The Adventures of Mary and Jim!

Jim and Mary in the cable car on the way up to Table Mountain.
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As many of you know, my aunt Mary and uncle Jim came for a two week visit in South Africa!  It was fabulous!  They arrived into Cape Town on the 31st of January, and it was a whirlwind of activity until they left on the 16th of February!  To start it off, Mary was originally going to travel here alone.  For those of you who don't know Mary, she had difficulty ordering a coffee from Starbucks on a trip with Cari and I last winter!  I was needless to say a little worried about her journey here!  Thank goodness my uncle agreed to travel along!

My view from the car parked at the side of the cliff!
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They stayed in a beautiful cottage in Camps Bay for the first week of their visit.  The suburb of Camps Bay is a very plush area, and much nicer than the area I am staying in!  I was therefore very excited to find out the cottage had two bedrooms!  Ha, ha!  After an amazing breakfast on the beach in Camps Bay, we spent the first day together in Cape Town exploring Long Street and the downtown area.  We picked up the rental car after a nice lunch, and started the challenging hilly drive towards Camps Bay from Cape Town.  They drive on the left side of the road here, and most of the cars have a stick shift!  Thank goodness JIm has driven in Ireland already!  As we are driving up the steep incline towards our exit on the highway, Mary exclaims, "The weather is nice, let's go to Table Mountain for a sundowner cocktail!"  Jim agrees, and I start deep-breathing as he angles towards the even steeper and curvier narrow road up to the cable car for the mountain!  At one point we take a 90 degree curve with a sheer cliff on my side of the car and I have to put my head between my knees!  I begin a combination of uncontrolled giggling, crying, and nauseousness!  I though for sure we were going over the edge!  Mind you, JIm had just warmed up to driving 15 minutes ago, and now we were faced with parking on the edge of the road at the cliff!  Thank goodness we survived!  In the end, Jim was an excellent driver, but at that moment I was not in a trusting sort of state of mind!

A view of the city from the top of Table Mountain.
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We took the cable car up to the top of the mountain and took in the spectacular view of the city and surrounding ocean.  It really was incredible!  We strolled a marked path around the top for a full view of the whole peninsula, and then stopped at the cafe for a toast to the start off a lovely vacation!

We took the cable car back down the mountain, and drove to Camps Bay.  After parking the car at the cottage we strolled to the beach to watch the sunset, and then went to dinner.  We ate at a restaurant called The Codfather.  Cheesy name, but cool idea!  We basically went up to the fish counter, like in a fish market, and ordered the fresh fish to eat!  The three of us ordered a bunch of variety and shared a big platter.  It all was super delicious!  That night, I spent the evening at the cottage with them, and they returned me to Muizenberg in the morning for work.

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean!
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On Friday, Mary and Jim explored the waterfront area of Cape Town with all its shops and restaurants.  I arranged to meet them at the train station and then go to dinner in the city.  I missed my first train time because work was busy, and then jumped on the next train a half an hour later.  I figured they would be a bit bored in the station, and a little miffed at me, but I forgot about what travelling in Africa is like for people for the first time.  They were pale and internally shaking when they met me at the gate.  I apologized for being late, and all they said was, "We are not doing this again!  We will pick you up!"  I laughed, to find out they had been the only white people in the train station for an hour and a half, and there was no where for them to sit and wait!  From then on, for the sake of my uncle's blood pressure, I agreed to be picked up and dropped off in Muizenberg.  Ha, ha!

Me at Cape Point!
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Anyway, we ate at a recommended restaurant in the city, Rafiki's, and dined on amazing seafood for a second night.  Jim had a half kilo of prawns, the house speciality.  The portion was big, but delicious.  We also got an opportunity to watch rugby on the big screen.  Mary is now officially hooked!  She was asked complete strangers for the rules and details of the game!  It was hilarious!  We went back to the cottage that night to a good night's sleep, and they dropped me in Muizenberg in the morning.

The wind was so strong at Cape Point, these Korean boys were almost blown away! Ha, ha!
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They took a day to explore on their own, and I met them again on Sunday night after working for two days.  They drove to Cape Point, the southeastern and southwestern most tips of Africa, saw the penguins at Simon's Town, and saw a lot of the coast.  They even found a great grocery store to get fixings for a braai (bbq).  We had a great meal at the cottage on Sunday night, and then I slept over one more night.  I had arranged with work to get 6 days off to travel with them, so I worked until Tuesday night when they picked me up for the last night in Camps Bay.  We were to head for the Garden Route along the southern coast of South Africa for the next six days.  It was definitely an adventure!  More to come on the next entry about the trip!