Day One in Cape Town!

Well, my trip has officially started!  I made it to Cape Town without really any hitches.  The only thing that has me wondering is whether there was more stuff that I could have left behind.  Item 1 that concerned me?  My outer jacket which zips in with the inner layer of my Northface coat to make a warm comfy waterproof winter jacket.   I didn’t bring the inside part (which I am regretting as I sit freezing in my hotel room), but I did bring the outer jacket which actually took up more space than I thought it would in the backpack.

I am staying at Villa Zest hotel in Cape Town which is a very lovely boutique hotel.  The staff has been fantastic and their breakfasts phenomenal.  They upgraded me for free because I had booked the smallest room and because it is low season and their hotel is not full, they felt I needed a room with more space.  The décor is fun – old school Atari games and telephones and typewriters hanging on the walls.  Plus they have a great outdoor space.  I definitely recommend this place!  And apparently, in speaking to others, they are quite reasonably priced. 

Today, I went on a full day tour of the wine region near Cape Town.  This included a trip to Stellenbosch.  The trip was great because the weather was horrid today, intermittently beautiful and sunny (which was really only a tease), but most of the time it was a downpour.  And I mean downpour. Cats and dogs.  Minus the thunder and lightning.  And the thing was?  Of course it didn’t start to pour until just moments after they set us out on the sidewalk to self-entertain ourselves for 30 minutes in the city of Stellenbosch.  Needless to say, I didn’t feel much need to wander about getting drenched.  But my raincoat?  Definitely came in handy.  I walked around in the pouring rain for 30 minutes and was bone dry after!  Impressive. 

We went to 4 wineries, including Svenwacht, S, Rickety Bridge, and Laborie.  Meh.  Californian wines are better – sorry!  I had some nice German people agree 100% with me.    

I was on the tour with a nurse manager from Australia but working in Saudi Arabia and a Norwegian couple.  I laughed because according to the Norwegian teacher, “for an American, you actually travel a lot.”  Hunh, what does that say about their opinion of Americans? 

Ok no more pictures, internet sucks.