March 15th, 2023 Day 71 of 128

Cape Town, South Africa (Day two of two)

We have been experiencing rough internet the last couple of day and I am having a true groundhog day experience as I am writing this post for the second time due to a technical glitch that cost me the whole post. So here I go…take two!

This morning we awoke in the same place we went to sleep last night which is a novelty still for us on this adventure. Since we stayed here overnight it also means our excursions can start earlier due to not needing to wait to go through customs and to be cleared for dis-embarkation. We were up at 6:45 am and dressed quickly. We headed to the Lido to grab a quick breakfast and then to the Rolling Stone lounge to meet our excursion group from Cruise Specialist. It was nice to see some fellow passengers we hadn’t seen in a while and catch up with our travel hosts. After some chaos due to a mechanical issue with a bus and a delay in our departure, we were on the road for a drive to the top of Chapman’s Peak. We stopped first at an outlook where we had a beautiful panoramic view of the Cape of Good Hope. There was beautiful white sand beaches and it was super windy. Glad I brought my brush with me today. We learned about Table Mountain and its history of once being at the bottom of the Sea. We weaved our way along a mountain side road around the back of Table Mountain. The drive was not for the weak of heart at all. We saw shack style home where locals lived and multimillion dollar homes just a couple of blocks away. The juxtaposition was an alarmingly extreme example of the separation of classes here. We even saw a community of homes where Oprah Winfrey currently owns a home. We headed next to Boulder Beach, home of a colony of African penguins. We got to see LOTS of penguins today. We saw parent with their babies, eggs waiting to be hatched, penguins playing hide and seek from their sand burrows and penguins splashing in the surf. This was a way better penguin experience than we had a few days ago. The hike in and out of the beach we were sand blasted from the sand and the wind on our faces. I wish I had had a mask to protect myself. After we enjoyed our time with our web footed friends we got back on the bus for some more scenic driving and on to our next destination Mount Nelson Hotel so we could indulge in the elegance of High Tea time. The food was phenomenal, we sampled a few different teas and the sweets were out of this world. It was a lovely property and I wish we had more time to explore the grounds. But since we were late we were rushed through our time both at tea and then to leave the hotel. This hotel was built in 1899 and it is rich with lavish history. If you get a chance check out the website and the photos of the grounds and the hotel. After tea time we took a scenic drive back through Cape Town on our way back to the ship. Some of the highlights of our drive were; the 2010 World Cup Soccer Stadium, Saint George’s Cathedral where Desmond Tutu first became a bishop, a slave lodge where 600 slave where made to sleep in extremely close quarters back to back, and City Hall where Nelson Mandela made his first speech after being freed from jail in 1990. There is a statue there depicting where he stood when he gave the speech. We also saw a brightly painted neighborhood of homes that were a joy to see. So colorfully done. Next, we headed back to the ship so we could grab our passports because we have to go through immigration and customs again before we are allowed to leave here this evening. But we weren’t ready to be done quite yet. When we were on the bus we observed a Ferrari dealership a couple of blocks from the ship so we had to stop by. We had hoped to buy some apparel from here, but sadly they did not sell any. We had a lovely time looking at their 2023 models in the showroom and a couple of classics they had for sale. The salesman was so nice to us and I will be sending an email to his boss praising his customer service and kindness. He was adamant we didn’t go home empty handed so he gave us his personal Ferrari keychain from his pocket to take home with us. It was WAY above and beyond and so sweet of him to do that for us. We headed back to the ship and presented our passports to be stamped and waited our turn to then get back on the ship. It was just past our seating time in the Main dining room and we weren’t hungry as we were still full from our tea time this afternoon so we headed to the Main Stage for this evening performance. I am SO glad we did. It was the best performance we have seen to date on this cruise. We were treated to a number of songs sang by the South African Youth Choir. There were a number of group performances as well as solos. They are one of the most sought after performance choirs in the country and I can totally understand why. They range in age from 15-25 and they are definitely an extremely talented group of young people. After the performance we headed to the Lido and we were delighted to see the choir group there excited to be eating from the buffet and having so many choices of things to eat. Think kids in a candy store. We had a lovely conversation with a choir member named Victoria. She and Megan became fast friends as they bonded over friendship and their commonalities. Victoria presented Megan with a friendship bracelet and Megan ran back to the cabin to grab her something to give in kind. It was a beautiful thing to watch these two young ladies from totally different parts of the world sharing this moment of kindness and generosity. I am a proud human and mom. It was the most wonderful way to end our time here in Cape Time. I couldn’t have scripted it better if I wanted to. This evening we will sail away from here and head north to Namibia. We will also cross over a line I am told is visible (during the day) where we will leave the Indian Ocean and will once again be in the Atlantic Ocean where we started this journey. But this trip is not yet at an end. We will head up north further into Europe before heading back to the US. I am grateful for my time here and look forward to sleeping in tomorrow as it is a sea day. Enjoy all the photos!!