The Kenneys come to Cape Town

My parents came to visit me for two weeks in September, and here are some of the highlights from my time with them:

- The Old Biscuit Mill food market, held every Saturday morning/afternoon in Salt River, an area just outside of downtown that is being gentrified. You can sample all sorts of gourmet foods (olives, honey, chocolate…) and eat delicious pastries, curries, seafood, cupcakes, and just about anything else your heart desires. Plus wine, beer or mojitos!

- West Coast National Park wildflowers. We went on a day that wasn’t quite sunny, but were still treated to some spectacular flower displays. Wildflowers bloom in the area just north of Cape Town from the end of August to the end of September. The national park is situated right on the Atlantic ocean, which makes a beautiful backdrop for the displays. We also saw some wildlife, including ostriches, wildebeests and impala.

- Llandudno beach. We walked all the way out to the edge of the rocks that create a natural breakwater for the beach, which lies part-way between Camps Bay and Hout Bay. It is astonishing how large these rocks are!

- Wine tasting in Stellenbosch and Franschoek. I first brought my parents to my old favorite, Vergelegen. This is a massive winery that produces some of the best wine in South Africa. Then we went just up the road to Morgenster for the world’s best olive oil – or so they say. Then we tried some new wineries. Tokara was absolutely stunning, with a beautiful new restaurant built into the side of the mountain where we ate lunch. Then Boschendal, one of the more historic wineries on the road between Stellenbosch and Franschoek, which boasts typical Cape Dutch architecture. Finally, we stopped at Graham Beck – a fantastic finish, where we were treated to a tour of their bottling plant and some great sparkling wine.

- Dinner with the Hout Bay Rotary Club. My parents were excited to meet the folks who had been my hosts for the past seven months. The Club lived up to all of their expectations, and had them in stitches for days over a discussion about chainsaw jugglers and snake charmers.

- Safari in Kruger National Park. We flew to Johannesburg, rented a car, and drove 5 hours to South Africa’s largest national park (which I had visited once before when Allie was visiting). We spent three nights in the park, and saw just about everything. My wish of seeing a lion finally came true. In fact we saw lions on five different occasions – including and entire pride that was eating dinner (a giraffe) by the side of the road at sunset. We also saw some other really cool things, like a few baby elephants, some hyenas napping literally on the edge of the road, a hippo fight, and a giraffe stooping to drink water from a watering hole. It was an amazing three days!

During their second week in Cape Town, I was rather busy with work and school, so my parents entertained themselves with a drive to the Cape of Good Hope, a tour of some of Cape Town’s townships, a trip to Robben Island, and shopping in Greenmarket Square, amongst other things. We still managed to share some quality family time at their beautiful bed and breakfast in Camps Bay, which had one of the most spectacular views imaginable. It was great to see them, and sad to see them go – but I’ll be home in less than three months, believe it or not. (And I’m not sure I want to!)