With Mike on the big silver bird to the USA, I am the lone standard-bearer of all things American.  Barry and I headed downtown for a documentary film at a great old-time film venue.  The story, fairly well done, talked about the consequences of globalization.  It featured a village of people in Tibet, who were just as happy and healthy as you and me, BEFORE globalization.  Now, they are miserable, unhappy, caught in our web of ‘progress’ for progress sake.  But on the plus side, it featured many of the things that are being done to promote localization, sourcing food locally, and perhaps returning to some of our more agrarian roots.

My travel buddy, Mike has left for home.  It was a sad departure, as Barry and Chrissie really took to Mike.  He was so skeptical when we planned this part of the trip.  Now, he wants to rent a place on the beach for six months!  And I would agree.  Come to Cape Town!!!!

After exploring the city center in starts and fits of rain and wind, we settled back in the comfort of Camps Bay last evening.  We started off with some champagne at Barry’s parents home a few miles away.  We were both impressed by the seven story elevator.  Why?  It was an elevator for automobiles!  We entered through a gate, took a sharp, downhill, right hand turn about 270 degrees, and were greeted with a steel door.  The door opened, and Barry drove the car onto the elevator.  I about freaked out!  As he rolled down the window, the door closed behind us, and he pressed a button.  We emerged several floors down.

Needless to say, their ocean condominium was spectacular, as in Sunset magazine spectacular.  Though we did not have a typical sunset due to the storm, it was breathtaking to say the least.  And we met Barry’s lovely parents, Teddy and Esme’.  We got to hear some great stories about Jack Varkel, Barry’s grandfather of Lithuanian origin, and the famous Jewish American comedian, Jackie Mason.  It was a real treat.  We laughed so hard I almost spilled my bubbly.

After dropping our car at the airport, we headed off to a great Thai dinner along the coast.  Barry and Chrissie got married there, and have been dining there almost weekly since.  We had some sushi starters, a great Kingklip steamed fish, and some Thai ice cream to top off a great dinner.  Too bad we missed the great view due to the storm and lateness of the night.

With one more night here, I am already dreading the four flights home.  I leave Cape Town tomorrow morning around 8am for Johannesburg.  Then onto Addis Ababa, with a plane change and another stopover in Rome.  I finally land in Washington, DC Thursday morning, and get into SFO on Thursday afternoon.  The only saving grace is that I am flying in Business Class and can sleep.

I would agree with Mike that this has been one of our best trips.  Not for the animals, but for the great time we were shown here in Cape Town.  It is truly one of the great places on earth.  How long will it remain this way?  It is changing as I write, and it faces many challenges since apartheid ended.  This is not the right time for a lesson on politics and social unrest.  Another time and place.

So where to, next?  I am hoping for the Trans Siberian Railway next year.  Perhaps I have one great adventure left inside of me.

Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa.   Early settlers were encouraged to plant oak trees, resulting in oak tree-lined streets, and the town becoming known as a village of oaks, or “Eikestad”.  In fact, some of the oaks have become national monuments.  Or maybe they could use the oak in place of the French or California oak used for their aging barrels?  In 1859, the theological seminary was established, leading to their heritage as a leading educational center.  In 1918, the University of Stellenbosch was established, and continues as one of the leading universities on the continent.

Surrounded by beautiful mountains, Stellenbosch was the first wine route in South Africa in 1971. It is the largest wine route in South Africa, containing over 140 wineries.  The area has won the most wine awards per capita than any region in South Africa.

Those of us from California think that the wine world revolves around the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, perhaps also including the Central coast.   In a broader view, we might even think of wine regions like Washington, Oregon, and upstate New York.  Beyond our borders, New Zealand, Australia, and South America come to mind.  But South Africa is rapidly becoming a wine center in its own right.  And it is so much more affordable.

The US has 1,180,000 hectares under cultivation as grape vineyards, compared to only 134,000 hectares in South Africa.  France is second to the US with 834,000 hectares.  What the heck is a hectare?  A Hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square meters.  For those of us familiar with the term acre, there are 2.471 acres in a hectare.

