Cape Town

Everyone I mentioned to, that I was going to South Africa asked me not to miss Cape Town. It is supposedly an amazing and unique city. And even though I have found people's reccomendations wrong at times, I felt I had to visit Cape Town to see it for myself. So I decided to go there alone and I am so glad I did. (And I would agree it is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen!). The vibe from the city is very different, it makes you feel very fresh and alive!

I went to Cape Town in winter when the locals said '...don't go to Cape Town now, it has terrible weather..' and 'its freezing there right now!' but to be honest, after staying in London, a temp of 12-17 degrees Celcius during the day is not terrible or freezing! It turned out to be pleasant weather to travel; and even though it did rain a bit on one day, the other was completely sunny and warm. I stayed at the Taj hotel while in the city because I felt closer to the Indian brand. And while staying there I realised what people meant when they said that service in Taj is always a notch better than other hotel chains. It really is, even in a different country. The staff are well trained, friendly and honestly try to help their customers.

Cape Town from Signal Hill

Initially I had planned to take the city tour but later changed to a rental car and it was the best decision I could have made! Cape Town has a lot to offer in terms of a city, it takes a hold on you with the view it offers: surrounded by three huge mountains on one side (table mountain, devils head and lions head); the busy metropolis in between and the sea on the other. Its shaped like a bowl and the main city is enclosed within the bowl. And it has a very European feel to it. People say once in Cape Town, you don't feel its Africa, and I would agree. It feels different, very open, very fresh and close to nature.

Zorgvliet wineyard

But what Cape Town has to offer outside the city is a lot more than within the city. Green lush hills, wineyards, capes, sea drives, penguins, mountain tops and so on.. Its worth driving out of the city to experience all this..

Asara hotel and wineyard

The first day when I started off to drive towards Stellenbosch, (a small town in the Cape Town wine country), the weather was cloudy but still felt so green and fresh, it was the perfect day for driving in the hills. And I loved driving through the area, winding country roads through hills laced with wineyards on both sides.

Asara wineyards

It took 40 mins (about 50 kms) to drive to Stellenbosch and once there, I just drove towards Franschhoek and whenever I saw a wineyard which looked interesting, took a detour in to admire the view. The wineries I stopped at were Asara, Zorgvliet and La motte. All the wineyards offered restaurants, wine tours, wine tasting and some had hotels and lodges to stay in. They all also had chapels! Most of these wineries had European roots (and flags) and had been there since the 1600s. Some were German, some Italian and so on.

La Motte wineyard

The view (and feel) at each of these wineyards and the area was worth many a picture, I don't have words to describe it. It was just heavenly driving there. Plus Cape Town has an Indian radio channel. That proved to be a boon, driving in such pleasant weather with Hindi music playing; can there be anything better than this?

Vierneef restaurant at La Motte

I had lunch at Vierneef a la motte which had Italian musicians and a restaurant with views to die for. The food was tasty, though expensive by South African standards. Don't know much about the wines though, but anything from such an amazing place has to be good;-).

Every photo I took there felt like a picture. The people were very friendly and I loved the experience. And it was the best wineyard experience I have ever had, the most beautiful wineyards I have ever seen (not been to France yet!). I think it had a lot more to do with the weather than just the place. A slight cool cloudy day makes travel so much more pleasant!

Cape Town at night from Signal Hill

In the evening I drove up one of the hills around the city bowl, called Signal Hill. The drive winds up the mountain offering great panoramic views of the city, with the ocean on one side and the mountain tops on the other. At night with the twinkling lights, it looks even better:). And you realise how small the city is, with a central CBD of high rises and then smaller houses all along up the mountains.

Somewhere near Simons Town

The next day I covered a couple of places in the Cape area: the Boulders Beach which is the nesting place for African penguins; Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope which are the southernmost points on the Cape and the Chapman's drive while coming back to Cape Town. The drive in this area was mesmerizing, along hills next to the sea, offering glorious views at every turn. Mountains, forests, wildlife, ocean, sea-side resorts, water sports.. it was all there!

Boulders Beach

The first stop for me was the Boulders Beach which is located near Simons Town. The actual location where the penguins were was Foxy beach next to Boulders. There are hundreds of penguins there, sometimes on the beach but otherwise hiding under the foliage on the beach. While going towards the beach, I did not spot any but while coming back I realised they were all around!

