Israel and Africa

While one roommate woke up 6 am to catch a flight, and another roommate woke up 7 am to catch a Table Mountain hiking tour, I took my time ate breakfast 8 am then moved to another room (hostel overbooking so upgraded me), and then Ubered with my Thai hostel mates to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. I gave up hiking Table Mountain or Lion Head today due to the rain, which turned out to be the right decision. Cape Town has an average of 103 rainy days per year. The months of June and August are the ones with the most rainy days, on average, each have more than 13 days of rain. This was also the reason it was the ship water source before the opening of Suez Canal.  In the Garden, We took a 2-hr walking tour in the rain, took a lunch break in the restaurant, and then hiked to the Skeleton Water falls (park of the Skeleton Gorge that leads to the peak of the Table Mountain).  Red River water takes place when microscopic algae rapidly reproduce to cause 'blooms’. The Garden was on la...

 After the hostel breakfast, I went to the hop in hop off bus to take the Cape Point & Penguin Explorer Tour that I booked last night. The guide highlights the different points of interest along the way, and we spent 2-hour visiting the penguins at Boulders Beach (& lunch), over 2 hours at Cape Point & Cape of Good Hope ( including a guided hike from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope. The Boulders Beach surrounded by impressive granite boulders is part of Table Mountain Nature Reserve. I ordered grilled kingklip at a famous Seaforth restaurant. kingklip, is a species of cusk eel occurring along the Southern African coast. The fish has a white meat color and has a slightly sweet and meaty taste. The Cape Point Nature Reserve offers breathtaking mountain and ocean scenery across False Bay.

 Day 40 – Cederberg – Cape Town After breakfast, we left behind the orange orchard lodge and drove towards Cape Town, after some stops,including a wine/tea tasting stop and a table mt view stop. The Cederberg region not only boasts spectacular mountains and orange farms, but it is also the home of the Rooibos bush. Indigenous to the mountain slopes of the Cedarberg, this herbal beverage has earned an international reputation as a healthy and refreshing alternative to regular tea. I tasted more than 10 kinds of teas, and a warm wine Gluhwein (Mulled wine or spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter). I like it a lot. The Cederberg region is known for its mountain fynbos and spectacular views of the rugged Cedarberg Mountains. Too bad the weather was overcast today.  Nearing Cape Town, we saw Table Mountain in the distance across Table Bay. Ou...