Tag: Cape Town

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Visiting Deadvlei

Yesterday’s travel from Cape Town to Sossusvlei got disrupted, but we managed to just touch in the Namibian desert before sunset. It was dusk by the time we had checked-in and we got a taste of how dark this place really gets while having dinner. The night sky was incredible to watch and a few got to visit the on-site observatory. The itinerary for the following day was to see the desert dunes and also to visit the famous Deadvlei with its dead trees. 

We set out early in the morning so that we were at the park entrance by 7:00. We enjoyed the closed vehicles and the included African massage, as the drivers call the seat movement that is a direct result of the gravel roads.  

Once at the dunes we we’re given a choice of dune to hike: Big Daddy or Small Daddy. Only David, Pia and Jilly ventured towards the 1,000’ Big Daddy while the rest chose the somewhat easier option. It was a very good hike up before – with a bit of hesitation – one could run downhill. A few elected to roll downhill. One of those that initially seemed like a good idea. 

At the bottom were the dead trees and is was rewarding to be among them in the midst of blue, orange, white and gray colors. Surprisingly hard to capture the color, but as everyone will know it’s possible and there is hardly a screen saver collection with respect for itself that doesn’t feature parts of this rather smaller area. 

We enjoyed a delicious brunch at the foot of Big Mamma but nobody had the energy to venture up despite the slightly smaller size of the dune.

We got back to camp around 2:00 in time for a siesta at camp. At 4:30 p.m. we left for a sundowner and munched on Oryx skewers while the sun disappeared in the horizon. Dinner was loin of kudo – some looked envious at the spaghetti Bolognese that the kids were served. 

Sadly a decent amount of cloud cover hid the impressive night sky and we had to wait another 24 hours before gazing and the International Space Station, satellites and galaxies.

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Seeing the Coastline From a Sidecar

It’s Sunday mid-day and we’re (finally) on our way to Namibia. Changes to our original flight schedule unfortunately meant a later departure, later arrival to Windhoek and what looks to be a rather late arrival at Camp. As such we we will spend the entire day traveling what is a fairly short distance. That the airport computer systems broke down did not help the situation and the Air Namibia employee checking us in had to hand write 20 boarding passes. Seating was on a first come first serve basis, but all managed to get good seating. 

Yesterday started with the arrival of 18 motorcycles with sidecars – one for each as Penny and Adrian decided to follow behind us in one of two buses picking the wanna-be motorcycle riders up at Kirstenbosch Gardens. It was quite something to seem them all arrive at the hotel. Tim, the owner, arrived first with his dog proudly sitting in the sidecar. 

We spent almost two hours on the winding roads around Cape Town and many were ready to continue for the rest of the day, but it’s going to have to wait until next time we come back here. 

As already mentioned the motorcycle ride ended at the Kirstenbosch Gardens where we had planned a walk through the new open air Boomslang overlooking the lush vegetation. The structure is designed to mimic the skeleton of a tree snake turned upside down and is very beautifully done. As with many other places of Cape Town, Table Mountain is never far away, and one could hike all the way to the top in approximately five ours from where we were standing. 

We quickly found ourselves in the two busses heading for the penguins at Simons Town. Beautiful drive that made up for what has turned into an extremely touristy spot. It’s always fun to see penguins, but the boardwalk is packed with people flocking to whatever penguin that comes a little bit close to the fence. 

Lunch was booked for 2:00 and we left the jackass penguins shortly after arriving. Yes, that’s actually their real name. Olivia had scheduled a beautiful private room at the Steenberg Winery, and we all enjoyed a delicious three-course meal before heading back to Cape Town. Many felt they had “sufficient” and we cancelled the planned dinner at Nobu. It instead became an early night for some, while a few others met at the hotel bar to wish each other a pleasant last night and good night’s sleep. 

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Zip-lining and Cheese

Busses departed One&Only at 9:00 in the morning. Five people headed for the wine country for wine, cheese and chocolate tastings while the other 11 had chosen zip lining as the activity for the day. 

About half of the zip lining group had already tried speeding across valleys and forest on a thin metal wire. Some in Hawaii, some in Costa Rica. The rest was not quite sure what to expect, but after the first ride all felt comfortable and couldn’t wait for more. There was a total of 13 legs and it took almost three hours from start until we were at the pickup spot for the 4×4 to take us back to camp.

The scenery was amazing and a big part of us enjoying every minute. 

Both busses were back at the hotel at 5:30 and we walked in just as Chris and Kara arrived from Santa Barbara. Despite a delayed start from Los Angeles they had found time to tour Dubai with the same guide as the rest of the family, and cruised around the city until 2:00 in the morning. 

Dinner was enjoyed at Gibson Burgers. Lively, hopping, loud and fairly expensive but the casual meal hit the spot and the walk back to the hotel made sure at least some of the calories stayed behind in Cape Town.

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Enjoying Cape Town at a Leisurely Pace

Looking at the weather forecast the day before it was clear to see the weather could prevent the planned Robben Island tour from happening, and shortly after 7:30 – in the middle of breakfast – word got to us that boat rides wouldn’t take place the entire day. Robben Island still remains unvisited by the Bellamys.

On a whim One&Only helped organize a couple of busses and most left for a couple of hours to see some of the typical tourist spots around town. The group came back at noon as David and his family had planned to tour University Cape Town in the afternoon. David spent three years there getting his bachelor’s degree so it was fun for him to show Sandy and the kids what he once called home.

The afternoon was spent casually exploring the waterfront while some went to the spa. At 7:00 we all went for dinner at the Old Biscuit Mill. Delicious pizza and full glasses that brought about  some good stories from Penny and Adrian’s early days in London.