Today I woke up and the air was different today.  I got up early and had a delicious breakfast literally on the Atlantic Ocean.  During my delicious buffet style breakfast I sat and reflected on the road trip ahead of me today. We are about to escape the cape with a road trip to Cape Point.

Soon after breakfast I received word we would head to Table Mountain first while it was open.  The valuable tip about visiting Table Mountain is that when there are strong winds and/or clouds they close the visitor center to go on top of the mountain.  I’ve had a friend attempt to visit four times and leave home without making it up.  Knowing that made the change of plans more exciting because the weather was perfect and it wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

We leave the Radisson Blu Hotel and take a 25-minute ride to the entrance.  It was pretty busy but only took about 30 minutes to ascend to the top on the cable car that rotates 360 degrees during the ride up.

Once you reach the top you see it completely flat.  It was absolutely amazing to see in person.  A unique fact about Cape Town is that is it has its own flora kingdom with thousands of plants indigenous to the cape.

The top of Table Mountain was bustling with people running around taking pictures with Cape Town behind them, looking for various flora and admiring the various view points the mountain has to offer.  My favorite part was watching the mountain smoke from devils peak.  The story is that a Dutch man named Jan van Hunks lived at the foot of the mountain.

He smoked so much his wife kicked him out the house to smoke. He met a stranger and they had a smoking contest and they smoked so much a cloud covered the mountain.  The stranger happened to be the devil and the mountain has been smoking ever since.  The funny thing is it was clear as day when I arrived to the top and suddenly clouds started to form over Devil’s Peak.

Table Mountain was the perfect kick off to our road trip to Cape Point; next stop Hout Bay via Chapman’s Peak Drive.  Chapman’s Peak Drive is an absolutely gorgeous road the hugs the side of a mountain that shoots in and out of beachfront neighborhoods.

During the 25-minute ride, our driver would explain all the details about each neighborhood on the ride to Hout Bay.  Hout Bay overlook provided a panoramic view of the suburbs.

After taking a few photos we continue down Chapman’s Peak Drive to Simons Town to visit a Penguin colony at Boulders Beach.  The African Penguins migrated to South Africa in the 1980s because of their high sardine population.  Penguins living on the beach, can you believe it!  I’ve always seen penguins in cold climates and to see them hanging out on the beach popping in and out of the water is pretty cool.

A  boardwalk brings you to boulders beach and it creates a border that prevents direct  access to the penguins.  I was able to catch two penguins mating and it was hilarious, no inhibition at all.  Here is my fair warning, South Africa has strict penalties and are very protective of their penguins.  When you visit don’t get any smart ideas with trying to take one home as a souvenir.

By the time we left the colony it was time for lunch and we headed a couple blocks down the street to Seaforth restaurant.  Seaforth is a charming seafood restaurant that happens to sit on the ocean, with an open-air patio that would be our dinning location.

After surveying the menu I decided to go with the Mozambican Tiger Pawns with a vegetable medley and chips.  Nothing beats eating fresh seafood with the Atlantic Ocean as your vista while you dine.

My stomach is full and the grand finale awaits and we proceed for 25 minutes to drum roll…Cape Point.  Cape Point is special because theoretically this location is where the chilly Atlantic Ocean and the warm Indian Ocean collide.  We arrived and boarded a tram for a quick ride to the base of the look out point.

From here you can see infinite views of the Atlantic Ocean.  The next step is to climb zigzagging stairs to the lighthouse.  The closer you get to the top views of the Indian Ocean side are revealed.

Arrival to the lighthouse releases a feeling of accomplishment.  I have made to the bottom of the map!  The only place to go from here is Antarctica and I wasn’t dressed for that trip today.

Panoramic views of Cape Point lead me to wonder about how the Dutch found this place?  Who had the guts and determination to keep sailing in this direction?  So many questions with so little time and not enough answers.  I came back from my daydream and enjoy the surrounds from the top.

There was a sign that gave the miles to cities across the world and from this point I was 7792 miles from New York City, which meant I was 8000 plus miles from Los Angeles.

The random moment of the day was when I was photo bombed by a group of tourist from Shanghai.  It funny being black around Chinese tourist, they always want to take a picture with you LOL.  Nevertheless it was the icing on the cake for an awesome day!

