Cape Town

Our first visit to the African continent started in Cape Town, South Africa. Wanting to see the natural beauty of the area, we spent most of our time in the Cape Winelands and did a day trip to see Cape Town and the surrounding area. We then flew across the country to Kruger National Park, one of the best areas to view wildlife in Africa. 

There are numerous things to see and do in and around Cape Town. We woke up early one morning to catch sunrise near the colourful beach huts at St. James beach and then drove to see the African penguins (formerly known as Jackass penguins) at Boulders Beach. Cape Point, the most south-western point of Africa lies in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, just an hour from the city. From there, one of the world's most scenic drives runs north along the coast through Hout Bay and Camps Bay. Our last stop was on Signal Hill to take in views of Cape Town and the city's most prominent landmark, Table Mountain.

The Cape Winelands is a short drive from the city and offers world class wine and restaurants. We enjoyed tastings at some beautiful vineyards around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek and stayed at Babylonstoren, a historic Cape Dutch farm.

Lofoten Islands

The Lofoten Islands are located in the north of Norway.  Comprising of five main islands, we started at the southernmost village of Å on Moskenesøya and worked our way to Svolvær on Austvågøya, the largest city and capital of the archipelago. Little fishing villages are scattered along the route; the most photogenic being Reine, Sakrisøy, Hamnøy, Nusfjord and Henningsvær.

We happened to be in Lofoten during the midnight sun, a natural phenomenon when the sun does not set for the entire day.  This only occurs near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles during the summer months. It was surreal to be driving at two in the morning with the sky still lit up. 

A unique Lofoten experience is staying in a rorbu — one of the traditional fishing cabins built half on land and half on water. Our cabin in Reine was #20 (Steinbua) at the Reine Rorbuer. Inside were two bedrooms and a large kitchen area with our own fireplace. 

Food on Lofoten unsurprisingly consists mainly of all things fish: fish soup, stockfish, clipfish, cod, cod tongues, etc. Every winter, they hang the cod on wooden racks to dry. By the time we arrived in mid-June, the fisherman had already begun taking the stockfish down. 

Anita's Sjømat sells great fish sandwiches with salmon and/or shrimp. It is also a road-side general store that stocks a variety of seafood and local food products. In Henningsvær, we had a refined dinner at Fiskekrogen which was a bit of a mix of classic and new Norwegian cuisine.