When Dad told us we were going to South Africa for our family vacation this year we were obviously very excited. For as long as I can remember, Dad has wanted more than anything to go on a safari. He started reading Wilbur Smith’s series of books about generations of a family based in Africa decades ago, and since then had always mentioned that would be his dream vacation.
Whether it was a beach in New England, Mexico, Coronado, the Dominican Republic or Hawaii, our vacations were largely beach focused. Dad has never been a huge fan of the sand so this was both going to be a departure from our normal trips and exciting for us to see our dad’s dream come true.
Photo by Drew Nixon
Our first stop of the two-week adventure was Cape Town, South Africa. I immediately fell in love with the city and waterfront. We stayed at the Table Bay Hotel which was something out of a Downton Abbey episode with high tea in the afternoon looking out over Table Mountain.
We desperately wanted to visit the top of the mountain but Mother Nature had other plans, making it much too windy for them to allow access. Instead, we visited the aquarium, the spa, had high tea, ate more than our stomachs should have been able to hold, and kayaked with penguins.
Photo by Kayak Cape Town 
Photo by Kayak Cape Town
The most magical moment was our two-hour kayak ride with seals, penguins and jelly fish. Thank goodness we didn’t come across any sharks because I don’t think I could deal with the potential carnage. It was just so neat to have the penguins head out for their daily fishing right past our kayaks. It took just about everything I had to not reach out and try to pet the animals. Obviously, I’m getting a little bit better at that self-control thing.
All-in-all, I am smitten with Cape Town and am already trying to find my way back there.
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