After the mayhem and excitement of our overland tour it was finally time to breathe again and be moving at our own pace. In Cape Town we stayed with a dear family friend, Michelle. It was exactly what we needed after the jam packed schedule we had for the past two months. Home cooked meals, laundry, a bed, and social time with someone we knew. We loved the truck but getting to know that many new people in a short amount of time was exhausting by the end. Michelle’s son had his 30th birthday as a sushi picnic in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden with friends and some family. We joined for that and enjoyed briefly walking the grounds.

One of the days in Cape Town we spent with two friends from the overland truck, Carmel and Benny. The day started with an afternoon walking tour with a local around the Bo-Kaap neighborhood. It’s an area well known for its colorful buildings. We learned about the history of the area, such as that the buildings were supposed to be temporary housing for workers. We got lunch at Pahari, which serves traditional African dishes. They brought a kettle and wide dish to wash our hands with as the food was to be eaten with our hands. We had chicken stew, peanut butter greens, termites, coleslaw and more. The termites tasted fine but needed salt to be good; the consistency was crispy.

That same day we went up Table Mountain using the cable car system as we had read that the hiking trail has people who mug tourists on it unfortunately. The cable car was a fun experience, though, and was very fast. If it was any windier than the day we were there they shut down the cable car and we would have had to walk instead. We were originally planning on staying for sunset but it was absolutely freezing. Our friends hadn’t brought any jackets so Nick and I gave them ours. They are Italian and Australian and as Canadian/Mid Western Americans we could probably handle the cold a bit better than they could. Dinner was poke and gelato with chocolate covered wafers.

Another day in Cape Town was spent on a tour of Robben Island. We took the ferry across and a bus around the different highlight areas. Part of the tour was being guided by an ex prisoner of the island through the inside of the prison. We saw Nelson Mandela’s prison cell and the tree he sat under and wrote his book. The island was home to a small colony of African penguins and had a lovely view of Table Mountain in the distance. We had lunch at a place called Quay Four which had good seafood and a nice view of the harbor. Lunch was followed by a short stroll around the V&A waterfront area, which is full of shops and food establishments.