This restaurant was such a hit with a large group of 22 people- we all LOVED it! It was a fun place to go for a very authentic "African" vibe. The food was great and the local band kept us all entertained. Must try items: Appetizers- Samosas; entree- Ostrich steaks (get them medium rare or else it will be very chewy and overcooked!); dessert- Malva pudding! If you don't try the Malva pudding then you are really missing out.

I just loved this part of the trip. We went to the small town of Piketberg and met hundreds of young people who just wanted to be kids and enjoy life.

We started off by walking throughout the neighborhood just meeting the locals and inviting them to a children's day in the park. We must have gotten about 260 kids to come and have some fun. Along the way, we met all kinds of funny, interesting lively and mostly friendly children and their parents. there was the little boys who just love rugby and they wanted show me how to play. There were a group of kids who just wandered throughout the streets just looking for trouble, I think we were all these kinds of kids when we were younger.

I met Chris, he and his son Andrew were the heroes in the community. Andrew would drive through the neighborhood one Saturday each month a pick up all the kids in his white truck. Now we Americans would be concerned if there were enough seatbelts etc for each of the kids, well, not there. I think we counted at least 31 kids piling out of the back of his truck. Check out the video. There are some priceless memories stored deep in my heart, but I hope some of the photos begin to give you a glimps of what I saw and experienced.

I talked earlier about how the city was juxaposed. Some of these photos show that. The big Dutch Reform Church on the hill and the small half built roofless church down in the other part of town.

I really enjoyed all that I experienced and look forward to meeting these people again sometime soon.

This Sunday we found ourselves in a small community known as Atlantis. Atlantis is a place that was created for the sole purpose of pushing anyone who wasn’t white out of the major city of Cape Town. The history was incredible. As we drove along the road we saw this shacks that were just built out of scrap metal and scrap wood. There were some port-a-potties which helped with the sanitation. The interesting thing was as we drove closer to the center of town, I began to notice that the housing was getting better and better. Better meaning, being built out of cinder blocks with the possibility of running water and flush toilets. The landscape changes even more when we say these larger homes with gates and nice landscaping. What a very interesting juxtaposition.

When spent a couple of days in this town door knocking inviting people to the church service I was going to preach.. We also invited anyone who would like to sign up for World Bible School which is a program were students work at their own pace in learning more about the Bible and their relationship with Jesus. Many people were weary of us, but they quickly warmed up when we let them know we weren’t selling anything or asking for any donations.

I had fun with quite a few of them telling them that Bionce was my ex-wife and that I was really Chris Brown. They got a laugh and we all enjoyed the fun. We had some great success in this area with over 160 people making a commitment to study the Bible and many of them showed up for church that Sunday.

This was a great little side trip to see the penguins. They are all just roaming around having a great old time. We drove up towards there and saw a "Penguin" crossing sign. It was pretty cute. There were interesting smells and sights. It was definitly wild and outdoors, whatever that may mean. Make sure you check under your car before you leave so you don't run one of them over. Have a good time for a few minutes.

After the visit with the penguins, we headed out for a drive around the southern part of the city. We saw beautiful beaches and even more beautiful scenery. I don’t think these photos even begin to capture the beauty we experienced.

My first 'big' trip. My first time going on a plain. My first time (really) going alone.
My adventure begins getting out the train on Schiphol. It was already a 3 hour journey from Groningen. Checking in and looking around this enormeous big place. Boarding time: 19:30u. local time. Time enough, I thought. How could I known that the gate was somewhere at the end of the airport? That it would be wise to go first to the  border police and then shop around or something. Nobody (friends or family, so few) had the knowledge to instruct me. So, at 19:25u. I walked whistling to the border control. "So, young man, you have to rush! They are leaving within 5 minutes." Didn't know that my condition was so surprisingly determent. Getting there as number last, the plain could took off. What a sight! What a hurry on Airport Frankfurt. Running what all my luggage to the next gate. Left and right to me, everybody was running. Stress, stress! Well, a little bit. All passengers destined to go to Johannesburg (Jo'burg) were able to overcome this narrow gap between the two flights. Meanwhile, I had no idea if there were any travelbuddies among the other passengers. I had booked my travelticket by a grouptravelagency, or something like that.
Arrival at Jo,burg. Chaos! No signs that could direct you to the right gate. Half the airport was under construction. Pfff, all these men who were offering their services. Ok, what the hack, I'll hire you. Take me to the gate where this Cape Town plain awaits. Okidoki. What a nice guy, but be aware! Watching all my precious things, which will count zero. He delivered me nicely at the gate. Thanks a lot, have a big tip and get out!
(That evening, I discovered my cellphone was missing. There was just one oppurtunity.).