Perhaps the best feature of these wineries is the fact they are small and cannot accommodate tour buses.  As we moved so nimbly by auto, no wine can be left unturned.  The famous South African golfer, Ernie Els, has a winery here.  Some of the wineries make goat cheese.  I’ll pass on those.  Another highly rated winery is Tokara Estates.  The area is also studded with numerous Bed and Breakfast Inns and restaurants reflecting the area rich agricultural heritage.  In fact, we ate at a very upscale place called Indochine, worthy of most places in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys back home.

Have you ever had lunch in a cave facing the Atlantic Ocean with whales breeching out in the distance?  Mike and I drove about 2 hours southeast to the beach side town of Hermanus, their version of Carmel or Leucadia (San Diego).  Along the way, we passed the many townships, a sad sight indeed.  I was thinking that the aluminum business would be quite lucrative here, for that is the primary building material in that neck of the woods.  It was an eye opener, and I shall try to never complain about my little condo again!

According to most travel pundits, Cape Town is South Africa’s most beautiful, most romantic, and most visited city.  It is located on the mountainous Cape Peninsula spine, which slides into the Atlantic Ocean.  One of its most striking sites is Table Mountain.  Standing on the tabletop, each district of the city is visible.  To the north are the docks, lined with ships.  To the west, it is a sheer drop across pricey real estate.  To the south, the mountains are forested, along with several vineyards.  To the east, it is the grim industrial area, also home to coloured townships and Black ghettos.

Capetowners love the outdoors, and prefer mountain bikes to autos.   But the urban environment is rich with the indigenous Cape Dutch style of architecture.  Muslim slaves, freed in the nineteenth century, added their minarets to the skyline.  And the English, who invaded and freed the slaves, added their Georgian and Victorian buildings.  Sprinkle in some vineyards and wine estates for some Napa Valley ambience.

CT is the second most populous city in South Africa.  The city is known for its harbour and well-known landmarks like Table Mountain, and Cape Point.  National Geographic magazine lists Cape Town as one of the most iconic cities on the planet.  The city of Cape Town was first developed by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and the Far East.  It quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost and became the hub of economic and cultural activity in the Cape.  Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and resulting development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.

The population of Cape Town is now pushing 4 million residents.  Cape Town was also the home to many of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement.  Robben Island, about 10 km from the city, is the former penitentiary for many famous political prisoners.  On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades from the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall.  The Nobel Square features four South African Peace Prize winners:  Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F. W. deKlerk, and Nelson Mandela.  But HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis plague the city now, while the economy has surged due to the boom in tourism and real estate.

Tourism is booming due to good climate, natural setting, and well-developed infrastructure. The most notable attraction is Table Mountain National Park.  Many tourists and locals love the beaches, each with different settings and atmosphere.  The two sides of the city offer dramatically different water temperatures.  The Atlantic side is reminiscent of the California coast (55 degrees) due to the Benuela current.  But the False Bay side is considerably warmer (61 to 62 degrees) due to the warmer Agulhas current.  But both coasts are equally popular.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is the most visited tourist attraction.  It contains one of the city’s most popular shopping venues and the Two Oceans Aquarium.  Cape Town is also known for its Dutch heritage with a high density of Cape Dutch style buildings.  The city also encloses the 36 hectare Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, with 7000 species under cultivation.  And for us, the Cape Winelands are among the most popular day trips out of the city proper.

But the real question is, “Why Cape Town?”  We are here to visit our friend, Barry who we met two years ago in Santiago, Chile.  We were staying at the same hotel.  We struck up a lively conversation in the internet room.  Mike and I invited him to join us for dinner, a rather long dinner.  After cruising for drinks, we ended up at a Chilean place next door to the hotel.  As luck would have it, we could stumble back to our rooms with no risk.

Dinner started out around 6pm and did not end until well after midnight.  Several drinks, two bottles of wines, some Chilean beef, lots of funny stories, a smoke-filled dining room, it was evening to remember.  Barry invited us to visit in Cape Town, where he formerly had a law practice.  He sold it all to travel the world.  Back in Cape Town, he has been a copy writer, and a stand up comic.  Maybe the jobs are interchangeable?  I meant the lawyer and comedy jobs.

So, we are using his place in Cape Town as our base, and the perfect conclusion to our trip to the Dark Continent.  Our first stops were Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, Botswana, Tanzania, Washington Dulles, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Johannesburg.  And who knows where we might end up upon our arrival here in C.T. on Monday.