Strangers...

Finally (and very sadly), our Polish visitors have been able to fly back home to Warsaw. They were with our family for 6 days and we all had such a wonderful time getting to know one another.

While many have commended us on inviting perfect strangers into our home, it was fabulous and we have gained so much by accommodating these "refugees" (as they liked to call themselves) for a few days. It was just so unexpected that in doing a good turn, we received the gift of friendship.

Fortunately, there was a long weekend while they were with us and I'd taken an extra day off work, so Jake & I had plenty of time to get out and share our beautiful country with them. I don't need much prompting for that though, as you know.

As usual, below are the photos of our time together. As the old saying goes, a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet, we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some strangers.
Our first stop was Spier Wine Estate's Cheetah sanctuary. All the cheetahs are hand-raised and, for a fee, people are allowed into certain camps to have a close up encounter with one of these beautiful cats. The one pictured below with Jake is particularly unusual, having stripes instead of spots... After Spier, we headed through to Paarl to visit the Drakenstein Lion Park, which I last visited when I was about Jake's age (remember holding the cubs, Jo?). The sanctuary is way bigger than I remembered and home to many lions. All the lions have been hand-reared or bread in captivity and cannot be released into the wild. Many have been brutally abused (some have been declawed and one lion so brutally abused that his jaw was broken and never reset - it's heartbreaking) by previous owners (like circuses) and Drakenstein Lion Park provides them with a safe haven where they are loved and cared for (not bred) in large camps. If you are interested in helping out, go check out under "Adopt a Lion" where they give you the full history of their lions. And, if you haven't been down for a visit yet, it's well worth the trip... I must admit that it was a little intimidating as you walk through the park without a guide. The fences, although electrified, are not as high as I would've thought they needed to be. Believe me, them's big kitty cats. It was even more disconcerting knowing that they're only fed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We visited the park on a Thursday... Such beautiful, strong creatures. It was incredible to be so close... One of the park's young white lionesses. They have white cubs too, but they were hiding, so we didn't see them... This young girl was still pooped from her feast the day before... Three in a row. The guy in the middle couldn't take his eyes off Jake, which made me a little unsettled. He was clearly ready to make a meal out of my child... The next afternoon after work, we headed off to De Grendel wine farm. It's literally just up the road from home. Seriously, it's about 5km away from home and this was the first time I'd been to visit. Besides Christmas Carols. The tasting room is modern and the views from the balcony... breathtaking. We were offered all 7 of their wines, including their bubbly (oh, how I love bubbles!) and spent the rest of our afternoon lazing in the sun, admiring the view. The kids played on the grass and checked out the vineyards. Again, if you haven't been yet - go. Tasting is free of charge. Oh and if you're looking for company, you know where to find me... The next day we went through to Rhodes Memorial for tea. If you're looking for tea right now, Rhodes is not the place to go, as the restaurant is under renovation. Still, we arrived to an eyeful of rugby players training on the stairs of the memorial, which was fun until we discovered that they were school boys!!! Oh to be young again... This is Karolina with my parents... And me with Cezary, Karolina and little Weronika. OK, I'm sitting badly, but I had a handbag between my feet that I probably should've moved before the photos were taken... A romantic moment... Jake and my dad discussing something in the distance... My precious boy and I... The full memorial. The rugby players are still running up the stairs. See those tyres and blue thingies? Earlier they were running up the stairs carrying those. Phew... That's Jake up there on the lion's back. My shattered nerves... The view from the top of the stairs... Little Weronika - she's only 2 1/2 and couldn't speak English at all. She did try hard though and we did hear her shouting "Jake, come on man!" once or twice. After getting her all ready to fly home and then not being able to leave, Karolina told her that my parents were her aunt and uncle and so she made herself quite at home. Such a cutie... After Rhodes, we headed over Ou Kaapse Weg en route Chapman's Peak, probably the most scenic drive in Cape Town. When it's not raining rocks, that is, and the road is actually open. Here Jake and Cezary enjoy the view together. Cezary is very into his photography, so it was fun learning a few new tricks... One of the views from along Chappies. This is looking into Hout Bay... A group shot, thanks to a friendly passerby... Another scenic shot... Another viewpoint along the road, Hout Bay in the background... Jake had a bit of a sulk and went and sat as far away from us as he could. He looks a little (OK, maybe a lot) like a little baboon sitting there, don't you think? I'm