Pablo's Amazingly Landscaped World

Day Three - Cape Point

After our little "Kodak Moment" we trundled off on our way through the city suburbs to Houts Bay passing residential homes that have armed response in case they get burgled and by small townships. Traffic light road junctions had black men waiting by the street corners for companies to come along employ them and pay them a days wage. This is common in South Africa, as they do not have a welfare system like in the United Kingdom. When we got to Hout Bay (another desirable area of cape Town) we were greeted by a long strip of arts and crafts with a marina behind it. For an hour you had the chance to either go and visit Duiker Island or to stroll around the seafront. I decided to go on the trip to visit Duiker Island with my mum, which is a seal colony. It takes not very long to get there and you can see the seals going about their daily business and the pups playing in the sea with their parents amongst the seaweed and kelp. When we came back we were greeted by a band who sing about your trip and expect money in turn :-)

From Hout Bay we went back on ourselves and travelled over to Muizenberg on the Cape Flats, as Chapmans Peak Drive was closed due to a recent landslide. From the coastal town of Muizenberg we drove along the east coast of the Cape Peninsula up to Fish Hoek, which a good viewing point for seeing across the Cape Flats. We then hopped back into our bus and down to our next major stop at a beach known as "The Boulders", which has a penguiiiiiin colony!!!! Along the Cape South Africa has it's own colony of nesting Jackas Penguins. You are not allowed to walk along the beach, but instead you walk along raised wooden platforms that allow the penguins to walk underneath you from the plants to the sand and sea. Aaah i love how penguins waddle and huddle together. If i am to be re incarnated i choose to come back as a penguin :-)

Leaving the lovely penguins behind we left for our main destination the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and to visit the most southerly point of the African continent Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, which are both different places. Clear warm skies greeted us at Cape Point and with a walk up to the lighthouse are brilliant views looking into False Bay and back up the Cape. With the short drive to the Cape of Good Hope however, we were joined by stormy seas, mist and rain! As the Cape is at the point of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean's weather conditions can change dramatically throughout the day.

After a small drenching we got back on the bus and raced the incoming clouds to see if we could get to Kirstenbosch before the rain decided to set in. Kirstenbosch is the National Botanical Gardens of South Africa and contains only plants that are native to the country, inlcuding flowers such as the Bird of Paradise with which Nelson Mandela has a variety in his name. The Gardens contains wild Guinea Foul and many sculptures amongst the ancient trees, shrubs and tropical flowers.

So after a long days tour we came winding from over the mountain's back into Cape Town with the sunsetting and our stomach's rumbling so it was time for us to have a nice dinner by the Victoria & Albert Seafront and watch the sun go down and the night begin.

posted by Pablo @ 2:37 pm