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A full day tour down to the Cape had been organised leaving at what we thought was 8AM. We had another early breakfast, rushed down to the front desk only to be told our guide may not be there until 9AM. Heading back to our room, we'd just taken off our shoes and logged onto the internet when the phone rang to let us know we were required down in the lobby to join our small bus tour.
Our tour leader was a local Cape Tonian with a wealth of knowledge and a cynical sense of humor. We only knew the basics of the tour, involving getting to the Cape of Good Hope and seeing Kirstenbosch Gardens. The first thing our tour leader started explaining was all the extra options we would have to pay for. These included a 45 minute seal watching boat trip, lunch and a visit to the penguins. We wisely decided to skip the seal trip due to the somewhat inclement weather which made us extremely glad we had gone up Table Mountain yesterday. The table cloth was definitely covering the mountain today.
After leaving Hout Bay we drove along a road which is often used in sports car advertising made to make you feel like you're driving in Italy. We continued travelling south and entered the National Park. Our first stop was the Cape of Good Hope, where we had to jostle with many oblivious tourists to get a photo with the Cape of Good Hope sign. It was extremely windy, but at least we had learnt from yesterday and were wearing slighlty more appropriate clothing. Getting back to our transport we saw a family of ostriches with six one week old ostrich chicks that caused a traffic jam on the road. Continuing the tour, we arrived at the third oldest lighthouse in South Africa and gladly paid $5 each to catch a funicular three quarters of the way up. The final climb was somewhat strenuous but we were afforded great views of the Cape and False Bay. The old lighthouse which was built by the British and was ineffective in stormy weather since it was covered in cloud or mist has had its function replaced by a much lower lighthouse that was difficult to see from our vantage point. The old lighthouse is now used as one of the 23 global weather stations measurig CO2 and ozone. We then caught the funicular back down passing many tired and jealous tourists walking up.
Continuing east around False Bay toward Simon's Town we had a very forgettable lunch. You could say it was a tourismo trap only we didn't choose it willingly! Luckily the next stop, getting to see a penguin colony was far more memorable. The colony was started twenty years ago with two breeding pairs and now has over 2000 penguins. Penguins everywhere! It was Gemma's first experience seeing penguins in the wild. As we were heading out we were lucky enough to see a whale off the coast.
By this time of the day, energy levels were lagging. The drive back to Cape Town's Kirstenbosch Gardens was punctuated by other passengers snoring. Gareth resorted to various supplies of food he had packed in readiness for this situation. Arriving on the other side of Table Mountain we were lead into the gardens which felt like a wind tunnel simiilar to the day before. The gardens were beautiful and reminded us of home since it seemed that all the plants our guide pointed out were from Australia. Gareth lead an expedition to find a tree top walkway which may have swayed a touch, much to Gemma's delight. Another highlight suggested by our guide was the fragrance garden that had an interesting start with plants that smelt like rotting flesh ruining the mood for the rest of the fragrance adventure.
Heading back to the bus for our final drive we avoided heavy traffic caused by a serious accident with the drivers extensive local knowledge and were dropped at our hotel ten hours after we were picked up. We collapsed on our beds and Gareth made us write the blog before we did anything else. Our plans for the evening include dinner and bed, hopefully in the correct order. Hoping for nicer weather tomorrow as we travel out to Robben Island.
- comments
Althea Halliday Bravo, Gareth! You have combined detail with wry observations of people and situations. (Apologies if I sound like an English teacher giving a critique!) Fancy seeing ostriches and penguins and a whale, and smelling rotten fish smells in a garden - all in one day. Thank you for writing such an interesting blog.