The Cape Town Waterfront

After visiting Stellenbosch in South Africa, we returned to lovely Cape Town.
Table Mountain as seen from the waterfront.

Cape Town's waterfront is the perfect place for a leisurely stroll, something Harare's not really built for.

The waterfront's clock tower, such an old world charm and a reminder of Cape Town's strong sea-faring history.
Its bottom floor holds an old tidal-gauge mechanism to check tide levels.  I really like clock towers---it had been awhile since I had seen one here.

We tried to visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in prison for decades but the weather was too choppy to take the ferry.
I'm always looking for an excuse to return to Cape Town---this may be it!

Oh! Dakar! How I thought of you immediately, what a strong sense of Senegal being worlds away.

I couldn't resist a few photos of Majeka House where we stayed in Stellenbosch--isn't the breakfast area just adorable? Love the blue.

The view from the breakfast nook.

Absolutely loved the ceiling in our room, a splash of fun color.

The hotel was lined with cactus fences, I thought they were so ingenious.
(Side note: would completely recommend Majeka, it's small, beautiful, and just perfect tucked away in wine country.)

One last shot of the waterfront!!  Then it's back to Zimbabwe....

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Stellenbosch - South Africa Wine Country: J.C. Le Roux

While touring Stellenbosch, South Africa's lovely wine country, we visited J.C. Le Roux.

Oh, Cape Town, be still my heart, how your mountains speak to me.

[This is the view of part of the estate's vineyards.]

J.C. Le Roux is a vineyard for sparkling wine.  We did a marshmallow and meringue tasting, paired with lovely sparkling wine.

The grounds were stunning, worth the visit alone!

The amazing marshmallows, with flavors like coconut and caramel, paired perfectly with lovely sparkling wines.
I had never done a straight sparkling wine tasting before and it was a lot of fun.

Returning to Cape Town, we passed the famous Table Mountain.

Another view of Table Mountain from the waterfront of Cape Town.

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Volcanoes National Park!!!

While on a visit to Rwanda, I saw my first volcano!

Why, hello Sabyinyo Volcano.

A woman works the fields just near the volcanoes.

The park is home to five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains.

We began hiking up the mountains and wow, just wow. Bamboo forests like I've never seen before.

I had no idea that bamboo forests make a creaking sound--almost like an old door opening---

when the wind blows through them.  It's very eerie and beautiful.

Why were we hiking?  Why we were mountain gorilla trekking of course!

Here's where we stopped while the guides hacked a path through the forest to where our family of gorillas were resting.

Some of the guides.

My first view of the famed mountain gorillas.

Here's a teaser of the next post: isn't he just adorable?!

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A Return to the Eastern Highlands

Recently I returned to the lovely Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

Wouldn't you just love to have this view?

While (re)visiting the cozy Frog and Fern Cottages, we hiked into Chimanimani once again.

The Chimanimani Mountains are just so stunning and form part of the boundary between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

We may have paused in our beautiful hike to freak out at THIS exact point. 

Um, seriously, a tarantula crossing the path? Holy moly, freak out!

Here's another shot of the guy. Definitely do not like spiders, definitely do not like large, dangerous, hairy ones...

We hiked up toward Bridal Veil Falls and the scenery was just so lovely.

Reaching the falls area.

Sneak peek of the next post: the Bridal Veils Falls!

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The View from Table Mountain (An Ode to Cape Town)

On a lovely visit to South Africa's Cape Town, we went to the top of Table Mountain.

It was breathtaking.

And once away from the sharp drops and cliffs of its edge, you'd almost forget you're on top of a mountain.
If you're curious what the mountain looks like, click here.

Lion's Head from Table Mountain.

The piece of the land to the right?  That's Robben Island,
site of the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid government for 27 years.

Part of Table Bay.  How beautiful is that water?!

Cape Town, Table Bay, and Table Mountain are just stunning.  These photos don't do the dramatic vistas remote justice.

Table Bay.

Did I say before I want to go back?  Because I do.

Like right now.

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The Blue Ridge Parkway

After lovely visits to New York City and Blowing Rock, I travel along the stunning Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

And continued to fall more in love with the Blue Ridge.

Which, for those following this blog for awhile, realize that seems impossible...

And, oh!  What colors.  And, oh! Autumn how I miss you while in Africa.

We crossed this swinging bridge which was at a mile high. 

It was cold and windy I mean cold. Cold. Like this is definitely not Africa up there!

The peak on the right is the peak of Grandfather Mountain---where that bridge led us!

Stunning.

Part of Grandfather Mountain.

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