Oh one more thing on our way out we came across a couple of baboons that hangout near the exit.  They’re cute but viciously smart and will hangout on your car while its moving. They will act harmless and approach your car only to try and open your doors or windows to enter looking for food.  Check this guy out trying to get close!  Now its time to escape to the hotel for some rest after an amazing road trip to Cape Point!

 

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My time in the bush came to an end but the adventure continued.  We flew Federal Air back to Johannesburg and connect to the most beautiful city I’ve visited, Cape Town.  The bush was a great experience but I was excited to finally make it to the mother city.  I’m a Pisces and I carry a natural affinity to cities that touch a body of water.

We left Kruger Park later then expected and arrived to Cape Town in the evening.  I was tired and ready to go to the hotel but we had a change of plans and headed directly to Signal Hill aka Bo-Kaap courtesy of Escape to the Cape.  Bo-Kaap sits on a hill and gave way to stunning nighttime view of Cape Town and Table Mountain as the backdrop.

Shaheed the owner of the Escape to the Cape would provide transportation to all of our destinations during our stay.  He would eventually bring us to the home of Mrs. Latiefa Larney.  Mrs. Larney townhome style house gave a warm welcome and it was a nice change up from the fancy restaurants we previously dinned in to eating a home cooked meal.  Mrs. Larney had her tablecloth set with matching tableware

If you have the opportunity to enjoy dinner with native residents I encourage you to dine with them and take in their culture.  Mrs. Larney prepared a traditional delicious Malay dinner.  While she served the meal she gave us history about Bo-Kaap including how her parents migrated to South Africa and settled in Bo-Kaap during Apartheid.

Here are all the dishes we ate:

Vegetable Soup

Samoosa(s) (pronounced  sa-moor-sa): fried triangular pastry with savory filling

Vegetable Dhaltjie(s) (pronounced dull-chi): fritters, often with chilli and spinach

Minced meat or vegetable pies

Naan bread, flat bread, tomato and herb

Penang Curry (pronounced pi-nung): fish (usually snoek, a barracuda-like local staple) in a spicy coconut cream sauce, with Roti Chapati (pronounced roo-ti), a traditional flatbread

Tomato Frikkadel (pronounced frir-kir-dell): meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, with fluffy basmati rice

 

Koeksister(s) (pronounced koo-see-stir by our people, and cook-sister by white Afrikaans people): a donut-like savory snack covered with caramelized sugar water and coconut flakes

Mrs. Laney was a great cook and delightful host paving the way for a great time in Cape Town!

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Over the course of four game drives I was able to see the big five in one day and the rest of the wildlife in Kruger Park.  During our game drives I spotted zebras, impalas, wildebeests, giraffes, hippos, wart hogs, baboons, spiders, crocodile, tortoise and beautiful flora.

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I’m a profession eater and there are two more places I enjoyed dinning in Johannesburg: Carnivore Restaurant and Lucky Bean.  Carnivore is an award winning restaurant (Best Traditional Restaurant, Runner-up Restaurant of the Year) and the dramatic entrance consumes you with anticipation with various African animal statues.  You can have a photo shoot with everything they have on display from a larger then life Nelson Mandela Statue, Zulu Kingdom thrown and statue of King Shaka Zulu.

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Inside Carnivore Restaurant in the lobby area they have a larger then life metal statue of Nelson Mandela.  The first pump pose is an icon gesture for freedom.

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Today was my birthday and my girlfriend kidnapped and surprised me with a wine tasting tour at the World of Wine (WoW) barrel tasting in Temecula Valley.  The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association’s two-day event features 34 participating vineyards sampling their best wines with food pairings.  My girlfriend had foresight to find a company that offered a shuttle to drive us to nine of the vineyards on March 4.

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In a few hours I’m headed home to South Africa, Africa; the motherland.  During this life changing journey I’m going to explore SA visiting Johannesbrug, Kruger Park, Cape Town, Durban and much more!

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During my first visit to see my Chinese family in Guangzhou, China we went to a restaurant to eat dinner.  Cousin Jackie suggested this place because they served American food and wanted to make sure I ate food I was familiar with. 

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World Wide Nate travels to New York City to visit Coup de Coeur with friends to shop at Fatou N’Diaye’s boutique.

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While visiting friends in Stockholm, Sweden I was talked into trying this local dish.It translates to Hotdog with roasted onions and mashed potatoes. It

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