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Heading to Hippo Country: Safari Day 11
February 23rd, 2013
They had to pry me out of our More Quarters Hotel apartment in Cape Town by the bloody stumps of my fingers. People in Cape Town – and the whole of South Africa actually – are pathologically chipper, laid back and kind.
It could be that they’re all on Zanax. Or peyote. Or perhaps the luscious mix of the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans mating at Point Cape create some kind of olfactory euphoria. I just don’t know. But I actually cried bidding our hotel staff farewell. (Also, they put bags of Neopolitan marshmallows on our pillows every night before bed).
What we did in Cape Town: Wine tasting in Stellenbosch which actually outdoes the Tuscan countryside:
Claire and Samuel at the Anura Winery.
Shopping.
Ostrich Eggs at Boulders Beach.
Cheetah petting at a preserve.
Cheetah Cub Eigg
Shopping.
The beginning of my African necklace addiction. They’re heavy and give me neck pains but they’re so pretty!
Penguin sighting at Boulders Beach.
Boulders Beach. Locals wake up to find penguins at their breakfast table.
Little Men — all dressed up with nowhere to go!
Shopping.
Girls and me (in a new LBD) in front of my favorite hotel in the world The Mount Nelson.
Seal kissing at Hout Bay.
Boat trip out to Seal Island at Hout Bay. Stunning vistas.
They are so cute, but the guano smell will melt your eyebrows off.
Shopping.
Bridget can wear a hat!
Hiking to the tip of Cape Point.
After days of eating croissants I had the bright idea of hiking to the top.
Clare, Dakota, Kenyon and Bridget at the top of Cape Point.
The view from Cape Point where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet.
Looking straight down.
And … shopping. My credit card melted, as did any sense of fiduciary continence in my heart.
And something wildly synchronistic happened. My former roommate, Jenna, separately booked a safari for her family and we just happened to be in Cape Town at the same time. We could not have actually planned this. Something would’ve come in the way. A tsunami in Seattle (where they live), an airport strike, the smallpox. We kind of ignored this miracle, thinking it would fall apart at any moment, until they walked through the front door of our hotel.
Jenna and I at the most beautiful beach in the world, Camps Bay.
Jenna and I fell platonically in love when both of our boyfriends dumped us in 1997. Then she left me to get married and have kids (yes I did too, but no one puts Baby in a corner!) I’m not sure what she was thinking and I’m sure she secretly has regrets. Especially after walking Camp’s Bay beach with me in the sun watching our children frolic. We could have just used our husbands for their sperm and continued living happily ever after together. Instead we must be happy with loving our husbands and carrying on our heterosexual love in foreign locales.
Here we are in the Planet dining room at the Mount Nelson.
Miss Jenna and I at False Bay on the way to Cape Point.
We’ve arrived at our final location on this adventure at Lion Sands’ 1933 Lodge near Kruger National Park. I didn’t fully appreciate what a rarefied experience this trip is until I found out Lady Gaga had the lodge two weeks before us. I am not Lady Gaga. I am not even Britney Spears. I wear shoes. Destinations South Africa and More Hotels has made this trip affordable for my family so I could report my findings to my readers, but all I can say at this juncture is that I will be doing this again whether sponsored or not. It may not be in the next five years, but I want to come back as soon as I can and I haven’t even left yet.
More from Lion Sands soon…
If you want more to read about our group experience you can check out my friend Jamie’s take at I Am Not The Babysitter and Elise at Elise’s Ramblings.
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#jealous of your trip and your beauty. Jenna is crazy to have left you, dah-link! Thanks so much for sharing pics of your adventure.
&8~)
I agree that Jenna made a big mistake. She doesn’t seem quite as convinced though. What was adorable was that her youngest son Kody and my youngest Willa fell a bit in love. So perhaps one day we’ll be mothers-in-law. I’m Machiavellian that way.
Loved seeing every frame of your time on this journey! Thank you, so much! Safe travels home!
These trip reports have been great. More jealous now than I was at the beginning! And you look terrific in every shot.
Hi Zoe — I have been deleting all the bad shots. xo