Stellenbosch Again

The next morning, Kaitlin, Alex, and I rented a car and headed back to Stellenbosch while Regina went climbing again. It was late by the time we got everything ironed out, it was around noon so we stopped in at McDonalds (two days in a row) before leaving Cape Town. Once in Stella, we head directly to Tokara, one of the vineyards we had missed on our last trip. It had a really cool exhibit of paintings made using red wine. I bought a couple bottles of olive oil. Next we headed to Boschendaal, where we did a vineyard tour and a wine and cheese tasting before heading to the train station to pick up Regina.

From there, we checked into our hotel and tried to find an authentic African restaurant. Apparently the only authentic African restaurant in Stella had closed. We went to Javas instead. This ended up being my favorite meal of the trip. I had a salad with smoked kudu and strawberries. YUM!

That night, at the Stumble Inn, Alex had a mysterious breakout of itchy red bumps that started on his arms and spread to his back and chest. He had not been feeling entirely well since his family was in town so we were all worried. Regina and I both searched the web for a diagnosis and convinced ourselves that he had Bilhzaria (a.k.a. Schistosomiasis or snail fever), a disease caused by parasitic flukeworms. We insisted that he go to the doctor.

The next morning, we went back to Java for breakfast. Then the girls shopped while Alex (finally) went to the doctor. We were so relieved to find out that he only had an allergic reaction and did not have flukeworms (especially since we had been swimming in the same places as him).

That resolved, we headed to do MORE winetasting! We started at Asara, a vineyard we had all been looking forward to. The setting was absolutely beautiful! I may have mentioned this before, but the wine area around Cape Town is even prettier than Napa Valley. At Asara, we started with a chocolate tasting and went absolutely crazy! My favorites were the campari chocolate and the carmadon chocolates, the Muscat wasn’t so bad either. Next, wine tasting (I thought this was the best merlot I have ever tasted) and, to finish, gelato. Mmmm . . . . We ended up spending so much time at Asara that we only had time for one more winery on the way to Franchoek.

We got slightly lost trying to find Fairview, which is known for having both cheese and wine and for offering very inexpensive wine. The detour, however, gave us the opportunity to buy an entire box of peaches and nectarines (buying less was not an option). Alexis would later regret this decision as we teased him endlessly about how peaches, beaches, and bitches all sounds the same with the French accent. Kaitlin and I were so excited to finally find the pickled figs we had been looking for since Wilderness.

After gorging ourselves on wine and cheese, we finally made it to Franschhoek – the gourmet capital of Africa. It did not disappoint. We had a lovely dinner. The food and wine were fantastic. After all of the chocolate and food, Regina and I may or may not have been a “little” hyper and may or may not have tried to play jokes on Alexis and Kaitlin while they were sleeping. Regina spent the rest of the night planning our future.

Table Mountain

There are many options for getting to the top of Table Mountain, the mountain that towers over Cape Town. We skipped the hike and the cable car, opting for my first ever multi-pitch climb. This was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. The official route is six pitches, but our guide, Ross, adds an extra pitch in for fun. With the exception of the extra pitch, I was able to climb the pitches clean. Ross said that I had “cheeky” moves. I think that is a compliment. Even though at times my muscles ached and I was terrified of how high up we were, I loved the constant adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment after each pitch. This will not be my last multi-pitch. This experience was made all the better by the excellent company. I loved that I got to do my first multi-pitch with one of my best friends, Regina. She was a great motivator and amazing to watch climb. Ross is a local climbing legend, and he climbs like it. It was scary how run out his protection was for some of the pitches. He was just so confident, he could probably climb the route in his sleep. Alex is also a novice climber, but you would never know it. He is a natural. The two of us climbed with Ross, and there were several spots where we had to talk each other through the moves. It was very reassuring knowing that someone had your back. Regina climbed with Ule, a doctor from Norway, who joined us at the last minute. He had endless amounts of energy and had us all pushing our limits. The view from the top was nothing short of breathtaking. We were lucky with an absolutely clear day. This was probably due to the wind, which made the last few pitches . . . interesting. It also meant that our intended ride down (on the cable car) was unavailable. Hiking down was still pretty, but I couldn’t climb stairs without wincing for four days afterwards. By the time we made it back to the Penthouse, we had 10 minutes to get ready. We had heard about the South Africa vs. USA soccer match only after the game was sold out. This meant our only option was to somehow find scalped tickets. Most people were skeptical that this would work because scalping is not allowed in South Africa, but we were determined. Alex and I headed down to the waterfront, which is close to the stadium, with a handwritten sign asking, “Extra Tickets?” in hand. After an hour and a half with no luck, we were eventually directed to a spot close to the stadium, but not too close. I had to run to keep up with Alex’s long stride. But, alas, the sign paid off. A man approached us and he had four tickets right next to each other. The best part, he only wanted 20 rand, approximately $3.00 a ticket. They weren’t the best tickets, but we were not in a position to be choosy. We texted Kaitlin and Karen to meet us at McDonalds, Alex’s favorite restaurant, but we ended up having to leave before we got there. The lovely countergirl, Spo, agreed to hold on to the tickets for them until they got there. The game itself was fun, but not exciting. South Africa was doing a much better job of positioning themselves with the ball, but the U.S. scored late in the second half and won the game. We were, surprisingly, not alone in cheering for the U.S. (towards the end of the game Alex cheered for whatever team had the ball. He just wanted someone to score so he could see how the crowd reacted), but still very outnumbered. I was glad that team affiliations are not as violent in South Africa as in Argentina. Maybe it helped that it was a friendly match. After the match, we weren’t quite ready to head to bed so we all went to the Penthouse bar. Alex showed me how to play pool while Kaitlin showed the rest of the bar how to do a beer bong with a vuvuzela. :)

