Tina & Rob’s excellent adventure

After leaving the beautiful Floreal Guest House in Capetown we went to Franschhoek in the wine district. The area is full of vineyards and fields of lavender. Everywhere the scent of the lavender hangs in the air. Again, the accommodations were perfect at Klein Olifants Guest House. Renata, the Italian owner, was a wonderful host. Our current guest house, Bradach Manor in Knysna, overlooks a lagoon and the entrance to the Indian Ocean. As you can see, life is good.

After two days of sightseeing our bodies did recover enough to climb Table Mountain for a second time. Today we took Platteklip Gorge to the summit. It is the shortest route to the top but also the steepest. The brochure describes it perfectly “relentlessly up”. The round trip took us 4 long hours. We are leaving Capetown tomorrow for our next stop in the wine country. We have enjoyed our stay here immensely. The scenery, weather, guest house and the people have all been fantastic.

Apartheid is the Dutch word for segregation. This was the official policy of the white South African government from 1948-1990. We started today at the District 6 museum then visited one of the many neighborhoods where the black population was forced from their homes and relocated to the townships on the outskirts of town. During our visit to one township we were introduced to inspirational people like Vicky Ntozini who owns a B&B. She sets an example for personal success as well as giving back to the community. One of her projects is giving small Christmas gifts to 300 children. We also met children and adults at the community center where skills such as pottery, photography and traditional dance are taught. It was such an incredibly uplifting experience to meet these people whose positive, hopeful attitude toward the future will stay with us forever.

Nelson Mandela led the movement for change resulting in his 27 year incarceration. We visited his cell at the penitentiary on Robben Island. Ex political prisoners and guards now give tours of the facility. Nelson Mandela was elected president in the first democratic election in 1994 and served till 1999.

We started the day at the Penguin Sanctuary in Boulders. It is home for a colony of endangered African penguins. They nest along the shores of this protected beach. After that we continued to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. We climbed the lighthouse that overlooks the treacherous wind swept waters of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Many ships met their demise along this rugged coastline. We finished this busy day relaxing at Sandy Beach before returning to our beautiful room at the Floreal House.

Happy to leave the cold weather of Holland behind but sad to say goodbye to family and friends, we boarded the plane in Amsterdam. 12 hours later we arrived in warm and sunny Capetown. We spent the first full day here tackling the infamous Table Mountain. Midday the strong 25mph winds start blowing cloud cover over the mountaintop creating” the Tablecloth” Here are the photos we took on our hike today (5 hrs round trip to the highest point–Maclear’s Beacon)

We woke to snow covered roads and drove from France to Delft in about 6 hours without any trouble. Here are a few of the sights including the amazing Millau Bridge. The longest and highest multi-span cable stayed bridge in the world. We will stay in Holland, visiting friends and family, till our departure to South Africa on December 15th. At that time we will also be saying good-bye to Booger, our faithful companion.

We spent four days exploring and admiring the architecture in Barcelona. The city was home of Gaudi, an architect who’s unique designs made him world famous. The first two pictures are of the Sacred Family Temple. The construction started in 1882 and continues today. Gaudi himself supervised all the work for more than 40 years till his death in 1926. The third picture is Casa Mila. The next three pictures were taken at Casa Batllo another Gaudi masterpiece. There are no straight angles anywhere in the house. The last picture was taken at Parc Guell, a city park with quite a few works of Gaudi.

While we were in Barcelona we contacted Dale’s friend Alex who lived in Florida and California for a few years before relocating to Barcelona. We had a few beers (now there’s a surprise) and Alex told us all about the highlights of Barcelona, including where to find the best tapas. We did enjoy the huge market where you can buy any food product imaginable and the beautiful waterfront.