SP came to town! Days 3 and 4

After SP's conference, I picked her and a couple of her new friends up and took them upon request to a nearby cheetah reserve. One of her friends and I had already done the cheetah thing before, so only SP and the other friend actually petted the cheetah while we hung back. No pictures here. Afterward, SP and I went to Pot Luck Club, a fancy tapas style restaurant near Woodstock (hip neighborhood in the eastern part of the city):

I do not recommend it. It certainly had some quality dishes, but nothing really wowed me or made me think that I had gotten my money's worth (my first and perhaps only real expensive restaurant expenditure thus far). SP generally agreed. I felt like we could have gotten more value and joy from just buying food at the food market at the Waterfront, which I will describe in a later post as it was certainly a favorite lunch haunt for me. 

Anyway... the next day we took a day trip to Hermanus, about 1.5 hours away, in search of whales:

There is a long walking trail in the town of Hermanus where whales are often seen. SP and I saw only one whale, but nonetheless, it was exciting! And to be honest, the best part is just the trail itself:

Spectacular clouds, mountains, sea. And a great friend! 
It really lets you get your mind off things. 

After eating a quick snack, we headed back and decided to take the scenic route, dropping into Betty's Bay, hearing of more penguins. At first, we found a beach that reminded me of Dover in England:

Very quaint and serene, but not what we were looking for. We drove a bit more and realized we had turned a little too early... and after a bit more searching, we found them:

The park was technically closed, but we were still able to get delightfully close to the penguins this time around. They were actually a little more interesting than the colony in Simon's Town because their habitat here, with numerous walls, bushes, and natural rock formations, forced them to move about in interesting ways, whereas the penguins in Simon's Town generally were just hanging out on the beach. 

After we departed the penguins yet again, we stopped a couple of times along False Bay for yet more spectacular views:

If I remember correctly, we ended up watching Still Alice once we got back to the apartment. I really did feel like Julianne Moore earned her Oscar there. 

A lovely day! Days 5 and 6 to come.