Stellenbosch and Diving with the Great Whites

Regina and I did very minimal research when we planned this trip. We picked our airline tickets based solely on what was cheapest for the dates we had. Amazingly, we have had great luck with being in the right place at the perfect time weather wise: Kenya for the Great Migration, Mozambique for whale shark and whale season, Etosha for the dry season (when all the animals gather around the waterhole). Our luck was not meant to last, the next morning, our shark dive was cancelled due to wind. We didn’t quite know what to do. We decided to head to Stellenbosch, the heart of South Africa’s wine country, planning to return to Hermanus the next day for kayaking with the whales. By the time we made it to Stellenbosch, it was already afternoon. Kaitlin and I rushed to fit in a few of our most-wanted wineries, while Regina and Alla explored Stellenbosch and did a hike on the wine trail. We made it to Kanonkop, Neetlingshof, and JC Le Roux. The whole area is so beautiful, with rolling hills and mountains peeking out in the distance. The Paul Sauer at Kanonkop was the best wine I had while in Africa, but it was over $100 a bottle so I had to be satisfied with the tasting. It is much prettier than Napa Valley, and the wineries are very well marked. It was a blast having one-on-one time with Kaitlin. She is such a cutie. She is the same age as my little sister. Our favorite winery was Neetlingshof. Though Kaitlin enjoyed the scenery (the cute waiter serving sparkling wine) at JC Le Roux better. Kaitlin bought a couple bottles for us to drink later. Later on, we wandered around the cute shops in the town center and grabbed dinner at an okay Lebanese restaurant. The next morning we got a late start to head back to Hermanus. By the time we made it, the wind had started up again and the whale kayaking was cancelled AGAIN. With a whole afternoon and no plans, we decided to take advantage of the good restaurants. We had a great thai meal at the Gecko Bar right on the bay in Old Harbor. Afterwards, we went shopping, walked around New Harbor watching the whales—this time they were showing off their mad breaching and skyhopping skills, and eating dinner at a forgettable Italian restaurant. We were very happy to hear from Alex that evening. He and his brother, Olivier, who was visiting from France, were joining us for the shark diving. Even though Alex was not feeling very well, he came to meet us when we got back from the restaurant. We all stayed up talking until poor, sick Alex couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. The next morning, the winds had finally died down enough to go cage diving. Cage diving with the Great Whites was one of those things that I knew I wanted to do from the day we started planning the trip. There was a (very) brief moment when we considered not doing it because some people said that the bait process they use to attract the sharks to the boat makes the sharks associate people with food. As our guide explained, though, the boat tries not to let the sharks catch the bait because then the shark will lose interest and move on. Also, the sharks cannot differentiate the people from the cage and boat. We are all one being to the shark. I am so glad that we decided to go. It was exhilarating. The process was very different than I envisioned. The cage is attached to the side of the boat. Five people at a time are allowed in the cage. You sit in the cage on the surface until the guide yells, “Down!” Then you submerge yourself holding onto a bar and stay down as long as you can or until the shark swims away. We repeated this process over and over again until we were too cold to spend another minute in the water. From the time we anchored, it only took about 10 minutes for a shark to approach the boat. We quickly suited up (the water was freezing!) and hopped in the cage. Despite the fact that we were expecting them, the first time the guide screamed “Down” and we submerged ourselves face to face with a Great White was terrifying.


Our boat was very lucky. We had several Great Whites approaching the boat over and over again the whole time we were there. Apparently the other boats around us had waited over an hour to see any sharks. Then, when we were not in the cage, we sat on the front of the boat absorbing as much heat from the sun as we could and watching the sharks go after the bait. This is where Kaitlin taught Alex about spooning and that spooning can sometimes lead to forking. Except with Alex’s accent, forking sounds like “fucking.” I laughed for almost ten minutes straight during this interaction and it was the basis for many inside jokes during the remainder of the trip. After diving and lunch, Regina, Kaitlin, Alla, and I followed our guide to a spot where the whale watching is supposed to be good. There were no whales, but a whole school of dolphins. Kaitlin and I ran down to the beach as fast as we could. I stopped to put on sunscreen, then followed Kaitlin through the kelp and around the rocks and weird tide break to get out to the open ocean. While I was swimming, I saw dolphins surfacing literally feet away from Kaitlin. I have never seen anyone get that close to dolphins in the wild. I didn’t get as close (dang sunscreen!), but still got within 20 feet, closer than I have ever been to dolphins in the water in the wild. It was a very moving experience, especially for Kaitlin. Later that night, after dropping Alla off at the airport, we met up with Alexis and Olivier for a night out on Cape Town. I was skeptical about what we would find on a Monday night, but it was Olivier’s last night in South Africa. We started at Zulas, which we had almost entirely to ourselves, and ended at Marvel, which was packed! The music was decent and we ended up staying out until 4 a.m. Not bad for a Monday night. Despite the lack of sleep, hangovers, etc., Tuesday was a surprisingly productive, if not uneventful, day. Regina and I had breakfast at a gourmet shop on the Waterfront, bought tickets to Robben Island, obtained packing materials, and bought provisions for climbing the next day. For dinner, we went to Mojitos, a decent Cuban restaurant. Kaitlin won two bottles of wine.