We had a choice between Las Vegas and New York or Capetown and the garden route ! We looked up wedding blogs and everyone said New York would be too much walking for the bride as she would be wrecked from the build up to the wedding. That suited me fine . I always wanted to go to South Africa . We flew to Cape Town in early October . Winter there but still better weather than summer in Ireland. Our hotel was the bay hotel in Camps Bay and it was a lot more luxurious than I though. I couldn’t get over table mountain looming over the city like a protector.
The travel itinerary was packed . We were to visit the cape of good hope, cape point then back to Nelson Mandela gardens . The next day was Robbin Island and a trip to the shanty town. We were to have 3 more days free to roam around and that’s when we did table mountain and the V & A.
One thing about South Africa . It’s the nicest food I tasted outside Ireland . Ireland is good at meat. Very good. South Africa is better. I loved Spingbox and Billtong and some others that the name escapes me.
Aoife my wife went to do some shopping in the V & A so I went to a local bar. I lived the international feeling of the bar. The rugby was on of course. People from all nationalities were there enjoying a pint. The bar had a roughness about it but I liked it.
Robbin Island was the first prison I visited that was interesting. An former inmate told ya around . He took no shit. Someone asked if sexual assault ever happened and he shit the person down saying it was a political prison. I also like the little cave in the quarry where the first South African constitution was made. Nelson’s cell was tiny of course but it was an experience to see. The sea was rough on the way over. The taxi driver on the way to the boat said that black people hate the sea. He was a black person so he could laugh about it . When it got a bit choppy I could see his point. There was bodies all over the place . The wife was in bits too so I must do a little ancestary DNA test when we got home!.
We visited a shanty town in the afternoon with a British couple . We were accompanied by someone who lived there. A guy even showed us around his house . It wasn’t good but the TV was working and there was a smell of hash. Every cloud .... We walked around the town and the British man was not happy with the rubbish lying around. He said it costs nothing to pick up the mess. He had a point but I wasn’t going to judge. In the end there was a little shop and my wife was about to spend 50 quid on a radio before I told her the conversion. She got it for a fiver in the end. It wasn’t the nicest part of the trip but something tells me there was worse places.
At first we were very sensible about going places in Capetown because we heard it was dangerous but by the end of it we were walking everywhere. I loved everything about the city and I can’t wait to go back sometime
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Our next destination was Franscheok to stay at Richard Branson’s winery at Mount Rochelle . It had unbelievable views , good wine and great food. The pool wasn’t bad either. Met a baboon fam on the way.
Capetown was behind us and I wanted to go back ever since!
