South Africa and Namibia: September 2018: Day 8: Robben Island and Table Mountain

South Africa and Namibia: September 2018

Day 8: Robben Island and Table Mountain

The hot section of the breakfast buffet at Protea Victoria Junction.

Breakfast.

The Silo Hotel.

The mine on Robben Island, where political prisoners were enslaved.

African sacred ibis.

Maximum security wing.

Fur seals smelling up the dock. Errr, I mean sunning themselves on the dock. V&A Waterfront.

V&A Waterfront.

Appetizers and chili sauce at Haiku.

Dim sum was definitely previously frozen. Bleh.

Ginger seafood was pretty good, but not very Chinese.

Zeitz Museum and Silo Hotel.

Flying dragon by Nicholas Hlobo dominates the museum.

Winding staircases.

Cable car up Table Mountain.

Late afternoon over Cape Town.

Clouds covering the mountains to the west.

The lower flanks of Table Mountain are lush and green.

Rock hryaxes appreciate sunset, too.

The layers of sandstone revealed.

Sunset over Cape Town.

Lion's Head at sunset.

The lights of Cape Town shimmer on to ward off the night.

Salad at HQ Restaurant.

Pork belly was pretty decent. Actually meaty.

Steak frites is the signature dish.

250g top sirloin and fries.

Robben Island is South Africa's most famous political prison, the place where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, and an important lesson in not only history, but the impacts of apartheid on the modern nation of South Africa as well as the rest of the world. The lessons were emphasized at the end of the tour, where former political prisoners incarcerated at Robben Island drive the point home for visitors as we toured the maximum-security wing.

An uneven lunch of Chinese food at the V&A Waterfront mall on the waterfront at Haiku. Dim sum was obviously frozen, the beef was way too sweet, ginger seafood was tasty but not really Chinese. Highlight was actually the veggie and mushroom dish-- quite good!

Next stop was Zeitz, a contemporary African art museum that is as much about the architecture as it is the art inside. An excellent guided tour told the story of the converted grain silo as well as the art inside, with particular emphasis on the natural shapes used-- the inside was carved out like a single grain of corn (!). The art inside, on the other hand, was not nearly as organic; a dragon dominates the lobby and traditional African art fills the exhibits.

Sunset at the top of Table Mountain wrapped up the day's sightseeing. Wasn't quite the blaze of color that Sam was hoping, but it was still worth the visit, especially with the city lights below. Unfortunately, Sam ended up so focused on the sunset, we forgot to explore the rest of the mountain top. Oops! >_<

Dinner at HQ was a more casual affair than their website made it look. Turns out they only have three steaks on the menu, a pair of 250 gram sirloins and a 1kg tomahawk challenge-- although a glance at the table next to us revealed they had a Monday 2-for-1 special!

Obviously we went for the 2-for-1, so 500g of sirloin each, a mound of french fries (er, chips), salad, plus the pork belly appetizer! Left properly stuffed. o_0