October Break Trip Report: South Africa

On a Wednesday in early October, Jonah walked into my office, tossed our passports - which had just been returned with renewed visas in them - on my desk and said "So, where do you want to go?". Our week-long October break was just ten days away and nothing had been planned, given the uncertainly about whether we would have passports back in time. We quickly took a glance at flight options and then went home to ask our tweens for their suggestions. Liam's response: "It doesn't matter where we go as long as there is a mall." Okay....... Asa gave it a bit more consideration then said: "I want to stay on a farm."

I'm constantly amazed at how different siblings can be.

The best and easiest option to satisfy everyone's wishes was Cape Town. We ended up with a week of beautiful springtime temperatures and a balance of farm life and city wandering. The farm stay - just two hours outside the city - exceeded expectations with a very warm welcome from our hosts, the five friendly dogs, and a large fireplace in our cottage.

It was a short drive from the farm to Cape Agulhas, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and also where one can find a great serving of fish n' chips for lunch:

Heading back toward Cape Town, a stop in Hermanus for lunch where breaching whales were visible from shore:

Our Airbnb in Cape Town was in a great location so we walked (or Uber'd) and ate our way around the city. We also escaped from an escape room, ventured out for a second visit to Robben Island, and drove down to the Cape of Good Hope on a crazy windy day. And, it turns out all Liam really wanted to do in a mall was hang out in computer stores to check out the merchandise on display.

On our last day, we met up with our Table Mountain guide from when we did that hike in January 2015. She was pregnant back then and now has not one but two daughters. It was fun to reconnect with Lauren, meet her family, and get the inside scoop on a farmer's market when we ended up having lunch together. 

So that wraps up the overdue trip report from October, and now we are getting sorted and packed up for winter break. Very much looking forward to reunions with old friends, meeting up with new friends, and exploring a new country over the next three weeks. Nairobi and Tanzania - here we come!