Aquila Game Reserve

We had scheduled an overnighter outside of Cape Town at a game reserve.  This was a good time to practice driving on the wrong side of the road since we didn't have too many turns once we were out of town.  Chris had me keep telling him, "Stay to the left" to remind him which side of the road he was supposed to be on.  At this point we had been driven around by enough people that we were getting the hang of it.  The drive was beautiful with valley's of grape vineyards which I'll show you more of later.  The townships were always amazing and sad to see and puts worldly things into perspective.

Township on the way to Aquila

Vineyards of Stellenbausch

Relaxing by the pool before we were allowed in our room. They served us food, buffet style which was delicious!

Evening game drive - Chris had the back of the truck all to himself

We saw lots of zebra.

Eland - they are big!

More eland

Can you find the elephant?

The hippos weren't very accommodating.  They liked the water.

Cape Buffalo - these guys are mean.  This one charged the truck as we were in his path.

Wildebeest

These lions were so funny and very affectionate with each other.  The pride had about 6 lions in it and they were beautiful.  

View of accommodations at the reserve from our safari truck.

Our chalet and car.  

Look what they left us on the bed!

Outdoor shower anyone?

We took a morning quad bike safari int he morning which was really fun.  We got to see more of the reserve this way. 

Chris with the elephants in the background.

Our day spent here was tons of fun and we'd recommend it to anyone!

Table Top Mountain

Remember this mountain?  Well we hiked up it!

It was a good thing we had gone hiking a day before this hike to Elephant's Eye because our guide was hiking at top speed this day.  Mark picked us up from the Mission Home (which was really nice as we were still getting used to the whole left hand side of the street driving) and he knew right where to go to park and start the hike.  We hiked up one of the gorges on the mountain, along with everyone else in Cape Town it seemed like.  However, we were able to get some good shots with just us in the pictures!

Mark and Chris

Almost to the top, in the clouds

We made it! One hour 15 minutes up.  It was cold up at the top.

The view was spectacular and we felt blessed to be able to see anything.  There are many days when the "Tablecloth"  of clouds inhibits the view.

Putting on my jacket as a sweaty body and cold wind don't mix well.

The cable car wasn't working for a while because it was so windy.  However we waited a little while and fortunately it made a run down again to take some workers to the bottom and we hitched a ride.  The cable car is fun as the bottom turns slowly around so that you get a good 360 degree view as you travel.  Plus we heard that hiking down is worse than hiking up!  

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

Cape Town has a beautiful oasis in the form of a botanical garden.  Kirstenbosch is filled with indigenous plants of all kinds.  I couldn't believe how many different plants there were there, this could be because they were plants I wasn't used to seeing, either way, they were all beautiful.  We had a lovely day relaxing in the garden, eating lunch and enjoying the beauty of the area.

A day with Mark and Kathy

On Thursday we had a great day with our hosts Mark and Kathy.  We took a drive out to Cape Point which took us back over Chapman's Peak which we had cycled on Tuesday. 

Near Cape Point we saw some baboons along the side of the road.  From what we hear, these guys can be pretty smart and mean.  People have been attacked by them as they know that backpacks contain food and they will take your pack.  This troup was hanging out right on the side of the road

Love this guy!

Coastal view

Penguins at Boulders Beach

These little African Penguins were fun to watch. 

Elephant's Eye

During our drive, there were so many visitors at Cape Point that we decided not to wait in line for over an hour to get in to the park and to go and take a hike instead.  Mark and Kathy had heard of a hike called Elephant's Eye but weren't quite sure where it was.  We looked it up on the trusty iphone and off we went!  It was a beautiful hike up to the cave where we had a great view of all of Cape Town.

The Eye of the Elephant

Mark and Kathy

Katie in the cave

Our day ended with a great dinner in downtown Cape Town at Primi Piatti.  It was a fabulous day!