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Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope
Before going to Capetown we headed to Cape Point which is the most Southern point of South Africa, the coast is beautiful and the drive down there was fantastic. When we got there we saw lots of baboons running around and jumping on the cars. They tried to steal your food off you and they are known to be quite aggressive so we kept away from the little blighters! Lots of signs warned you abou the baboons, me and John posed like baboons in front of one of the signs and an older lady found it hilarious and came and joined us so we all got our picture taken together, this explains who the random lady is in the photo! We climbed up to the hill to the top of the lighthouse, played in the gift shop for a while and then we got the truck down to the Cape of Good Hope and chilled on the beach for a little while. There was a tourist group of Canadian ladies all over the age of 70 who were really interested in the truck, one of them asked "so, have you gone round all of Africa on this bus…thing?" we felt like freaks- its bizarre being somewhere that's dead touristy as for the rest of the trip until South Africa there had been very little white people and all of the locals looked at you like you were loaded but now we just look poor. In the rest of Africa people used to just come and stare at you while you were doing mundane things, it was funny, we all missed getting stared at! These old dears were dead cool though, one of them was 80 and had done a 5 month tour of Africa ten years ago- how impressive? We then got back on the truck and headed on to Capetown.
Capetown
The hostel was smart and really lively, the boys were chuffed as the Spurs v Chelsea match was on, the girls took this as an opportunity to go for a wander into town. We bumped into Dale who grabbed us all a taxi and headed to the Victoria and Albert waterfront. This place is amazing, really fancy and full of lush restaurants and shops. So we all started on the cocktails and rang the boys to get a taxi down after the match. Everyone was in good spirits after the result so we went to Steers (a fast foody place) for a burger and chips to soak up some of the booze, the food there was well tasty! We finished up on Long Street- which is basically a long street full of bars. We had a few drinks in this Irish bar, which (unfortunately) had live jazz on and then we headed back to the hostel for some games of pool. Which obviously John and I won- or near enough anyway.
Good Old Mental Mick
John and I weren't in a dorm with everyone else but we were lucky enough to be in with a crazy little bald man from Finland- his name was Michael but we renamed him Mental Mick. Apparently Mental Mick goes to bed at 9 o clock and didn't like anyone coming in and putting the lights on after that- hello get your own room then! I was lucky enough to have Mental on the bunk underneath me and when I got into bed I had my eyes shut for a little while and when I opened them again he was standing beside "our" bed, I got the shock of my life so I screamed- his response was not to apologise but to go shhh or the Finland version which is ttttsss. I just got the giggles after that and lay in bed killing myself laughing so he started going ttttsss again, needless to say this didn't help my giggles whatsoever- John jumped up and asked what was going on but I couldn't answer for laughing! Well you would think this is enough mental behaviour for one evening but not for Mental this was just the beginning. John was snoring really loudly (just for a change) and everyone in the dorm was tossing and turning, then I saw Mental get up- I was going to ask him what the code was for the room so I could get out and sleep on the settee outside but when I looked down he was naked and heading towards John! I didn't know what to do, so as any caring girlfriend would I pretended I was asleep and just listened. In fairness though I thought he was just going to wake up him up but when I looked over he was meddling with him- I assume he turned him on his side to stop the snoring- whatever he did it worked! But how mental is that going and meddling with a strange lad in the nude, what would John have done if he had woken up and to top things off there was a young girl on the bunk beneath John so if she had looked up she would have woken to a not so pleasant sight! John was slightly disturbed when I told him in the morning what had happened but the rest of us found it hilarious! After that night we slept in the same bunk- safety in numbers and all of that! For those of you reading this that are concerned about any future nude meddling, its cheap enough in Asia to stay in private double rooms so we don't have to look forward to anymore Mental Micks till Oz!
We went for an open bus tour around Capetown with Dave and Roy, it was awesome but a little chilly at times as Capetown is one windy city! We got off at the waterfront and had a lush dinner overlooking the water, we kept seeing seals playing. We ordered wraps and they were lovely but they gave you lots so we wrapped up the leftovers and gave it to a homeless man. Not quite as nice as the doggy bag Roy and I had prepared in Swakopmund which had tooth picks and a mint for after! Nevertheless the tramp proposed to me but as I already have John I declined! We then found some brilliant craft markets and bought a few more souvenirs, because obviously we hadn't bought enough wooden memorobillia! We then jumped back on the bus and were going to go to Table Mountain but the cable car (I know we are lazy) was closed as the wind was too strong so we went to Camps Bay, where all the rich and famous live in Capetown we jumped off (to mingle with the stars) and had lunch in a trendy bar overlooking te water. John had a huge plate of paella and I was boring and stuck with pasta- but it was good pasta! Then we jumped back on the bus and headed back to the hostel! When we got to the hostel everyone had concocted a punch ade from the leftovers of the alcohol from the truck- it tasted pretty good!
That night we all went to the Armchair Theatre, which is a bar with lots of setees in which plays films. We went there in a Rikky, a local taxi. There crazy as they pick everyone up and drve you round in a random order so you end up going all around Capetown for no reason. Tonight we picked Mario and Yohan up and did the "Capetown Tour" with them whilst drinking the punch en route! We watched Sleepy Hollow and ate pizza- it was class! At the end of the film Roy (on the influence of Scotch) attacked us all with empty pizza boxes and then we all piled on Carl and attacked him- I know we are supposed to be grown ups but its all Roy's fault! On the way home we all piled into a taxi, where I had to sit across Roy, John and Carl as there was no room and Dale went in the boot. The taxi idn't have any lights so the ride home was funny- we made it back to the hostel in one piece ready to see our fave person Mental! Before we visited Mental we went for a few games of pool where we listened to Rammstein and German Rap... what a treat for our ears!
What no fishing at the Aquarium?
Carl, John and I went to the Aquarium and it was really good. There was lots of fish (surprisingly enough), sharks, rays and the usual. Our highlight was definitely the penguins which we saw getting fed, they were funny to watch hopping and waddling around! We went for a wander around the fancy shops but felt a little scruffy to stay here so we went back to the hostel got dolled up to go for our last meal! The restaurant was awesome had lots of old film pictures up and the food was very nice! We spent most of the night reminiscing on Africa with everyone and then headed back to the hostel for a couple of drinks. We couldnt face the rubbish "fire shows" (I use this term very loosely) or the rubbish music so (I know its pretty hardcore) went for a cup of tea on the kitchen.
Goodbye Africa!
The next day we got up and packed, said our goodbyes and headed for the airport! We have both had an amazing 8 weeks and were gutted to leave. We have met some wicked people and done lots of crazy things. We will definitely come back to Africa and Asia will have a lot to live up to!
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