Jay's 50th Birthday Surprise

	*Jay's 50th Birthday Surprise (part 3 of 3)* *(click on any picture to get enlargements)*

*This story continues on Saturday, December 20 ... in Cape Town, South Africa*

With a cold front theoretically approaching, we decided to visit Camps Bay beach, which is the lower beach on the image below.


*From the road, this beach might not look very special ... but it's one of South Africa's finest!*

*We set up camp under the red umbrella, just as the sun came out ... good timing!* *Behind us is Camps Bay, a ritzy hill-side town with a main street full of trendy bars & restaurants.* *The western side of Table Mtn is visible; the peaks are nicknamed "The 12 Apostles".*


*At this point there aren't many people on the beach; the landscape of the northern view was nice!*


*To the south is a rocky point separating this beach from Clifton beach; no beach-front homes here!*

*Some guys got a cricket game going ... which is pretty tough to play in the sand!* *Lion's Head mountain is in the background; Cape Town is on the other side. Each direction you looked provided a different scene.*


Later on a few folks began to look up in the air and point towards Lion's Head. After my eyes adjusted, I could see a number of hang-gliders coming down. The peak is a popular place to hike up and jump off, which takes quite an effort. They land on the green strip of land between the beaches.

	*The tallest peak behind us is where the Table Mountain cable car drops people off. From there they can hike around for hours.* *It doesn't look like the mountain has a flat top ... but it does!*


As the afternoon wore on, it got a little more crowded and some people even ventured into the freezing cold water; these people are tough! We also laughed when the vendors would walk by yelling "ice cream and lollies" with their Afrikaans accent.


We had finished our puzzles and our drinks (well-hidden from the police this time) ... so we packed up and walked along the main street. We went into one of our favorite hang-outs for a drink and decided to stay for dinner and the sunset. Overall we were happy to get a few days of beachcombing!

* Sunday, December 21 *

*Today we had a full schedule that depended a lot on the weather.* *The morning was warm and sunny as we drove to the areas to the left of the Waterfront; Green Point and Sea Point.*


The government and investors have spent a lot of money over the past few years to give this area a "facelift" ... it's looking good. The new stadium is big and will be important for the 2010 World Cup.


Our destination was a place called the Winchester Mansions; a unique Cape Dutch style hotel that offers a great Sunday buffet. In Israel the food offerings are somewhat limited ... so this was a treat!


We literally 'pigged-out' on the scrumptious food, while we relaxed and read the Sunday newspaper. There was live music & champagne ... and no urgency to rush ... truly South African living!

After breakfast we let our food settle ... then we got ready for a concert at a botanical garden called Kirstenbosch. They had regular concerts on Sunday afternoons; one of our favorite pass-times!

We arrived early, but found the parking areas full; we got lucky and parked near the entrance. The concert area is in the center of the beautiful garden, with the east side of Table Mtn. as background.

	*There are no restrictions as to what food and drinks people can bring in, so it is like a big picnic.* *The South Africans are experts at picnics and some of them looked like they brought the entire kitchen. Nicole planned our picnic and we had plenty of food and drinks.*


The small band that was scheduled to play had to cancel earlier in the week. The organizers filled in with a top-name performer, Johnny Glegg. It was a great deal for us, but there were tons of people!


We sat back and enjoyed the concert, even though we were sweating in the hot sunshine ... where is the cold front?. Once the shadows came, people cooled off and began to stand and dance.

Once the concert was over, we found ourselves at the head of the pack to leave. We quickly got to the car and drove out without any delays; which left time to quickly drive up to Signal Hill for the sunset.
*From Signal Hill we could see the stadium and the Waterfront.*


There were a lot of people, but we found a place to sit down. From this vantage point we could see Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela & other political prisoners were kept during the Apartheid era.


*Soon after we opened the wine, the sun began to give us a nice show; a grand solstice sunset!*

We were surprised that the sunset got even more colorful as time went on ... it looked almost like there was a fire behind the clouds. We were very lucky to have made it up here tonight!


This concluded yet another great day ... and we were dead-tired. The sad thing is that we only have a couple more days left!		*You can hopefully see why I call this a "happy" cruise ship.*

* Monday, December 22 *

*We reviewed the list of things that we had wanted to see and do while in Cape Town ... most of them has been accomplished.* The biggest thing that we hadn't done yet is to play golf. On Monday morning we got up early and brrr ... the cold front had unfortunately come through during the night. It wasn't rainy, so we decided to continue with the plans to play golf at nearby Mobray Golf course.



Jay played golf while Nicole drove the cart. Jay played with two other foreigners who were also new to the course. There was supposed to be excellent views of Table Mtn ... but the clouds ruined that.

*This is a typical fairway ... but my ball never went straight down it.*	*This is a typical sand bunker ... where my ball usually ended up.*	*This is a typical water hazard ... where my ball also liked to go.*

*Sometimes I got a good hit and felt pretty good.* *Other times the ball would go flying left or right and I would hear laughing ... but I didn't know if the sound came from the many hadida birds ... or from my driver!*

By the time we had finished, it was raining quite hard. We then ended up going to the mall at Century City, which was jammed packed due to holiday shoppers. We battled the crowds and got to buy a few things that we wanted. We took a break and then shopped more before heading back to the apartment. We had a quiet night and dined at Paulaners at the Waterfront ... German food and beer once again!

* Tuesday, December 23 *

Today was a day dedicated to shopping and getting packed for the return trip. We spent the entire day shuffling back and forth between the shops and the room. Jay then went to the VAT office to get all the proper paperwork so we could claim a refund when we leave tomorrow. I didn't really take many Waterfront pictures, so I walked around and took a bunch. From our apartment we had to cross a couple canals and bridges to get to the Waterfront mall and shops. This draw- bridge allowed boats to get into the marina area by the village.


The main marina area was home to fishing boats and to pleasure craft. There aren't too many, if any, places around the world that combine industry and tourism as Cape Town does ... not even San Fran!

	*<== Victoria & Alfred's Hotel and mall were here initially to support the cruise ship visitors; it was the base for the entire concept.* The clock tower is a central ===> focal point to this touristy area, which attracts millions of people.


The Waterfront, and especially the new Village area, will probably continue to do very well ... even with a global financial crisis. The owners of the big boats probably still have a lot of money to spend, and prices are cheap enough to continue attracting the value-oriented folks from Europe.


*We made our way towards the sea lion area and found a lone guy hanging out by the boats ... cute?*


This area was made especially for the sea lions; no boats allowed! The young sea lions are very curious and like to play with things. Most of them get plastic bands stuck around their necks, which cut and suffocate them as they get older. The biologists have tried to help by building the light brown docks. Divers are able to reach through from underneath and cut the plastic off the sleeping animals. It is nice to see all groups working together for the long term benefit of all.

* Wednesday, December 24 *

We sadly arose early this morning and finished packing our belongings for the return trip to Israel. We ate up leftover items and headed to the airport ... too bad there was no leftover wine ... ha ha! As we flew from Cape Town to Jo-burg to Tel Aviv, we reviewed the places we saw and things we did. Overall it was a grand vacation and a great way for Jay to celebrate his 50th birthday ... ... thanks to Nicole!
		*Goodbye to South Africa ...* *... until next time!*

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