Nancy and Doug Trips
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Our lifelong travel bug has given us our most prized ‘possessions’ - the many memories from business and especially family trips.
 “Take only memories, leave only footprints.”
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🇨🇦British Columbia
    • Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point

      Semalam, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

      We drove into the Cape National Park and stopped at the actual Cape of Good Hope. The original name given by the Portuguese in 1488 was Cape of Storms, but they wanted to promote this route as the best way to the East Indies, so changed its name for marketing reasons. The two minutes I was able to last in the wind and rain fit the earlier name better.

      We drove to Cape Point and took the funicular up to near the lighthouse from which we could see the Cape down below.

      It is neat to think you are standing at the end of a continent with nothing but Australia far far to the East, Brazil far far to the west and Antarctica far far to the South.

      We then drove back into the city. The area is all very scenic, sometimes spectacularly so, and roads and development is all very nice. We did not go into any townships, of course. Got back to my hotel about 1:30, so a nice length to the day.
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    • Boulder Beach Penguin Colony

      Semalam, Afrika Selatan ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      The drive from Chapman's Peak soon ends in Simon's Town, which we didn't stop up, but is nicely developed with colourful period buildings, cafes, etc. around a harbour next to the SA Naval Base. Simon's Town would be a very nice base for an extended stay in the Cape.

      At the outskirts of town lies Boulder Beach Park, home to a colony of the endangered African penguin. Such cute critters!
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    • Tour and Chapman's Point

      Semalam, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

      Yesterday evening, it looked like today's weather forecast would not be a complete washout, so I booked a last minute tour through Viator. Chose a condensed half-day tour. Got picked up by my guide Bizo, then added two young Brazilian women and we headed up the coast.

      Hout's Bay is a fishing and commercial harbour and also the departure point for tours to a seal sanctuary.

      The highway along Chapman's Peak was spectacular despite wind and rain (which really doesn't show up in the photos!)
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    • Furnished in the British style of the 19th centuryOriginal floor and furnishings from 1695Four famous African kings

      Castle of Good Hope

      5 Julai, Afrika Selatan ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      It was not a very long walk to the Castle to catch the early history of the Dutch colony. While the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive at the Cape in 1488, there was little European conatct until the Dutch East India Company (VOC). a commercial operation but with the mandate, reach and military power of a nation, established a halfway supply station in 1652. As trade grew and the Dutch began to import workers from Malaysia and settlers arrived, the VOC built this castle from 1666 to 1679, and it is the oldest building in South Africa.

      The VOC was not able to support their empire, and after the English captured the Cape in 1795 when the Dutch were allies of France, it was returned to the Dutch government after peace, but fell to the English yet again in 1805 when the Dutch were again allies of Napoleon. So, it is a nice strong looking fort but did not prevent conquest in the end.,

      Today, it has been well restored with some late 17th century rooms on display and a small museum of the military history,

      It was then a reasonable walk back home where I arrived at 13h30 having had over 5 hours which is quite enough time on my feet for one day,
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    • District Six Museum

      5 Julai, Afrika Selatan ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Woke up to a threatening day, as I hit the road at 0800 and sure enough it started to rain just as I arrived after the 500m walk to the other hotel for breakfast, after which I caught an Uber to the District Six museum. This exhibit tells the story of one of the most notorious episodes in South Africa in the context of the background of the entire apartheid system. In 1966, the regime forcibly evicted 60,000 residents of this historic neighbourhood to outlying townships far from the city and razed the buildings to the ground to create a new whites only residential area under the Group Areas Act.

      The displays are extremely detailed with loads of small print and photos and memorabilia of the personal stories of the displaced.
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    • They love being stroked like cats

      Penguin Gallery at Aquarium

      4 Julai, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      The day I went to Emergency, I missed my tour to the Cape with a stop at the Boulders penguin colony. This large exhibit had a lot of information about these cute creatures.

