Several of weeks ago we shared with you part one of our trip which was in Mpumalanga, South Africa for our safari. If you missed that post, you can view those images here. While we were at a loss of words with our experiences staying in the middle of the African bush, Cape Town is truly a different kind of amazing. We were really captivated by the views, kindness of the people, and amazing food. Looking back at our trip, we really wish we could’ve spent at least a month in South Africa. While we saw so much within a two week period, we know that there was so much more to see. We hope our visit to the country isn’t our last because it really was that captivating.

Some techy gear talk… the cameras used for the images minus the first and last few images are with the following:
*Nikon D700
*Sigma 50mm f/1.4
*Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
*Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
*Nikon J1
*Nikon J1 lens w/ 10mm f/2.8
*iPhone 6 + Samsung Galaxy S4

We’re going to begin and end with photos by the talented, Kristi Agier. We are so glad that we were able to sneak in a quick session and she truly did capture exactly what we were looking for.

Meet our little itty bitty vehicle during our trip, the Ford Figo. It was strange driving on the wrong side of the road and on the right hand side of the car. But we managed and we are still in one piece!

Below are images from our temporary home – the Chartfield Guesthouse located in Kalk Bay which is a suburb outside of Cape Town. We loved how charming and quaint it was. To wake up to views of the ocean and starting out our day with a spoiling of carbs, fresh cheeses, organic eggs, and Illy coffee was like a dream.

Of course we had to see more animals while in Africa! This time we visited the Cheetah Outreach sanctuary where we got to see a meerkat, a 3-legged jackal, and pet a cheetah. That was super cool.

After our visit at the Cheetah Sanctuary, we headed down to Boulders Beach to see the penguins.

Along the same route as Boulders Beach, about 24 kilometers south we drove to the Cape of Good Hope which is the most southwestern point of the African continent. The hike up to see the views was wonderful. Blue skies, clear waters…..just perfect. It was windy day though so it really wasn’t the best hair day for us both. 

Wildlife sighting….ostrich! 

We then hiked up to visit the Cape Point Lighthouse. Along the route you can see baboons everywhere. While most people take the tram up, we decided to hike it. Luckily no baboons came in our way..but Tracy was a bit freaked out that one would jump out of nowhere.

While we were in town, we were lucky to score a few reservations for some great restaurants in Cape Town. The first one we really enjoyed is called The Pot Luck Club. What we loved the most is the tapas inspired dishes which enabled us to try tons of things at once.

We almost skipped out on visiting the vineyards during our visit to Cape Town. But we managed to squeeze one in. SO GLAD. With tons of places to choose from, we ended up at Blaauwklippen Wine Estates in Stellenbosch. We opted for a Belgian chocolate and wine pairing for our 10 a.m. tasting and had a great time. The vineyards were similar to the ones in Napa. So if you love wine, definitely make a stop in the Stellenbosch area. 

Just a few snapshots while we roamed the Kalk Bay area.

Chapmans Peak Drive is one of those things you must drive through if you are ever visiting the Cape. There is a small toll to drive through Noordhoek to Hout Bay (approximately 9km) and the views are amazing. Make sure you stop at the vista points to soak in all the gorgeousness.

Hanging around the V&A Waterfront. The area really reminded me of home minus the early sighting of a Christmas tree in the month of October.

If you want to see some gorgeous views of Table Mountain along with Lions Head…head out to Signal Hill. This is where we had our photo session at. STUNNING!

Instead of starring at Table Mountain, we took advantage of clear skies and took the gondola ride up to the top. Table Mountain was named one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

We merged a series of 7 photos to make this panoramic view of Lion’s head, the Atlantic Ocean, and Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain.

Bo-Kaap district, Cape Town. Super fun, colorful historic homes.

One of our best meals while in Cape Town at The Test Kitchen. If you ever want to go here, this is really not one of those spots where you can just show up. Reservations are known to be filled for most of the year – (while we were dining in October, they indicated the current wait time was April-May 2015). It was named one of the top 50 restaurants in the world and after eating through our five courses, we can see why! Chef Luke Dale-Roberts is amazing. Also a side note, he is also the creator of The Pot Luck Club.

Our lunch consisted of the following:

*“Homedried Tomato” – spiced aubergine and feta, burnt aubergine jelly, goats cheese mousse
*“Grilled Scallop” – fine bean, tofu miso suke, braised scallop dressing, miso on toast, braised shitake, raw shitak
* “Pork Belly” – parsley pressed apples, wild rosemary infused honey, blue cheese cream, crackling
* The frozen looking dish below was our palette cleanser
*  “Linefish” – black forest ham and fish jus,potato and snoek medley, roasted potato skin puree, burnt red onion foam
*  “Confit Duck Leg” – mushroom and liver stuffing, assorted onions, truffle and foie gras egg, duck liver jus
*  “Almonds, Tea and Nectarines” – caramelised almond tart, lapsang souchong jelly, nectarine sorbet, white chocolate creméux, toasted almond panna cotta
*  “Carob Mousse” – roast banana butter, meringue, rum foam, coffee and tanariva creméux
* The house made artisan bread was the best we’ve ever had

 

And we’ll end here with our trip to South Africa with these images from Kristi. Every time we go through our images, we dream. We dream about our future trip. What we will see. What we will return to see. We know that we missed a lot. Hopefully we will have a chance to recreate these images one day. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d make it out to this beautiful country and continent. Hoping to share some other images from our Eastern European portion of our trip.