Cape Town and Simon's Town

We arrived in Cape Town on December 27. One of our first views was of the beautiful Table Mountain that overlooks the city.

The next morning we tried to take the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain, but the line was ridiculously long so we left. It was a nice view, even from the lower station. We ended up visiting the South African National Museum and wandering around the Company's Gardens. The Gardens were originally created by the Dutch East India Trading Company to grow produce for their voyages.

The next day, we took the city train to Simon's Town, a small beach-front town on False Bay, about an hour's ride by train from Cape Town. The train tracks ran directly on the beach for half of the trip, so it was a beautiful ride. Though it's so windy here that sometimes the sand from the beach would start to blow in through the windows so you had to close them or risk looking like a sugar doughnut. From the train station, we walked a couple kilometers to Boulder's Beach where there is a colony of African penguins that you can view up close. The penguins are still endangered, but clearly they felt safe on this secluded beach.

We also viewed the Castle of Cape Hope, previously on the sea front but now about a half kilometer into town due to land reclamation. This fortress was built in the 1600s and is the oldest building still in use in South Africa. We viewed the daily 'handing over of the keys' ceremony. Close by was the District 6 museum - a memorial of sorts to the thousands of Cape Town residents who were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated away from the center of town in the 1960s when this district was rezoned as a 'white zone.' Their homes were subsequently razed.

On New Year's Eve we did a group wine tour to four wineries near Cape Town. One wine we tried that is unique to South Africa is Pinotage. They had a lot of other nice reds as well. In the evening, we ventured down to the V&A (Victoria & Albert) Waterfront to take part in their big New Year's celebration. There was live music, food vendors, tons of people, and a rather anti-climactic countdown. It was still good to be there and be part of it.

Happy New Year everyone!