Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Update 35
Headed east out of Cape Town passing nice home for several miles and then BANG...shanties as far as we could see! Correlated metal shacks with satellite dishes, ports potties, elec lines, clothes handing on lines & fences and an assortment of vehicle parts. Just as fast as it came into view...it went out and back to nice homes. Like a line was drawn.
We were headed to Hermanus because several people recommended it. They didn't warn us about the mountain passes with cliffs so close to the edge of the road, Mr. Careful (Rog's nickname) was clenching the steering wheel & his teeth.
Hermanus could be nicknamed The Freshly Painted White Town...it was quite lovely. We ate overlooking the ocean, walked the beach & then sauntered through the local market. Our Airbnb was close by in Kleinmond with Ernest as our host. He was originally from Switzerland & loved talking & showing off his fabulous garden & home he built 7 years ago.
Then Ernest invited to join him & his maid, Irene served us sliced wraps, chips & wine...then she joined us. She obviously is always included as she freely added to our conversation. She's from Zimbabwe and told us how it had once been a rich & wonderful place to live until the government became corrupt. They expropriated the farm land and there was no law & order...only bribes. Irene sees SA headed in that direction & Ernest agreed which is why he has a For Sale sign in front of his house. He thinks SA gov't might expropriate his house.
Irene & Ernest spent almost 2 hours detailing what they saw happening in SA & other African countries. And we again heard how China is cleverly getting ownership of mineral & fishing rights. Ernest said USA blew the opportunity to invest in Africa where so many resources exist. What an earful we got!
Next day we headed to Franschhoek...heart of wine country. We hopped an on/off wine trolley & visited 3 farms sampling as we went. Well, Rog sampled & I sipped & made faces! I though...Monica, Lisa, Ann & my other wine loving friends should be here...not me! But I did love seeing the manicured & gorgeously landscaped farms. Our Airbnb was in a cottage on a working farm...though not as grand as the wine farms we'd visited...it was very homey & on the edge of an apple orchard. The orchard had already been harvested, the host invited us to pick as many apples as we could find. That was a challenge for Rog & an offer he couldn't refuse. He found lots! He baked up several that night & we'll be eating apples for a while!
It was time to get back to the beach, so we headed toward the west coast & landed in Yzerfontein where walked the 16 Mile Beach (not all of it). and we watched an endless sunset. Funny Fact: our host has 2 small ordinary looking wild birds trained to come when she calls. They hopped in & out of our suite...and then flew off over the ocean & coming back to eat on our host's kitchen counter.
We're in Langebaan today...not such a nice beach but that crystal aqua water is beautiful sight. Saw over 50 para-surfboarders taking advantage of the winds. We're be going to Patarnoster tomorrow. It suppose to be a quaint little fishing village...though we heard the fishing is not good there anymore...and told not to carry anything valuable.
Tonight we're checking out possible flights to Botswana...thinking we want to meet up with Em Liddiard (our classmate Hannah's daughter) ASAP just in case we think it wise to come home early due to the Coronavirus.
Hoping that's not the case, but better safe than sorry.
Sent from my iPhone
We were headed to Hermanus because several people recommended it. They didn't warn us about the mountain passes with cliffs so close to the edge of the road, Mr. Careful (Rog's nickname) was clenching the steering wheel & his teeth.
Hermanus could be nicknamed The Freshly Painted White Town...it was quite lovely. We ate overlooking the ocean, walked the beach & then sauntered through the local market. Our Airbnb was close by in Kleinmond with Ernest as our host. He was originally from Switzerland & loved talking & showing off his fabulous garden & home he built 7 years ago.
Then Ernest invited to join him & his maid, Irene served us sliced wraps, chips & wine...then she joined us. She obviously is always included as she freely added to our conversation. She's from Zimbabwe and told us how it had once been a rich & wonderful place to live until the government became corrupt. They expropriated the farm land and there was no law & order...only bribes. Irene sees SA headed in that direction & Ernest agreed which is why he has a For Sale sign in front of his house. He thinks SA gov't might expropriate his house.
Irene & Ernest spent almost 2 hours detailing what they saw happening in SA & other African countries. And we again heard how China is cleverly getting ownership of mineral & fishing rights. Ernest said USA blew the opportunity to invest in Africa where so many resources exist. What an earful we got!
Next day we headed to Franschhoek...heart of wine country. We hopped an on/off wine trolley & visited 3 farms sampling as we went. Well, Rog sampled & I sipped & made faces! I though...Monica, Lisa, Ann & my other wine loving friends should be here...not me! But I did love seeing the manicured & gorgeously landscaped farms. Our Airbnb was in a cottage on a working farm...though not as grand as the wine farms we'd visited...it was very homey & on the edge of an apple orchard. The orchard had already been harvested, the host invited us to pick as many apples as we could find. That was a challenge for Rog & an offer he couldn't refuse. He found lots! He baked up several that night & we'll be eating apples for a while!
It was time to get back to the beach, so we headed toward the west coast & landed in Yzerfontein where walked the 16 Mile Beach (not all of it). and we watched an endless sunset. Funny Fact: our host has 2 small ordinary looking wild birds trained to come when she calls. They hopped in & out of our suite...and then flew off over the ocean & coming back to eat on our host's kitchen counter.
We're in Langebaan today...not such a nice beach but that crystal aqua water is beautiful sight. Saw over 50 para-surfboarders taking advantage of the winds. We're be going to Patarnoster tomorrow. It suppose to be a quaint little fishing village...though we heard the fishing is not good there anymore...and told not to carry anything valuable.
Tonight we're checking out possible flights to Botswana...thinking we want to meet up with Em Liddiard (our classmate Hannah's daughter) ASAP just in case we think it wise to come home early due to the Coronavirus.
Hoping that's not the case, but better safe than sorry.
Sent from my iPhone
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)