Mitch and Barbara Danzik
San Francisco - California
6 March 2002
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I met Mitch and Barbara at the Port Elizabeth airport and within minutes of our meet up I just knew that this was going to be a great tour. On their arrival Mitch informed me that he had bruised his arm rather badly while he and Barbara were on safari and that he wanted to see a medical practitioner. We visited a general practitioner and an Orthopedic specialist and after having a blood test we felt satisfied to continue our journey.
We first stopped in at a quilting shop for Barbara in Port Elizabeth and then we traveled on to River Bend Guesthouse.
Barbara and Mitch enjoying dinner at River Bend on our first night together
7 March 2002
We travelled through the Addo Elephant Park in the morning and then made our way to Knysna. We took this picture in Plettenberg Bay on our way to Knysna
Please use your arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
We stayed at the Phantom Forrest and took this picture in the unique tree lodge that Barbara and Mitch stayed in
In the evening we had a wonderful dinner at the Phantom Forrest restaurant
8 March 2002
On our first day of touring we travelled to the Wilderness area after visiting George where Mitch had a blood test done. This picture was taken at the Map of Africa in the Wilderness
We had fun watching the parasailers at the Map of Africa.
Even though this panoramic picture
did not come out to well (Barbara looks a bit double eyed does she not J)
I have included the picture purely to remember our wonderful viewing of the Map
of Africa
Please use your arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
We travelled on to the Big Tree near to Hoekwil and took the below photos in the forest.
We had lunch at the Rod and Reel in the Wilderness where the above photo was taken
In the evening we had a wonderful dinner at La Loerie in Knysna. It was at this restaurant that Mitch's life changed when he was introduced to a Don Pedro dessert. J
9 March 2002
We started our day by visiting the Knysna Oyster factory.
We travelled up to the Knysna Heads where I took this photo of Mitch.
We met up with Tembane Ndende (Nash) and he joined us on a picnic at Jubilee Creek. The below photos were taken while we were having fun in this wonderful venue.
After bidding Tembane farewell we returned to Phantom Forrest.
Barbara (the nurse) doing up Mitch's splint before dinner.
In the evening we had dinner at
The Lake Pleasant Hotel where the above photo was taken.
(All was very pleasant excepting the lighting) K
10 March 2002
On this day we made our way to Oudtshoorn. We travelled over the Swartberg and had lunch at the Swartberg Pass Hotel in Prince Albert. We then returned via Meiringspoort to the Shades of Africa guesthouse and in the evening we went to the delightful Jemima's restaurant for dinner.
Mitch standing in front of the
hops plantations outside Oudtshoorn.
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arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
11March 2002
We left Oudtshoorn and made our way via Albertinia and Swellendam to Grootbos where we had dinner in the evening.
Mitch and Barbara having breakfast at Shades of Africa
The pictures shown below illustrate what Barbara and Mitch though\t of the taste of aloe juice we tasted in Albertinia
12 March 2002
We spent the morning at Grootbos and took the below panoramic pictures form the balconies of the wonderful guesthouse.
Please use your arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
Please use your arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
We traveled on to Hermanus where amongst others Mitch had another blood test done. We then traveled on to Stellenbosch and eventually Cathbert Country House where we had a lovely dinner made by Anne Morley.
Mitch and Barbara enjoying the
wonderful scenery in Hermanus.
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Mitch and Barbara
posing in front of the roaring waves at Kleinmond
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We stopped in at the Muratie wine farm before we arrived at Cathbert and I was introduced to the wonderful concept of "chocolate before Cabernet" J
13 March 2002
On this day we toured the winelands on the Cathbert side of the Frederik's mountain.
Barbara and Mitch are overshadowed by the Afrikaans Language Monument in Paarl
Mitch and Barbara
at the wonderful wine estate of Rupert and Rothschild.
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In the evening we had dinner at Monneaux restaurant in Franschhoek where the above picture was taken.
14 March 2002
We travelled on the Stellenbosch side of Frederik's mountain on this day and amongst others visited Kayamandi.
Mitch, Maria Bossie and Barbara in Maria's creche
Shumi Ndlebe explains the art of cooking chicken feet to Barbara and Mitch.
Mitch, Shumi and Barbara posing in Shumi's home in Kayamandi.
