Vacation Week 1 -- Cape Town --

Or, how to relax and love life...

G and I just returned from a bit of a whirlwind vacation. We went to South Africa, where we spent a glorious week in Cape Town with G's amazing (!!!) family, and then a week at a game reserve and driving the Garden Route back to Cape Town.

While we were there, the weather was warm, sunny, windy as all get out, and beautiful. We had such an amazing time, I can't wait to go back...

I thought that before I plunged into posting about the CRAZY amount of food that we ate, I would start with a bit of a Cape Town recap, and then a post of the second week at the game lodge, then delve head first into food.

So let's begin...

Cape Town. I don't actually know where to begin with Cape Town. It is beautiful, dynamic, strange, conflicted, and full on has elements of what I imagine heaven is like... mountains and ocean. Sigh.


This is taken along a path in Stellenbosch, just looking out at the mountains... It really is sigh inducing, isn't it...


And the city is nice, too. This is the view from the Rhodes Memorial... and we also saw the currently being built World Cup stadium...


This photo is NOT from the Rhodes Memorial, so it's completely out of order in terms of daily activities, but it's my blog so there.

We also went to Boulder's Beach which is home to a large penguin colony. And they just swim and walk and sun in between the folks.. AND it was mating season, so everyone was VERY lovey dovey...


Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

We took a catamaran cruise from the Wharf. It was lovely!!!


And I got a little bit sick...


G's cousin-in-law, S filled me in on the way to solve seasickness, though. Lie down (it was freezing, hence my blankie) and look at the horizon because it doesn't move. He ruled, I drooled, and there you have it.

The coastal areas are quite beautiful ...


But lest you think it was all fun and games with no culture... here is some art that we saw on the street...


Hmmm. Yes. I see. So I will let you pause for a moment and ponder this one and talk amongst yourselves. Send me an email or leave a comment with your thoughts...

NEXT!

All around Cape Town are townships where the poor live. It's amazing to see these huge expanses of house. It's so strange.


And all of these townships seem to have some sort of power/electricity connected to them...


I don't know. Cape Town was a very real lesson for me in how intellectually you can understand something that will in the end make no sense on an emotional level. But I loved how it made me think and question myself, my beliefs, and all the things that I always thought I had understood or had some understanding of... This isn't a political blog, so I am not going into the whole dichotomy of my thinking, but suffice it to say that it's a country with so much. I absolutely loved it and honestly I would go back tomorrow.

But first, we have to go to the game reserve...