After another night of little sleep (this time only 4 hours), I nervously take to the road driving our rental car. Nervous about driving on the left, driving stick with my left hand, and dealing with manual steering are all enough of a challenge for 1 day, or so I thought.

A quick stop at a gas station to grab some coffee and I learn that getting the car into reverse should have been what I saved my nerves for. 5 minutes of attempting to place, guide, and slam the stick into reverse did nothing. So I am stuck in my parking spot with bystanders staring, multiple cars honking then finally pulling into alternative parking spots (as I was obviously having difficulty evacuating mine), one refusal of help, and me asking Mike to get out and push us backwards, and then finally one kind civilian tipped me off that you need to lift gently up on the stick and slide it into gear. Slick!

Our next angel is Pravanya, our Cape Town couch surfing host. Taking command of the rental car wheel, she proceeds to give us the guided tour of the city. Stops included the spectacular Table Mountain (of which after taking a cable car up to the top we had a sunny day to view the surrounding area), Signal Hill (which was littered with Guinea Fowl), and a drive to Hout Bay for an evening of fish & chips. During the grand tour Mike was pretty much narcoleptic.

September 3rd
Our Clumsy arrival into Africa

September 4th
Driving around

September 5th
Robben Island & Nelson Mandela Gateway

September 6th - 7th
Cape Town

September 8th
Stellenbosch & winery tours

September 9th - 11th
Hermanus / Whales & White Sharks

September 13 & 14th
Wilderness (town's name)

September 15th
Back in Hermanus

South Africa Country Summary