Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Cape Town


Bo Kaap.

I know a few people who will be in Cape Town quite soon. Some will be coming home. Some will be seeing South Africa for the first time. 

Come for a drive around Cape Town with me, and perhaps we'll see what they will, when they are there....


The city at the foot of Devil's Peak, above.


Woodstock.


The Gardener's Cottage at Montebello, Newlands. For coffee, for lunch, for crafts, for plants.


Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. For cut flowers, plants to see, plants to buy, lunch and picnics.


Klein Constantia Wine Estate. For Vin de Constance.


Vin de Constance...at La Colombe, Constantia.


Muizenberg. For surfing and for spotting great whites far behind the waves.


Kalk Bay. For fish and antiques and good food.


Foxy Beach.


Cape Point.


 Bordjiesdrif, Cape Point, for a tidal pool. 


Scarborough's tidal pools. 


Olifantsbos.


Misty Cliffs. For mussels.


Noordhoek and Long Beach. For standing and staring.


Chapman's Peak Drive flowers.



Chapman's Peak Drive. For a fear of heights.


Hout Bay. For fish and chips. For seals. For a beer at the hotel.



Llandudno, below. For bodyboarding.
 


Constantia Nek sour figs. For jam.

 

Your route.


 Image: Google Maps

21 comments:

  1. You've certainly made me wish I was one of those going for the first time.

    Beautiful pictures.

    Must find money...

    xo Jane

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  2. These are the kind of photos that can get me crying when I'm far from home.

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  3. A heart-wrenching tour of the Peninsula - and I live here ! Such beautiful pictures and what's even better, you'll be right here soon. Counting the days......

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  4. Fields of Watsonia!! 57 more days...I can't wait! Sorry for the rash of exclamation marks, but I'm really that excited!!! Thanks for the inspiration and the recommendations!

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  5. What a lovely tour! And I've come back refreshed with no j-lag. It has cemented my resolve to see beautiful SA before I......?

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  6. WOW. and don't forget the corgi-sightings.

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  7. Oh wow Marie. You know how to hit the spot. Have sent your post today to my darling daughter and her man who land in SA on Christmas day from Paris- 40 days to go and so many exciting things to plan. The Cape being one of them. love to you three Pam

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  8. Wow! Beautiful summary. I was born there and it still amazes me. Wait a minute. No, I wasn't born there. Could have sworn, though... ;-)

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  9. A beautiful tour, Marie. I'd love to be there, but I'll be spending my holiday in Brooklyn! ;-)

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  10. What gorgeous country. Would love to visit. THank goodness you share photos with us.

    the one of the tidal pool at Cape Point is wonderful.

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  11. uuuaaauuuh! that seems the Paradise... sofisticated
    That's a great blog, Marie

    Quel voyage vous allez faire, il y a quelqu'un qui babe ici à Barcelone!

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  12. Stunning. Simply stunning. May I ask a somewhat personal question? How do you and Vince get so much time off to visit South Africa for 6 weeks? Are you a free-lance garden designer? Is Vince free-lance, too? Do you have any tips to ask a boss for a long vacation?

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  13. Thank you everybody - I hope that each of you who has never been to SA might have the chance, one day. And that each of you flying home after a long time away, will be able to return again and again. And if you live there, well. There's nowhere else quite like it.

    Hahaha, David, ja well. Sigh. For years it was easy for me to get time off because the garden design business I worked for pretty much shut down over the US winter. So that was very lucky. I did a little work remotely when necessary.

    When I met Vince his bosses were just very kind and gave him a big chunk of time off, unpaid, of course. And he worked bloody hard to make it up.

    This year I have been juggling 3 freelancing gigs - gardens, writing and photography. And Vince is looking for job after he lost his late this summer. We decided to go to SA anyway, and might be doing some job hunting there :-)

    Tips? I have none. It's a matter of luck, and persuasion? It's very hard to say. Then there is also what kind of work you do - at least with writing and photography you are gathering stories as you go.

    The standard US 2 week holiday is brutal.

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  14. Thank you Marie. Much needed after the terrible happenings in the news this weekend. We live in a beautiful, complex country.

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  15. And the beauty all the more compelling with complexity.

    Add SA to the list of must gos.

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  16. Ugh, Rosie, you sent me to the Cape Times and the Sowetan and there I read about it. But what on earth was the couple doing in Gugs in the middle of the night? Talk about in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just don't get it. Ay.

    Frank - ja, well. Stay on the beaten path and keep the doors locked.

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  17. oh my goodness - amazing photos and info. Now off to google lots of things

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  18. Fantastic photos of a beautiful place. I had never heard Dried Sour Figs. Iceplant is a major component of freeway plantings here in northern California. It's also invasive along the coast in northern California, as well as southern California.

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