45. Cape Town

Cool bird on the snack box

The next day we drove to Victoria Falls airport to fly to South Africa. We ran into our new friends from Atlanta, Mark and Lin, as they were the other couple on the shuttle! They joined us in the airport lounge briefly before they caught their flight. We were on the wonderful Airlink Airlines. Originally I thought the name sounded cheap and generic as it reminded me of Jetblue, EasyJet, or Jetstar. However, it is absolutely nice and reliable as opposed to the respectable sounding Botswana Air that is completely unreliable and left me stranded cancelling my flight with 2 days notice and offering no solutions for alternative flights (I later learned this is not unusual for them). Not only was Airlink reliable, but their people are friendly and they give everyone this very cute little snack box with delicious food AND a colorful picture of a native bird on the box.

delicious snack on the plane

spraying human safe insecticide before landing

They also sprayed the cabin with a people-safe insecticide on arrival (like the flight into Botswana). Our flight was short, only a couple hours to Cape Town where we took an Uber to the hotel, dropped our luggage, and went to the V&A Waterfront. Unfortunately we arranged to have our Uber driver wait for us since we were so far out on the coast at the fancy 12 Apostles Hotel. I say unfortunately because I did not realize that they have a FREE shuttle to the VA Waterfront! How cool is that?! They checked us in with nice welcome drinks: champagne or juice, and confirmed our reservations for their fancy restaurant later that night.

Dawne posing with Table Mountain at the V&A waterfront

African trading port first attracted me with all their neat stuff outside

Our Uber dropped us at the V&A Waterfront for shopping at the African Trading Port, which is the only reasonably priced souvenir store I found at the Waterfront. It’s at the far end of the outdoor area furthest away from the main stage where a musical group was performing. Prices are about the same as the market in Victoria Falls after you bargain them down a bit, but here: 1) you don’t have to bargain; 2) you can pay with a credit card with no extra fees; 3) we didn’t have to worry about the luggage weight restrictions as we will have 2 checked bags all the way home from this point (and we will make full use of them!) Plus they have a great selection of EVERYTHING. Basically 10 different little rooms on the bottom floor plus 6-8 larger rooms on the next 2 floors (though most of what I wanted was on the ground floor and 3 of the upstairs rooms). Small wood carved meerkat for half the price as Botswana? Check. Small colorfully painted ceramic animals for $1-2? Check. Beautiful stone carvings for about 60% of what I could get them for wholesale at the Tucson mineral show? Check.

tons of wood carvings

I chose the egg on the right

I spent an hour there earlier in the trip and there were things I saw that I completely missed the first time. With a little help via WhatsApp from Julia and Natalie, I picked out a beautiful painted and carved ostrich egg and some wax painted batik art. I also got some t-shirts and a malachite elephant along with several wildlife postcards and other trinkets. We were in the shop for 90 minutes. I asked for an 8:00 shuttle pickup (our fancy hotel down the coast has a free shittle to the V&A) but their next pickup was at 8:30 so then I asked to shift our dinner reservation to 9:00. The last dinner seating is at 8:30, and we were NOT going to miss that as we had a free $100 credit to spend on Food & Beverage thanks to the AmEx Platinum Fine Hotels benefit. We quickly ordered an Uber and proceeded to frantically rush to the Waterfront area’s “entrance 2” asking directions along the way.

beautiful batiks

I had to get a giraffe!

cool wax batiks of 3 sisters

amazing dinner

We got back to the hotel at 8:32 and the front desk said the restaurant was looking for us. She sent us up and called them to let them know we were on our way. The meal was quite posh and delicious. I had the ostrich carpaccio appetizer, which was excellent. Then our server put little pots in front of us with small rectangular white slices inside. She said we would have a citrus cleanse before the main course. I was prepared to eat the white things when she poured water on Dawne’s which instantly started steaming. Then she placed a smaller bowl on top with a round yellow ball of frozen citrus…gelato? The experience was really in the dry ice pouring out the small holes in that bowl (see videos)

Wonderful main course

The main course was also really good. Dawne got the fillet mignon and I got the lamb, which was nicely spiced and full of flavor. We probably should have stopped there but we tried a couple desserts which we couldn’t finish, the guava custard (very good) and the cheesecake (average). The best part of the dessert was the purple tinted merengue with sparkly sugar on top (see pics above).

nice water display at hotel

Living room

We finally got to our room. I was upgraded to one of the top rooms, a suite with a huge balcony overlooking the ocean. It was dark so you couldn’t see outside but the next morning was spectacular! There was a separate living room with a low wall between them. The bathroom was huge with two sinks, bathtub, shower, and a heated towel rack. Booking through AmEx Fine Hotels gives us an upgrade when available (though this was the highest upgrade the lady at check in had ever seen…she didn’t say how long she’s been working here). We also get the $100 credit mentioned earlier plus $200 off the room rate once a year on my Amex Platinum so instead of paying $425 it was only $225! Having a $695 annual fee credit card can be worthwhile IF you can make use of enough of its benefits. Luckily the blog “Frequent Miler” helps me figure out my credit card strategy.