Adult African penguin

Its a beautiful location to stay in:). There were adult - white and black penguins and the children - with the furry brown coat. They looked cute while waddling around, almost like soldiers! It was fun trying to spot them among the foliage too. Some were hiding under trees, some in the man-made covers for them and some just in the shade. They make loud donkey braying sounds too, and hence were called jackass penguins earlier. And they are so smelly, the whole area stinks!

Baby African penguins

Baboons running along the shore

I also ran into a baboon herd while driving along the coast. Apparently they abound in the Cape region and are a menace. There were boards all along the coast road saying ' Baboons are dangerous animals. Please lock your cars and windows at all times' because apparently they are very smart and can even open cars and wreck havoc inside. The herd was just running southwards along the coast and there was an army of rangers following and tracking them. Apparently they do that everyday from 7am - 3pm, following the baboons to make sure they don't harm people. It did look funny though, the baboons running across the coast and a couple of people with walkie talkies and handguns following them along!

Trek to Cape of Good Hope

After that, I drove into the Cape Point national reserve which includes a wide expanse at the tip of the cape. The landscape was hilly with small-shrubs kind of vegetation. I drove till the end of the cape, where is located the Cape Point with the famous lighthouse which has been used by ships sailing between West and East. Cape of Good Hope is also located nearby, again a symbol of when sailors sailed between East and West. This whole area is very rocky, bare and very very windy. Sometimes its difficult to even stand here.

At the Cape Point area, there is a restaurant called 'Two oceans' which offers beautiful views of both the oceans, and a tasty and warm meal for the tired tourist. Though the name of the restaurant is wrong, the Cape is not the meeting point of the two oceans, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean as everyone likes to think but its still a fabulous setting for a nice meal!

Cape of Good Hope

I went halfway on the trek from Cape Point to Cape of Good Hope and had to give in mid-way because of fear of flying off. It was just easier to drive around to the Cape anyways:). Even when I drove there and parked my car, it felt like my car would blow off. Felt like the most windy place I had ever been to!

Chapmans Peak drive

After leaving the Cape, I drove along the Eastern coast towards Cape Town. Along the way, I drove through the Chapman's Peak drive, a dangerous hilly drive along the coast with views abound. The drive was scenic and so was the sunset.

Views along the coast drive

Once back from Chapman's I tried taking the cable car up the Table Mountain but it was closed due to bad weather. I even tried driving to the Waterfront but did not manage to reach the right waterfront even! Have heard its got eating places and shops there, but missed it! I even got lost in the city as I was not able to stop to change the destination in my GPS. And realised how critical GPS is in a new city. Dread to thing how people managed travel when GPS did not exist!

My whole weekend in Cape Town felt almost like a dream, a beautiful green close-to-nature dream. The town was small and felt open. The places nearby all pretty. Just the perfect weekend away from the city. But along with the beauty, I did notice aspects of a darker and hidden truth. Just outside the city while driving towards the wineyards and the Cape, I noticed densely populated run-down looking townships. These are from the Apartheid times, but now people stay there only because of economic reasons. This is the side of the city and the country that we all try to hide, but is so tough to not notice it when in South Africa.

Views along the coast drive

The demographics of the city also surprise you. Its pre-dominantly white with very few local Africans seen anywhere. There are not that many Indians either, and apparently most of the population is 'Coloured' (which I don't understand). People were very very friendly there which was helpful. And people seemed so much more relaxed than in Joburg. Guess that's because its a sea-side city and such cities are always more relaxed.

Urban Durban

In the coming few weeks, I would hopefully be writing a lot more about South Africa. There are just countless places to visit in the country, each more exotic and unique than the other, that I feel spoilt for choice (and lacking in time). Hopefully I will be able to write about a lot of places I visit in the country and the continent. Also, even though most of the posts will be about the places, I expect there to be a lot about what I feel about the country of South Africa as its sometimes so different from anything I have seen before. There are aspects about the country which hit you everywhere you go and I would be looking forward to penning down my experiences and thoughts as I go along.

