cape town with jon, mike, jennifer, and jim

These pictures show the house and a grand adventure of a hike up Table Mountain.  We had a blast on the hike and continuously referred to Jon's shorter legs--encouraging him to push it hard.  Around 1 pm we prevailed and reached the summit--a long hike from Constantia Nek.  Jon agreed that Mike's background of being dragged out on 12 mile hikes for every one of his birthdays growing up may have had an impact on his enjoyment level of the hike.  Alas, we all had a grand time exploring and seeing the views.  Sorry this has taken me so long to post!

More posts coming soon about exploration outside of Cape Town!

This is the humble abode in which we stayed in for 3 of the 8 nights.

The view of Table Mountain from Jon's window.

Beginning the hike up Table Mountain--we made it all the way from Constantia Nek to MacLear's Beacon to the Cable Car, then down the Cable car to the city side.  Quite a hike!

Jon realizing for the first time that we're making him hike a huge mountain.  The strong goat legs weren't quite the ideal tool for following a Crowley up the incline.

We made it up to a steep cliff and covered about 1/2 of our elevation or so :)

Beautiful False  Bay.

a trip of a lifetime (guest post, tim and karen, part 1)

Hi,

Karen and Tim, Jennifer’s Mom and Dad, here. We recently returned to our home in Minnesota from a fabulous trip to South Africa to visit Jennifer and Jim. We’re taking a turn as guest bloggers to recap what was truly a trip of a lifetime. We’ll try to keep it short, and focus on our Top 10 Experiences in South Africa.

#11 – Groot Constantia Vineyards & Winery

OK, we cheated. There was no way that we could trim the list to only 10. We thought we did well to keep it to only 11. The vineyards and winery of Groot Constantia is a beautiful collection of vines, hills, and manicured grounds – all literally across the street from Jennifer and Jim’s house.

From Jennifer and Jim’s house, a five minute walk past a couple of large estates puts you into the vineyard. Here’s the first picture of the trip, on a walk the morning following our late night arrival in Cape Town.

The main house at Groot Constantia is a classic example of Cape Dutch architecture.

A grand view of the vines and Hottentot Mountains to the northeast beyond from the farm's homestead.

Groot Constantia features two restaurants. One morning we enjoyed breakfast at the Jonkershuis Restaurant’s outdoor, bistro-style seating.

#10 - African Penguins

Located just 30 minutes south of Constantia near Simon’s Town is Boulders Beach – home to a large colony of African penguins.

African penguins, at about two feet tall, are about half the size of their more famous cousin, the Antarctic-resident King penguin. However, their residence is considerably warmer, shown here enjoying the white sand of Boulders Beach.

Here are two fluffy young penguins, about 8 months old, with one of their parents.

There were several nesting penguins in close proximity to each other on the beach. Here is one taking care of two eggs.