July 23rd

Today pretty much we were all tired from yesterday. After breakfast, the girls weren’t interested in going out. Paul, Doris, Noah and Andrea went their separate ways. Ashley slept, Grace and Marie watched TV; Len and I ventured out and walked to Capetown city centre. Len and I explored the centre and eventually found ourselves in Grand Central mall and the Green Market Square shopping area. At Green Market square there were many arts and crafts items. Met quite a few fellow Malawians and practiced my Chichewa while trying to get a few bargains.

When we got back to the hotel, the girls were now interested in going out. We went back to Capetown Waterfront. As it was later in the day, we decided not to go to the Aquarium as the girls had wanted. We walked around the Waterfront and observed the most amazing African sunset. Ashley stood transfixed as she watched the sun set. We soon followed and watched it with amazement.

We then walked some more and run into Paul, Doris, Andrea and Noah, first time since breakfast this morning. We soon parted again as they had already had supper. Ashley couldn’t resist the sight of Kentucky Fried Chicken so I joined her while she had Popcorn Chicken, fries and chocolate fudge Sunday. Grace and Marie had Pizza while Len had chicken burger from a different restaurant.

Paul, Doris, Noah and Andrea loves Capetown so much that they have decided to stay longer . We are off to Johannesburg tomorrow. We plan to check out Sun City where Paul and Doris are planning to join us before going back to Malawi on Monday from Johannesburg.

Time is going so fast now. So many places and things to do, so little time.
We give thanks to God for keeping us safe and allowing us to experience his creations. Words cannot describe the things we have seen and experienced, the people we have met and the wonder of how beautiful and different the African landscape is. Truly an amazing and magical once in a lifetime experience. Thanks be to God.


July 22nd

Wow! We are totally in a different world now. Capetown is so big and so modern. After Malawi, it looks even more modern, I would say it is even more modern than Ottawa. It doesn’t even feel like we are in Africa. It is cooler than Malawi though, at night we are using the heat in our hotel room. The Minibuses are so comfortable and the roads so smooth. Everyone is smitten with Capetown. I want to live here now and so does everyone. Doris told us a story about her friend’s sister who came to Capetown to visit and never left. We all can understand why. My suspicions is it going to be difficult to leave.
Today we booked a full day tour of Capetowns peninsula. We started the tour early at 9:15am. Drove through the road along the Atlantic Ocean through Sea Point, Clifton, Camps Bay, Twelve Apostles and had a stopover at Hout Bay. From there we went to the World Heritage Site at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden where we spent 1 hour on the garden grounds. We then headed over to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. We took the road through Muizenberg, St. James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon’s town. Very scenic route. We stopped over at Boulders to see the Penguins. Along the road we saw people surfing in the Atlantic Ocean, we saw Baboons, Guinea fowls and Ostriches. Paul claims he saw a whale too. By the time we reached Cape Point, everyone was so hungry. We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point. At the restaurant, Len ordered Ostrich and we all tried it. It tastes like beef, suprising, even Ashley tried it. After lunch we went up to the Cape Point Light House where we did Graffiti (see pictures). At Cape Point is where the 2 oceans of Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet. To get to the lighthouse, you can either hike up or take a car train called Flying Dutchman Funicular. We all took the train car but Paul and Doris hiked up. After that we headed down to Cape of Good Hope, the most south westerly point in Africa. We then headed back to Capetown for our final destination, Table Mountain. As usual, I closed my eyes when going up these type of mountain roads. Once we got up, you could see Capetown city below. Amazing! As time was short, we didn’t get out of the minibus as the Cable Cars are not currently running (in Service).

Once we got back to the hotel, we were all itching for more of Cape town. So we took the Hotel Shuttle to V&A Waterfront. We had supper at the City Grill restaurant. We ordered the usual foods while Len choose Oxtail stew and Doris and Andrea ate crocodile meat.(see picture). Apparently it was yummy, white meat and a little chewy. We are all getting adventurous with our food choices but I think I will pass. We then shopped and walked about the Waterfront. A very nice place and a bit busy, a truly tourist place.


July 21st

On the July 21st we left Malawi from Blantyre at Chileka airport for Johannesburg, South Africa with Air Malawi. To our surprise, the plane was chartered and not Air Malawi plane. Anyways, we landed safely at Johannesburg and proceeded through to Capetown with a local budget airline called MANGO airline. We arrived late in the evening. We checked in at Southern Sun Waterfront hotel in Capetown centre. From what we could see at night, Capetown is big. We have booked a whole day tour tomorrow with City Hopper shuttle service. We are all tired now. Tomorrow awaits.