Ushaka beach

Anyways, I recently spent a weekend away in Durban. Honestly, I had not expected much out of the trip; Durban is supposed to be just another harbour-based modern South African city. But I was pleasantly surprised! It offered all that and much more. Durban is located on the East coast of SA on the Indian Ocean and hence has warm waters for most of the time in the year. Its also has mountainous terrain which provides it a beauty of its own.

Durban offers both lush green remote hills and relaxed beaches and happening spots in town to spend time. And the highlight for me was this itself; the relaxed aspect of the city, offering multiple activities to have a totally fun and relaxed weekend.

The first view I remember of Durban is the view from the flight, a sea of lights spread till where the eye could see. And just based on the lights, you can make out that the city is very openly spread out, with green pockets in between; a mountainous landscape across the city;  and one end of the city limited by the waters of the Indian Ocean. I had tried to click a picture of this view from the flight to be able to explain better what I saw but the picture did not come out well at all:(.

Umhlanga B&B

While in Durban, we stayed in the Umhlanga area, which is located in the north side of the city. It is supposedly an up-market beach area with lesser tourists than the city. We stayed at a backpackers bed and breakfast located right on the beach at the Promenade and it was amazing. Run by the locals, the B&B was completely relaxed and full of people on backpacking trips. And it was so cheap, it was almost unbelievable!

We stayed in Durban for two days. One of the days we drove around the Valley of 1000 hills and in the evening checked out the restaurants on Florida Road. And the second day was spent just relaxing on the beach, first at the B&B and then in Durban city at the Ushaka Promenade.

The Valley of 1000 hills was a surprising find, as no one had mentioned it before when I had asked some local friends for ideas on stuff to do near Durban. The Valley is about 30-45 mins drive from Durban and takes you through a scenic route. We started our exploration from the village of Kloof (where the librarian took out 15 mins of her work to guide us through all there is to see and visit in the area) and then drove through this very serene and green area.

Kloof waterfall

We did a short half an hour trail around the Kloof waterfall and canyon which felt nice as it was all fresh and green around (and there were not many tourists!). The waterfall was actually a series of cascades, some big and some small. They were not much to talk about though but the trail was refreshing. The trail takes you to the bottom of the cascades which might give you a better view. We however did not complete the trail.

Kloof gorge

And then while driving on, we saw this view of the canyon from one of the viewpoints: Who could say this is Africa? This is one of the two Africas that we witnessed throughout our trip; and this was the rich part: Huge holiday homes located on a mountain with a beautiful view.

Christine's eatery

We drove around for a couple of hours in this area, which had many valleys and beautiful views all across. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful eatery, called Christine's eatery somewhere in the middle of the route. This was the view from the Eatery, with its own personal Bird Park below. It was run by a woman, Christine along with her daughter. Her life seemed like such a different life from the one we all live; living a slow relaxed life in the middle of nowhere, running your own wildlife park and restaurant.

Baby crocodiles

After that, we stopped at the Phezulu village on the route. It was another tourist spot offering a game drive, a walk through their crocodile and snake park and a visit to the Zulu visit to see the Zulu dance. (Zulu is the biggest local tribe in this region). The Zulu dance sounded interesting and we decide to see it. And since we had some extra time with us, we walked through the crocodile and snake park too. There were some 400-500 crocodiles bred in this park, all of them kept in separate enclosures based on their age.

50 year old crocodile

Upto 5 years, all kept together; 5-15 years together and so on. It was actually nice to learn a little bit more about crocodiles, especially that they can live for 110 years (I did not know that earlier)! I still find them yucky creatures though!. The photo on the right shows a crocodile who was just sitting there with his mouth open for the whole time and not moving at all. For a long time we wondered if it was a fake one! But it wasn't.

Green Mamba

The snake park was yucky too (as I hate snakes!) but I liked this photograph of the green Mamba. There are many such private wildlife parks in SA, all have their own animals and their own tourist activities. Private individuals just maintain their own parks which serves as a source of income. I wonder how regulated these are?

Zulu village

After the crocodile and snake walk, we were shown around a sample Zulu village, ending with a half an hour Zulu dance performance. The Zulu dancers showed how a courtship happens in Zulu villages; the man proposes to the girl, tries to convince her to marry him, gets a necklace from her as agreement, visits a fortune teller who tells him his future with the girl, and then gets married accompanied by a 3 day long celebration including a lot of dancing.

