Staying BUSY in Cape Town

The fun has not stopped even though our bikes are stripped down and in their cardboard travelling boxes; now we're onto a different kind of fun!

After our Table Mountain day our friend Bridget, from South Africa, kindly took us on a driving tour of this gorgeous area.  She has a brand new VW van so a bunch of us piled in and we drove down to the Cape of Good Hope.  It was another amazing blue sky and sunshine day, starting with a nice coffee/pastry stop, then onto Boulder Beach to see the African PENGUINS! They are about knee high and absolutely adorable.  We oohed and aaahed over their cuteness for quite a while, then carried on to the Cape.  The views were incredible and after our 15 minute walk up to the lighthouse, we decided we needed sustenance (again) so off to the restaurant we went, perched on the edge of a cliff, and enjoyed a fine meal and of course more South African wine while taking in the immense panorama.  Very good food is the standard here, everywhere it seems!

Yesterday we were off to wine country and headed out towards Paarl and Stellenbosch.  Along the way, our tour guide took us to a monument which celebrates the existence and success of the Afrikaans language.  It is a pretty interesting evolution combining several European languages, some Arabic, and some African languages, all blended into a language that works and is the first language of most South Africans.  Then it was wine time!  We went to a beautiful wine farm and did a wine and cheese tasting, then moved on to the restaurant for yet another amazing meal.  After that, we were on our way to Stellenbosch and our guide, who had talked to us a lot about apartheid and Nelson Mandela's influence drove us to the prison farm where Mandela had spent his last 18 months of imprisonment.  He talked to the people at the gate who told him "no, you can't just show up and see where Mandela was, you need an appointment". Well, before we knew it, we had a senior prison official squeezing into the car with us, directing us through the prison farm all the way to the house where Mandela stayed.  It will one day be a museum but for now the public is not allowed access.  Except for us!  We were allowed in, saw the whole house, heard some stories from the guard and took a few photos of the ourselves sitting at the dining room table where Mandela and deKlerk discussed the future of South Africa!  

Today, we are going to Robben Island, another prison, where Mandela spent 20 years.  It is a cool, foggy day which will no doubt add to the atmosphere.

CAPE TOWN!!!!

"We're going to Cape Town

I must be mad, four months gone,

Cycling my bike in the African sun"

...from the clever song written by one of the riders, we all had it running through our brains as we rode the final kilometres into Kaapstad (working on my Afrikaans) yesterday, the immensity of Table Mountain looming ever larger as we rode.  We rode about 65 km to a stunningly gorgeous beach where we took photos of us holding up our bikes, and waited for the police to arrive to escort us  the final 30 km into the city.  Wow, did that last 30 km ever go fast!  How can it all be over already?  

We rode into the busy waterfront area, under the finish line banner to a warm welcome - there was a crowd gathered in the bright sunshine cheering us on, a band playing happy music and then the festivities commenced.  It was a bit like being at one of Selena's gymnastics competitions; we marched onto the amphitheatre stage organized by country, carrying a big flag.  A few speeches, full tour riders were presented medals, EFI riders got their medals (hurray for Wayne!) race winners recognized, one last bike donation,lots of thanks expressed and that was it!

Then...a short ride up the street to the hotel, and we really knew it was over when we went to the truck to clean out our lockers.  No more standing at the bottom of the truck steps waiting for the people with adjacent lockers to get out of the way, no more burrowing into the very back of the locker to get an elusive item that we had decided we wouldn't need, no more staggering down those truck steps carrying a full load of camping gear after riding 150 km or so.  

More later....our hotel room looks like a bomb went off and we must get somewhat organized before we head out into another brilliantly sunny day to tackle Table Mountain!  Check out the TDA website for finish line photos, and maybe even photos from last night's party!

Me and the Atlantic!

Country number 10!

We have arrived in South Africa, a trouble-free border crossing over the Orange River (another disappointment - it is NOT orange!) and we were pinching ourselves, hardly believing we were actually here. We have had some long days though, like yesterday's ride of 162 km, including 26 km of nasty gravel/sand/washboard. But, we persevere and keep on riding, riding, riding. This country is very empty, huge big tracts of land with nothing apparently here other than scrubby brush, but something important must be out there as both roadsides are fenced with serious looking fences.

There is a distinct European feel here, the landscape, the people and the tidy farms and homes. We are into wine growing areas (yay!) including one huge project where desert sand was being turned into agricultural land, for growing grapes. Now if that isn't a good use of the desert, I don't know what is!

Yesterday's ride ended at the ocean, but it was hard to see until I was actually almost at camp because of the thick fog. It was amazing camping mere metres away from the pounding surf and we are at another camp on the beach tonight and again tomorrow. Tomorrow is our second last riding day and I can't tell you how excited I am about the day after that - the ride into Cape Town!

Sent from my iPad