25-26 July 2016

We did this blog in three parts because there are so many pictures to post.  First Cape Town, then the game tours and finally Victoria Falls. They are very different and stand alone

Here we are, after coming back to the Ghana MTC for two days, now off on our safari.  Our flight was delayed 7 hours out of Ghana so we had to spend the night in Johannesburg, having missed our connection to Cape Town.  

We did make it to Cape Town the next day so missed
out on some of our time there.  The day was beautiful
when we arrived and we loved the town.  Many very
nice areas.

My sister, Ginger, from Seattle, was waiting for us at our Capetown apartment.  She always told me, "if you're going on a safari, I'm coming, too," and she did.  It was great having her join or little group.  We loved our apt in Capetown - light, roomy, beautiful.

This is Table Mountain, a famous landmark
overlooking Cape Town.  

Another landmark in Cape Town (maybe Signal Peak).  We took a bus tour around town that we really enjoyed as we listened with our headphones to interesting information about the town.  We enjoyed the restaurants we ate at and our hotel breakfasts were fabulous.

The wharf is an upscale shopping area. we ate
dinner and then Ginger and the Brubakers rode
the ferris wheel.  It was too cold and windy for
us.  on this night it sounded like a hurricane
blew through town.  

A view of the city and the harbor

Cape Town peninsula is famous for its beautiful,
very ritzy beaches and hotels.  Lots of rich and
famous people hang out here.

This beachside town is a suburb of Cape Town.

We liked this sign.

This is at the Cape of Good Hope, the most south
westerly point on the African Continent.

But we had
a private tour guide, driving us all around, who told
us lots of good stories and interesting information.

The day we went on on our peninsula tour
ended up being very rainy and windy.

The wind was blowing our umbrellas inside out and
we were soaked and cold.

Here is one of the penguins. No one seems to know
why they settled in the Cape Town peninsula. But
they seem to like it and are here to stay. 

Loel braved going down to the beach and taking a picture of the penguins.  I didn't.  I enjoyed the gift shop and took pictures of the stuffed penguins.

A cute town we drove through and stopped for lunch
at a seafood restaurant.  The buildings were very cute and colorful.

This is an old British town, Simonville. They have
attempted to keep the old original feeling in the
restored buildings.

If you look closely at the date on the building, it's 1899.

Back in Cape Town we loved this street with the many
colorful houses. This is a carry over from the Muslim
influence in Cape Town.  There is still a sizeable
Muslim population. 

This is the national flower, the Protea.

Since our stay was shortened by the airline delay and the wind and rain, we didn't get to go out to Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for so long.  He is very much loved in South Africa and people speak of him fondly.  It was very interesting to hear all about apartheid and its history and its repercussions.  South Africa is struggling with a lot of political corruption, as arr many countries in Africa.  Their money, the rand, was going down all the time, making it fairly inexpensive for us while there.