Category: 2013 May Blog

Touring Cape Agulhas & The Winelands…..

To see the PHOTO GALLERY associated with this Ship\’s Blog:  CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

\”Aguhlas\” in Portugese means Needle.  The name comes from the unique phenomenon that a magnetic compass (no one still knows why exactly), will point true north in the vicinity of the Cape of Needles.  The reason this is so unusual is that a magnetic compass on either side of the Cape points 25 degrees to the west of True North.  It\’s the only area that this occurs in all of Africa.

 

We of course played \”Lighthouse\” on the IPOD in the car and I took a moment to reflect on how far I\’d come; still deeply feeling the loss of Cindy at this juncture that was so special to us……

 

We stayed the night at a nice B&B in Arniston and departed the next day for the small town in the Little Karoo mountains known as Ladismith.

 

Near Ladismith, we\’d been given the recommendation by Dave and Kathie of \”Sunflower\” to stay at the Mymering Guest House.  See:   http://www.mymering.co.za

 

Here we met Andy and Penny Hillock.  Andy is a retired General Surgeon from Port Elizabeth.  Penny and he bought the property and make Hillock Wines.  Andy  has two large standard poodles named, Moet and Chandon as well as another big guy whose name escapes me. Penny has a cute purse dog and her Aunt was visiting from Port Elizabeth with her cute puppy.  (You can tell Andy\’s favorite champagne!).  We had a lovely time with them sharing stories at dinner in a very intimate setting.  We were only two of four guests at the time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the lovely room and fabulous views of the locally famous, \”Towerkop\’ peak.

Local legend has it, that a witch was trying to fly over the Little Karoo and she was stopped by a wizard.  She was so upset at him that she broke the mountain in two as she returned.

My favorite story of Andy\’s was that he began and ended his career as a surgeon stitching up two guys who were bitten by Great White Sharks off Port Elizabeth.

 

Towerkop Peak………..

One of our highlights at the Mymering Guest House (aside from his lovely wines!), was Andy\’s daily 90 minute hike.  It keeps us all young, but in Andy\’s case, you\’d never know that was even necessary.

The dogs, all five of them, came along for the trek.

Mymering Guest House Hike – Andy, Scott and Nikki………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our visit to Mymering was a \”must\” and a highlight of our trip.  The food, company and rooms were top notch!

 

Once we left Mymering, we drove to Franschoek which is the \”haute centre\” of the South African Wine Region. Located immediately next to the well known Stellenbosch, this was the area where the French Protestant Huguenots emigrated to and helped spark the South African wine industry.

 

A tremendous French influence of the Huguenots is felt everywhere in Franschoek including the Huguenot Museum and Monument.

The highlight for us was the wine making tour given by the owner of Le Petite Ferme B&B and Vinyards, John Dendy Young.

 

Franschoek Wine Tour at Le Petite Ferme. John Dendy Young with a \”Wine Thief\” which he used to give all of us a sample of their lovely wines…………………

The B&B here was fabulous, a huge bathroom with free standing tub, heated floors and towel racks; a magnificent view of the Franschoek Valley reminiscent of the wine country of France.

We bought six bottles of their lovely wines and have enjoyed each and every one.

 

With a quick stop in Stellenbosch, where Nikki bought some lovely cloth to make into nice throw pillows, we were back in Cape Town by dark.

 

It was a great tasty tour (quite literally) of the South African Wine Region and some new friends and great characters at every stop.

KIT,

Next….a bit more touring in Cape Town, preparation and departure from the V&A Marina……

Scott and Nikki

 

 

 

Simon\’s Town to Cape Town…..

March 15th, 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere)

It was time to finally move the boat the 50 mile trip from Simon\’s Town in False Bay to Cape Town. By car, this trip takes about 35 minutes as it\’s only about 17 miles. But by boat, we had to go 15 miles south to get around Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope before heading north to Table Bay.

We had a decent weather window and decided on a very early departure as to not get to Cape Town too late in the day.

