Swellendam

    Swellendam was sleepy (like all the other places along the Garden Route) but had some very beautiful old buildings like the Dutch Reformed church above. It is also the third-oldest town in South Africa (Cape Town is first, Stellenbosch second), so there's a good trivia tidbit for ya. We were only there for half a day and then stayed the night at a very sweet B&B called the Shoebox. We mainly spent time with our family there and had a great time! It was a very chilly night and the thick brick/cement walls of the B&B seemed to act more like an ice box than a place to shelter one from the cold  (we came to find this was the case in pretty much everywhere). Luckily there was an asbestos heater that allowed us to thaw out a bit. Whether or not the exposure to it made us more likely to develop cancer will be determined in the next 40 years, we were just happy to get feeling back in our toes!