Cape Town, part 2
I forgot to mention that during the city tour, we passed one of the three prisons where Nelson Mandela was held.
The next day (Sunday) I went on a half-day Cape Point tour. It was a very small tour. There were 6 of us, including the driver/guide, Sipiwe. We drove down along one side of the point. Part of the drive is a road carved out of the cliffs. It's a beautiful drive! You pass Hout Bay and the (supposedly famous; maybe in South Africa :) Clifton beaches (all VERY expensive to live near). We ended up at the end of the point. We were right next to the Cape of Good Hope. (The name is propaganda, the sailors wanted to call it the Cape of Storms, but the king overrode their suggestion. What person in their right mind would want to go to the Cape of Storms?!) Anyway, the Cape is at sea level. We stopped at the cliffs above it. You get to go down to the Cape of Good Hope with the full day tour, but I hadn't wanted to spend most of the day riding in a van as I only had 3 free days while I was in Cape Town. So, we were only there for 45 minutes. The hike down to the Cape takes at least 45 minutes each way, so all we had time to do was go up to the lighthouse. The funicular wasn't in service when we arrived, so we had to walk up. It took 15 minutes just to walk up there. The view was definitely worth it! I got a few pictures with our little digital camera. In the interest of time, I took the funicular down the hill (it was working again by then). I wanted to stop in the gift shop and get something to drink. The tour guide warned us not to eat anything outside, as baboons will steal your food and eat it in front of you. There was even a bronze statue of some baboons in front of the snack bar warning you of the same thing. I felt cheated; I didn't see any baboons!
The drive back up the east side of the point (the False Bay side) was just as beautiful. It's called False Bay because sailors coming from the east thought they had arrived on the other side of the continent. We stopped at Boulder's (a Table Mountain National Park) to see African penguins. They used to be called Jackass Penguins, because of the braying noise they make. The name was changed when penguins that make the same noise were found on South America. A number of the penguins I saw were sitting on eggs or babies. The babies were fluffy and gray. The boardwalk I was on went right through and over the nesting areas. At a couple of points I could have reached out and touched a penguin. I got some pretty good pictures. Further north along the point we passed Theresa's Restaurant. Yes, it was spelled correctly.
At the end of the tour I shared a cab to Table Mountain with another member of the tour. He was leaving later in the afternoon and had some time to kill. I hadn't been to the top before that day. Everyone tells you to go to the top at your first opportunity. You never know how the weather will change. The top of the mountain wasn't completely clear, but the cable car was running, so I went to the top. The inside floor of the cable car rotates, so everyone gets a good view of the city. It was clear until about 3/4 of the way up. That was when we hit the clouds. You can actually hike to the top, if you have a spare 2 hours (one-way). I didn't have the right clothes or the time. When I got to the top I went walking around. It's almost perfectly flat. There are trails with viewing areas and information plaques all around the top. Some of them are about the geology (geologists think that Table Mountain will be completely erroded and disappear in 10-15 million years). Others are about the flora. And others are about the fauna. There are some small mammals that live on top of the mountain called Dassies (pronounced dazzie). The ones I saw were slightly smaller than my rabbits. They look like rodents, but they are actually the closest living relative to the elephant, anatomically. I was only able to get a picture of one of them before they scampered off into the brush. Most of the time while I was at the top the view was obscured by clouds. They made it very cold, too. Occasionally the clouds would part and you could see. It was really strange being close to the edge of the mountain and not being able to see anything. It was actually scary. It was like being on the edge of the world, and not knowing how far it was to the bottom if you fell off. When the clouds parted, however, the view was magnificent! And it didn't feel scary at all. Of course, after that day the top of the mountain was clear for the rest of the time I was in Cape Town. Figures!
The next day (Sunday) I went on a half-day Cape Point tour. It was a very small tour. There were 6 of us, including the driver/guide, Sipiwe. We drove down along one side of the point. Part of the drive is a road carved out of the cliffs. It's a beautiful drive! You pass Hout Bay and the (supposedly famous; maybe in South Africa :) Clifton beaches (all VERY expensive to live near). We ended up at the end of the point. We were right next to the Cape of Good Hope. (The name is propaganda, the sailors wanted to call it the Cape of Storms, but the king overrode their suggestion. What person in their right mind would want to go to the Cape of Storms?!) Anyway, the Cape is at sea level. We stopped at the cliffs above it. You get to go down to the Cape of Good Hope with the full day tour, but I hadn't wanted to spend most of the day riding in a van as I only had 3 free days while I was in Cape Town. So, we were only there for 45 minutes. The hike down to the Cape takes at least 45 minutes each way, so all we had time to do was go up to the lighthouse. The funicular wasn't in service when we arrived, so we had to walk up. It took 15 minutes just to walk up there. The view was definitely worth it! I got a few pictures with our little digital camera. In the interest of time, I took the funicular down the hill (it was working again by then). I wanted to stop in the gift shop and get something to drink. The tour guide warned us not to eat anything outside, as baboons will steal your food and eat it in front of you. There was even a bronze statue of some baboons in front of the snack bar warning you of the same thing. I felt cheated; I didn't see any baboons!
The drive back up the east side of the point (the False Bay side) was just as beautiful. It's called False Bay because sailors coming from the east thought they had arrived on the other side of the continent. We stopped at Boulder's (a Table Mountain National Park) to see African penguins. They used to be called Jackass Penguins, because of the braying noise they make. The name was changed when penguins that make the same noise were found on South America. A number of the penguins I saw were sitting on eggs or babies. The babies were fluffy and gray. The boardwalk I was on went right through and over the nesting areas. At a couple of points I could have reached out and touched a penguin. I got some pretty good pictures. Further north along the point we passed Theresa's Restaurant. Yes, it was spelled correctly.
At the end of the tour I shared a cab to Table Mountain with another member of the tour. He was leaving later in the afternoon and had some time to kill. I hadn't been to the top before that day. Everyone tells you to go to the top at your first opportunity. You never know how the weather will change. The top of the mountain wasn't completely clear, but the cable car was running, so I went to the top. The inside floor of the cable car rotates, so everyone gets a good view of the city. It was clear until about 3/4 of the way up. That was when we hit the clouds. You can actually hike to the top, if you have a spare 2 hours (one-way). I didn't have the right clothes or the time. When I got to the top I went walking around. It's almost perfectly flat. There are trails with viewing areas and information plaques all around the top. Some of them are about the geology (geologists think that Table Mountain will be completely erroded and disappear in 10-15 million years). Others are about the flora. And others are about the fauna. There are some small mammals that live on top of the mountain called Dassies (pronounced dazzie). The ones I saw were slightly smaller than my rabbits. They look like rodents, but they are actually the closest living relative to the elephant, anatomically. I was only able to get a picture of one of them before they scampered off into the brush. Most of the time while I was at the top the view was obscured by clouds. They made it very cold, too. Occasionally the clouds would part and you could see. It was really strange being close to the edge of the mountain and not being able to see anything. It was actually scary. It was like being on the edge of the world, and not knowing how far it was to the bottom if you fell off. When the clouds parted, however, the view was magnificent! And it didn't feel scary at all. Of course, after that day the top of the mountain was clear for the rest of the time I was in Cape Town. Figures!
posted by Theresa | 1:18:00 PM
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