Cape Town: Day 2

Day two started bright and early at 0800. We enjoyed a second day of the awesome breakfast buffet before heading off to Table Mountain. Unfortunately, the wind had not subsided so we were unable to take the cable cars to the top but we were escorted to several nice vantage points which allowed some really nice photos of the city. Along the way, the tour director summarized some of the local history. He had grown up in Cape Town and therefore lived through the Apartheid. He had some pretty interesting stories to share and related areas of the city to show us.

Our first official stop of the day was at a local winery. This experience at wine tasting was much more pleasant than that in New Zealand. The winery itself was very impressive with huge archways and a lovely atmosphere. We were able to try nine different wines and three variations of chocolate. Shall we say heaven?

Our original itinerary called for a second wine tasting after lunch, but instead we convinced the tour director to adjust the schedule to include a visit with the cheetahs. At the cheetah sanctuary, we were able to visit with and pet the 9 month old cheetah cubs. They were quite calm... though I don't understand how they couldn't be considering their day was spent being petted by eager animal lovers! The sanctuary was in place to raise money for research and to promote the cheetah's survival. I thought it was a nice addition to the day.

We finished the day on the water front browsing the shops and taking photos of the sea lions that had come to sun on the docks. There were locals singing and dancing in order to take advantage of the tourist's generosity and street merchants selling their goods in addition to the established shops. We stopped in a jeweler in search of some tanzanite but were discouraged by the high costs and wrong ring size. ;) There was a ring that was just stunning that I would have had a hard time walking away from had it fit the finger it was destined for.... good thing - our pocket book would have taken a hit!

It'll be a REALLY early morning for us tomorrow as we head to Zambia for the Victoria Falls...I have to decide real soon whether I have the guts to bungy jump off the falls...... I mentioned the possibility and apparently, it exists...so now...can I follow through?