cape town

we had breakfast behind the amazing
rhodes memorial building

on the 31 to the 2nd we were lucky enough to visit cape town. we woke up at 4:30am bright and early to catch the 6:00am, 2 hour, flight to cape town.  when shaun and i arrived we were immediately taken back with how cold it was there! 

the weather was meant to be rainy and only 8 degrees celsius, which is a measly 45 degrees fahrenheit. way colder than the utah summer weather!

we stayed with shaun's uncle and aunty, who picked us up and dropped us off at a breakfast with one of the most amazing views either of us have ever seen at rhodes memorial, it gave you complete views over cape town and if you stood in just the right place you could see both the indian ocean and the atlantic at the same time!

after breakfast we took a drive into franschhoek (meaning french corner), which is a small town full of world renowned vineyards and wine estates..although, we skipped the wine for hot chocolate.  even with the rain you could tell this place was absolutely beautiful.

the town looked straight out of a movie with little shops and fountains everywhere. we stopped for lunch in the cutest restaurant, sitting next to a giant fireplace we actually got warm! after that we drove back to the house took a well needed nap and finished the night off with dinner at a lovely restaurant where shaun met nick mallet! who knows who that is but i guess it was a big deal!

the next day we set out to see table mountain! unfooortunately the cable cars were closed for annual maintenance...so we could not go to the top of the mountain, however the views were still absolutely  amazing! it was a very clear day and not windy at all which was good because usually it is very very windy up there. so windy that they actually have ropes at the top so that people can hold onto so they don't fly off the mountain!!    

after that we decided to go to the waterfront, but on the way there i requested that we stop so i could touch the atlantic ocean for the first time in my life! it was soo cold but so fun! it felt so weird to be on a beautiful beach in winter clothing! as i ran to touch a wave my boots got completely soaked and a dog bit my butt! as seen in the video above haha. but it was such a fun experience!

after that we got to the waterfront which was absolutely beautiful! we road "the wheel of cape town" which is pretty much just a big farris wheel that lets you look out over the entire waterfront and see most of cape town. we also got lunch, fish and chips which is a must in cape town, and walked around the shops. it was such a relaxing fun day! 

that night we had dinner with shaun's aunt and cousins, it was a great end to a great day!

our last day there we took a drive to cape point. we stopped at simons town on the way to see the boulder beach penguin colony on the way! its a group of african penguins who first came to the area in 1983! they are so cute and the area is awesome because you can get very close, but we were warned that they have a mean bite!!

after penguin spotting we made our way into table national park's western cape where cape point is located. cape point is the spot where the indian ocean meets the atlanitic ocean. on the way the views were absolutely amazing and we ran into some feisty looking baboons, this one above was about as big as bear! but not half as cute ;) the baboons in cape town are notorious for opening car doors and windows (while the car is still moving!) and they just lay in the road in front of cars, crazy animals! two of them that we saw had only one hand!

once we got to cape point we took a cable car up to the top and it was honestly one of the most beautiful views i have ever seen!! pictures are the only thing that can describe it! 

there were pathways all around the top that were actually the remains of a 1943 world war 2 radar station!! how cool is that! it was honestly one of the most amazing places i have ever been to! although i could not see a line of where the oceans meet, the water below was absolutely clear and the prettiest shades of blue!

 after that we headed back home so we could make the 5:00pm flight home to durban.  it was such an amazing trip and i wish we could have stayed longer! alas it was nice to be back in durban! special thanks to ian and julie for letting us stay in their amazing home!