Two years ago when I was last in Cape Town I left my phone in a bathroom in a bar. For a good 18 hours, I assumed I lost the phone period. By some incredible bit of chance, the person who took it was not planning to do anything nefarious (she even said she took it so no one else would steal it) and got in touch with me on my work phone.
Two years later, I left my phone in an Uber. This time, apparently whoever took it (not the driver, who I spoke to and asked his then passenger to look for it but it had already been taken) is planning to do something nefarious, as he did not pick it up on repeated attempts, and then after a while it was shut off / went straight to voicemail. I'm not going to get it back. Lukcily I have theft protection, so it won't cost me too much to replace it. If anything, the bigger loss is that of the some 200 or so photos of this trip. If the meals, of Table Mountain's beauty.
Of course, on the other hand I've been here three times before and will probably be back again at some point so these aren't truly unique pictures in that sense. Also I shared enough of them with my family on WhatsApp there's a reasonable representation of the three or four days of the trip.
The real coincidence was I went back to Kirstenbosch to roam around after losing my phone (the uber was taking me to Stellenbosch for a wine tour, but I had to miss it as I was still desporately trying to get a hold of the Uber driver. Kirstenbosch was also the place I went to two years ago when I lost my phone that time - the few photos on that visit that were taken with my work phone was of the same park.
Kirstenbosch was as beautiful as eve - I even stayed a bit to catch their free summer concert in the concert stage they have there. There's few more serene places to be when you realize you suddenly lost a phone. At the end of the day, the vacation cotninues, I have my work phone, adn there's stuill more of Cape Town to enjoy. I just have to start thinking on future trips to tie the phone to me on a leash.
The park is sprawling but still small enough to easily walk around. There's so much beauty, so many strange plants and trees, so many ppen areas to sit and read a book (admittedly, I didn't do this), and ponds and tea houses and all the rest. You really can just spend a full day there if you were so inclined.
Kirstenbosch and aimlessly calling uber drivers and leaving frantic texts took up much of the day. The rest of the day was largely spent in and around the waterfront. I have tickets for Table Mountain that can either be used today or tomorrow, but today is the one actaul cloudy day were most of the mountain is not even visible - the view from the top would have been just a pillow of clouds. Trusting a bit that tomorrow is not this way.
The waterfront is commercial, but some of that commerce is actualyl quite good. I spent most of the pre-Kirstenbosch time around the Watershed and V&A Food Market. The Food Market is a really appealing place with a good mix of stands all run by local businesses. Only a few serve African food (one serves classic home cooking, another with stuff from Tunisia, one serving just Biltong - the everpresent jerky-esque meat), with the rest serving a mix of Asian, Indian, Vegan, Dessert (ice cream, belgian waffles), Japanese, and a few store-focused stalls.
I finally did have a meal at the Food Market, getting a lamb roll from a place nicely named LambRolla. It had a nice line, and served shawarma-esque stuff with such care - the pita made on-demand, the lamb being a slow-cooked lamb being spooned directly from a pot sitting on a low-flame oven. It had a line that represented its quality. Admittedly, almost every stall was crowded with the Waterfront being fully alive on this Sunday.
I also had a few Roobois iced teas, a specialty red-bush tea from South Africa, which were perfect. The final goal from the food market was to pick up a few things, namely a gin to take home (South Arica loves its gins - as I'm finding out at Cause | Effect), a few pate's (crocodile and ostrich) and maybe a honey or jam or two. Left some of this for tomorrow, as I had more shopping to do.
The Watershed is overpriced, but the stuff in there is also excellent quality. The number of stalls they have, with crafts and art on one side and clothing and jewelry on teh other is astounding. As with anything in Cape Town, all the small touches are there as well - the buskers, the coffee and tea stalls, the few tourist trap stalls seling cute stuffed lions and zebras. In the past, I've bought a bunch of random, small stuff. This time I was a bit more targeted, buying really nice, novel pillow covers - showing old Cape Town stamps from teh 50's, and then a ceramic penguin. I haven't experienced the penguins since my first trip in 2013, but damn if I still don't find them so adorable.
There's another Watershed-esque mall of wares near where I am having lunch tomorrow (my last pre-set meal in Cape Town :( ), so I held off on anything further. But given that I'm now adding the $150 deductible for the new phone to the price of this trip, I can't say I can keep on just acquiring more stuff willy-nilly.
After my dalliance in Kirstenbosch and some brief R&R I went back to the waterfront to enjoy a Milk & Honey. I've been to this bar probably a dozen times now, getting basically the same thing each time. I'll admit the beer isn't as good as I remember it, but also I've expanded and broadened my beer experience in the seven years since my first visit. It is still a fantastic setting, though today the rolling clouds obstructed the view of Table Mountain.
Dinner was at The Shortmarket Club, one of the restaurants within a group that includes Cape Town's most famous/popular restaurant The Test Kitchen. The Shortmarket Club has a tasting menu which is five selections from their a-la-carte menu. Each was presented and prepared well - the best probably being the final dish which had lamb prepared three ways, one with a brilliant Harissa sauce. Other dishes included tuna tartare, fois gras, bream and others. It was another nice meal. It probably didn’t match either Belly of the Beast or Janse & Co, but that says more about those two places than Shortmarket.
After dinner, I went back to a far emptier Waterfront and Cause | Effect. It was interesting to see it so empty given this still is peak tourism season. The bartender at Cause | Effect did mention that this Sunday was far emptier than most Sundays. The scene at Long Street was similar, with a nice crowd at Beerhouse – a place that serves 20 beers on tap and 99 more by bottle – and then a good run with live music at The Dubliner which was chock full of German tourists that were fun to hang out with. They were here in Cape Town for two weeks, this being their middle weekend. I truly felt jealous my trip ends tomorrow, while they get another week in this paradise. Of course, it’s less of a paradise when you are without your phone.
