Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is a World Heritage Site and is ranked the 7th most beautiful garden in the world.  It is the only botanical garden with mountains as a backdrop. I took the free two hour tour and was enchanted. The show stopper for me was this unlikely couple.  I like to imagine they are…

Think the  equivalent of upper Northwest DC/Chevy Chase/Arlington where I am staying in an Air B&B. Actually, I am in the cabana behind the house and overlook the swimming pool.   For $50 a night this is hard to beat.  The cabana has a comfortable bed, copious hot water, mini fridge, hair dryer, is a $2.00 Uber…

My DC friends would instantly know Woodstock: previous slums, open air drug markets, eventual haven for starving artists and now home to  upscale coffee shops and boutiques.  The street art is a combination of graffiti and commissioned murals by artists from all over the world. Here are two of my favorites.  The zebra is by…

From Apartheid to freedom is captured in this commissioned mural. From right to left: oppression to uprising to fiery confrontations with police to imprisonment  to Freedom.  In 2009, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp made the film District 9, a science fiction version of actual events in 1966 when 60,000 residents of the District 6 section of…

Is there a difference?  You tell me. On my free walking tour on the history of South Africa, there were 14 of us.  As usual, I was the only American.  Other nations represented on this tour were: Russia, Germany, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Australia, England, The Netherlands,  Japan and Argentina.  Why was I the only one…

So, I have shown up for five free walking tours and all have been outstanding.  The first tour was to Bo Kaap, meaning "above CapeTown," an area where freed slaves (after 10 years servitude) made their new home. The first house in Bo Kaap was painted red. It was the doctor's home so everyone in…

On a clear day you CAN see forever, which is why the cable car lines can be hours long when there are no clouds. Saturday was beastly hot but clear so I waited 90 minutes for the cable car which holds 65 people per trip. The ride up is 3-4 minutes and the ride down…