More South African Food and Drink on a walking tour
A mistake (not our first): after sleeping in following a very filling yet fun evening at the Gold Restaurant, we went down for breakfast about 10 am. Hard to pass up those croissants.
Then we remembered: we leave on a 4-hour “Essential Foods Walking Tour” at noon. Oh well, I’m sure we will walk off breakfast during the lunch walk-about.
The hotel car will take us to the start of the tour at “Bokaap Deli” and pick us up 4 hours later at the “Firemen’s Arms”, the Cape’s oldest sports bars.
Two hours later:
Barb’s two cents worth
We managed two of the four stops before the heat, the narrow sidewalks and cobbled streets took their toll.
At the Bokaap Deli we enjoyed some very good local Rooibis tea, tea that is only grown in the Cape area. We also tried some “koesisters”, a traditional spiced donut.
On the walk to a local spice shop we saw several mosques in this Muslin area of Cape Town.
At one time Muslim law required all buildings be painted white to symbolize purity. All the people also dressed in white clothing. Over time things changed so the color palette in Bokaap is now just the opposite:
Residents have also used their houses to express personal statements :
This elephant is made of recycled bottle caps:
And who could resist this complex tree in the middle of a boulevard separating both sides of a major street:
Our second stop was Zannes Fare, famous for its “bobotie” (curried mincemeat with a beaten egg top), served with apricot chutney, salsa, saffron rice and a mystery sauce. We were given a packet of spices and the recipe for making bobotie:
A glass of cold local Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc hit the spot.
Olivia our tour guide took this photo of all six food walkers (newly weds Kate and Henry from Chicago and retirees Richard and Gloria from Australia):
Henry took our picture before we realized we could not continue on the walk.
Olivia kindly called the hotel to come pick us up and waited with us until the hotel car arrived.
Back in the hotel room I began chatting again with a Cox tech. The issue: Even though I signed on for Cox’s international calling plan a week before we left we were unable to make any calls when we arrived in Cape Town. I had spent several hours chatting last night but three levels of Cox reps could not resolve the problem. Today Andres from Cox Mobile Support discovered international calling had never been added to our phones after all. He worked his magic and now we have calling ability.
Phone problem resolved we settled in for the evening, showered, and enjoyed a cheeky bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Eikendal Vineyards in South Africa.
Dinner will be room service: hamburger and BLT, both with fries.
Barb’s two cents worth:
Can hardly believe this is my life at 85. We are having a great time, but the heat this afternoon brought me to a stop. Only enjoyed 2 of the 4 stops on the walk-about before grinding to a stop. We and our clothes were wet with perspiration, similar to summer in Oklahoma, but we don’t go for a walk in the summer afternoon heat in OKC. We decided it would not be wise for us to continue on the cobblestone streets of Bokaap, Cape Town. Our guide called our hotel for a driver to pick us up and stayed with us until the car arrived.
Our first nights in South Africa have been fun. Niles’ comfort level is to arrive a couple of days prior to the beginning of a tour. Others will arrive tonight and/or tomorrow.
We expect to meet 13 couples tomorrow evening; who will be joining us for two weeks through Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It should be fun. We’ll keep you posted.
Our South African Adventure 