In an effort to get out of our hotel room as much as possible, we’ve been busying ourselves with all that Cape Town has to offer. I spent a couple of days this week with the other expat wives getting the lay of the land. On Tuesday we went to South Africa’s version of Costco. It was much bigger than our Costco and sold everything from camping equipment to hotdogs. It also gives the Union Square Trader Joes stiff competition in the Outrageous Line category. Photo evidence below:
I spent Thursday morning at my first International Women’s Club meeting. I was warned that I would be the youngest woman in the room by about 20 years and that was absolutely true. It seemed fitting though as Thursday would have been my Abuela’s 95th birthday and this is the exact type of thing she would have wanted me to get involved in while in Cape Town. There were about 200 women in the meeting representing 25 countries; each with their own story about what brought them to Cape Town. As you can imagine, many are retired now and had fantastic stories to tell from a time in Africa that I will never know.
On Thursday night Kip and I went out with our new friends. That’s right, we made new friends and we’re feeling pretty cool about it! They took us to a really fun restaurant in Mouille Point where we witnessed a spectacular sunset. While there, we realized the view we were enjoying will be our nightly view in a couple of days. So excited to move on Thursday!
To give you guys an idea of what things cost here in Cape Town the four of us ordered cocktails, four bottles of wine,4 appetizers, 4 mains, coffee and grappa and the total bill was less than $200 USD. Before everyone gets in a huff about the four bottles of wine, we were there for nearly 4 hours… that makes it ok, right?
Today we spent most of the day in the car. Not normally our idea of fun but this was well worth the anxiety. We drove to Table Mountain National Park to visit the most southern tip of Africa. The views were truly amazing. We both looked at each other and said, “Did you ever think you’d come here?”
On the way to the park, we stopped in Simon’s Town for a quick fish & chips lunch and then to Boulder’s Beach to see the penguins. I am not sure I would recommend stopping to see the penguins. It’s extremely touristy and the penguins didn’t do anything cute while we were there. The problem is, when you drive by a sign that says, “Penguin Viewing Next Right” who doesn’t pull over?
Today is Easter Sunday and we’ve been invited to dinner with some other expats. We’re both looking forward to a home cooked meal and some good company.
ElephantsAbroad 