"My new favorite city?" a Cape Town Travel Page by Bunsch

Barely an hour from Cape Town, after going over Chapman's Peak, you'll find the Cape of Good Hope, part of Table Mountain National Park. (It's a steep admission fee but also gets you into see the penguins at Boulder Beach.) On my first full day in RSA, we climbed to the top of the Cape Point Lighthouse. Better be fit -- this is a challenging walk! But there are extraordinary views and, if you're lucky, baboons. Then we clambered down to the "beach" accompanied by a group of ostrich. By the time we headed back, we were ready for some great margaritas at Cape to Cuba.

Kirstenbosch is one of the most beautiful botanical gardens I've ever seen. It is also one of the most extensive. We spent three or four hours
rambling around and didn't see even half of the trails and special gardens. We began by going almost straight up the side of the mountain, a climb nearly as exhausting as the Cape Point Light House but without a defined end point -- we were heading towards "Skeleton Gorge" but no one knew how far away it was. We finally gave, deciding to see The Hedge. It is
capitalized because it was planted in 1660 as the original "defense" of the new Cape Colony. It was not all that impressive in actual fact, just a bunch of green bushy stuff, though quite dense. We also saw some of the myriad varieties of fynbos (also called protea), which were interesting, and
whole sweeps of agapanthus in a number of colors which I found much more beautiful. We enjoyed the "scent gardens" and the water gardens, but probably the most enjoyable sights weren't plant matter at all, but a
small flock of guinea hens with their chicks, all strolling across the manicured greensward, and also the children who were everywhere, running and playing. I was struck by the fact that there wasn't a bride in
sight -- in Durban, the botanical gardens was almost crowded with brides.

We started at the Spier Estate. This is very tourist-oriented; the winery supports the arts (Scott's band has performed there) and has a Disney-like assortment of activities for visitors, but not very good wine. I was pleased
enough with a wine-and-cheese sampler that set me back about $3.25, but it was mostly because the locally-made cheese was terrific! However, I did get to see the cheetahs -- Cheetah Outreach is located on the grounds, and there are perhaps a dozen animals in residence, including four cubs born two months ago and already, like puppies, stretching to a lanky adolescence. Our next stop was Mittelvlei, which used to be Jay's
favorite South African winery. Indeed, there was much to like there -- friendly people, excellent wines, even a huge lumbering dog who ambled into the tasting room to get petted before resettling himself on the
sunny walkway outside. We had to buy some wine there. Then on to Sylvan Vale. What a terrific choice to finish the day! This one was deep in the Devon Valley, and had the most splendid views of all. It was probably also the best value, and had the best wine steward. We had seven different wines and a bountiful platter of cheeses, dried fruits, and figs, after which none of us could imagine wanting to eat dinner. As we sat there, just enjoying the prospect of the vineyards and the clouds hovering
mid-way up the mountains in the distance, I felt that everything was right with the world.