We stopped in at the Rust and Vrede winefarm and took this photo in the farm cellar.
Barbara and Mitch
enjoying the wonderful gardens and scenery at Rust en Vrede.
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arrow keys to view this panoramic photo
We had dinner at Rozendal restaurant where we took this picture.
Mitch took this picture of Barbara and me at Rozendal
15 March 2002
Before leaving Cathbert Country House for Cape Town we took this panoramic photo form the balcony of Mitch and Barbara's suite.
When we arrived in Cape Town my mother, Louise, joined us and we all had lunch at the New York Deli.
Barbara trying to hide away behind the signboard at the New Your Deli. J
16 March 2002
Barbara and Mitch were on their own the day before and enjoyed a day of walking around the Cape Town Waterfront.
17 March 2002
On this day we did a short city tour as well as visited the Jewish Museum.
Posing in the gardens of the Mount Nelson Hotel
Mitch and Barbara in front of the new synagogue on the Jewish campus.
In the evening Bette joined us as we all went for dinner to the Alphen Hotel. where this picture was taken.
17 March 2002
This was our last day of touring and we all went out on a Cape Peninsula tour. Unfortunately we came up against some mist along the way which marred some of our views. This did not happen so frequently and all in all we had a great day on the Cape Peninsula
The two photos shown below were taken at the Boulders Beach penguin colony.
We did the touristy thing by having our picture taken by another tourist at the Cape of Good Hope. J
I took the two photos below of Barbara and Mitch at "The Statues" just outside Scarborough.
We ended off our tour by ascending Table Mountain where the below pictures were taken and thereafter going to the Wonderful Africa Cafe for dinner.
Barbara and Mitch were 2 of the most incredible people I have toured with. Nothing got the two of them down and the more I added to the tour the more they called for. Barbara was a bubbling spirit of fun at all times while Mitch steadily maintained the pace of the journey virtually holding "the rudder of the tour" keeping Barbara and me in place. We had enormous fun together and had so much in common that we represented a small family touring through the Western Cape at all times. For me the tour was so enjoyable that I feel it has to rank with the top five travel tours that I have done and I can very happily and jokingly say that I now know of one family in California who will be sipping Don Pedros for the rest of their lives after finding out about this drink in South Africa. J
BARBARA AND MITCH
WHAT MORE CAN I SAY OTHER THAN A HUGE HUGE HUGE
THANK YOU.
Letter written to San Francisco Chronicle by Mitch and Barbara Danzig
Botswana and South Africa
--------------------------------------
My husband and I recently returned from what has to be the most spectacular
vacation we have ever taken over the 30 years we have been traveling. This
was a trip to Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe for 31 days, with
overnight stops in London going there and returning.
For the second half of the trip, we hired a private guide, Selwyn Davidowitz,
again through the Internet. Over several months we e-mailed and voice mailed
this gentleman and discussed all sorts of travel possibilities. The second
part of our journey began in Port Elizabeth in South Africa, where Selwyn was
our guide for 2 weeks. He met us at the airport, and we started our journey
up through the Garden Route, into the winelands and finally to his native and
beloved Cape Town.
Selwyn took us to places a preset tour would never show you in these
magnificent towns. He even set up a web page so our children and
grandchildren could follow our trip! Selwyn enriched our journey, and he is a
most knowledgeable, caring, and fascinating gentleman. We got along
splendidly, and became good friends.
We stayed in spectacular places; not hotels but multi-room guest houses.
Included was a lovely country inn in Franchoek in the winelands, a suite in a
forest built around the trees (including a bathroom with glass walls where no
one could ever see in), and a gorgeous penthouse suite in Cape Town in an
area called Camps Bay, which overlooked the Atlantic ocean.
All accommodations, meals in excellent restaurants (including wine), and
sight seeing in his air conditioned van were inclusive, and arranged by
Selwyn. We opted for five star accommodations. He prices his tours in South
African Rand, and not in US dollars, which can be a considerable saving. The
cost will vary depending on the exchange rate, length of the trip, and where
one stays.
Email:
SD@IloveCapeTown.com.
Web site: Ilovecapetown.com
FAX: +27-21-439-4239
Mitch and Barbara Danzik,
Pinole, CA