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Published: September 15th 2007
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Cape Town We flew into Cape Town from Buenos Aires and suddenly realised how much more expensive it is over here. We took a taxi into the centre of the city to our backpackers on Long St and the Cabbie did warn us on the way not to walk the side streets at night and to stay in areas that are well lit. Apparently the crime rate is a little higher over here!!! Staying in Long St. meant that we were right in the middle of everything which was great because we didn't need to go far to get anything but bad because the night-club next to us pumped out music until about 4am every morning. Are we getting old or what?!
We managed to get down to the V & A waterfront to grab some much needed clothes and check out the African artifacts on offer before we jumped on a ferry and headed over to the World Heritage site of Robben Island. After a quick tour of the old lunatic asylums and the Lepper graveyards, we were taken to the maximum security prison where Mr. Mandella was held as a political prisoner for 18 years. Our guide was
actually imprisoned here himself for eight years so we got a real taste of the stories of the beatings and terrible living conditions from someone who had experienced them himself. Unfortunately, the actual 2x2m cell that Nelson was held in was closed for refurbishment (I don't think they were putting in Air-con) but we saw one the same size and got to fell the thin mats that he would have used to sleep on the floor. I probably wouldn't have lasted any more than 18 days, let alone 18 years. Robben Island is home to the second largest penguin colony in South Africa with loads of the little fellas waddling around and you can also get some great views of Table Mountain which this day was covered in a tablecloth of cloud. That evening it was our turn to keep everyone in the hostel awake as we met up with a good mate of ours from London - Lionel. We hit the local bars and clubs, drunk far too many Jaeger-bombs and finally crashed out about 6.30 - good times!
We awoke in the morning, a couple of hours later, to sunshine and clear skies, shook off the hangover,
and took a cable car up 1000m to the top of Table Mountain. You get some pretty awesome views of the coastline and city from up here, although it's a bit daunting going right up to the edge and looking over. The good weather held so we picked up our hire-car and drove about an hour north of the city to a little tiny private airfield where we prepared to throw ourselves out of a plane. After a brief training session, we signed our life away - literally - and packed ourselves into what had to be the worlds smallest aircraft. At about 8000 feet we were strapped onto our tandem jumper, and at 9000 feet the door opened. Nothing can compare to the feeling of freefalling for 30 seconds (although it felt like about 10) and then when the parachute opened everything went quiet and still and we really got to appreciate the views below us. We also paid for a DVD and still photos of the jumps so we can watch it back again and again. We would recommend it to anyone!!!
We managed to get around to see some of the southern beaches, which were pretty
quiet because it's just out of season here, but nice all the same. We stayed overnight in Simons Town and saw the famous penguins on Boulders Beach - Just can't seem to get enough of 'em over here! We then headed to the Cape Point National Park where we walked a short hiking trail to the Cape Of Good Hope (where the Atlantic meets the Indian ocean). Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales like we expected but we did, however, get to hang out with a few baboons and ostrichs which made the trip all worthwhile. We then drove up the west side of the Cape and spent some time late in the afternoon sitting on Camps Bay watching the world go by - happy days!
Mossel Bay Mossel Bay marks the beginning of the "Garden Route" but for us it marked the beginning of a frustrating couple of days. Our main priority here was to go cage diving with Great White Sharks but, unfortunately for us, the weather (or so we were told) had something to say about it. The first two days we tried to go we were told by the company that the wind was gale
force or the swell was too high. After checking the weather on the internet and seeing that it was good with no more than a 25kph wind (certainly not gale force) we came to the conclusion that they didn't have enough people booked to make it worth their while going out to sea. With our bus leaving at 3.30pm on the last day they finally gave us the go ahead to go out - yippee... we thought. We took the boat out to Seal Island and waited for 3 and a half hours. No sharks, not even a fish. Gutted. The office refused to refund our 1600 Rand but offer that we could go out again free of charge. Not much use when out bus was leaving in an hour and a half. Ah well, you can't have everything.
Looking on the brightside though, Mossel bay has got really nice beaches and we were lucky enough to be able to sunbake our time away. Our hostel was also the nicest we've stayed in complete with lush gardens, balconies, hammocks, djembe drums, and really comfy beds. Plus, we also got to see a couple of massive whales breaching in the
nearby bay.
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