Huge bedroom

entry way

nice bathroom with separate shower and heated towel rack!

great view from our room

gorgeous view from our balcony

breakfast with a view

The next morning was a full day. Dawne got up early and after breakfast went to explore Table Mountain via the 8am shuttle. I had a more leisurely breakfast then took the 9am shuttle to V & A Waterfront. In 30 minutes I managed to buy biltong at the Pick and Pay, locate the restroom, buy a North Face Cape Town shirt for Craig, and buy another wax batik that Natalie liked along with some others and more postcards from the African Trading Port. From there I took an Uber to the Hyatt to pick up our left luggage and then to the top of Signal Hill also known as the Lions Head. Dawne met me there with our great shuttle driver Luyanda, who took our purchases and small bags I’d just gotten from the Hyatt back to the 12 Apostles porters. He was a godsend, getting Dawne to Table Mountain, getting me to the Waterfront, then picking Dawne up and bringing her to Signal hill, and finally picking us both up at the end of our adventure and bringing us back to the hotel with a stop at the ATM so I could get more tip money.

our amazing shuttle driver

Dawne before takeoff

Now it was time for our paragliding! We located our person, Blessing, who had us fill out paperwork, then waited for our guides to return from the bottom of the hill. Another rider summed up my feelings exactly: excited but a little nervous. There were several groups in front of us. Some we got to watch and some were waiting for stronger/better winds for takeoff. They lay the parachute out on the ground which is attached to your guide, then hook you to your guide. When everyone is ready, he tugs sharply on the parachute to get it airborne as you walk towards the edge with the wind blowing from in front of you towards the back. But then two guys hold either side of you and all four of you sprint to the edge to get enough lift for the wind to pick you both up and off you go! The less wind, the faster you have to run so you certainly want some wind, but too much wind is also bad. I don’t think it works with the wind going in the opposite direction as you would have to run uphill away from the edge. We were lucky we had two big guys (Blessing and another fellow) who would help us run to the edge. We saw another group with two failed attempts. If the wind doesn't pick you up, you simply stop near (not too near!) the edge and walk back. They were part of the group now waiting for more favorable winds.

shortly after takeoff

In reality, with two huge guys holding us and running, it was pretty easy and we were up in the air floating off. It is awesome being up there soaring along like a bird drifting on the wind. I have often admired birds for being able to do this and it was spectacular to do it myself. My guide Rai let me steer for a bit, turning left and then right as we went out over the ocean. We did a few crazy spirals though not as crazy as the ones we saw in New Zealand.

I get temporary control of the reins

Then we turned back to the park where they land and the landing was super easy with my legs tucked up and Rai walking a few steps before telling me to put my feet down as we stopped, the parachute drifting calmly to the ground. I always thought I was scared of heights, but on my first hot air balloon ride I wasn’t scared at all and the operator told me “you’re not scared of heights, you’re scared of falling.” That’s why I love hot air ballooning and now I love paragliding as you are never falling…the wind picks you up and carries you.

flying over the ocean

Cape Town has corrugated metal shacks with satellite dish tv

great meal at the lounge

We got to the airport 2.5 hours before our flight but the check in lines were long. Security didn’t take too long, but then I remembered I needed to show my VAT tax receipts before security so we had to go outside again. It was between $35-40 so worthwhile, however, you have to have all your items available for inspection and I had checked most of them in my luggage. There is also a minimum of about $28 so without my baggage I couldn’t claim anything. The VAT Tax station after immigration has one person sitting there completely bored all day because they purposely make it very difficult to claim. At least we had some good food at the lounge and it was right next to our gate so we could check on the boarding timing by looking out the lounge window! Our flight to Istanbul was looong, over 10 hours, and we arrived shortly after 4am (3am Cape Town time) so I only got a couple hours of sleep.

watching the boarding status of our gate

on Turkish airlines (faces covered to protect identity)