Zulu man proposing

I enjoyed the whole performance and the acting of all the performers and was impressed with their level of energy during the whole show. But as much as I enjoyed seeing it, I felt weird and sad too, realising how commercialised even cultures have become now. The performers were Zulu but were now living the usual Western lives. They were connecting with their own culture only when performing in front of tourists. Why is the world becoming all the same; the Western American culture. Though I should say, even though I felt sad about it, I was playing a part in the commercialisation. I was paying to see it, how can I complain?

Marriage celebrations

Marriage celebrations

After the trip to the hills, we spent the evening in Florida road, the hip part of town. The whole road was full of restaurants and night clubs and the trip there made me feel again, why is the whole world tending towards the same culture? We had dinner at a Mexican place, called Cubana. Surprisingly, the waitress was from Portugal and she had come to South Africa to work! Reverse brain drain? Food in South Africa is tasty and very cheap. Most places, one person can have a lunch with starter and a drink for only $10-15! Taxis and shopping and tourism is expensive but food is definitely very cheap.

It is very difficult to be in South Africa and not notice the remnants of Apartheid all around you. At times it feels like you are in the Western world, with only whites around you. And even though its not because the local South Africans are not allowed at these place, they just don't have the money to be in the same places as the whites, given the years of segregation and exploitation. The Cubana restaurant  where we had dinner was completely local South Africans and when we stopped at another place called the TacoZulu,  it was completely white! So even though there is no segregation by law anymore, it still exists! We also visited the Umhlanga area at night and went into 'Cotton Fields' on the beach; it felt almost like an Australian club with the live band playing Australian music and only whites in the club.

Durban from Umhlanga

The second day, we just sat in the balcony of our B&B, staring at the sea, hearing its roar and taking in the sun. Finally when I was getting in the vacation mode, it was almost time to head back home! How sad is that?! The beach was completely empty except for the fisherman sitting there and fishing. The water was surprisingly warm and good enough to go for a swim. And you could even see Durban and the football stadium from there.

Ushaka Promenade

The rest of the day, we spent at the Promenande at Ushaka beach which extends for many kms within the city. It did not feel at all that we were in the middle of the city, the beach seemed such a vacation kind of place. The Promenade was lined with cafes playing live music, performers on the street and people surfing and swimming in the water. The whole vibe of this area felt very Carribbean (another word for 'lively and relaxing'). The whole atmosphere was so relaxed, I loved it even though we did not do much that day.

Caribbean music

Durban seemed like a relatively safe city to be in though we still avoided going to deserted places. The houses in many areas were posh and spread out but there were areas you could see were poor. The harbourfront had huge buildings right on the beach. The people were all very friendly and helpful. I enjoyed listening to the South African accent too, it is almost a sing-song accent and sounds good even though sometimes you cant understand it. Driving was quite easy in the city as there were many highways and well marked roads. People drive mostly by the rules which made the transition easier.

There is a reason why SA is called the Rainbow Nation: there people of different backgrounds everywhere. Durban supposedly has a huge Indian community too, and the Indian quarters are supposed to be quite popular with tourists. We did not visit it but am sure would have been fun.

So all in all, I had a relaxing weekend in Durban, almost like a short Caribbean vacation. but what I went back with, was the feeling of being in a place with a very unfair history. I noticed two different worlds at the same place and reading about Aparthied made me feel even worse, questioning how something like that could have existed in the world till 1990s! I think at some point I need to move beyond it, but for now this is something which keeps coming up as I explore more of this country.

Snowdonia National Park in Wales

This summer, we spent a long leisurely weekend in Snowdonia National Park in a cottage in the town of Dolgellau. Getting to Dolgellau wasn't as easy though, as there are no car rentals available at night at any of the train stations nearby. So we took a train to Birmingham and then drove about 2.5 hours to reach Dolgellau.

Park landscape

Snowdonia National Park is huge, covering half the length of Wales. The highlight of the Park is the Snowdon Mountain, apparently the highest mountain in Wales and England. Other than that, there are green hills, beaches and quaint villages dotting the Park. There are many activities to do in the Park: trekking, water-sports, castles, relaxing on the beach or just enjoying a nice meal in any of the little road-side inns.

