Cape Town!

A few weeks ago (yes, I am falling behind yet again on this blog), we headed to Cape Town for the American Thanksgiving weekend. Ever since we announced we were moving to South Africa last spring we have heard again and again how wonderful CT is so we were very eager to see it for ourselves.  

In the taxi.  

My kids love airplanes, mostly for the snacks and the unlimited iPad time (I am much meaner about screen time on the ground but up in the air whatever keeps them from bothering other passengers works for me!).

We arrived late on Wednesday night and found ourselves in a perfect family room
 at Winchester Mansions (a hotel suite with three separate bedrooms!).
For anyone heading to Cape Town with kids,  I highly recommend this place. 

Our first morning we headed off to Simon's Town to see the Boulder Beach Penguin Colony.
They did not disappoint.  

Did you know African penguins mate for life?
Makes me love them even more.

Maria absolutely loved the penguins (or, in Maria language, "Owls!!").

Another thing the Belli kids loved about Simon's Town?
 The ice cream.

Our hotel was right along the water.
Each morning we watched paragliders landing on the grass out front.

Sibling love.

Friday morning we headed to Table Mountain.

We made the classic dumb tourist move of just showing up without booking online first.
We paid for it by waiting in line for over an hour for the tickets....

....there might have been a little bit of whining.

Papa did manage to get a good shot of us near the end of the wait.

A sugar bribe helped.

And up we go.  The African sky is more blue than any place I have ever been!

The cable car rotated a full turn on the way up!

At the top.  

Yes, that is Maria's hat.

Check out this funny creature.  It is called a Dassie.
It looks like an obese rat but its closest relative is actually....

...you won't believe it....

...an elephant!

Friday evening we took a scenic route to dinner.  And by scenic I mean like nothing I have ever seen in my life.  Absolutely stunning.  This part of the "garden route" even puts the drives around San Francisco to shame.  

Dinner Selfie. We ate at a terrific fish 'n chips place in Simon's Town called Salty Sea Dog. 

Saturday morning we headed to the Cape Town Aquarium.
 It is a very kid-friendly place with hands on exhibits and this fun interactive Nemo display.

After the aquarium we drove a little over an hour out of Cape Town to the wine region.  We checked into Mount Rochelle in the town of Franschhoek.  The hotel was absolutely stunning with giant games all around the yard including chess, bowling, croquet, bocce and many others.  Between these and the pool there was plenty to keep Gio busy during Maria's nap. 

While Maria napped Gio and Paolo went wine tasting (yep, you read that right).  

Post nap was time for more garden games and then dinner. 

 

Sleeping off the trip on the flight home.

We loved Cape Town!  So much, in fact, that we already booked a trip back in March. We will stay in CT for three days and then drive the Garden Route from there to Port Elizabeth.  We cannot wait!