Being the heart throb of everyone is only fame, not success.
There is only one measurement of success -
Freedom and Independence to do what your heart wants, when your heart wants. That's all.
If anything stops you from following your heart ANYTHING then your life's mission is to fight that reason.
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| Soya chaap seekh kebab being cooked in microwave |
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| Soya chap kebab served with green chutney |
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| Soy Chap with Gravy |
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| Salman Khan |
After checking into the ‘CapeSun International’ on Strand Street we took a quick shower and left for the ‘Water Front’ (MV) for our dinner and formal introduction with the entire group that we were gona be a part of for the next few days. Dad knew quite a few of them from before and by the end of the trip I had left a much more lasting impression ;). The Water Front had an Indian restaurant among the many offering cuisines from all over the world, it was breezy and the lavish yachts at the dock made it a lovely view. We all needed a good cozy sleep and so we did.
View from the 16th floor hotel room of Cape Town sea coast and distant ships was elegant. Good breakfast and we set off for a tour of the Cape Peninsula, just as we left the hotel we got the 1st view of the magnificent Table Mountain right behind our hotel. 
First stop was ‘Cape Point’ (MV) the southern most tip of Africa with its scenic beauty, next the famous ‘Cape of Good Hope’. We then drove down via beautiful houses of ‘Simon’s Town’ and reached ‘Boulders Beach’ for a close look at the pink chested penguins! Lunch was at an Indian restaurant ‘Kushi’, We didnot drive through the ‘Chapman’s Peak’ and reached ‘Seal Island’ where we got into a steamer boat and sailed to the actual ‘Seal Island’ to see 100s of gigantic and lazy seals loathing over each other. 
On getting back to the bay we saw a huge seal of a local fisherman entertaining the crowd, we even got to touch him, oh this cute creature is just like a faithful puppy, with deep black eyes, leather like skin and superbly long moustache it was so much fun playing with him. 
Today we woke up with fingers crossed, opened the curtains and yes!! we got what we wanted, a Bright Sunny morning, perfect for the visit to the world famous ‘Table Mountain’, its essential that the weather be good else the cable car that takes us to the top of the table mountain doesn’t operate. So one must keep their itinerary really flexible, if its bright and sunny on your first day itself in Cape Town then forget everything else and gear up for this must visit tour. 
Visiting hours stretch from 8.30am till 6pm, there are cafes on top and one can easily spend the entire day on the table mountain thanks to the breathtaking view all around, cool breeze, exotic plants & animals to discover and a HUGE area to cover. Couples stroll around hand in hand or take up a private corner at one of the zillion view points picnicking. 
Next we went for a tour of the vineyard at ‘Groot Constantia wine farm’, this private property offers paid tours where one can get to know how world class wine is prepared. We weren’t so much into the wine thing and the vineyards were all harvested robbing the beauty of it, I would have loved to spend few more hours at the Table top instead. 
On the way back we were been driven to a famous city jeweller’s, me and dad decided to skip it. We hopped off the bus and walked around Cape Town’s lanes, talking to people on the street was much more fun. We went down to Budget car rentals office which is very close to our hotel, checked upon our booking, got some good advices about roads and driving on the Garden Route, these people were really helpful and very friendly. We were handed over a big courier kept for us by Selftour (Our travel planner) which contained comprehensive details of our trip including marked maps and brochures, answering every Qs imaginable hence cutting down our anxiety considerably. We walked pass the House of Parliament, City Hall, Castle and Company gardens and reached the ‘Cape Town Museum’, these were all magnificent structures.
Dinner was at the ‘City Century Mall’, the largest in Cape Town located further away from the airport, if looking at people is one of your favourite pass times then this is the place to be. I and a newly married couple from our group dint want to gorge on another Indian meal so we headed for the food court and ordered for some Debonairs Pizzas. Our food frenzy resulted in we missing our bus! Panic did strike in cause it was late night and getting a taxi was being rather difficult, the gang of white youngsters smoking and boozing in one corner of the parking lot dint help us calm ourselves. Anyways we trusted on one of the other white guy who offered us help, took us straight to a taxi and sent us off! Here I recollected scenes from famous movies where you get robbed by a black man or get shot at by some drug peddlers etc. The black African driver did break a few speed limits on the way for sure and was very talkative, well this was cause I had decided not to die quietly. Lolz. We did get back to the hotel unharmed and with smiles. Btw Debonairs Pizza though it turned out to be rather expensive and adventurous was the best footlong pizza I had ever had. Dad was pretty cool upon hearing the incident and so was I, though in hindi I would say ‘phat gayi thi boss’. 
We had to start off early at 6am, it was still pretty dark but the drive through the barren land with hills lining both side of the road and the sun rising slowly form behind them, passing through Huguenot Tunnel gave a sort of trance like sensation. Guess I was actually sleepy & dreaming about last nights heroism ;). We reached ‘Aqilla Safari’ around breakfast time had a good heavy meal as usual and then set off in forest ranger jeeps for our ride in the private reserve. 