The sun rose as we rounded Cape Point – Cape of Good Hope and we played \”Lighthouse\” in honor of Cindy. The song is by James Taylor and if you\’ve never heard it, it\’s sweet and worth the listen. It was one of our all time favorites and spoke much to the way we felt about coming more than half way round the world…… There are over 2000 known ship wrecks along the coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. A distance of only a few hundred miles.

Cape Point Lighthouse – South Africa. Just before Sunrise………

Table Mountain from the South…….  You can see the Cable Car station at the top left of the mountain. It\’s the little blip on the end of Table Mountain….. A spectacular site from the sea.

This photo was taken from the V&A \”Eye\” A modern ferrous wheel at the Mall……\”Beach House\” is behind the green building

A tradition of the old sailing ships was to give those who had never seen Table Mountain from the sea a small gold coin on their first viewing. Nikki and I had learned that from reading James Michener\’s \”The Covenant\” (THE definitive book on the history of South Africa and we highly recommend it). Nikki\’s Gift upon our arrival……

Some of you might think it looks like Chanukah Gelt!….:-)

The trip was easy enough, our new auto pilot worked well and we were docked right next to Dave and Kathie Blanding on \”Sunflower\”…. One more side trip of the area and the real work begins to get off the dock and toward the Caribbean! Next, the Wine Region tour and Cape Agulhas……

Stay tuned, Scott and Nikki

Simon\’s Town to Cape Town…..

March 15th, 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere)

It was time to finally move the boat the 50 mile trip from Simon\’s Town in False Bay to Cape Town. By car, this trip takes about 35 minutes as it\’s only about 17 miles. But by boat, we had to go 15 miles south to get around Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope before heading north to Table Bay.

We had a decent weather window and decided on a very early departure as to not get to Cape Town too late in the day.

The sun rose as we rounded Cape Point – Cape of Good Hope and we played \”Lighthouse\” in honor of Cindy. The song is by James Taylor and if you\’ve never heard it, it\’s sweet and worth the listen. It was one of our all time favorites and spoke much to the way we felt about coming more than half way round the world…… There are over 2000 known ship wrecks along the coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. A distance of only a few hundred miles.

Cape Point Lighthouse – South Africa. Just before Sunrise………

Table Mountain from the South…….  You can see the Cable Car station at the top left of the mountain. It\’s the little blip on the end of Table Mountain….. A spectacular site from the sea.

This photo was taken from the V&A \”Eye\” A modern ferrous wheel at the Mall……\”Beach House\” is behind the green building

A tradition of the old sailing ships was to give those who had never seen Table Mountain from the sea a small gold coin on their first viewing. Nikki and I had learned that from reading James Michener\’s \”The Covenant\” (THE definitive book on the history of South Africa and we highly recommend it). Nikki\’s Gift upon our arrival……

Some of you might think it looks like Chanukah Gelt!….:-)

The trip was easy enough, our new auto pilot worked well and we were docked right next to Dave and Kathie Blanding on \”Sunflower\”…. One more side trip of the area and the real work begins to get off the dock and toward the Caribbean! Next, the Wine Region tour and Cape Agulhas……

Stay tuned, Scott and Nikki

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe…….

March 9th – 11th, 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Well we had such a good time in Namibia (and yet a bit of time before we would be off to Cape Town with the boat), so Nikki suggested we fly to Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border. This waterfall made famous by the one and only Dr. Stanley Livingstone. (As in…..\”I presume\”). It is about 800 meters wide along the Zimbabwe/Zambian border and is on the Zambezi River.

Livingston was the first westerner to see the Falls when on a \”mission\” to darkest Africa. It was quickly decided that we would go to the Zimbabwe side as the Zambian side (where the actual small hamlet of Livingston is) requires a Yellow Fever (World Health Card) to get back in to South Africa. Yellow Fever itself is not contagious amongst humans, it is mosquito born. But as South Africa is in a \”near endemic\” area, they wouldn\’t know if they were having an epidemic or if someone had contracted it while out of the country. Hence, we opted for the town of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side. Ironically, it is believed that Livingston died of Malaria and Yellow Fever some years after he introduced this natural wonder to the Western world.

