October 28, 2014, Tuesday. This morning dawned sunny, with clear blue skies and a refreshing light breeze. Another lovely buffet breakfast, spoiled only at the very end by the arrival of the most fierce two year old I ever saw. We had encountered her after dinner last night when she was throwing a tantrum in the lobby. This morning she arrived at breakfast, letting the world know she still wasn't happy. A bit later she and her dad were returning to the table from the buffet, and I nearly laughed out loud. First came dad, bearing her plate and a classic scowl on his frowning face. Right behind came Little Miss Grumpy, marching along with hands on hips and a scowl that was an exact replica of her dad's.  Oh, THAT apple didn't fall far from the tree. 

Soon we were aboard the blue bus, on our way to the Kirstenbosch Gardens. Oh my. Not only were the gardens beautiful in themselves, but the setting is simply breathtaking. The mountains that surround Cape Town appear in nearly every vista and add drama to an already beautiful scene. There is a tree canopy walk, an elevated walkway that lets you look down on the trees. Lacking a map, we actually didn't do that but saw it from afar too late to go back.  The walks we did take more than made up for missing that one, however. The most distinctive was probably the long walkway that was bordered by huge old trees with trunks that were 12 to 18 feet around and towering crowns. Awesome! Be sure to click on these photos so you can truly appreciate these gardens!

The treetops walk we missed.

All too soon, we left the gardens on the blue bus to the next stop where we transferred to the purple wine tour bus. Our first and best stop was at the famous Groot Constantia winery. This is the oldest winery In the area, and one of the most respected. The old buildings are in the Dutch style, large, and scattered over a spacious estate surrounded by vineyards. It was way too early in the day for either of us to undertake a wine tasting or even lunch there, but we enjoyed roaming the grounds. We stopped at a second vineyard, but it was small and less interesting, and still too early for wine.

Back on the bus and on to the Waterfront, where we wandered around, located the Clock Tower, from which our tour of Robbens Island will leave on Thursday, and found several hotels John wanted to check out. Not very exciting, but it killed the afternoon. 

The Lighthouse on the Waterfront is an excellent landmark

The Cape Town Aquarium

One of the buses we spent so much time on in Cape Town