Gecko Camp

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Cape Town

I awoke early to shower and eat breakfast before heading out to Table Mountain with the group. I had breakfast with a single girl from Belgium. She is the only single girl so I think she will be my tent mate. She seems nice but quiet, although everyone is tried from the long flights. I don't speak French so I don't know that we will have a lot to talk about. She seems young.

I met the rest of the group in the lobby of the hotel and we headed down a long set of steps to the truck. I don't know what I was thinking the truck would look like but I was surprised when I saw it. It was an overland truck. I am on an overland trip....should have read the pamphlet a little more carefully. Come to think of it I barely read anything before leaving on this trip other than how much it would cost and the dates. For example, I thought I heard the Guide say something about Zambia. So, I don't know if I am going to Zambia or not but seeing as I did not include it in my military leave papers I think I just won't ask...surprises can be a good thing.


Table Mountain


So we packed the bus for the first time and headed through Cape Town to Table Mountain just outside the city. It was beautiful drive. Once at the bottom of the mountain, David our guide gave us one hour to take the cable car up and look around. "An hour?" I thought to myself "What was I going to do on the top of a mountain for an hour?" seriously how many pictures can a person take of a view from a mountain? Evidently a lot!

The cable car to the top of the mountain rotates so you don't hold on. If you are even the slightest bit afraid of heights I do not recommend it as spinning and lifting is a disconcerting combination. The views from the top were amazing. We had a perfect day, sunny and 75 degrees with no wind. As Table Mountain is rather flat there were tons of hiking trails with views from almost every spot. If you were quiet you could hear the echo of bird calls in the gorge. I could have spent all day just looking at the little rock dassies, a little furry rock rabbit that is a relative of the elephant. But, it was time to move on and from Table Mountain we headed up to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point Lighthouse.


Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point


As a sailor this was a place I had always wanted to see. I had studied as a child the explorers that had gone round this Cape and had always wished to sail around it. It did not disappoint with spectacular weather. The oceans (Atlantic and Indian) were so clear you could see to the bottom.

From the Cape of Good Hope it was back towards Cape Town and on to Namaqualand, a small South African town near the Namibian boarder. I fell asleep as we drove out of Cape Town to awake to a landscape that looked exactly like California. With its rolling hills, vineyards, cattle ranches and orange groves I felt very much at home. Now I know why so many South Africans live in California. After about 4 hours of driving we pulled up into an orange grove and parked on the lawn of a small farmhouse/lodge. Here David explained how to set up our tents something he promised we would become very good at. He also talked about the importance of checking under the tent and tarp for and snakes before lifting it. This was very good advice that Celine (my roommate) and I never took but should have.

Celine and I quickly chose our sides of the tent and started to set up camp. It quickly became very dark and cold. I clearly did not bring warm enough clothes. After dinner there was not much else to do but go to bed as we would be getting up early 5 AM in order to make the next camp by 4 PM. It would be a very cold night.

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Photos

Table Mountain
A view from the trail

Rock Dassies Closeup
So cute.

More Dassies
I know enough already but they were too cute.

View from Cape Point Lighthouse
An amazing day!

Orange Grove
The orange grove near our campsite