One of the famous things in to see in Capetown are the indigenous penguins that live on Boulders Beach. It was a15 minute drive from where we were staying in Kalk Bay, and the kids were very excited to finally see them.
The penguins live in a colony amongst the large boulders, sandy dunes, and ocean. We all enjoyed watching them waddling and swimming in the water.
So many penguins!
Another huge highlight of the trip was surfing at Muzienberg Beach. The beach is known for it’s colorful changing huts and is one of the most famous beaches in the country for surfing. The kids loved it so much and a combination of them took lessons for 3 days.
The first day the boys surfed. First they met their instructors, were given wetsuits, then they went with the instructors to pick the boards.
They did a warm up on the beach, then received instruction of safety and surfing basics.
Then they were off to surf! This beach apparently is always very windy year round due to it’s unique location and has great surfing waves year round. There were so many surfing schools along this beach.
The surf school asked if Eliza also wanted a wetsuit. They wanted kids to feel comfortable at the beach and in the water. She loved the wetsuit, and it was very helpful because it blocked the wind and kept her warm in the cold ocean.
During the boys lesson she ran up and down the shore and had fun jumping over the waves.
Both boys got up on their surf boards and the had a great time. When we asked if they wanted to do it again, they both said YES!
The next time we went Caleb wasn’t feel well so he passed that day, but Benjamin and Eliza took lessons.
Doing her warm up and surfing instruction.
She had no hesitation about going out with the instructor. About halfway through the lesson she decided she was done and the instructor played with her in the sand. We were proud of her for being so brave.
Benjamin’s instructor had so much positive energy and was very loud. We could here him cheering from shore when Benjamin got up on his board!
Happy kids after the lessons.
The third day just Caleb and Benjamin took lessons.
They knew the drill and went right out to the water with their instructors. Benjamin had his same instructor from the day before and Caleb had Eliza’s instructor. Both boys got up that day and they had a great time. We were proud of how hard they worked…it’s not easy to surf!
Another day we just came to the beach with the boogie board in the house and rented wet-suits. These kids loved the beach and had so much fun being able to come throughout the trip.
On our last day, we had to check out of our house early, but our flight was in the evening, so we went to the famous Kirstenbosch botanical garden. It was a gorgeous garden with many types of trees and flowers, with the mountains in the backdrop. A very serene place to spend a couple hours before heading to the airport.
Love these three :)
We had a wonderful time in South Africa and are so thankful we got to explore so much of Capetown.
And the best part of the 10 hour flight back was being essentially in the same time zone when we landed.
After exploring the waterfront for a couple of days, we moved about half-way down the cape to the fishing village of Kalk Bay. The bay has mountains on one side and False Bay on the other, which was a name given by sailors who used to return from the east and confused Cape Point (the southwestern most tip of the Africa) with Cape Hangklip, that looks similar in features, giving sailors the false impression that they rounded the cape. Kalk Bay was very artsy and had many small boutiques, art shops, and delicious restaurants. There was a large fishing pier where you could see small fishing boats bring in their daily catch, watch sea lions bask in the sun, or explore the rocky beaches. Our weather was in the low-mid 70’s all week and it was very windy, so it wasn’t great for swimming (but the boys did plenty). It was perfect weather for exploring, and we were in a great location to easily get around the cape. This town had so much character and we loved staying here for the week. At the pier in Kalk Bay.
Starting to get the daily catch
The sea lions hung out with the the fishermen, and would hop up on the pier or swim around the water. The kids loved watching them.
We had a wonderful AirBnB that was about a block off the main road, in an old house downtown. The house was decorated with local art, had lots of antique furniture, and was a great set up for our family. This was the kitchen and dining room, looking from the back of the house.
Looking down on the same area from upstairs.
The living room was upstairs along with the kids room, and our room was downstairs. This opened up to a balcony where we could sit, and the best part was the park across the street that the kids played at each day.
Nice patio outside the kitchen area.
Park across the street from the house. Right off the main road, there were blocks of homes just like ours and this large park in the middle of it. Lots of neighborhood kids played at the park and the kids made friends each day. Our house was just a couple to the right of the right-most house in the photo.
Having easy access to this park was a highlight for the kids, and nice for Nathan and I to sit on the balcony and watch them play.
There was a railroad that went along the coast. This was looking into the harbor where the fishing boats docked and the pier.
Because the water is so rough, they created ‘swimming basins’ along the coast, which is a public protected area where people could swim. It was about 300 m from our house, so we went a couple times. The water was very cold, but the boys still got in to swim. Eliza dipped her feet and that was enough for her…and us.
They walked along the protection wall to the other side of the basic. It was so windy and the waves were really big outside the wall, even though you can’t tell from the picture. Contemplating where to jump in.
Caleb got a little push, but they did it.
Almost every afternoon, Benjamin wanted to jump off the pier, despite this sign…and everyone else doing it.
More around town. As expected, we found a favorite ice cream shop and went there every day after dinner!
There was colorful local art sold all over the place.