The view is really from the Zimbabwe side looking toward Zambia. Victoria Falls……..

The main falls were running so hard, we could barely photograph them. The ideal month is September/October. Running then \”hard enough\”, but not so as to make it RAIN constantly.

It was a quick turnaround type trip as we would soon be moving the boat from Simon\’s Town to Cape Town, but it was well worth the flight. While we were there, we had an opportunity to go on an Elephant Ride! This was one of the highlights of the trip. It\’s a reserve where rescue elephants are brought too and believe it or not, a few years ago, a male bull elephant brought an abandoned baby into the camp and promptly disappeared. It was feared the Mother had died and the Male somehow knew the baby would be taken care of here.

This is \”Janet\” with Scott, Nikki and our Guide……

We had a very large Cheetah come near our group and Janet became somewhat ferocious as her baby was with us. Interesting experience to be on the back of an Elephant that might charge at any moment! Our guide had things well in hand…..we think? At the end of the experience, we got to feed the elephants by hand and that was a treat for both them and us. I will add lots more photos when I get to the Photo Galleries, but at least here you can get a feel for the experience.

KIT,

Scott and Nikki (next – Simon\’s Town to Cape Town)…….

Namibia by Air and Land…..

To see the PHOTO GALLERY associated with this Ship\’s Blog:  CLICK HERE

February 26 – March 3rd, 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere)

As I had wanted to see more of Africa, I made arrangements through a cruiser that Cindy and I had met in Bora Bora in 2010. James Sale (cute uh?) and his wife Jen were sailing around the world and from South Africa. They and their families were in the travel business and had told me to contact them when we got to the Cape Town area. James had designed a 5 day soujourn for us to see Namibia. Namibia is the country just north of South Africa and on the Atlantic Coast. It was formerly part of South Africa and became independent in the mid 1990\’s. It\’s economy is Agriculture, Tourism and Diamond Mining. We flew into the Capital City, Windhoeck and picked up our 4 wheel drive Ford Ranger. This would come in handy shortly!

We first drove to \”Africat\’ see:  http://www.africat.org   This is a combination big cat rescue and natural habitat. There are no lions at this time, five chetah\’s, 21 leopards, lots of all the other animals of Africa\’s plains. Giraffe, Elephant and lots of \”prey\” for the predators. On the drive in, we were stopped by a guide from the Raptor Park next door and she showed us this baby Pangolin she\’d rescued. VERY rare to be able to hand raise one too. She had saved the Mother from a \”pet sale\”. When the Mother gave birth, she ran off into the wild. They are ant eaters and though she will let him out in the wild. He\’ll have to be watched over as he had no Mother to show him how to stay away from predators.

Local Guide with Baby Pangolin near Africat…..

We had a spectacular experience seeing a male leopard just a few feet from our vehicle asleep. When it awoke, it rebuffed a female suitor and went up in a tree to finish his \”kill\”. The kill had been there for a day or two and was mostly gone, but the odor was very pungent. The female hung out below the tree and picked up some of the scraps. We got to spend a lot of time watching them and it was a wonderful experience to see these big cats in the wild. The next day, we saw the five cheetah\’s. They were posturing with other cheetahs in the next game reserve and we got to see the displays by the dominant male. All very interesting stuff.

Leopard with it\’s \”kill\” (Africat)……

We then drove to Namibia\’s signature wild animal reserve, the \”Etosha Pan\”. This is an enormous area with water holes and a huge salt pan. There are four main tourist compounds, two of which are new. We stayed in the newest upon arrival and they forgot to pick us up. We were only two of four people and somehow, got missed. So we drove our vehicle the one and a half hour drive. This is where the 4 wheel drive in the soft sand was a must. The road was one lane and through nothing short of a dense savannah. Nikki kept lamenting how she hadn\’t seen an Elephant yet (her favorite) when suddenly, two practically ran us over on the road! The bush was was so thick, we only go to see them for a minute.

