Following the 'work' part of my trip, I headed down to the Western Cape province, beginning in its capital, Cape Town, one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to.
Anyone who has seen photos of Cape Town and its iconic view of Table Mountain likely saw it from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a trendy part of town with many small artisanal shops, and great places to eat. This is by no means the only place to enjoy the city - there is no shortage of colourful and unique neighbourhoods, as well as many opportunities to enjoy nature. I ended up hiking Lion's Head one afternoon, and discovered it was fully of dassies (or the rock hyrax), an animal that looks like a rodent but is actually more closely related to elephants and manatees.
Playing the culinary tourist, I couldn't resist visiting GOLD Restaurant for a 14 course 'pan-African' dining experience on one end, while sampling more local fare like bunny chow, a dish originating from Durban, invented by Indian labourers brought by the British to work the sugar cane plantations.
Outside of Cape Town, I had a chance to visit the vineyards of Stellenbosch (no good photos :)), a colony of cape penguins, and going down to the Cape of Good Hope, which is *almost* the southern-most tip of Africa, and where the currents of Indian and Atlantic oceans sometimes meet (including the day of my visit).
Overall, I really enjoyed my first trip to South Africa (and Africa, period0, and would love to spend more time here in the coming years.
Note: I just realised the videos below don't show up unless you click on them outside of the gallery viewing mode.
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