Cape Town, South Africa

If there is an ocean, we will put our feet in it - even if it's the icy waters of the Atlantic in South Africa.  These waters were cold enough that we didn't have to worry about anyone going in too far though!

Anna & Julia got to have their first facials every - princess facials- at the Cape Grace hotel in Cape Town.  Since they both already glow this was more for fun, which it was.

Julia the crocodile tamer.  We went to a crocodile farm and were amazed by how big they get and how sneaky they do seem. Anna sung it best during Peter Pan Jr - never smile at a crocodile, no you can't trust him with his toothy grin.

We have a friend from our Park Street Cafe days, Ashley, who now lives outside of Cape Town.  She and her family joined us for dinner one night.  Ashley has a daughter, Caitlin, who is Julia's age and she was immediately adopted into the family.  We were really thankful that the restaurant staff had the sense to put us in a back private room so that the kids could run around have have run while the grown ups talked.

We had Ashley, Grath & Catilin pose for a picture with us in the hotel lobby before they left.  Jonah wasn't feeling very well that evening and Granny had taken him to bed by this point.  It was so great to see an old friend (and make new ones through her) so very far away and get to know more about her new world and life halfway across the globe.

Noah really bonded with all the guys in the lobby of the hotel.  They came up with all sorts of complicated secret handshakes and practiced their dabbing skills together too.

 This is Cape Town - ok, it's mostly the Atlantic, but seriously, it's so pretty!

On the top of Table Mountain.  We felt really luck to be able to be on Table Mountain as the cable car shut down the very next day for a scheduled 2 week maintenance.  Given our kids, we wouldn't have been able to hike to the top, but the views were really breathtaking and it would have been sad to miss out.

That's a cable car on it's way up to the top of Table Mountain.  It's a serious incline.

Noah & Anna loved rock jumping on Table Mountain.  I'm pretty sure kids are part goat in that regard.

While in Cape Town, we also went out to Stellenbosch, which is wine country.  There's also a lot of other cool things in the area like this fun playground.  This is the tetter-totter of my childhood, and I'm glad my kids got the chance to play on the "real" thing and not the balanced American version that's just not quite as thrilling.

Sisters at lunch

Brothers at lunch

Mummy & daddy at lunch

You can't go to Cape Town and not go by Cape Point and see the penguins.  They were so cute and there were so many of them.  It's really a little unreal, but really cool.

There were baby penguins!  They were so fluffy, we just wanted to scoop them up and snuggle them but were able to restrain ourselves.

Have you ever pet a cheetah?  We went to a cheetah rescue in the Stellenbosch area and had the chance to get up close and personal with them.

Cheetahs have coarser hair than a regular cat, but they're surprisingly clean for living in the dirt.  There are a lot of animal rescues in Stellenbosch, and we also went to a lion rescue.  At the lion rescue, those animals have come from zoos and circuses and aren't really friendly or predictable enough for such close encounters.

In the Stellenbosch area, we also went to a bird sanctuary.  These barn owls were so cute and so soft and fluffy.  I totally get why Harry Potter had an owl as his magical pet, I kinda want one now too.

Noah bravely worn a live snake necklace while at the bird sanctuary

Jonah got to hold an owl on his hand.  They're much heavier than you'd think.

Granny got in on the owl activity too

This owl found a nice roosting spot for sure!

At the bird sanctuary, Anna was most taken with this baby goat.  It was kind of random for there to be a goat, but he was fully of energy and excitement and was very excited to have a friend to run around with.  The kids actually got to help feed the goat a baby bottle while we were there, which was pretty fun.

One of the wineries is associated with a chocolate producer, so we did a chocolate tasting.  We also got to learn a little bit about the chocolate making process which was neat.  We sampled toasted cocoa nibs and they weren't our favorite, but the final product was a big hit.

The crocodile farm was also in Stellenbosch.  This little guy was a couple of years old.

Even Jonah wanted to hold the crocodile.  It was weird that he was both so tough on the top, yet so soft on the bottom.  Even with a little guy like this, it was easy to feel his strength when he got squirmy.  Total confirmation that we'd never like to meet an adult crocodile in real life.

Because of weather we weren't able to make it to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela had been imprisioned, so we went to the District 6 museum instead to learn a little bit more about the injustice of apartheid and ways that the country has moved forward toward healing as well as some of the lingering disparities that exist.  Along the way we stopped in the Bo-Kaap area that is known for it's very well maintained colorful houses.  Julia of course wanted to have the pink house.

During our days in Cape Town, we had an amazing local guide, Soli.  He was exceedingly knowledgeable about the history of South Africa, the current challenges that the country faces and the steps that were taken to begin to rectify the pain of apartheid.  He also knew all the beautiful and age-approrpioately interesting things that our family may have cared about. We are so thankful that he was willing to share glimpses of his country with us.  He was an amazing guide and a wonderful person who will is firmly cemented in our memories of South Africa.