Exploring the Cape of Good Hope

Africa
We weren’t supposed to come here. Cape Town wasn’t on our original trip plan. But then again, some of life’s greatest adventures aren’t planned. Now we’re discussing when we should move here. No, seriously! Cape Town is like San Francisco meets Africa, a melting pot of different cultures where deep blue ocean meets a sharp, rocky coast to form some of the most amazing views you’ll ever see. It’s winter here now, which means a frigid 21 degree high, oh wait that’s Celsius, I mean a beautiful 70 degree high with beautiful sunny skies (for 4 days a week at least, the others are just pouring rain), winter has never felt so good!

We’ve spent 6 wonderful days in Cape Town so far and have 4 more to go, making this the single destination where we’ll have spent the most time throughout our entire trip thus far. The first two days were filled with overcast skies and mostly pouring rain, but we didn’t let that stop our fun. For those who know us best, our first night we found ourselves in our Friday night heaven, and by this I mean delicious Indian food! If you like Indian and you visit Cape Town you absolutely must visit the Eastern Food Bazaar off Adderley Street. We had the most delicious chicken vindaloo of our entire lives, a phenomenal butter chicken, garlic naan bread and two waters for a grand total of, drum roll please……. $9! You get so much food that we went back a few nights later and shared a dish, with both us completely full, for $4, amazing.

Our first full day was spent exploring the Bo Kaap area of town and learning how to cook Cape Malay food.  Cape Malay food is a unique fusion of Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian and other southeast Asian cooking styles that has been created over time by the people living in the Bo Kaap area. The Cape Malay people are themselves a fusion of cultures that was created when the Dutch, who originally inhabited Cape Town and still have a large presence here today, brought slaves over from many of their colonies in Asia. Despite, or possibly because of, the terrible past that this group endured, the Cape Malay people maintain a strong community where everybody seems to know each other. Our teacher, Gamida (pronounced hah-me-dah) took us to the local spice shop where you can literally buy any spice on earth, or so it seems, and explained to us the importance of the various spices in Cape Malay dishes. She also walked us around the Bo Kaap area telling us her story growing up in the area as well as the story of the area itself. It wasn’t until 1994 that the Cape Malay people were actually able to own their own homes. Until that point, they simply rented them from the wealthy Dutch landlords. Originally many of the houses were built in a Dutch style and were all similar white or off white colors. However, once the Cape Malays purchased the homes, a radical transformation began to take place that created the picturesque area that we see today. It started with one person painting the outside of their home a bright color. Soon houses left and right began to brighten the neighborhood with bright blues, greens, purples, yellows and oranges. Today the area is a rainbow of colors that truly separates it from anywhere else in the city.

After visiting the area, we were welcomed to Gamida’s home to prepare the food. We created and devoured delicious Malay curry, Samosas, Chili Bites, Roti and Sambals and even enjoyed some amazing koeksisters for dessert. Gamida was an amazing host. She is possibly one of the nicest people that I’ve ever met, has a phenomenal sense of humor (just ask about her “who’s your daddy” move to prepare roti), and is an incredible chef. We laughed and ate our way through the afternoon for yet another great cooking class!

After one day lost to a near-miss of the malaria trifecta, we were back to exploring the town, and this time we finally got some sunshine! We spent a beautiful morning in Camps Bay, a relaxing, homey beach front area filled with people and dogs playing on the beach, cyclists flying by and beach front cafes. We found a beautiful view on a boulder overlooking the crashing waves to take it all in. Shortly after, we were joined by a couple from England that had been living in South Africa for the past 6 years. After assuring us that we had chosen the most beautiful spot on the entire beach, we got to talking about what they do here and learned that they run a program in a township about an hour outside of Cape Town focused on reversing some of the terrible effects that Apartheid has had on this country. They provide medical care, education through sports, and opportunities for people in townships to build valuable career skills through a program called Village of Hope. SPOILER ALERT: After talking to this couple for 30 minutes, we’ve now decided to head up to their village for two days to volunteer with their organization!

With a great morning at Camps Bay behind us, we embarked on the true adventure of the day, a climb to the top of Lions Head, a little over 2,000 vertical feet of hiking along a cliff’s edge combined with some aggressive rock scrambling to reach some incredible views of the bay and of the city. Fortunately, the weather was great for the hike and we were able to enjoy every moment of it. While most tourists climb (or take a cable car) to the top of Table Mountain, we decided to check out it’s sister peak so that we could enjoy a hike with a greater variety of vistas throughout and we were rewarded with an even better angle of the famous outlines that Table Mountain has to offer.

Day 4 ended with a surprise meet up with our friends Andy and Kelly, who just happened to be in Cape Town at the exact same time as us for their honeymoon! Funny enough, we were actually staying in the same hotel for 2 days without realizing until Sammar saw a Facebook post that they were in Cape Town. It’s always great to see familiar faces when you’re traveling and we had a great time with Andy & Kelly. If anyone else wants to randomly pop-up in Turkey, Italy or Spain you’re more than welcome to! The last time we had seen Andy and Kelly was the night of our wedding…