Cape Town Area - March, 2003
(click any picture to get enlargement)
Jay's father, Wayne, and sister, Pam, decided to visit South Africa while Jay and Nicole were still living there. This is the first of 5 pages summarizing their visit.
Wayne
& Pam's flight routing was pretty bad... Appleton, Wisconsin (USA) to Chicago, to Frankfurt
(overnight), to Munich, wait 7 hrs, to Jo'burg (8 hrs) and finally to Cape Town.
The travelers came
through the trip OK & were ready for a welcome drink at the airport bar. They were also ready to start sight-seeing right away,
as its best not to nap on
1st day.
Note: The picture quality
does get better, I promise!
The first activity was to go up Table Mountain.
On top the weather was clear & you could see far.
The ledges were tricky
and quite steep, though.
Wisconsin group on the other side of the
world.
Cape Town city center - with touristy Waterfront (left) and Harbor (right)
The greater Cape Town metropolis area is large, but not too crowded.
Nicole, Jay & Pam having a sunset drink at
the beach ("sundowner").
Pam in front of Lion's Head Mountain; a hiking trail leads to the top.
Nice colors at sunset.
The vineyards were only about 30 minutes away.
Our Mini taxi, which fit
us all quite comfortably.
Pam & Jay after tasting some pretty good wine.
"Floral Kingdoms".
Outside dinner with an ocean & beach view.
Jay & Nicole's Loft; see links from main page.
Wayne getting "local"; helping Jay fix up the loft.
View of the "Cape Malay" area of Cape Town
One of the major tourist attractions that we
visited was Cape Point.
Cape Point is about a two hour drive from Cape Town. It is one of the most southerly points of the African continent and it has great ocean and cliff views.
Beach along the way to Cape Point. Note the painted changing huts.
Family at the Entrance.
Beach view along the path up to the viewing area.
Rest stop along the way.
We made it - Cape Point !
Video taping the view.
We stopped to visit a nice- looking Ostrich Farm.
Curious Ostrich friends.
Nicely posing for a shot.
Getting a close-up video.
Up close these guys
aren't very cute, plus
they like to peck at you.
Friendly Eland says hi !
The other major tourist
attraction we visited was Robben Island. This place was used as a prison
for political prisoners during the Apartheid era, which ended 10 years
ago. During apartheid, blacks were given no rights and were not treated
very well. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned here and became the first
president of the post-apartheid regime. The island is a lot like Alcatraz,
near San Francisco.
High-speed ferry ride.
Nearing Robben Island
Looking back at covered Table Mountain.
Windy view of the ocean
Are these prisoners dressed in Black & white?
No, just some penguins that now rule the island.
Prison Building.
Prison courtyard.
Hallway in the prison.
An ex-inmate telling stories in a bunk room.
The cell where Mandela lived for 18 years!
Some of the last prisoners to leave the island.
Wayne & Pam stayed with Jay & Nicole in the Cape
area
for only one week. From there the whole group ventured east to the lush Garden Route
area;
after a week there they headed north to Pretoria.
