Having experienced the long haul 36hrs of flying from Perth to Buenos Aires (the long way round) on the way out... we got smart and maybe just a little lushy and decided to break it up with a wee stop over in Cape-Town on our homeward journey.
Part way through our -1 star holiday through most of South America we decided it would be pretty darn nice to crank the star ratings up a bit for this last little hoorah and found ourselves a super lush luxury package here in the Westin Grand Arrabella hotel. Have to say... theres not much to not like about 5 star!!!
Our 8 hr flight from Argentina to here was a cinch - emergency seat leg room, free booze and movies on demand. Who can complain really?
Got to Cape-Town and managed to track down our hire car for the stay. Coming in at about 3 cubic inches, The Silver Bullet is not to be messed with. It might be small... it might have shopping trolley wheels and it might even look a little silly... but the Silver Bullet is a hyundai with attitude! Seriously. Well not really... but we've been having fun talking him up.
Check in was all oh so posh... with valet parking and some dude taking our bags up to the room for us. Once settled it was imperative to go check out the 19th floor pool, jacuzzi and sauna. Complete with fluffy robes, slippers and iced lemon water. Sigh. Did I mention how much I like 5 star?!
So the next day saw us stuff ourselves a little stupid on the deluxe buffet breakfast (including sushi) and then climb aboard the Silver Bullet for our sojourn into the Winelands. YAY! Some of the wineries in this region were establish as long ago as the 1600's. Bluddy hell! Thats longer ago than our own country was even settled! Needless to say they seem to have mastered quite a few nice wines which we were obliged to taste. Damn the weight restrictions on the plane aye??
Made our way through the vineyards and alongside the mountain range checking out a few wineries and then stumbled upon a Cheetah Centre. On the same property as a winery in fact. They have an Cheetah program there based on education (mostly of farmers) on the plight of the cheetah and alternative protection for farm stocks. Anyhoo... long story short... we got to accompany one of the animal workers into the cage with "Enigma" a 3 year old Cheetah who kindly lazed while we patted him. Cool!! They're incredibly elegant creatures, with their long legs, fine build and stunning coats! Just gorgeous. All limbs still in tact... off we went to continue our wine tasting.
Wine tasting came to a sudden and unwanted halt when the damn cellars all closed!!! Apparently 5pm had rolled around and it was time for us to find some other fun. And wouldn't you know it... there was Table Top Mountain... just sitting there waiting for some exploring.
Up the cable car we went and were just in time for the clouds to roll on over. Theres heaps of weird micro weather systems around Cape Town which bring in all sorts of fierce winds, fog and cloud... but all quite randomly. Made for a pretty exciting and eeirie experience though. The wind was blowing the cloud cover so fast that one minute we'd be entirely immersed in white and the next minute it would be clear and we'd have a glimpse of the stunning view accross Cape-Town and the coast.
The evening called for champers. Naturally. And a hot tub. Of course. And gambling. Why not. Made a trip to the Cape-town casino and broke even. Which is no mean feat given Ben's gambling tendencies!!!
Not sure if it was mild jet lag, total over stuffing at breakfast or just sinking into the 5 star lifestyle... but the next day had us doing a whole lot of nothing. Bloody marvellous! Made our way down to the Victoria and Albert waterfront for sunset and had a lovely chilled out kinda evening. Sank some brews and just soaked it all in really.
Our motivated start today (in the spa and sauna) did us well. Got us up and at 'em at the sprightly hour of 9. ish. All fresh and ready for another adventure with the mighty Silver Bullet. Down to the Cape of Good hope this time. Great cliff side, coastal drive down - complete with a baboon stop. Theres a wee spot with a troupe (?!) of Baboons chilling out amongst the rocks (and on the road). Stopped for a little look and found ourselves in amongst them all. Big Papa Baboon eventually made his way down from his rock top and watched closely as some tourist unlocked his car doors. Waited for his chance, then sauntered on over, opened the drivers door and piled on in. Extremely funny! Although the wee 3 year old kid who now found himself inside a car with a big male baboon 5 times his size didn't seem to think so! Poor darling DEFINTELY needed a nappy change by the time his mum managed to haul him out!
Big Papa eventually found his way out of the car (after ransacking it thouroughly) and made his way onto the roof of ours. Hmmm. No way in hell I was gonna try getting in with him sitting there! So we just waited him out - took some more photos and he eventually moved off. Made a well synchronised dash into the car and made sure to lock the doors behind us.
Saw the wonderful wild ocean crashing onto the Cape of Good Hope. Slalommed around several tortises trying to cross the road and made our way along the other coast (its a cape) back to Cape-Town. Another tops day that surely needs to be rewarded with another sauna and perhaps some champers.
Sadly we have to leave super early tomorrow morning. Which means we'll have to phone down for our car and to have our bags fetched and organise our breakfast pastries to go I suppose. So tough! Very very very excited about coming home!
This is it my friends. The end of the road for Ben and Ange.
Soon enough we'll be able to bore you IN PERSON! Can't wait huh?!
