The Cape

When I arrived back from my dinner at the hotel dining room, I was met with this: a chilled bottle of Rose, a formal apology, plus they wanted me to have dinner and drinks on Enchanting travels for the glitches. Very very classy! Dare say I had a glass right then and then called with my thanks for a very thoughtful classy move.

My second day in Cape Town had me going on a full day Cape of Good Horn Tour. The tour guide Robbie was a great guy with a great sense of humour. There were 7 of us on the tour and lucky me I got the front seat. We rushed right down to the Cape as Robbie wanted to get us in and out before all the big tour busses showed up. We all agreed this was a great plan.

The trip down to the Cape took more than an hour and Robbie was driving fast to get us there quickly so we didn't stop at any of the views etc as he said we could when we came back this way. The one exception he made was outside an ostrich farm just before we entered into the national park. He said this farm was a breeding farm for ostriches.

Once we got to the Cape of Good Hope, we took a funicular up to the base of the lighthouse. There were quite a few stairs and at first I wasn't going to go up as my knees were getting pretty shot but I started slowly with no intention to go all the way up. About half way up I realized that although I may come to Africa again, I would likely never see this view again. So I sucked it up, took some more Advil

and climbed to the top. And boy was it buggy! I took a video of the view but then started to go back down where it was completely bugless.

On our way back down from the Cape, we drove right down to the base where they have the famous sign "I was here at the Cape of Good Hope". I was more interested in the view than in barging and pushing to get a ridiculous photo that millions of other people have. Very touristy.

Our next stop on this tour was Boulders Bay and the fantastic penguins. As soon as I saw the landscape I figured out why it is called Boulders Bay. And then you round this corner and voila! Penguins galore.

I was surprised by how may there were and also by how many covered upped and draped individuals there were viewing them. The board walk to get closer to the penguins was packed with crowds of people and none of them watching for a while and then letting others view. As a polite Canadian I had to muscle my way in and then stand my ground for my turn.

Next on our tour was what Robbie called Long White Beach, see the pictures, self explanatory. There were less than 5 individuals on this beach. Beautiful. I also found some houses on the cliff that caught my eye as they had thatched roofs like my guest house at Bayete Lodge did.

But the really cool thing was this highway that was cut right into the rocks of the mountain.

Then we drove off to catch a ocean cruise to Seal Island. There were hundreds of seals. It was very loud with their chatter and the day was getting very hot so it was great to cool off on the ocean.

Dinner in the hotel again. I think I had braised beef with pap and some veggies.

The last day I was in Cape Town I was picked up for a Townships tour.
Now I wouldn't say this was an awesome tour but it was a necessary tour. This is the history of South Africa and a very recent history Apartheid happened in 1994. The creation of District 6 with the clearing out of all the families to make way for white families only. The shared shame the current generation feels is the same as what I believe Canadians feel for what has been done to our Indigenous peoples. We then drove into 2 or the 3 townships that are on the edge of Cape Town where almost 2 million South Africans live in a variety of homes. Formal and informal homes. Nice brick homes and shacks with tint for the roof. A very heavy morning.

After the somber morning I needed a pick me up and so when the tour was finished, I had the tour guide drop me off at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront for lunch. There I booked myself a sunset cruise and really enjoyed my last evening in Cape Town.

I walked around the waterfront for a few minutes enjoying the live music and the lively chatter. Everything was lit up and then I caught a cab back to the Cape Milner. I had dinner and several drinks then packed and got myself ready to leave by 8 in the morning to catch another flight but this time on a very small plane that has only 13 rows of 3. Sabi Sabi, here I come!