Up at 6:30 AM, breakfast at 7 AM, and out the door by 8:30 AM. OK, let me rephrase that - tried to get out the door at 8:30, but the wind was swirling and howling like there was no tomorrow. I was cracking up while watching one person after another lose hats, packages and all sorts of things. There were several more lightweight folks clinging to railings and posts - hanging on for dear life - like they were gripping the mast of a ship caught in the perfect storm.
So where we headed in this weather? Of course to a 40-minute cruise to Hout Bay Seal Island! Talk about being deranged Americans! One look at those whitecaps in the harbor made me realize this was not going to be a single Bonine tablet kind of trip (I should have taken the entire packet). Deitz bought our tickets and we all climbed aboard, except for Joan, who was the only one with enough sense to decline. Since it was such bad weather, we all elected to go inside the cabin instead of out on the deck. Just as we thought we were going to push off, a tour bus full of Indians and Pakistanis emptied and another 30-40 people were squeezed into the standing-room only space between those of us seated on facing benches. OK, now I was getting nervous. All it would take would be one person losing their cookies to start a chain reaction and there would be no place left untouched by vomit. Between that and the fact that many foreigners believe that there is no such thing as personal space, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. When I looked up all I could see was this huge rear end, attached to a woman weighing about 350 lbs., coming my way - HELP!!!! OK, hoping to leave soon, another tour bus empties another 30-40 Asians into the mix. Well thank God they love their cameras - because most of them were willing to brave the elements outside to get the best shots. Total count of passengers now approaching 70. And, you guessed it, here comes another tour bus - this one a smaller group of Asians. OK, now I know how those sardines feel. Wimpy Americans give in and decide to forgo the cruise mainly because we see no life jackets, bigger whitecaps, and more importantly, NO barf bags. We leave the ship en masse and head to the ticket office to see if we can get our money back. Deitz is not there because he and Joan went to get another van with a working microphone for the rest of the tour. We knew they wouldn't be back for about 40 minutes so we went into a nearby coffee shop to get warmth and shelter from the wind. I helped Pat count 73 passengers debarking when the ship returned - trying to guess which ones got sick (now that's sick, I know).
Since we didn't do the cruise, Deitz took us on a more extensive tour of the area neighborhoods. It's much more expensive to live here than in Johannesburg because Cape Town is on a peninsula, making expansion on 3 sides impossible unless you want to end up in the ocean or the bay. Because of the overwhelming number of immigrants flowing into the city, more and more folks are forced to buy more affordable homes further away - making morning and evening rush hours excruciating (sound familiar?)
We finished our half day tour with a trip up to Signal Hill so we could get some shots of the city. I thought we would plunge to our deaths with the way the wind was howling up there.
The coastline along Llandudna.
Beach condos.
View of Cape Town from Signal Hill.
Deitz dropped us down at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area around 1:15 PM. We were on a mission to find Sevruga for lunch (one of Sarah's suggestions). Grateful for the reprieve from the wind and the elements, we were assured that we were acceptably clothed for lunch - heck every diner had on at least 4 layers to buffer themselves from the gale-force winds - and don't even get me started on the condition of our hair after being matted down with our stocking caps. Brad, our waiter came by with water and menus - one for the main dishes and one for the dim sum/sushi/sashimi. When he informed us that the items in the dim sum/sushi/sashimi menu were half price until 2 PM, we whipped up about 3 layers of long-sleeved shirts to check the time. Thankfully, it was only 1:30 PM, so we ordered thge Sevruga Plate: 4 salmon roses, 6 prawn tempura rolls, 6 California rolls, 6 rainbow rolls, 2 slices of tuna sashimi and 4 slices of salmon sashimi. Total price for our starter plate - $20 US! Brad also recommended a 2006 Tukula, a fantastic local pinotage produced in Darling, South Africa by the only owned and operated BEE (Black Empowerment) winery (about $25). Not content to stop after our starter platter, Iris ordered a delicious miso/ginger marinated kingklip (an incredibly tasty, flaky local fish) and I ordered baby calamari and mussels (phenomenal). We topped everything off with a smooth, flavorful cappuchino - much better than any Starbuck's offering - for a mere $1.50 US. Had a wonderful time chatting with Brad, Nick and several managers who stopped by our table to chat and check up on us. Time of departure...4 PM...some 2-1/2 hours later. Total bill per person...$61 US. Can't beat that with a stick!
racewalk to get back to the hotel before dark. (During our first meeting with Deitz, we were warned not to be out walking around after dark because of the high crime rate). Fortunately, we arrived safe and sound. I was sweating to beat the band because of all my layers of clothing, and my knees were killing me - but I was still alive.
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