We did a little bit of trekking near Dolgellau, half the trek up Snowdon Mountain and some timepass at one of the beaches near Dolgellau, so all in all a relaxed weekend with some activity here and there (and a lot of driving!).

Park landscape

The weather for 2 of the 3 days we were there was not sunny but the area looked just beautiful when the sun came out! Pristine green hills all around dotted with white sheep and rivers and lakes. But the sun was so rare, we saw very few of those Kodak moments!

The first day, we spent half the day in Dolgellau looking for something to eat!! It would be wrong to call it a town, its actually just a small village with very limited eating options. Finally, a breakfast place offering burgers and pizzas saved us! Thankfully they had a Spar superstore in the village too which saved us from hunger for the rest of the trip!!

Precipice trail

Near Dolgellau, we did a short 2 hour trek on the Precipice trail. Its a beautiful trail taking you through fields filled with sheep, next to a small lake and finally finishing around a hill with views till afar. You can see the shore and the sea coming inland too, from the top of the trail.

View from Precipice trail

View of Llanberis

The next day, we did half of the trek up Snowdon Mountain. The trek starts from the town of Llanberis and it takes about 4-5 hours to go up and come down. Due to a time limitation, we did only part of the trek. Be aware though, the first part of the trek is very steep but it gets a lot better as you move on. The mountain was bare with limited vegetation, so nothing much to see while trekking up. The views of Llanberis and the lake were pretty though!

Train up Snowdon

There is also an option to take the train up the mountain (for the lazy ones!). I would suggest that its better to walk up as its not too tough, though the train ride does look cute and romantic! Also, the train has very limited runs during non-peak times, so its always a good idea to check the schedule and book in advance if you still want to use it. Also point to note is its generally much colder at the peak than the bottom, so would suggest all to go up fully prepared.

While we were going up, we ran into multiple people coming down dressed as superheroes. Don't know if there was a superhero convention happening at the peak or not, nonetheless it was an interesting sight. While coming down, we also stopped at the Snowdon inn on the way which offers some tasty Welsh scones for tired souls.

Barmouth

The last day we did some sightseeing, visited the beach at Barmouth, a beautiful little (but crowded) town and then drove upto the Harlech castle which was just ok-ish. We did eat at the best ice-cream shop in town though (in a town of 500 people!) and bought tasty freshly made fudge, the benefits of life in the slow lane.

Harlech Castle

View from Harlech

We drove around a lot in the Park too, taking in the sights of green fields filled with sheep (yet again!) all around, running into lakes every few miles. We drove through the Hay (?) valley which looked very beautiful and worth visiting and staying in sometime in the future.

Park landscape

We landed up in the town of Betws-y-Coed while trying to catch a train to London and it seemed very romantic and lovely. I guess its a good place to stay if you visit Snowdonia, was so lively and well decorated! We also landed in the town of Shrewsbury just outside the park, and ate at Saffron, a "renowned" Bangladeshi restaurant. Even that tasted good when you haven't had Indian food for a couple of days. (Also, would definitely advice anyone going to Wales to check the train schedule carefully as they have very limited services on Sundays. We ended up having to drive around a lot to catch a train!)

Other than the places we visited, there are many other treks to explore, cycling tracks to cycle on, coasteering to do across the cliffs and beautiful castles to visit. There is a Go-Ape site also located near Dolgellau which was closed when we visited it but might be an interesting activity.

Park landscape

The rest of the time, we just spent in our cottage which was a beautiful two-storeyed house overlooking the town with a glassed skylight room to sit and enjoy the view. This was my second time staying in a cottage and I loved it. Feels so homely and cosy, definite way to go vacationing in UK.  After the relaxed three days, we drove back to Birmingham and then to London, leaving all the green fields behind. Even a weekend in the countryside relaxes you so much, should do it more often!

Waffles, fries and chocolates.. Belgium (Brussels & Ghent)

This summer we spent a sunny weekend in Belgium in the towns of Brussels and Ghent. Frankly, Belgium is not really a preferred destination for tourists and I would agree with that. But it's not a bad place to spend a nice relaxing weekend away from London and gathering some unwanted calories:).

