Crossing the equator, summer instead of winter, exploring another continent, being near an ocean again, visiting barging friends at their home in Cape Town, these were some of the irresistible reasons that brought us to South Africa this winter.

We packed light because summer clothes don't take up much room and we wanted to leave room for shopping in South Africa because of the good dollar/rand exchange rate.

After 24 hours of travel on trains and planes, our friends picked us up at the Cape Town airport and our African adventure began.

In Cape Town, we were much closer to the South Pole than we were to our home town of San Francisco
    
               

South African beaches were beautiful and this one on False Bay was colorful too
    
    

           
At a beach outside of Cape Town, we stopped to watch some kite-surfers with Table Mountain in the background. The "tablecloth" of fog was lying on top of the "table"
    
 

               
At Simon's Town, we walked along the beach with the penguins

After two weeks in Cape Town, we set out along the Garden Route on the Indian Ocean. Here at Cape Agulhas we were standing on the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa, between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans

The Cape Agulhas lighthouse watches over this area on the tip of Africa which is known as the "Graveyard of Ships"
    

At a reserve along the Garden Route, we fell in love with the elephants

     
After our tour of the Indian Ocean Coast we traveled up the Atlantic Coast were we stayed in the peaceful fishing village of Paternoster

  
                    
Paternoster reminded us of Greece in its simple beauty and the peaceful atmosphere

We stayed a few days at the Oystercatcher's Haven and we could have stayed forever

South African wines were a fine finish to a good day in a beautiful place
    

               
After a month in South Africa, we returned to winter in France for a week while we repacked our suitcases for a trip to San Francisco and Hawaii

We stayed in San Francisco for a week before and a week after our Hawaiian vacation. The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed being in "The City" again

   
                       
We flew to Kauai to attend a family wedding

Our niece Judy and her fiance Ron said their vows in a beautiful Hawaiian ceremony

    
                
We were so happy to be able to be with Judy and Ron on their wedding day

Their reception dinner was held on the terrace of an old plantation with hula dancers preforming on the grass below

                
It was wonderful to be able to be there with the rest of our family to celebrate Judy and Ron's marriage  

After a week on Kauai visiting family, we flew to Kona to visit friends and enjoy another week of beautiful Hawaiian sunsets...

                                ...and Mai Tai's

As always, our vacation went by too quickly. It was time for us to say "Aloha" to our friends and to head off into the sunset, back to our real life in France