Traveling Jones

  Highlight of the day was spending time atop Table Mountain, a 3500ft chunk of eroded sedimentary rock formed over the last 1 million years.  Named for obvious reasons as it is completely flat on top.  View from the bottom looking up the cable car line. If you look closely, you can see a descending cable car in the middle.  Cable car station at the top Bronze sculpture depicting the topography of Table Mountain and its surroundings Cape Town and Table Bay A closer look. Our hotel was located in the middle on the water Signal Hill Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for many years Lion’s Head. Still can’t see the lion in this mass of rock! Mountain flower Southern tip of Africa off in the distance. Cape of Good Hope, which was a complete lie.  A confluence of two oceans and crazy weather patterns make this one of the more treacherous of shipping routes replete with a shit-ton of shipwrecks.  Similar view with the town of Noordhoek off to the...

  Great day exploring several wineries west of Cape Town.  Started in the town of Franschoek and finished in Stellenbosch.  One of our first stops, the Atlas Swift winery. We tasted 5 Chardonnays and ended up buying 9 of them!  Some cool artwork on the bottles as well.  Interesting old wine barrel transport (now a storefront ornament) The 400yr old Muratie vineyards and winery About 20yrs ago the winery was sold back to a family that had owned it 200yrs ago. They apparently got a great deal with the stipulation that they couldn’t change anything for 4 generations, including cleaning the cobwebs from the windows!

  First full day in Cape Town.  Took an all day guided tour around the coast. Stopped at an ostrich farm . . . . Penguin colony . . . .  

  Our nephew James came to visit for a long weekend and we packed a lot into a short time!  The photo above came from our desert safari.  Below, a group photo of us with our new NFL friend Dan who plays for the Steelers. Oryx - an elk-like creature indigenous to the region Falcon demonstration.  They are a big deal here and have been used for hunting for thousands of years. Today, falconry is more of a royal sport and a symbol of national heritage.  What UAE safari would be complete without a camel ride?! Professional camel jockey Sunset after the falconry demonstration  Earlier in the day, en route to the desert, we caught a glimpse of the camel racetrack. Apparently, there are 3 types of camels - racing camels, riding camels, and camels that are eaten.  They also have pedigrees like dogs. Some prized camels can sell for over $1M equivalent.  Below— The Museum of the Future. One of the coolest buildings in Dubai.  Kind of a museum of science...