As mentioned before, we missed the first day of our post-cruise tour, meaning we missed seeing the penguin colony. Well, that's the way this cruise went. We picked up at day two, which took us to the wine country. We apologize for having almost no pix. We were too busy drinking wine.
The day began with a wine tasting at Nederberg winery, where the grounds were very pretty.
Next stop, Stellenbosch, where we were turned loose to wander freely. Now, you'd think that there would be a wine shop on every corner, yes? No. We had to hot-foot it all over to finally find a liquor store attached to the grocery. We did get two bottles of Pinotage to take back to the hotel. There was a dinner at the hotel that night, but we were still full from our light lunch so we drank more wine and watched highlights from the Dakar Rally.
Next day was an early departure for Aquila Wildlife Preserve. A stop along the way:
Okay, here we go. This is what Africa is all about, if you read National Geographic.
The infamous Dung Beetle in action. Well, sort of:
We promised elephants. Here are elephants.
Here's how we got around the preserve:
And so the great South African adventure drew to a close. It ended with another sixteen-hour flight from Cape Town to Dulles, which has to be the worst airport in the world for transferring international passengers. Can't say much for their luggage delivery, either. One of our "priority" bags was the last one off the plane.
And again, a departure delay. The irritated Captain kept updating us about the fact that we were waiting for some folks who came in on an international. They were probably waiting for their "priority" bags. When they did show up, one of them was a celebrity! Sitting right in front of Gordon was Chance the Rapper, of Chicago fame, returning with his entourage from Accra, Ghana where they launched the Black Star Line Festival.
Home at last. Hooray. The water heater went. Welcome home.