The place we stayed was \”SO NEW\”, it wasn\’t really ready for tourists. No air conditioning and it was hot, poor fan system. nuff\’ said.

The next day, we drove to Okakuejo which was an entirely different experience. The rooms were nice, air conditioned and essentially right on a major water hole. We saw Black Rhinoceros, Elephants and Giraffe as well as a heard of Zebra and lots of the \”cat food\” animals like Springbok, Gembocks, Kudu\’s etc.

The following day, we drove to the newest encampment; Dolomite Camp. The encampment is on a hill and everyone has to be taken to the top on a narrow path in a diesel powered golf cart. was a spectacular setting and our room (which was very nice with a small pool) overlooked their watering hole. We were a bit surprised that we had not seen a lot of animals on the drive in, but this was to change that evening. We went on the evening safari tour and our expectations were not high. The guide did not seem to think we might see a lot due to the time of year and recent \”non sightings\”. However, he took us to a watering hole where we did see one Rhinoceros, two Elephants and the slightly different \”Mountain Zebra\”.

Hartman\’s Mountain Zebra…..

Then he took us on a flyer out of the usual track and we saw a few elephants, mostly mothers with young. Then we saw a few more, then a few more….. We went toward a watering hole just before sundown where at least five major groups of elephants showed up, totally over 65 in the large group. Some were as young as a few weeks, many of the male jueveniles were posturing and the old mothers seemed to be mindful of their groups. We were even charged by three different females over an hours time. Our guide told us that this was common behavior and no one ever got hit UNLESS they tried to come between the mother and her calf. Needless to say, this was a life experience and so unexpected.

Charging Mother Elephant….

We had a lovely evening with the small group at the onsite restaurant and bid farewell the next morning. As we drove off to our next encampment, we came upon our guide doing the morning tour. He told us he\’d spotted three Lions at the water hole we had visited last night and so we were off. Indeed we found the three lions and watched while they lazed away in the shade. The local antelope type animals were just glued (visually) to the lions while they very carefully came in for water.

Resting Etosha Lioness……

We continued on our way and leaving Etosha Park, we drove to Damaraland Camp in hopes of seeing the Desert adapted Lions and Desert adapted Elephants. These are sub species which have different physical characteristics and can survive on less water. En route, we stopped at the Petrified Forrest (not much so see really) and the petroglyphs of Twelfelfontien. The petroglyph tour was interesting and had documented the ancient San People who had lived here about 8,000 years ago. The climate was much wetter then and it was hard to see how any nomadic tribes could have survived if they\’d experienced the very hot, dry Nambian desert of today.

Alas, the area was so dry that despite our guides best efforts, we did not see either the Lions or the Elephants. Welcome to touring \”real\” nature. We drove back to Windhoeck the next day and returned to Cape Town by air. Then…Nikki got an idea…..That will be our next blog.

KIT, Scott and Nikki…..

Touring Simon\’s Town & Cape Town, South Africa…..

February 18-24th, 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere)

After our lovely greeting by the cruising community to assist our docking at False Bay Yacht Club, we were moved over to the inner wide berths for multihulls. This was a mixed blessing. It did get us out of a lot of the wind, but the surge was legendary. It was THE surgy-est dock I\’ve ever been at and that includes when Cindy and I were in Puerto Vallarta. (Skye will remember from her visit!). The upshot of all this, was in our roughly two weeks there, three dock lines were either so badly damaged as to have to be replaced. One actually snapped. Well…they are nine years old.

We hired a car and set off for Cape Point and it\’s better known twin, The Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope is considered to be one of the \”5 Great Capes of the Southern Ocean\” and will be the only one I\’ll actually go around. They are all noted for their potential rough weather; Cape Horn at the tip of South America, being the most notable.