Half past 11; Good morning Cape Town.
2 man of the company already stood there with a typical yellow bus. They were gathering everyone who looked confused and couln't find a board with Djoser (which was the Dutch company). After some first meetings, the tension did raise a little bit, because some had missed the plain in Jo'burg, because of the chaos. One hour and 5 sigarettes later, they decided to go anyhow to the hotel and one of them would go back to pick up the missing persons. Riding with the yelluw bus through Cape Town did make some first impressions. The townships, unfinished infrastructures, like colossal bridges, everything did realize me I was not in Europe anymore. After some 30 minutes bus trip we arrived at the hotel, in 'white' Waterfront.

The Djoser group must count 20 people/tourist, all Dutch. In the early afternoon 2 persons were still missing. The crew (Tom, Afrikaner; guide) and Dion (Mozambiquean, (chef) cook and guide) advised us to visit Table Mountain. The would go back to the airport and search for the lost ones.

Exciting, we did had to manage the transport by ourselfs. Somehow not surprisingly, the taxi came to late. The phenomenom "African Time" will come back many times the next weeks. The taxi left us at the Visitors Centre some 300m under the plateau. For the last part, you had two choices. Going walking or taking the cable/elevator. We didn't had time for the first choice. Regrets? No, the view was awesome. Also, was the speed of this piece of metal. Combined, this could be the first feeling of a kick. The Afrikaners (according to the crew) had a term: "Lekker". In Dutch, its translated like tastfull (food) or good (events). In Afrikaans, it's a little bit more. You normally will say it, when the experience is new and soooooo good! This was the first time Lekker!

On top on the Table Mountain the view was astonishing! No babboons, no dassies, but plenty of agames to shoot, I mean photograph. The red-winged starlings were to fast, although the numbers huge. They flourish partly because of the litter dumped by visitors. Anyhow, when time exceeded, temperature dropped fast. So we had to go back. At the meeting point with our cab-driver, nobody was there. Waiting and getting cold did cost us almost a hour before this friendly finally man picked us up.

Our reuning with the crew, gave us two new faces. Exactly, the lost ones, the brothers. After some dining, I finally let myself to sleep in the my own hotelroom. Little but frustrated that my cell phone was missing, so I could not set a time to wake up.  

After all, I did not need an alarm clock at all. In the room next to me, someone was really noisy busy waken up. This was not coincidence, it was Dion. Which is a character by itself, we will see later. Taking a shower and walking relaxed to the Cape Towns University cantine, I discovered I was nevertheless relatively late. No problem, this morning there was no program, we could fill the time by ourselfs. Although most of my fellow travellers did had finished their breakfast and went down town, I refused to make some rush. A couple agreed and so the slowest 3 of the group made their own plan. We decided to visit the city's aqaurium "2 Oceans". Which was nice, but after one hour we had seen it all. More excitement did arose when some seals were spotted in the harbor, several times. Furthermore, whe did some shopping and went back to the Breakwater Hotel to see the others. 

