The most surprising thing to me about Cape Town was the climate. In my mind I pictured Cape Town being as far south of the equator as the tip of South America. In truth, the Latitude of Cape Horn, South America, is about 55 degrees south of the equator. The latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, is 32 degrees south of the equator. Tallahassee, Florida is at approximately the same latitude north as Cape Town is south, or about 32 degrees. It probably snows in the Cape more than in Tallahassee because it can get storms off of the South Atlantic ocean from Antarctica. Florida is swept by the warm Gulf Stream.If it does snow at the Cape it never stays on the ground long. Temperatures in Cape Town are quite pleasant year 'round.

A flight of about an hour and a half brought us to the airport at Cape Town. The plane flew out over the tip of the Cape to land and the incoming views of the Cape of Good Hope were breath taking.We could see  Robbin Island, where Nelson Mandella was held prisoner for so many years and Table mountain, a flat topped mountain which looms over Cape Town. We had hired a freelance tour Guide that Peggy had used on previous trips, named Les Buwalda. He was a very pleasant fellow of English descent who would drive us anyplace we wished to go for $100 US per day in his comfortable Mercedes sedan. At the time the exchange rate was twelve Rand to the US dollar. He brought a van for the trip from the airport to better accommodate our luggage.  He met us as we gathered our luggage and we headed west toward the wine country.

Cottages at Groot Constancia                                 Gardens, Groot Constancia Winery

We had reservations to spend the New Years holiday at a winery called Groot Constancia, about a thirty minute drive from Cape Town. The winery has quaint little Dutch Colonial cottages and an on-site restaurant, reputed to be one of the best in the Cape Town area. It is situated in a lush valley surrounded by mountains. It's like going back in time. We settled into our cottage which was about 400 square feet in size and had a luxurious bath room. It was connected to one other cottage. There were several groups of these duplex units with one group connected like a small motel with a half dozen rooms in a row. Ours was undoubtedly one of the more luxurious ones. There was a swimming pool a short distance away situated in front of the restaurant. The restaurant was about a hundred feet away among beautiful gardens.

The wine District                                                         Cape Town Harbor

Les turned out to be not only a gracious host but very knowledgeable about the wineries. He knew the the best and most picturesque, but many that the tourist traveling on his own would never find. Having a driver is an excellent idea as one simply has to sample the products of the wineries, many of which are some of the best in the world. South African wines are, by and large, excellent and the Cape has hundreds of wineries.

To read more see  "Day two at Cape Town" published 09/24/2007.