of it at least. After having passed through just a couple of avaries (which did have some pretty sharp looking species, including everyone's favorite kookaburra), the rains came, and came. We found ourselves running for cover (I cut across one dirt area between paths, scaring the shit out of a number of birds not kept in cages). As soon as the rain seemed to let up, and we began our tour again, it would just start up again. It rained really hard at some intervals, even with rain gear we didn't want to venture out. After a few failed attempts we gave up on it and decided to catch the bus for the long ride home.
After drying off, we still had to fill our bellies. We decided that ostrich burger was on the menu, so after asking at the front desk where we might find the elusive bird, we set up Long Street for the recommended establishment. Seeing a line at the door, we had a look down the street at the Long Street Cafe, which I mentioned to Joe I had seen in some photos online when researching our trip. We decided to give that a try. While the music was a bit loud for regular conversation, it was a nice establishment, with a spacious eating area and friendly (and cute) staff. Prices were decent as well. We both went for the ribeye (less than ten bucks)-and were both happy with the result. Our server's name was Lovejoy, which, I mean, you really can't beat a name like that. As it was still drizzling out after we finished, we called it a day and now here I am, recalling the day's events.
And so completed what was probably our quietest day of the trip. Rain is again forecast for tomorrow, so we may have to look for some indoor activities. Come back tomorrow to find out how we managed.
Today was slow compared to yesterday's adventures, and the festivities were hampered by some miserable weather. Things looked ok when we got out of bed, but in the afternoon the Cape Town deluge struck.
You may remember mention of a Hop on Hop off bus tour with two lines, red and a blue. Well, we had already done the red, so today we were gonna give the blue a shot. We picked up the bus at the nearest stop just a view blocks down and off of Long Street, and were off. The first stop was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Gardens cover a swath of land at the foot of Table Mountain. As two budding photography enthusiasts (full disclosure: Joe is SO much better than I. He actually knows what he is doing. I really should give my camera manual a closer look. He does seem to have a better camera though, I will use that as my weak defense), we thought it might offer up some photo-shooting opportunities. It was a bit windy and chilly, a sign of things to come, as we took to the grounds. The area did offer some decent views of Table Mountain, but on the whole we weren't that impressed with the Gardens. It is a nice place, don't get me wrong, but many of the plants and flowers look like they have seen better days. The flower that Nelson Mandela himself planted looked pretty sad. There were still some nice scenes to be taken in, but we headed up making it a short visit.
We hopped back on the blue line to the next stop, Groot Constantia. GC is South Africa's oldest wine vineyard, established 1685. You are correct in thinking that we had already visited a vineyard, but you may remember hearing that the scenery there wasn't considered to be anything to write home about, and that visit was more for gift-purchasing (cat out of the bag). This time we were more interested in exploring the vineyard grounds. We caught a lucky break at GC, as the clouds broke and the sun shone, warming the air and bringing more color into our photos. We both had a really good there, neither of us has ever been to an active vineyard, and I'm not sure that many exist that had GC's surrounding natural beauty. The vineyards seemingly stretch up onto the slopes of Table Mountain. Combined with the clearing sky, we were treated to some beautiful images. The grounds were very well kept to, with flowers planted to break the monotony of green vines, and the grass areas were mowed immaculately. Just another gem offered up by Cape Town.
The next stop on the line was the World of Birds, Africa's largest bird sanctuary. We both thought this would be neat to check out. Well, we got to check out some of it at least. After having passed through just a couple of avaries (which did have some pretty sharp looking species, including everyone's favorite kookaburra), the rains came, and came. We found ourselves running for cover (I cut across one dirt area between paths, scaring the shit out of a number of birds not kept in cages). As soon as the rain seemed to let up, and we began our tour again, it would just start up again. It rained really hard at some intervals, even with rain gear we didn't want to venture out. After a few failed attempts we gave up on it and decided to catch the bus for the long ride home.
After drying off, we still had to fill our bellies. We decided that ostrich burger was on the menu, so after asking at the front desk where we might find the elusive bird, we set up Long Street for the recommended establishment. Seeing a line at the door, we had a look down the street at the Long Street Cafe, which I mentioned to Joe I had seen in some photos online when researching our trip. We decided to give that a try. While the music was a bit loud for regular conversation, it was a nice establishment, with a spacious eating area and friendly (and cute) staff. Prices were decent as well. We both went for the ribeye (less than ten bucks)-and were both happy with the result. Our server's name was Lovejoy, which, I mean, you really can't beat a name like that. As it was still drizzling out after we finished, we called it a day and now here I am, recalling the day's events.
And so completed what was probably our quietest day of the trip. Rain is again forecast for tomorrow, so we may have to look for some indoor activities. Come back tomorrow to find out how we managed.
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