On of the babies at the safe house were I was volunteering had severly clubbed feet, so Every friday he would get casts put on and every thurdsay I would take them off. On one fine Friday morning Leanna(a local south african women ) and I were on the way back from the Hospital with "Matti" and his fresh casts. When I saw 5 black BMW's  all surrounding this one Black SUV! with a police escort,  they were rather impresive drivers showing off there skills they were crossing and weaving allover the place, so Leanne and I figured that it must be someone VERY important and that we could make a lot of money if they signed the casts and  we auctioned them off. Then It dawned on me that Celin Dion was in town that weekend and that it must be her. So we followed them for a good 20km (nearly taking out a donkey and cart) then they turned down this really shitty looking dead end road that did not look lke any place that Celine would want to be BUT we followed them anyways! the cars came to a big boom ( the kind at the airport that stop you from going were you should not be) and a man in uniform with a gun came out, talked to the police and the first black car and the boom went up and all the cars got through including us (now I should tell you that we are driving a BRIGHT red lunch box of a car) so we drive in and no one seemed to care so we kept going. then we came to a second boom and the same thing happend, now the police drive away. there are now fewer people BUT the people who are ther have quite sizely GUNS! but we keep driving, not we come to one more boom and we go under with everyone and now there are 2 rows of people on either side of us with machine guns this is when i dicide to ask were we are, and Leanne informs me that we are now at "Ysterplaat" which is the Air Force Base, but she does not seem to ratteled SO neither am I. we keep driving untill all 6 cars are facing us, they then back up and get out so Leanne tells me to get out and join the 7 men standing there in black suits, with black glasses, guns and ear pieces, SO i did,I was talking to these very nice men who didn't seem to mind that we were there and were asking all kinds of question one guy asked me what happened to his legs and I couldnt tell him that he had clubbed feet SO i said that they had been broken! meanwhile Leanne  got out and started tapping on one of the cars windows after trying to ignore here the driver finally rolles down his window and she asked "is Celine Dion here?" "I cant say" he answered after asking a about 10 questions all with the same answere she askes "WELL ARE YOU A SECURITY GUARD OR WHAT? " YES he said and rolled up the window and at this time all them men got back into their cars and left before i knew what was happening they all just GONE!  Leanne told me to get in the car and we followed them until all we could see was a small brick building, then when I turned to my right I saw that we were on the RUNWAY! the cars all stopped and we got outI started talking to the same men and Leanne went to talked to a guy  who looked to be incharge, and started asking him the same questions, "is it Celin?" is it anybody we know?  and then the guy said to here "one sec I ll go get some one who can give you some answers, and he came back with the chief of police, Leanne put her arm around him and said, and I quote " let me tell you something about security" and gave him a big lecture about how if you look like you belong you belong, this went on for about 10 min and she asked again "is Celin here?" and then he told her that she could go and talk to the guy in brick building and everyone gasped.I was not thrilled about gong to talk to the man that the guys with guns did nt want to talk to.   We slowly walked towards the building and knocked on the door this MASSIVE man sitting on a chair with a newspaper in his hand and a cigar in his month looked up like he had just seen a duet performed by Oprah and Jesus. and almost swallowed the cigar there in his office stood 2 girls in pink t-shirts with a baby!he pulled himself together nad intruduced himself ad Chief Commander Smith and shook our hands, Leanne intruduced us an and asked about Celin, and he just stared at us and she was talking  a million miles a minute and he said to her "stop, stop talking," shaking his head. "Who said you could be here?" "No one" we said "we followed the black cars," "NO NO NO" he said " who told you, you could be here." "no one we said we followed the black cars." "OH MY GOD" he said and started pacing up and down. I have to get you out of here, you need a military escort nad went on and on. "SO" Leanne said "is Celine here?" NO he said "but the president is arriving in 3 min. you need to get out," so after out lecture about national security and how NO ONE is here when he arrived and that we should be arrested he looked at me and said "Im suprised no one took you out." "like shot us" I said " YES" he said "Im suprsied no one shot you" after that we left and were asked not to return EVER! and I pretty sure there are a few less employees at Ysterplaat!

