Cape Town Day 1

Good morning, good day, and good evening world!
I'm glad to say that we have safely arrived in Cape Town, South Africa!

Things were a little rough going during the last minute preparations in Canada though. Mike called for three separate VISA cards to notify them of the trip and had issues with each and every one of them. In the end, we weren't able to put a note on any of these cards so it looks like Mike will be stuck begging for change on street corners if he wants to eat while we're down here (or he can just borrow cash from Maja... if she's in a good mood).

Muftic family reunion

We arrived around 10pm local time and forced Sanjin (Maja's brother and our gracious host) to stay up well past his bedtime in order to toast our arrival with some Sortilege, Quebecois Maple Whiskey, and gossip late into the evening.

In the morning, we were awoken to the dulcet tones of road construction, but as we were looking to wake up early, it wasn't entirely unwelcome.
One of our biggest recommendations when traveling to any major city around the world has to be the Hop-On/Hop-Off City Sightseeing tours. If you live in any major city in the world, I am sure you must be familiar with the giant red double-decker buses that usher tourists to all the major sights. Sure, these buses are eyesores and can be a bit of a cliché but there's no better way to quickly orientate yourself with your new surroundings in a short amount of time. We chose to buy two-day tickets, that way we can take the entire tour the first day, scope out what sights interest us the most, and then use the bus as our own personal taxicab tomorrow when we actually "hop-off" and visit these sights.

Table Mountain and it's "Table Cloth"

The scenery of Cape Town is absolutely beautiful. The city is nestled within the shadows of two gorgeous hillsides, Table Mountain and Lion's Head. These majestic peaks give Cape Town a unique skyline that took our breath away. The weather was slightly overcast during our tour, with clouds so low they looked like they were hugging the mountains. When the clouds reside this low, the residents here have quaintly (and appropriately) called it the "Table Cloth."

Highlights of our tour included the harbour front district, where we met some lazy seals lounging in the sun. Mike was pretty excited, this being the first time he has ever seen a seal in his life. The harbour is found near Camps Bay, the southern tip of Cape Town. This is where you'll find many of the beaches, hotels and fish restaurants. This destination will definitely require some further investigation. The bus also took us through to the botanical gardens where we were surrounded by beautiful trees and foliage. Cape Town is one of the most lush and green cities we've ever seen!

Now that we've gotten a better idea of the city, we can plan out the rest of our days by hitting some of these interesting sights.

We had such a busy day, that we forgot to eat lunch, so we are off to dinner!

Namaste,

M&M

Mike enjoying the view at Camps Bay on our Hop-On/Hop-Off tour bus