not a bad parent, I did check and there was a ledge below him. Does look like he's contemplating the jump though... Coming into Hout Bay at the end of Chapman's Peak Drive. Note the leopard on the rocks, who "keeps quiet watch over waves"... Does look like he needs a bit of a polish though. He's made from now tarnished bronze... Jake found a butterfly and had take it home alive... Sunday morning we woke up early to the most perfect of days. I'd organised through my uncle to take our visitors out on a yacht trip. That's Karolina coming down the boardwalk and I'm about to hop on board below. The yacht is called 'Aurora'... We had breakfast at the yacht club with the other passengers before sailing off. Sitting on the quayside, having a bite to eat - reminded me so much of our time in Greece... Sailing through Cape Town Harbour... Weronika came with us and wore her little life jacket without complaint. Jake stayed at home though, basically because I have issues. I don't trust the sea at all, especially here - it's not known as the Cape of Storms for nothing! I'm nervous enough as an adult and I'm not prepared to to put my child's safety at risk for anything or anyone. When he's bigger and able to swim better, then it's a different story, but for now, I'll just keep him safely on dry ground... Early in the trip, Weronika spent a bit of time on the deck with her dad, looking for dolphins... As we came out the harbour, we were met by a whale, probably a Southern Right, since they're fairly common to our waters this time of year. Talk about lucky!! As you can see, the water was calm; there was not a breath of wind... Table Mountain with the exclusive Table Bay Hotel in the foreground... We saw lots of dolphins and even had a couple swim up alongside the boat for a few moments, but I was too busy looking to take photos. Dolphins (and whales for that matter) are really tricky to take photos of, they keep disappearing and popping up elsewhere... We saw quite a few penguins too... We even bumped into some priates aboard the Jolly Roger Pirate boat, which can be hired out for birthday parties and functions... The view of our new stadium, built especially for the up coming world cup (lots to tell you about that too, but another time). It's aptly named "The Cape Town Stadium". Personally, I think it looks like a giant tub, but it's not as much of an eyesore on shoreline as I previously envisioned... Little Weronika didn't last long, the rocking of the water put her almost straight to sleep. Karolina too... When she was up, Weronika was back on dolphin patrol with her dad. Don't you just love the sunnies? She wears them all the time... We were also extremely fortunate (as my uncle kept telling us) to see this beautiful square rigger coming into the bay. We literally waited for it to come into view as we knew it had left Hout Bay at 11:30am; then waited till it was close enough for us to get some decent photos... Reflections... Another whale (or perhaps the same one) turned up and put on a brief dispaly for us right along side the square rigger. Amazing... Coming into port... And from the stern-side... After coming back into the harbour at about 4:30, Cezary and Karolina went back to my parent's house and cooked us the most delicious feast for dinner. Starters included melon wrapped in parma ham, bread with chopped olives and melted cheese, garlic bread, pesto, basil with motzerello & tomato - we were stuffed and still had to face our mains. They served two different pasta dishes, one prepared by each of them, but both equally divine. Karolina's dish was sundried tomato & blue cheese based and Cezary's was creamy with ham and mushrooms and blue cheese. Coming from someone who doesn't usually even eat stinky cheese - the meal was out of this world and we were STUFFED by the end of it. Oh, there was milk tart for dessert too. I totally forgot to take photos of the food, but did catch Weronika imitating Jake playing computer games while her parents were cooking... The last day arrived and we'd booked a picnic lunch at the one and only, Buitenverwachting... Again, the weather was perfect and we had a lovely time. The kids seem to really enjoy it there and love running on the lawns. The picnic itself was stunning and it's a trip well worth making if you've never been before. I'd love go get a group together to go through one summer afternoon next year, when the picnics re-open, so keep it in mind. Adrienne, who runs the picnics, also does a soup evening on the first Friday of each month in Winter. Also lovely if anyone's keen. Anyway, we had a proper wine tasting in the tasting room before our picnic lunch and later got one of the winemakers to take Cezary into the cellar to taste a few of their newest wines, which was quite a treat for him... And then there was time for a few last snaps... Oh, this is Bruno. He's Amber's grandson and it was his brother, Brutus, who starred in Blood Diamond, alongside Leonardo Di Caprio (lucky dog!)... And then it was time to part ways...
And so, Jake and I took our Polish refugees to the airport for our tearful goodbyes there. Who knew that we could make such good friends with such perfect strangers in such a short amount of time? It was just so unexpected and so lovely. And now the saving begins for a trip to Poland!! We can't wait to visit the country we've heard so much about and we can't wait to re-connect with our friends there...

Sue X