When you're a child you have dreams that you can fly high like a bird in the sky, but when you grow up you can't seem to fly quite as high anymore, or you simply can't fly at all. Yes - I know this all sounds a bit like peter pan but you'll have to admit it does make a little sense! Apparently it's to do with your imagination! Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that paragliding allows you to have the real sensation of flying like a bird! Now who would'nt want that! In December 2007, I was walking up Lions Head with some friends & family and saw some people paragliding, I had always thought that it looked like fun but had never had the guts to go for it. After watching a few guys take off and how much fun they seemed to be having I decided to do it! A spur of the moment decision that I did not regret! I ask someone for details, and later that day I called and make a booking for the next day. Providing the weather was good I was going to go paragliding! So the next day I hadn't heard anything different so we set off, we trapsed back up the mountain to the 'take off strip'. Unfortunately by the time I got up there the wind had changed, so I had to wait for quite a long time before I could fly. When it was time to go, we got all harnessed up, layed the parashoot out, and started running towards the edge of the mountain, the parashoot very soon caught the thermals and I could feel it pulling me off the ground, when I could no longer touch the ground I sat back into my rucksack come seat and I was Flying!! The flight didn't last long, about 15mins in total but it was brilliant! You really do get the feeling that you are flying. I was showed how to control the parashoot and was given a chance to actually fly for myself. We landed on a large grassy area right next to the beach, outside a restaurant! I enjoyed everysecond of it, and would recommend it for anyone who has ever wanted to experience what it must be like to fly! A few tips! Take a large bottle of water incase you have to wait on a mountain in the sun like I did. Wear suitable footwear, like a decent pair of trainers, you may have to walk further up a mountain than you expected to. Wear suitable clothes - shorts are best in my opinion, If you have to wait in the sun your not going to overheat! There is a misconseption that it is quite cold when you are flying. Take Sun Cream!! It cost me about R800, and the flight could last for anytime between 10 and 30 mins. I can't remember what the company was called but if you went into the nearest tourist information centre to Lions head I'm sure they would be able to give you a leaflet. I hope my experience has encouraged you to want to do this. If so - Happy Flying!

I would describe CT as Europe in Africa , when you`re in CT few things remind you of Africa . November - February would be the best time to visit cape town, as the weather is superb during this time . If you`re visiting CT i would recommend two - three weeks , a week to explore the city and waterfront , and another one - two to explore the natural surroundings .Car rentals are around $ 15 - $ 20 a day and CT also has a lot of tour guides that offer pick ups and drop off`s . Crime is a major deterrent to most tourist visiting Africa , but CT would be the exception .You have the odd muggings if you look too touristy ,but other than that you could walk in the city at midnight .General precautions that should be taken in any big city should be followed . Cape Town in a very friendly and lively place and the atmosphere is extremely relaxed , this is a must visit city for any traveler and most tourists end up coming back or buying property in CT. Eeerm , i`m not much of a writer so here are some links that i think are worth looking at .Please send me messages if you`re looking for info , although i`m not a resident Capetonian i might be able to give you some pointers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd_cF92KsMk http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/04/1191091265677.html%2B%26start%3D42%26ndsp%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

Arrival in Capetown

We took a great 4 hour drive or so around this beautiful part of Cape Town. There was so much to see, from the mountains, to the ocean to the guys selling curios along the street. I can't forget the people who were riding bikes up these steep hills almost without any effort at all. My legs, lungs and a feet all hurt just watching them.

The ocean was incredible. I just stood around and watch the waves crash along the rocks. I also liked the bay, it was just like God has quieted this part of the journey. It was a calm scene looking down at all the homes and beaches. The pictures don't even begin to tell how beautiful this was. reminded me a bit of Boulder, CO without the ocean. A must drive for anyone who goes here.

I guess this is a review and journel mixed together. We got up a drove nearly two hours to experience this place. We found out about it at a tourist office at the VandA.  The drive up was pitch black as we had to be there early. The drive took us through some beautiful wine country and some pretty long tunnels through the mountains. I found myself in awe by the surrounding mountians and wildlife. We say Baboons along the road, birds and even people. There a photo of a man who was out on the man motorway selling grapes. It was quite interesting to see as we were moving pretty fast. We pulled over and he sprinted to sell us a flat of grapes for only 20Rand. They were not the most quality, but for 20 Rand very good.

Back to Aquilla.

Prior to breakfast, you are escorted into a lounge with a fire place and a couple of tvs. There is also a computer in the area that you must pay to access. The assortment of coffees and teas was good as we sat in front of a roaring fire. Had a chance to visit with some nice people from Australia. I think the conversations were a real highlight of the trip. Many of us tourist all wanted to tell each other where we had been and how much we had spent. Very interesting dynamic going on here.

After  we paid our money, 970 Rand per person, which was more than they told us at the VandA, we were seated for breakfast. The buffet style meal was great full of fresh fruits, meats and veggies. They even had smoked salmon. There was a variety of breads, crossants and other pasteries. Fresh juices, coffee and teas. I enjoyed just relaxing while I ate. We say and met some Americans. They were having a good time as well.