In South Africa if you own a minimum amount of land, you are allowed by the govt. to buy wildlife and run a private reserve called ‘Private Game’. There are plenty such as we got to know in the Ceres mountain region. Within a few hours one is able to spot all the Big 5 of Africa (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo) in their near natural environment, that’s a big plus over the huge National Parks were sightings are not guaranteed. The resort has swimming pool, bonfire and romantic cottages as well if one wishes to spend a night with the beasts! We then had another heavy meal and soaked in the sun fooling around. 
This however didnot deserve an entire day dedicated to it, we could have better utilised half a day doing something else perhaps in the city or observe the sun set at the Water Front or explore Ceres more. This however was our last day with the group, we partied at night, dance music singing, we made some new friends on this trip and impressed most of them as we were the rare two whose adventure was just about to begin and everyone wished us good luck!!
Early breakfast and all set to roll. Our car from Budget had arrived, Toyota Corolla Altis sparkling steel grey. The delivery guy went through all the inspections and got our sign on the papers. We finally decided on travelling the old fashioned way depending completely on maps and the position of the sun and saved ourselves 75Rand per day for the GPS. 
And so we ditched the N2 and took R323 this took us to ‘Ladismyth’ from where we got onto R62 and saved apprx 60kms of drive. On these roads contrary to the highway, I was able to easily drive @150-180ks, owing to very light traffic and superb road grip of this luxury car. The scenic beauty while going over the ‘Langeberg-Wes Mtn’ range was amazing, the drive was so easy up on the hills as well. Passing by the little towns from within was much more fascinating than travelling on the highway.
We reached ‘Oudtshoorn’ by late afternoon, this was a bigger township than what we had passed by till now. Checked into the old house turned into rest house ‘Foster Manor’, cheap and good. We had some time in hand and decided to visit the ‘Congo Caves’ (MV) its open 9am-4pm, millions of year old limestone cave. There are approx 21 caves in this region but only one open for tourists. A day long cave tour for the very fit persons takes them through small openings from one cave to the other but we were fit only for the regular tour that took 2 hrs. Magnificent stalactite and stalagmite structures of various shades and heights along with their rich history are natures wonder work, at one point I felt a strange chill which was a bit scary too. We got back to our den post sunset, it had been a long day and a very satisfying.
It had rained last night bring down the temperature considerably and this wasn’t winter time. After a good english breakfast at this lovely house in the company of the all so polite and chirpy receptionist who reminded us of Pallavi (my lil sister). 
We soon passed by the beautiful town ‘Knysna’ and reached ‘Bloukrans Bungy Bridge’ (MV) which hosts the world’s highest bungy jumping at 700+ feet. I was determined to go through with it while dad kept thinking I was kidding until we had finally bought the tickets (700R). Dad was goning to do the bridge walk only while the extra bit of leaping over was left for me to do. 3-2-1 BUNGEEE, and there I went flying off the edge, yelling every breathe out, heart pounding like never before wanting to tear out of my chest, on the verge of peeing in my pants, eyes popping out, the fear lasted for a second but next to it was calm soothing free fall. The toughest part is looking beyond the edge just before the jump but once off it, its heavenly. The view of the sea on one side and the sun setting beyond the mountain range on the other side while you are hanging off the bridge is exquisite. The free fall of 7 freaking seconds is compounded by the rebounds lasting 2 mins in total. FACE FEAR the quote on my t-shirt I bought from there says it all. 
I danced and sang was I was pulled up on the bridge the loud music there really led me to a trance, slowly it sunk in that I had actually done it. 
We reached ‘Tsitsikamma National Park’ (MV) in about half hour, the security guard at the park’s entrance handed over our cottage keys and zipped through the curvaceous road through the forest to reach the cafe. Being a vegetarian isn’t that a big problem in todays era, on requesting the chef to prepare something with lot of vegetables and pasta and rice and sauces, he was delighted to get an opportunity to prepare something off menu. The wait was worth it, a delicious platter steaming with appetizing colourful dressing, the best continental food I had ever had, that too at throw away price compared to what were on the menu. All this while we could hear the waves crashing on the beach and new that the next morning would surely offer some spectacular views, with that thought in mind we settled into our private wooden cottage on the hill side.
A morning that reminded us of the Bengal Monsoon with chilly breeze and heavy down pour. I had gotten up early as in the absence of mom, kitchen was my department per se. Both the bedroom and dining had full glass windows overlooking the breathtaking raging ocean and rain cloud. It was a treat to the eyes and a dream start to the day where we enjoyed the ocean view, with seagulls in our balcony and we feeding on hot tomatoes and toast with Indian spices, snacks and masala tea. 
