…so I made it back home from Johannesburg. My flights have been okay altough not quite as good as the ones over to South Africa. It feels very weird to be back home, to have a room to myself, more than 5 T-shirts to choose from in the morning, fast internet without having to pay a fortune for it…
I’m really looking forward to travelling Asia now!! In fact, I can’t wait to head out again!

…you’ve stopped wondering what the exact definition of “now”, “just now” and “now now” is!

…you’ve adjusted to the slow African pace…yes it’s normal to wait at least 10 minutes before being served!

…you’re able to properly pronounce the clicksounds in “Xhosa”!

…Black Label, Castel and Hansa Pilsener have become you’re new friends ;o)!

…expressions like “ah, shame!” , “I promise” and “seriously” have become part of your every day vocabulary!

…you still have blisters on your feet from hiking up Table Mountain!

…you not only know what a butternut squash IS, but you acutally know how to PREPARE it!

…you’ve acquired some serious braai skills!

…you’ve tried biltong, mealie pap, potjie, koeksesters and milktart!

…you suffered from a severe case of “pondo fever” at the Wild Coast

and last but not least:

…you’re already planning your next trip to South Africa!!

After we had a very fun time in Stellenbosch, it was off to Cape Town, a.k.a. the Mother City (people from Jo’burg will tell you that they call Cape Town that way because it takes 9 months to get anything done there). Cape Town is definitely one of the best tourist destinations in the world. They say that South Africa is in Cape Town, because there’re so many things to do: Hiking&abseiling Table Mountain, Wine Tasting, Game Parks close by, dining at the waterfront, sailing, going out to one of the many bars and clubs and so much more…

We arrived pretty late in Cape Town, so that night we only hit the hostel’s bar and made plans for the next day. The next morning I hiked up Table Mountain together with Florian, a German traveler that I had met on the BazBus a couple of days before. We started walking towards the lower cableway station from our hostel and that first stretch was already pretty steep. I guess we should have saved our energy by taking a taxi to the start of our trail - ah well - at least now we can say that we really did hike uo the whole mountain.
We chose to do the trail that is suppose to be the most straightforward and fastest. Well, if I had known what I was in for I don’t think I would have done it. It was SO steep all the way up!They tell you it takes about 2,5h for a reasonably fit person to hike up, we did it in little more than 1,5 hours. I think if I hadn’t gone with Florian I would have turned around half way up ;o)
But let me tell you - the view from the top was so stunning that you forget about the hike immediately. The weather was perfect and we had a very clear view!
On our way back down we then took the cableway which gets you down in only 4 minutes.

Florian und ich am Start unseres Wanderweges auf den Tafelberg…wir hatten ja keine Ahnung was uns erwarten würde / Florian and I at the beginning of our hike up to the top of Table Mountain..we had no clue what we were in for!Ja, es war steil…sehr steil! / Yes it was steep…VERY steep!Oben angekommen / At the topOhne Worte / No explanation needed…Im Hintergrund sieht man Robben Island auf der das Gefängnis ist in dem Mandela 27 Jahre eingesessen hat / In the far back you can see Robben Island with the prison where Mandela was incarcerated for 27 yearsFehlt nur noch das Gipfelkreuz zum Beweis / Yeah…we made it to the top!Die Sicht hätte wirklich nicht besser sein können / The view was totally clear that day, it couldn’t have been betterSonne die sich im Atlantik spiegelt / Sun reflecting in the Atlantic oceanDie schweizer Seilbahn auf den Tafelberg..wir hätten es so einfach haben können! / The swiss Cableway going up Table Mountain…we could have saved soo much energy!

That evening we met up with Kelly&Katie in an Irish pub on Long Street to watch the Champions League final. Although the wrong team won we ended up having a very good time that evening.

The next day we rented a car (a VW Golf I, that get still produced in Port Elisabeth) and drove along the Cape Peninsula. We stopped in Hout Bay for a late breakfast, then head down to Simon’s Town to have a look at the penguins (they stink!!) and then all the way down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. We had found out the day before that Ossi’s , Kelly’s and my birthday were all coming up within the first 10 days of June, so I had bought a cake and we pre-celebrated our birthday while sipping wine and watching an amazing sunset. I really doesn’t get much better than that!!

Hout Bay

On my third and last whole day I had to say goodbye to Rico and Ossi, as they were leaving for Singapore that morning. They’re on the same round-the-world-ticket as me, so we will probably meet up again in Thailand in a couple of weeks!
Rico and Ossi…thanks so much for the fun time we had together. When I was on the plane back to Jo’burg I had to think of so many hilarious moments that I could get that smile off my face! Hope to see you guys in Thailand!
After our farewell I hopped on the sightseeing bus and took a ride through town stopping a couple of time along the way. I ended my sightseeing trip with a catamaran cruise (I even got to see a whale and a couple of dolphins!).

Long StreetCamps BaySüdafrikas vier Friedensnobelpreisträger / South Africas peace nobel price winnersWaterfrontTafelberg vom Boot aus / postcard view of the Table MountainAuf meiner Catamaran Fahrt / On my catamaran cruiseFujicat

That night I went out for dinner at the waterfront and drinks on Long Street with Katie, Kelly and Beth (all from England) to celebrate Beth’s and my last night in Cape Town.