Paintings of Grand Place

I stayed in Brussels for an evening, and spent some time in and around the central area. There is much to see around here, just the Grand Place, Manneken Pis and the view of the city from the Courts of Justice.

Grand Place

The Grand Place is a huge town square surrounded by huge lighted buildings all around, including the City Hall and the various guild buildings. The square is full of the usual touristic activities: street performers, caricature artists and paintings of the square.






The all around panorama of the square is pretty, especially at night when all the buildings light up in different colours.

Grand Place (day)

Grand Place (night)

Chocolate jewellery!

I spent some time walking around this area, in the bye lanes most of which were either selling chocolates, Belgian laces and other such famous Belgian wares or had restaurants with sea food displayed outside. To be honest, there was nothing special about the city except the elaborately displayed chocolate shops everywhere:).

Manneken Pis

Located near the Grand Place is the 'Manneken Pis', a small fountain emanating from the statue of a little boy. Apparently it is one of the symbols of Brussels and highly popular among tourists. I found it very unimpressive though and didn't understand what the whole hoopla was about. Moreover, the statue is so small, you can very easily miss it!

Seafood restaurants

We also walked around to the Courts of Justice, which gives a top view of the city around. It wasn't impressive again. And then we spent some time in a local street which had shops serving seafood, with the live seafood displayed outside. So, on the whole a very average place to spend even an evening.

One thing which I loved though about the evening spent in Brussels was the awesome icecreams and desserts I had. Even the Haagen Daz in Brussels had such an awesome spread of desserts; it was much better than any other Haagen Daz I have visited across the world.

Ghent town center

After the evening in Brussels, we spent the next two days in the city of Ghent. We took a train from Brussels which gets you to Ghent in an hour. The train system between cities appeared convenient and inexpensive. Trains run from Brussels train station every 15-20 minutes to Ghent. They do get crowded sometimes, so might just be a better idea to get a first class ticket.

In Ghent, we stayed at the Sandton Grand Hotel Seylof a luxury hotel right next to the city center. Would recommend that to anyone visiting the city. Its got good dining options, live music in the evening, nice garden outside to sit while soaking the sun and a great location to explore the town.

Ghent town center

We were in Ghent for two days and spent most of the time just walking around the city center. There is not much to do there, just a river which runs through the city and beautiful Flemish buildings on both sides of the river. In the summer, it gets filled with crowds and restaurants and cafes spring all along the river.

Ghent town center

The two days were completely idyllic, with bright sunshine and nothing much to do. We spent most of our time walking along the river, sitting and eating waffles and fries and chocolates at the local places next to the river. It felt nice to be out in the open (after the terrible long winter this year in London), soaking in the sun, next to a small river with crowds all around you, all trying to catch a bit of the sun!

Ghent town center

Ghent town center

One of the days we took a boat ride through the river with the boat guide telling us all about the history of the town. Apparently Ghent at one point of time was the most important city in Europe!! How times change:).

Church

We also went inside the church and the cathedral near the town square. The Cathedral had one of the best statues I have seen in Europe, they were all beautiful and exquisite.  I am posting pictures of some of them.

Mary and Jesus

Jesus

Angels with Mary

Angel

Angels with God?

Angels with cross

There is also a painting in the cathedral, supposedly as famous as Mona Lisa - Adoration of the Lamb. They charge a ticket to see the painting, so I gave it a miss but in case you land up in the town, be sure to take a look.

Ghent town center (night)

And at night, the area next to the river looked sparkling with all the lights on and the reflections on the river. Quite a romantic place it is:). We had dinner at the Allegro Moderato, a nice cosy place next to the river. The menu was mostly non-vegetarian, but within that, the sole (fish) was amazing. (Also, if you visit Ghent in the summer, its advisable to book early as restaurants get very busy during that time of the year).

The hotel we were staying in was celebrating its one year anniversary and so had a grand live music event in the evening. It was fun listening to French live music with all oldies around dancing:).

The next day, we bought chocolates from Neuhaus for our trip back to London and would recommend them to anyone visiting Belgium. They are freshly made, yummy and melt like butter in your mouth!! yummmm.. One of the best chocolates have ever had. Anyways after this idyllic weekend, we took the train to Brussels, and then off to London.