It was a very dramatic area and had monuments to both Vasco de Gama and Bartholomew Diaz. Diaz was the first European navigator to actually get around the Cape of Good Hope. The \”Cake of Good Soap\” as it\’s known locally is also called the \”Cape of Storms\” for the violent winter storms that can come out of the Southern Ocean. South of here, there\’s nothing but Antarctica. The views were dramatic at Cape Point (Diaz Point), but the more well known Cape of Good Hope was almost a bit of a disappointment. A photo would speak 1000 words and of course as you all know, I\’ll be posting photos!…..one day…:-) There are lots of Baboons in this area of the country and a beach which has 100\’s of African Penguins. We enjoyed it all.

The next day, Alexandra and I did the gorgeous \”Chapman\’s Peak Drive\”. It\’s only 7 miles, but rivals the Pacific Coast Highway of Northern California in it\’s sheer beauty. The \”drive\” is well maintained and has precarious vertical sides with chain linked rock fence to protect the cars and people against the non stop rock rain from above.

There are men who\’s job is to do nothing, but pick up the rocks that get through the barriers. One section has an incredible \”cut out\” right into the mountain. It\’s sort of three sides of a tunnel wrapped around you with the view off to \”The Sentinel\” in Houk\’s Bay and Atlantic Ocean. We stopped along the way and took lots of photos and enjoyed the pure scenic beauty of it. Again, the famous 1000 words by a few photos. After the end of the drive we came upon the road up to the cable car at Table Mountain. This we would save for tomorrow as today we went to the V & A (Victoria and Alfred) Waterfront Marina and Mall.

The V&A is a nice, (COMFORTABLE NO SURGE) marina. It is \”USA Prices\” as to staying here. The mini mega yachts of Cape Town all live here and it really isn\’t very big. We had a lovely lunch at the Bascule Restaurant and met with the Marina staff to let them know when I\’d be bringing the boat around from Simon\’s Town (about a 50 mile trip). The marina setting is spectacular in that the entire marina is surrounded by multimillion dollar town homes with incredible views; most notably, \”Table Mountain\”. It\’s also nice to have the view of the harbor (commercial and tourist boats) as well as very easy access to the V&A Mall which \”has it all\”. Very up market, lots of nice restaurants, etc.

The next day, Alexandra and I drove around the southeast side of Table Mountain and went to the base of the mountain to take the cable car to the top. First, it was another beautiful, clear day. Second, it was PACKED with people. This is considered one of the \”new seven natural wonders\” of the world. It is South Africa\’s most visited tourist destination. Parking was a nightmare and while Alexandra was in the queue to get on the cable car she was stung by a bee. She is mildly allergic, so we weren\’t sure how she would be, but tough as ever, she rallied. No anaphylaxis which of course is the big concern, but she did get a bit dizzy. NOT like Alexandra!….to be \”dizzy\” that is.

The cable car itself is very much like the one in Palm Springs, California. It rotates 360 degrees as it goes to the top, carries about 60 people for the 4-5 minute ride. The view on the way up and from the top is nothing short of breathless. Once at the top, we had a small snack at the restaurant and went to walk the trails and see the views. You can see from the airport in the Northeast to False Bay in the Southeast and all the way around the clock. Hout Bay (where Chapman\’s Peak Drive is) is viewable with the spectacular peaks above it known as the \”12 Apostles\”. Think sheer vertical cliffs running down to the sea. For the adventurous, you can walk (more like scramble) up the trail which takes between 2-4 hours depending on your fitness. The nice thing is, you can then ride the car back down!

Alas, all good things must end and Alexandra would be off to the UK for a new job assignment. Doing secret projects for the UK Government. She could have told me, but then she\’d have had to kill me. At least this way she\’ll have a boat to possibly return to one day!….:-)

I drove Alexandra to the airport we had a big hug goodbye and we\’ll definitely stay in touch. She was great crew, company and a fine chef!…. I\’ll remember our 1000 mile sail together round the bottom of Africa forever….

Hugs, KIT,

Scott awaiting Nikki to arrive tomorrow…..