    • Two Oceans Aquarium

      4 Julai, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

      I spent all of Thursday in the hotel, although the rain eased and sun came out late as I did not get up especially early and just felt it better to stick around. Friday opened stormy and it has stayed that way, but my plan was to go to the aquarium.

      South Africa is at the tip of the continent where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and mix, producing conditions for a diverse and abundant sea-life. There are over 2500 species of fish here, or 16% of all the diversity in the world, and of those, a fifth are found only here, so the aquarium has much to present the visitor.

      It was pretty busy with a lot of quite young kids having a great time. I spent 3 hours here, and went over most of the exhibits rather quickly. It is one of the better aquariums I have ever been to with some magnificent large tanks, many very informative displays about just about every type of sea-life you can imagine. One large annex was dedicated to penguins of which there is a footprint to itself. There was also a very cool gallery for jellyfish. These brainless and heartless creatures range from fingernail size to over 200kg and in blooms have stopped aircraft carriers and shut down nuclear power plants. A big exhibit on sharks had a tank with some really big ones and a display with tons of cool information about the world's most deadly predator.
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    • A Walk in the CBD

      2 Julai, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      I was discharged on Monday, and moved back into my hotel mid-afternoon. Made a lot of progress with my pain that day and Tuesday.

      On Wednesday after lunch, the weather cleared a bit and I went for a walk around downtown. It is quite pedestrian-friendly downtown with plazas and squares. Across the plaza from my hotel is one end of St. Georges Mall, a wide pedestrianized retail street with many vendor tents and stands. It ends at St. Georges Cathedral where I came back via the historic, cobblestoned square with craft vendors galore.

      So it was nice to get out and feel I am improving, having accomplished some 8000 steps today.
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    • Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital

      25–29 Jun, Afrika Selatan ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

      Dr. Barnard is famous for performing the World's first heart transplant here in Capetown, almost half a century ago, and is a local hero. A private hospital named after him was replaced with a state of the art facility in 2017.. Seemed like a worthwhile sight.

      So, on Tuesday evening, I walked into a glass window in the lobby of my own hotel and fell to the floor. Lots of pain with left arm and leg/hip. Managed to get to my room, but in the morning called Canada Life, who very quickly approved my request and sent me here. Very efficient emergency department found I had broken the little knob at the tip of my elbow. Also, bruised hip and a micro fracture of the pelvis. Elbow needed repair, but the hip was minor (in terms of the injury as the quads were so painful I could not walk). Canada Life approved surgery quickly, but the paperwork to have it directly billed instead of me paying and submitting expenses took a few hours. Surgery was done Friday to allow my anticoagulant prescription to clear.
      Very impressive facility and medical care and fantastic nursing staff. Food as expected. Operation went well with my latest installation of tungsten. I am feeling well, not much pain.

      So I missed my first Namibia to Botswana safari and now plan to continue my trip from the 9th of July forward. This was the more "civilized" poertion compared to Namibia with 3 to 4 star hotels and good roads, etc. I will have to just drop a couple of excursions as I will not want to rush, and I will have a sling on my left arm.

      Obviously, it's not a great thing to happen, but I am recovering really well and getting great care, and listening to the advice of my surgical and physiotherapy team about what is safe to do.
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    • Camps Bay and Cape Town Shoreline

      24 Jun, Afrika Selatan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      After leaving the cable car stop, the bus makes its way down to the Atlantic shore, first at Camps Bay, then a series of stops such as Clifton, Sea Point etc. These are all very (very) affluent with beachfront and ocean views and a number of pricey homes.

      I got off at Camps Bay as it was near lunch and walked the length of the beach, then bac along the promenade. Stopped for lunch at a Tigers Milk, which I think is a chain, but had a nice second floor balcony and the chicken sandwich and local pale ale were great.

      Back to the hotel at 3pm, too late for the walking tours but it was a great day, before heading out for a quick bite and what turned out to a very eventful evening
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