Dan and Mary-Ann Sheehan

Portland - Oregon - USA

Tim Sheehan

Fresno - California

17 November 2001

After much email correspondence I eventually met my friends Dan an Mary-Ann Sheehan in Cape Town on Saturday night, 17 November 2001.  Dan and I shared a good bottle of wine on the balcony of Bluegumhill Guesthouse while we shared many stories ranging from wine to politics.

The next morning I had breakfast with Dan and Mary-Ann at Bluegumhill before they started their journey up to the Orange River where Dan had some business deals to attend to. The below photo was taken on the balcony of Bluegumhill.

Dan and Mary-Ann on the Bluegumhill balcony
Please use your arrow keys to scan this panoramic photo

On Wednesday 21 November we decided to do a Peninsula tour.

We started out on Signal Hill and progressed down to the Mount Nelson Hotel

Here we see Dan and Mary Ann admiring the Mount Nelson Gardens

We bought biltong from Pasadien and Freddie at "Morris's Famous Boerewors butchery".

We then traveled on to Kirstenbosch Gardens as the below pictures show.

The Sheehans of Portland meet the African Jackass penguins of Boulders Beach, Cape Town.

Dan and Mary-Ann make their presence felt at the statues near Scarborough.

This was a wonderful day of touring

On the Thursday (Thanksgiving) Dan and Mary-Ann went birding and that evening we celebrated our own Thanksgiving dinner at the Africa Cafe

Here we see Mwimbi, our wonderful waitress for the evening, sitting with Bette, Mary Ann and Dan at our table.

When Mwimbi got up she duly obliged and photographed all 4 of us at the table

On 27 November I met Tim (Dan's brother) at the Cape Town airport and we then traveled to the wonderful Cathbert Country House in Franschhoek  where we met up with Dan and Mary-Ann who were returning from a journey down the Garden Route. That night Dan, Mary-Ann and myself enjoyed a wonderful dinner made by Ann Morley of Cathbert Country House. Tim took the opportunity to sleep off his jet lag and forewent dinner.

28 November 2001

Here Mary-Ann, Tim and Dan are seen enjoying breakfast at Cathbert Country House

After breakfast we traveled on to the Afrikaans language monument where the below photos were taken.

After our trip top the monument we went to Torino's coffee shop in Paarl for coffee.

We traveled on to the Rupert and Rothschild far. Here we see the threesome with Linda in the farm cellar

Tim, Mary-Ann, Dan, Linda and Verdi in the Rupert and Rothschild winetasting room

After our visit to R&R we visited the delightful winefarm, Muratie.
Dan, Mary-Ann and Tim enjoy the cobwebs in the rustic winetasting room

Mary-Ann in the Muratie garden.

After our visit to Muratie we met up with Armstrong Ntonyake and did a walk/drive tour through Kaya Mandi

Here we see Armstrong with Ntini on his shoulder) and Mary-Ann watching how a sheep head gets cooked.

Bennet, the local ANC representative in Kaya Mandi explains township customs to Dan.

Dan and Mary-Ann having fun with the children of Kaya Mandi

After Khaya Mandi we went to Dan and Tim's business friend, Peter Alderman's house for pre dinner snacks and drinks. Thereafter we went to the Ocean Basket restuarant in Stellenbosch for a very light meal. After the Ocean Basket we made our way back to Cathbert Country House where we nearly were locked out as I did not have my gate disc to the guesthouse an Ann had to be called to let us in. Phew! If Ann was not there I reckon we would have slept in the combi in the dark that night. J J

29 November 2001

After a wonderful breakfast at Cathbert Country house we traveled on to the nearby Butterfly Farm 

Tim amusing the local school children with his mock eating of a stick insect.

Dan, Mary-Ann and Tim enjoying the Butterfly farm while a young schoolgirl by name of Joy came flying past them. J

We traveled to Stellenbosch where Tim and Mary-Ann bought the above two David Reade sculptures at a gallery

Mary-Ann posing in front of "her shop" in Stellenbosch

We had lunch at the Amani wine farm with the splendid view of the Cape Town and Stellenbosch area to accompany us.
Please use your arrow keys to scan this panoramic photo

After lunch while making our way back to Franschhoek we had a problem with the combi in that we blew our auxiliary water pump. I managed to get the threesome back to Cathbert Country House. I then returned to Cape Town so as to collect my other vehicle and that evening we all sat down to a wonderful meal at the guesthouse prepared for us by Ann, our hostess at the guesthouse.

Here we see the threesome giving me the thumbs up a they prepared to return to the guesthouse for 2 hours of real R&R which they all claimed they needed big-time! J

30 November 2001

In the morning we bade farewell to Robert and Ann at Cathbert and as I made my way back to Cape Town the threesome continued their South African adventure by travelling on to Langebaan for 3 days. The future intention would be that we would meet up again on 4 November when they returned from Langebaan.

4 December 2001

I met the threesome at Cotage Fromage at 09h00 and while Dan and Tim went on to explore farms Mary-Ann and myself moved on to Cape Town. We first went to a local Postnet to take care of posting some parcels back to the USA and then I dropped Mary-Ann off at the Waterfront where she did some personal shopping.

I met Mary Ann at 16h15 and we went off to Penny Dobbie's house where we took a look at her house / gallery of art. It was a wonderful experience. We then left for the City Lodge where we arrive just as Dan and Tim were arriving back from the Hex River Valley.

Later on in the evening Bette joined us and we went to the Wild Fig restaurant where we had a lovely meal.

Tim, Dan, Mary-Ann and Bette after having enjoyed their meal at the Wild Fig

This tour was an amazing event as Dan, Mary-Ann and Tim always had so much to add to whatever we were discussing. For me this was a wonderful experience which was accentuated by the fact that the threesome could not believe the beauty of the Western Cape region as it unfolded in front of their eyes. This tour was one to truly remember as being a special event.

A GREAT TOUR WITH MARVELOUS PEOPLE.

BIG THANKS DAN, MARY-ANN & TIM.

Received 14 December 2001

Selwyn,

OK wise guy you never told us we would leave part of our heart and soul in 
South Africa. We can never be whole again unless we return. You are so 
fortunate to live in a country with so much energy, potential and love that 
it cannot fail. It truly is a rainbow culture and you exposed us to so much 
of it so very well.

We feel a deep sense of attachment and friendship with you and Bette! You 
are truly a unique human being Selwyn. I have seldom been so taken with 
someone and certainly not someone I have just met (though I feel that I have 
known you forever). 

You made our holiday more than simply a vacation, we feel enriched and 
enlightened as a result of our travels. We will always feel part South 
African now. It is wonderful to make a new friend! That does not happen 
easily or often.

My Chilean friends always sign off as follows.

Un Fuerte Abrazo mi Amigo,

Dan & Mary Ann