Cape Town City Tour

Up early again for breakfast and prepare for our first tour.  We met Gaston, who was born in Argentina and lived in Beijing (diplomat Father) before settling down in Cape Town at the age of 10.  He was very entertaining as he drove us through town with stops at the original fort, the Company gardens, the Malay Quarter and up Signal Hill where we saw the 65,451st firing of the cannon placed there.  

The cannon was originally used to signal the arrival of a ship into the bay.  The settlement had originally been developed as a way station along the sailing route from Europe to India.  The Dutch East India Company established a garden to provide fruits and vegtables to mariners.  When the cannon fired, the  slaves would be summoned to the Garden by the "Slave Bell" to gather and transport produce to the harbour.  

We weren't able to take the tram to the top of Table Mtn. as the tram was closed for annual maintenance. This was unfortunate as it was a perfect day for this, beautifully clear and sunny.  Gaston was an unabashed fan of Cape Town with lots of commentary on the people and culture.  He maintained that the city is no more unsafe than any other major port city in the world.  We laughed at this comment about Johannesburg: "In Joburg, when you enter a club, they pat you down for weapons and if you don't have one, they offer to give you one".  We went back to the hotel before heading out to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront for lunch and shopping.  Found a nice spot to eat in the huge mall followed by walking around looking in the shops.  Not really my cup of tea, but the boys found stuff they couldn't get along without.  Hopped in the shuttle back to the hotel (no one has mustered the courage to walk around Cape Town yet).  After a short nap, we went out to a nearby pizza joint which was really good.  Food and drink in Cape Town remarkably cheap and enjoyable.