Here are also a couple of pictures of the Ashanti Lodge where I stayed at in Cape Town. It was definitely one of the nicest and best-organised hostels in South Africa.Even the loo had a view on Table Mountain and some binoculars installed for you (couldn’t get a pic of it…it was always buys when I wanted to snatch a pic ;o)

Ashanti Lodge, Cape Town

It’s quite funny - while traveling along the coast I wished that I could stay longer in South Africa than I had planned, but then on my last morning in Cape Town, I suddenly had this feeling that I was now ready to move on. The five weeks that I spent in South Africa had been fantastic and of course I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do, but I had seen enough to say that I truly experienced South Africa! And I’m very sure that I will be back one day!

Gestern haben wir in Stellenbosch eine Weintour gemacht, zu ingesamt 4 Weinguetern in Stellenbosch, Paarl und Franschoek, wo wir ingesamt mindestens 20-25 Weine probiert haben. Die Weintour hat neben uns auch eine groessere Overland-Reisegruppe gemacht, die sich als ziemlich lustiger Haufen entpuppt haben (siehe Fotos!). Auf dem ersten Weingut waren alle noch relativ interessiert an der Weinherstellung, -traditionen und -sorten. Spaetestens nach der zweiten Weinverkostung hat das niemanden mehr interessiert. Auf dem zweiten Weingut gab es dann auch noch eine Kaeseprobe, die uns allen sehr gelegen kam. Nach einem Lunch in Paarl ging es dann weiter nach Franschoek fuer die beiden letzten Weingueter.
Bei der dritten Weinprobe habe ich dann sogar noch eine Flasche Rose gewonnen weil ich als erstes die Bedeutung des Wappens erraten haben…die Flasche werden wir dann wohl mal in Cape Town an einem unserer letzten Abende koepfen. Heute abend werden wir dann zum letzten Mal in den BazBus steigen und das letzte kurze Stueck bis nach Cape Town fahren. Komisch, dass die 5 Wochen jetzt fast schon vorbei sind. Ging irgendwie viel zu schnell. In Cape Town werden wir hoffentlich noch einmal Kelly und Katie, die beiden Englaenderinnen aus St.Lucia wiedertreffen um mit dem Mietauto eine Tour zum Cape Point zu machen.
Morgen will ich, wenn das Wetter gut ist, mit einem Deutschen, den ich im BazBus getroffen habe, den Tafelberg hinaufwandern.

Das war die erste Weinprobe…da waren wir fast noch nüchtern / The first wine tasting..we were still sort of soberHügel hinter einem Weingut in Stellenbosch / Winelands behind the a wine estate in StellenboschIch und die Hasen…Australier, was soll man dazu noch sagen ;o) / Me and the bunnies…Aussies, no further comment! ;o)Das zweite Weingut in Paarl / Our second wine estate located in PaarlKäseverkostung…das hatten wir zu dem Zeitpunkt auch schon bitter nötig / Cheese tasting, that’s what we all desperately needed at that point!Ausblick vom dritten Weingut in Franschoek…da hatten wir schon über 15 Weine probiert / At the third wine estate in Franschoek..at this point we had been through more than 15 winesKulisse in Stellenbosch / Scenery in StellenboschUnser Hostel, Stumble Inn in Stellenbosch…das Wetter war leider nicht die ganze Zeit so gut / Our hostel, the Stumble Inn in Stellenbosch…the weather wasn’t always that nice during our stayHaus im holländischen Kolonialstil in Stellenbosch / Dutch colonial style house in StellenboschKirche in Stellenbosch / Church in Stellenbosch

no comment!still no comment!yeah I know…we had lots to drink!

Nachdem wir vorgestern fuer eine Nacht in Knysna waren, sind wir gestern schnell nach Stellenbosch weitergefahren. Knysna war ein totaler Reinfall…zum ersten Mal war das Hostel in dem wir bleiben wollten voll ( wir haben bisher nie vorgebucht, ist ja absolute Nebensaison). Mussten uns dann ein anderes Hostel organisieren und das war absolut schraeg. Hatte gerade erst aufgemacht, wir waren in der Nacht die einzigen Gaeste und wir waren vorallem auch ganz alleine in dem Haus. Der Besitzer ( oder der, den wir fuer den Besitzer hielten) kam erst nachts mit einer Blondine im Schlepptau besoffen nach Hause. Das ganze Hostel war auch etwas runtergekommen aber dafuer ironischerweise das teuerste in dem wir bisher geblieben sind.
Waren dementsprechend froh am naechsten Tag weiter nach Stellenbosch fahren zu koennen. Die Fahrt dauerte etwa 8 Stunden und wir kamen abends erst in Stellenbosch im Stumble Inn an. Das Wetter hat sich in den letzten 2 Tagen total geaendert…nachdem wir vor 3 Tagen noch in der Sonne am Strand lagen, herrschen jetzt in Stellenbosch winterliche Temperaturen und auf den Bergen liegt schon der erste Schnee.

An der Lagune von Knysna…da war das Wetter noch schön / The lagoon in Knysna…the weather was still niceImmer noch die Lagune…Wetter schon nicht mehr so toll/ Same lagoon…weather is chaning within a few minutesAn der Waterfront in Knysna, das einzig Interessante an der Stadt / The Waterfront, the only place worth visitingWaterfront II

Das ist der gute BazBus, der mich in Südafrika von A nach B bringt / This is the BazBus that I hopped on and off to travel South AfricaEin ziemlich leerer BazBus auf dem Weg nach Knysna / A pretty empty bus on the way to Knysna