Rain in this part of south Africa is common due to the geography and in such conditions the ‘Canopy Tour’ at ‘Storms River Mouth’ (MV) does not operate. We still decided to try our luck and left for this place which was a 20mins drive. Fate favoured us and the tour was open because the rain had stopped which again is very usual here. We were all geared up with safety harness and instructions read out loud by our guide. To our luxury me and dad were the only people for the morning tour that made the guide enjoy with us freely. The speedy sliding on ropes tied from one platform to the other made high up on the tree trunk especially when you are 30meters above ground in the dense forest gives some shivers in the beginning. Soon we got hold of the technique of using the palms and legs to perfection, this was fun even for dad who was doing very well. We spotted some very rare African birds, monkeys on the tour, the chirping of other forest creatures rhyming with the raindrops crashing into the gigantic leaves...this really was the voice of mother nature. The view from one of the highest platforms 40m high was unique as we could see the forest below bathing in the sun and vapour rising from the many 1000 years old Outeniqua yellow wood trees. The tour took some 2 hours. Just as we travelled back to base on the huge forest truck it started pouring like hell, this called for a high fie we were damn lucky. After collecting our video recording & certificates and some hot tea and sandwiches it was time to head for the next destination. 
To reach the ‘Monkey Land’ and ‘Birds of Eden’ we travelled back south crossed Bloukrans bridge which filled me with content and a satisfied smile within, really wanted to do it again. It was raining all the way and Africa looked completely different from what we had seen till now. As the name indicates the above two places are somewhat like an open zoo. These are huge Jurassic type single cage like structures which house exotic variety of monkeys and birds in forest like environment, whom you can get really close to and even touch them if they let you to. We spent a few hours clicking photos of some of the most weirdest and cutest looking monkeys and chimps. 
The raring Indian ocean with its waves breaking on the natural boulders on the shore, seagulls and pelicans playfully fighting with the gust of continuous strong wind.. ah it makes you miss your loved ones far away, jump and run about and fills you with happiness for realising the fact that you are alive. We went on a short trek up the hill to a point where the river meets the sea and soon it was sunset and we returned to our den. Dad packed our bags while I made some delicious packaged Indian food brought from India ;) dal makhani, paneer, alo dum with puri, parantha. Fresh salad and soup from our grocery shopping also formed part of our lavish dinner ;). From tomorrow our returning leg of the journey starts.
This was a breezy morning but no rain. We checked out of Tsitsikamma after the home made snacks that we had carried all the way from India, filling, tasty and saves cost. On the way to Knysna we stopped at ‘Knysna Elephant Park’ (MV) just after Plettenberg and enjoyed a lovely tour feeding, walking, playing underneath the gigantic African elephants and racing their little ones gave me a lifetimes happy memory. The best part of these organised private farms is that they give us the otherwise impossible opportunity of getting so close to the wild. The animals are not tamed like pets they are provided there natural environment and the natural aggression is tried to be kept alive. 
We felt close to nature while walking with the entire heard as they drank water from the lake and observed how animals value family. The responsible heads of the herd, the playful curious young, the aggressive matures fighting for identity. The park offers excellent accommodation for night stay overlooking the resting place of the elephants, we missed out on this because we were on a fixed schedule. 
We had a good time roaming around, had good meal at a take away and enjoyed the sun beating down the coastal bay. We drove back to explore Knysna which has a lot of water activities to offer but we missed the last cruise tour that takes you to the Knysna lagoon head from where the sun set is said to look the most romantic. The ‘Knysna Water Front’ is a good place to hang around and has some popular local pubs but it all shuts down by 8pm. We went back to spend the last night in South Africa recollecting the grand memories of this unique trip and also to finish off the remaining last packaged food!
The last leg of our road trip began with kind of a heavy heart. Bright sunny day and we had 500km to cover on the N2 this was along the coast till Mossel Bay and then on the road moved closer to the mountain range amidst the farmlands. Passing through small beautiful towns we stopped at one of them for petrol and snacks. We needed to get the car washed up before handing it over at the airport (Trying to improve the image that Indians leave behind a lot of dirt and mess), the guys at the gas station were happy to help.
People all along our trip were very friendly and crazy about their country hosting the prestigious FIFA world cup 2010 which ironically was to begin today in Cape Town. Yeah, we should have extended the trip for one more day and witnessed this frenzy by being at the heart of it. Dad took over the driving now and I couldn’t have deprived him of this opportunity. By the end of the trip we would have driven 1500kms over 5 days of which he drove barely 300kms and I was still not contented lolz. The approach to Cape Town saw a sea of cars jammed up wanting to enter the city, mostly due to FIFA fever. 
Just one note of caution, do make sure you understand the VAT refund process at the airport when you land in South Africa, we lost quite a bit cause of the disillusion that guys wouldn’t be shopping much at all!