We loaded up on various little trucks and headed out to the park. It was still cool, but it was nice. Saw a few animals including two elephants, and a few Springbok. I won't say that I was disapointed, but it was really like driving through a very sparse zoo, with only a few animals to observe. I do understand that it was a game park, but I have seen better in other places. I don't want to be too critical, but it was really not worth the money or the time. But, on the other hand, the meals and the people and just the fellowship with others was fun.

The park tour is about 2-3 hours with a break in the middle where they served us wine and sparkling apple juice. They had real glasses and that made it pretty nice. We saw a couple of lions behind a cage and two atop a mountain.

We headed back into the lodge and was served a spectacular meal. This was truly the highlight. Meats and stews, fish and veggies, desserts and fruit. I think we sat for over an hour and made glutens out of ourselves. You do have to pay for any drinks which have to be ordered like wine or sodas or bottled water.

The drive home to Cape Town was really nice. Say all of the vinyards and the clouds on the mountains as well as those famous grape sellers. We stopped at a little store along the motorway and bought some good homemade fudge, carmelcorn and other goodies. They also have a very good wine selection in the back.

These are my ten Absolute Best Things To Do In Cape Town! Air 1. Paragliding Cape Town – Signal Hill and Lions Head Two of the most popular launch sites for paragliding are located right near the Cape Town CBD. Signal Hill and Lion’s Head are both favourite local paragliding launch spots, which offer stunning views of the local mountain ranges right across to Hout Bay. 2. Jet Flight BAe Buccaneer Want an experience unique to Cape Town? A flight in the BAe Buccaneer is only available here! The tandem two-seater aggressor is designed for low-level, high-speed attack. Powered by Rolls Royce, it performs just below the speed of sound at zero altitude! Land 3. Car Racing Calling all wannabe Schumachers and Barrichellos! Race in a real racing car for a once in lifetime experience! 4. Sand Boarding Sandboarding Day Tour Want a fun, action-packed day out in Cape Town? Eager to do something different but not too complicated? Our Sandboarding Day Tour is the answer. Learn how to master the basics on a streamlined sandboard, then up the ante with more difficult dunes once you’re feeling more confident. 5. Quad Biking Three-Day Tour A fantastic 3-day tour along an awesome trail starting at Grabouw. We head out to the Hemel en Aarde valley near Hermanus on Day 2. You will spend Day 3 at the Kegelberg Reserve which has an abundance of plant species as well as spectacular sea and mountain views. Water 6. Shark Cage Diving Experience a close encounter with one of the most feared, awe-inspiring creatures on earth – the great white shark 7. Whale Watching Cape Town and the surrounding coastline offer some of the best land-based whale watching opportunities in the world 8. Scuba Diving Scuba Storm One day not enough for you? Real scuba-junkies will love the Scuba Storm - a 4-day Cape diving experience that will leave you exhilarated and energized! For non-stop adventure from day one to day four, you’ll get to dive at the best sites and explore the Peninsula on land too. Sightseeing 9. Robben Island Visit Nelson Mandela’s former prison location for a unique perspective on the apartheid era & lovely views across the Bay. 10. Table Mountain Table Mountain is the instantly recognizable iconic symbol of Cape Town - one of the best known landmarks on earth www.bookcapetown.com

This was a beautiful place to watch the sun set. table mountain was stunning as the city sat below it. The sand was clean, but the water was very cold. People were out doing this thing called kite surfing. Was the most interesting thing to see. We watched as these guys jumped way up into the air over crashing waves and land with out a hitch. There were a few who took some natsy spills, but it was like watching a ballet on the water.

There was a rainbow off in the distance, hard to capture on film, but it was there if you look hard enough.

There were some great places to eat along this beach as well including Pimni. Great food, great atmosphere and great views.  

This was a great day when I met up with Hannes at the Groot Constatia winery. We also had lunch at a great retsuarant on the estate called Jonkershuis. We tasted quite a few wines and had a chance to buy a couple to bring back to the USA. We talked a lot about politics and the ills of the world. It was a great afternoon to just kick back and enjoy.