Beattys Overseas

Happy New Year!  We were generously invited to join in a Tipping family New Year’s Eve celebration at the home Craig’s parents, who live in a gorgeous home in Cape Town. We were welcomed with open arms, even by their German Sheppard, Becks, whom had recently bitten a neighbor on the ass (oops the bum) a week before — thinking that the neighbor was up to no good. Actually, the neighbor just wanted his model airplane back, and had only come over with Nigel’s permission. Bad doggie. Or good doggie, depending on which side of the fence you’re on. Ha ha ha.

While enjoying champagne on a swing deck overlooking the amazing property, which is bounded by fencing to keep the local baboons out (they like to eat the Tippings’ BBQ and tease the dog) we met Craig’s mom Jenny, his dad Nigel, beautiful sister Lolly, brother Dr. Brent, and twin cousins Kim and Nicki, all of whom did a great job of pretending that they liked us, the strange and overly-friendly Americans.

Watching New Years fireworks It was a brilliant evening, with great stories shared and laughs a plenty. We had a traditional South African dinner of Bobotie with basmati rice and shredded coconut, and of course, lots of bubbly to drink. What a wonderful dinner! The party was about 30 people strong (see photo), and was going off so well that we all missed the countdown the midnight. It was the first time that either of us had casually looked at each other and said, “Oh, yeah, Happy New Year.” After the stroke of midnight, the whole party went outside to the patio and the high swing deck to watch the scattered firework displays over Cape Town’s skyline.

Waterfront colorsNew Year’s Day we laid low, sleeping in at “Grandma’s House” and taking a long lunch alone on the V&A waterfront at a restaurant that serves more types of game than imaginable. Care for a springbok chili, or an ostrich burger, or maybe a filet of wildebeest? They’ve got it. We settled for a lunch of dorado fish for Whit, and John enjoyed a roasted BBQ chicken half. Oh yeah, and maybe a beer or two. It’s something about this other-side-of-the-world thing and the summery weather that makes us want to drink at nearly all hours of the day. Our livers are in trouble.

We met up with the Tipping family and the Fords again two evenings later at a hot Cape Town restaurant called Five Flies. The food was good, wine flowed and many stories shared. Things were so wonderful in Cape Town that we decided to extend our stay by three days. Luckily, our OneWorld RTW ticket allows for flexible and free changes to dates & times of our scheduled flights, so we opted to stay until Monday Jan 7, instead of our planned departure of Jan 4. The news of our extension was enticing to the Fords, who soon enough found themselves a new flight the following week, so we could hang together more in this seaside paradise.

We had to change our lodgings, though. The Fords needed a hotel that was more child-friendly for their 18-month old, and we needed a place with WiFi and a shower. We booked a room at a Protea chain hotel near the water on hotels.com, but apparently our reservation never went through and when we tried to check in, we were met with unfriendly staff.  We left and drove to the Protea President hotel, who - upon hearing our experience from their sister place down the road, and that we were American honeymooners - gave us a lovely room on the top floor of their place with an amazing view of the ocean.  Only problem? 
A heart-shaped welcome from our hotelTheir wireless signal didn't reach the top floor of their hotel.  Which stunk, because we liked the place, but I had a ton of work to do online for the rest of our trip. So, we had Shameema, the nicest reception clerk we've met in a long time, book us a room at yet another Protea sister hotel in Cape Town.  Third time is a charm, as always, and the Protea Victoria Junction loft-style suites were great!  Hearing that we were honeymooners, our room was even decorated with rosepetals and a romantic poem.  Knowing that we are Internet-needers, their assistant manager Desmond personally came into our room to setup our online connection.  Ahhhh!  What a great way to spend our last 3 days - extra days - in Cape Town!

- Whitney