Benjamin loves art and one of his highlights was meeting a local artist! Our house shared a driveway with a charity shop and during the day they used the driveway to sell store items and a place for this artist, Amos Jack, to sell his work. As soon as we arrived on day one, Benjamin was drawn to his paintings and wanted to get some. Amos was such a nice man, and one day invited Benjamin to draw with him. They spent a couple hours drawing and Benjamin helped him when customers came by. Amos drew Benjamin a sketch of his favorite painting of the rooster, and Benjamin drew Amos a picture of a monkey that evening and gave it to him on our last day. It was a really neat experience for him!
We got Benjamin a few of his favorite paintings.
This is the painting of the rooster that Amos drew in Benjamin’s drawing notebook.
There were so many cute stores selling art work, locally made fabrics, and clothes. This was a neat store that sold pillows, table clothes, napkins.
Another day we took a short 30 minute drive to the Cape Peninsula, the southwestern most part of the country, to see Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The small blue dot on the southwest part of the peninsula is where we were.
Table Mountain National Park entrance.
Once we got into the park, it was not busy at all. Lots of open roads and gorgeous scenery on all sides!
Our first stop was Cape Point, which is a large mass of land on the Cape Peninsula. The highlight of this part was the baboons. We read that baboons were common in this part of South Africa, and we were definitely in their home! They roamed everywhere and were very aggressive when there was food in sight. This one eventually was hit with a taser gun by a staff member when it got too close to a child!
There was a cable car to get to the top. The Flying Dutchman was a legendary Dutch ghost ship that never made it to shore and was doomed to sail the seas forever. Thankfully we made it to the top and back :) Another fact about Capetown is it was settled by the Dutch, so many of the signs and street names were in Flemish.
We made it to the top!
The view of Cape Point were breathtaking. The pictures don’t do it justice.
The beach in the close up is called Diaz Beach. We wanted to hike down there, but heard the baboons were very aggressive on the trail, and it was a long hike so we decided to just see it from the top.
We walked up the stairs to visit the lighthouse.
We took in the beauty a little longer, then took the cable car back down.
More fun creatures along the way.
There were baboons everywhere as you drove along the road. We stopped at a secluded beach along the way, and there were people eating food with a pack of baboons waiting near by. Each time one got close, which was pretty often, the people would throw huge stones (not hitting them) to deter them. Between that and then turning around and seeing about 5 baboons jumping on someone’s car and shaking it in the parking lot where we were also parked, we decided it was probably best to go:)
The next stop down the road was the Cape of Good Hope. The sign is self explanatory. There was a huge crowd of people waiting to get their photo in front of this sign. We did not wait, but were able to snap a quick picture between people taking turns.
The beaches are rocky and rough in the this part of the world!
Each day we continued to be amazed with the beauty of this country. Next stop was penguins in the wild, surfing, and botanical gardens.
Please pray for all the people in Turkey and Syria who have been affected by the major earthquakes this past week. On Monday, 6 February, southeastern Turkey experienced two devastating earthquakes on the same day, a 7.7 earthquake at 04:17 and then 7.6 earthquake at 13:24, with both epicenters in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. The earthquake had devastating effects in 10 provinces in Turkey, and in Syria, leveling many cities and villages. While we were almost 7 hour away from the epicenter, we felt both earthquakes in Ankara. As of this morning, the death toll in Turkey is up nearing 25,000 people, hundreds of thousands of people are injured, over 80,000 people have been rescued, and hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed. The destruction of this earthquake is devastating, and the country has been mourning this week. It has been a sad week.
The earthquakes occurred in a very poor and underdeveloped part of the country, where the infrastructure is old and building construction was not up to earthquake standards. We had the honor of visiting this part of the country last December, and it is so sad to see the loss of life, number of injured people, and destruction that has taken place. Relief efforts for the earthquake victims have been amazing from within Turkey and around the world. Everyone in the country is coming together to help in any way possible. In the affected areas, many tent camps have been established to shelter earthquake survivors, but it is the middle of winter and very cold in this part of the country. Search and rescue teams from across the world have been working tirelessly day and night to rescue people, but it has been difficult to get to some of the affected areas. As the roads become accessible, supplies have been brought to the affected areas, and many people started arriving in Ankara, Istanbul, and other parts of the country this week for medical care and shelter. In Ankara, there are many ways to contribute, between efforts at the Embassy, the kids’ schools, and companies organizing relief and support efforts.
There is a U.S. consulate in Gazientep, which was one of the areas severely affected by the earthquake. We were told that all of the local staff there lost their homes. There were also private American citizens with families in that region. The consulate employees and other American citizens in the region started arriving in Ankara the past couple days to receive medical care, housing, and support. Many people in the community have connections to others affected. Our nanny’s older daughter recently moved back to Ankara from Hatay, a city that was almost completely leveled in the earthquake, and she sadly knows many people who lost their lives, are injured, and lost their homes. It has been a sad week in Turkey.
Please pray for the earthquake victims and their loved ones, for all the workers and volunteers around the world who performing rescue and relief efforts, and for people to know they are loved and cared for. We are encouraged by each rescue made and the support people are receiving, but their road is long and just beginning, the needs are great, and will become greater as time goes on. Thank you for praying.
