We arrived in Cape Town for the GitLab Summit after our 11 hour overnight flight from London feeling as you do after a long haul overnight flight. But after a good night’s sleep we were ready for a busy week. The Summit brought together over 300 GitLab employees and their SOs (significant others). The Summit is a very important event for GitLab as it provides the rare opportunity for all the remote working employees to come together in one place. There is quite a buzz when you bring together over 400 people from 43 different countries around the world.
It was a great opportunity for Dylan to be able to meet his team members face-to-face and to meet a lot of other employees that he otherwise might not interact much with. It’s great that SOs also attend so that we are be able to be part of that experience too.
We had customised m&ms made for Dylan’s team from the m&m store in London
At the Summit there were lots of opportunities to hang out with people to do fun things. We had meals together, drinks at the bar every night and lots of activities throughout the week.
Dylan and I volunteered to run one of the employee-led sessions where we teamed up with one of Dylan’s colleagues and his SO from the Netherlands to run a cocktail class. It was lots of fun.
We also enjoyed dinner one night in town with all of Dylan’s team members and their SOs at a restaurant called Karibu which was located at the V&A Waterfront. We had some delicious Stellenbosch pinotage and ordered dishes with some of the local meats like ostrich, crocodile and springbok.
On the weekend we had group excursions where local tour guides took us to see the sights. On the Saturday we did a whole day tour around the Cape area. The first stop was at Hout Bay where we took a boat to Duiker Island where there is a colony of wild Cape Fur seals. It was a rough ride out to the island.
The seals at Duiker Island
After that we explored the Cape Peninsula. We stopped for some panoramic photos from the Cape of Good Hope and walked up to the Old Cape Point lighthouse. The Cape Peninsula is located at the bottom of the African continent, where the landscape is dramatic, the winds are strong and the seas are rough. It is absolutely spectacular. In fact, the coastline reminded me of Australia — rugged and wild, the crashing waves on the fine white sand and the iridescent green-blue ocean. It felt like the closest thing to home for a while.
Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean from the Cape Peninsula
Following that we drove to Boulder’s Beach where there is an African penguin colony. These penguins are close to extinction and are therefore under the protection of the Cape Nature Conservation.
The penguins at Boulder’s Beach
We spent some time there photographing them and watching them waddling around, riding the waves onto the beach and snuggling their nest eggs. They are seriously adorable. After our visit with the penguins, we dropped in at the aptly named Café Penguino for a hot chocolate and some cookies.
A calla lily, native to South Africa, at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden
As the day came to an end, we finished our excursion with a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.
It is beautifully located behind the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, which provides a stunning backdrop to the gardens.
On the Sunday we were meant to hike up Table Mountain but it was raining heavily and so the park was closed for the day. Instead we went to the Spice Route located in the foot hills of Paarl Mountain. Here there are a range of artisan stores where you can do beer, wine, gin, chocolate and gelato tastings or eat at one of the restaurants. We really enjoyed the chocolate tasting at De Villiers Chocolate — there were tasting notes and lots of information about the process of making chocolate. The single origin dark chocolate named “Peru” was my favourite, and possibly one of the best chocolates I’ve ever eaten.
View of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain
After the Summit finished Dylan and I stayed a few extra days in Cape Town so fortunately we were able to go back to see Table Mountain. We took the cable car up and spent a few hours walking around the top. The views of the city and surrounding landscape are truly spectacular. The photos just don’t do it justice.
Another view from the top of Table Mountain
After a very busy week and lots of fun meeting new people we left Cape Town to go to Johannesburg where we would take our safari in the Kruger National Park.
Stay tuned for the safari blog post…