October 14, 2006

By DIANE CASTILLEJO-GARCIA
with JACKIE CASTILLEJO

Sports Unlimited invites you to see some zebras, springbucks and antelopes and get up close to a cheetah, the world’s fastest animal. Check out the views we got while mountain biking and have a taste of some of South Africa’s famous wines.

The entrance to Moyo was small but it turned out that this theme restaurant was actually a huge place. We could hear the beat of South African music as we came in. A huge buffet waited for all of us. No wonder Marc, the whole group and I came here so hungry. One would definitely need major space to be able to try everything.

Once we were seated, a lady dressed in native costume kept going around offering to paint our faces with South African designs. It was a different one for each of us. Moyo expects everybody who comes here to get stuffed so they always set up some dancers to start the groove and get you into the beat. You are sure to loosen up and burn some calories here after a huge meal.

We could tell that South Africans are fun-loving people and they are eager to make people who visit their country have as much fun as they do. Set aside a couple of hours to come to Moyo. You will want to hang around after your meal because of the beautiful ambience it offers. Sports Unlimited gives double thumbs up to Moyo in Cape Town!

South Africa is also a great place to go on a safari. But even just driving around you will see some interesting animals grazing. There are zebras, the South African spring buck, antelopes, ostriches and reindeers. The whole country is like one big zoo. It’s gorgeous.

They have nine cheetahs at the research center in Cape Town. The cheetahs have been there since birth. They are such beautiful mammals with brown fur and black spots all over them. Our group had never seen a cheetah so close before. Best news was, we could get near enough to touch them if we were strict in following guidelines. I didn’t really know much about the cheetahs but I learned that they are very friendly creatures. They don’t really attack humans. They eat meat mostly and sleep a lot.

It was thrilling to be with the cheetahs. They are fast because of their light weight. They have strong bones and bigger-than-normal heart, liver and lungs. They have an aerodynamic-shaped body. On our way out we were introduced to many of them.

There are only about 15,000 cheetahs left in the world. The biggest population lives in African countries such as Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The Cape Town research center hoped to share some important information on the cheetahs that people may be able to take care of them so that they can be enjoyed by more generations to come.

The next activity we did was to watch whales!

We drove to Hermanus for about an hour and a half from Cape Town. This is a famous seaside village that has fantastic lookout points. People visit Hermanus just to eat at some of their restaurants that offer delicious seafood dishes. It is a beautiful place to stroll. It was drizzling a bit when we stopped by but it was still okay to walk around. Just like most people here, we also went to watch the popular whales. In a few minutes, we saw some blows from the gigantic and powerful whales. There were probably two or three of them. They were not really near the shoreline but they were still visible with or without binoculars.

It was winter in South Africa when we came. Whenever the sun was out, it was so lovely to be outdoors. We were blessed during the day when we chose to go up to Table Mountain, which is one of the must-see destinations in Cape Town. We hooked up with Axel, a former world sand boarding champion who now runs an adventure shop. Anything you want to do outdoors in Cape Town, you can do with Axel. He was really our kind of guy.

We went a few feet up Table Mountain and parked our bikes out. Axel gave us some quick tips on how to best ride a mountain bike.

The route he chose was one that went all over Cape Town. It was an off road path made especially for bikers. We had a fantastic time whether going uphill or downhill. In between, we would stop to savor the view. Mountain biking is a rough adventure but the place was so majestic it made a very rejuvenating experience.

South Africa is a very blessed nation. It has almost everything-- rich soil, minerals, stones, wonderful natural terrain and talented people. Wine brewing has been a tradition in South Africa. Cape town offers several tours to different vineyards and the one we went to was really beautiful. The wine expert made us sit on an outside patio where he taught us the procedure of tasting wine.

I’m not really a wine drinker so I took just a sip or two from each kind. Everything was very tasty. Most of us in the group enjoyed the wine. Some even had favorites. We also got to visit the huge wine cellar and see a little bit of the production of South Africa’s famous wines. All in all, it was another pleasant afternoon in Cape Town.