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Published: January 27th 2021
a gorgeous day awaiting us
Table Mountain at its bestWe woke up with the weather at its best. No wind, warm temperatures and bright blue sky with uncompromised sunshine. This was also necessary, because today was one of the true highlights of the trip, at least for Nenad. A motorbike ride around the Cape and the city. We booked a Royal Enfield bike tour. Nenad has never ridden a Royal Enfield motorcycle, the tractor among bikes. The Royal Enfield Bullet was originally an overhead-valve single-cylinder four-stroke motorcycle made by Royal Enfield in the UK. It is now owned by Madras Motors, an Indian company and produced in Chennai, India. For many years it was the British army bike being used all around the Empire's countries and roads. Sitting on it and you feel the British Raj is still alive ! Nenad will be riding a 500cc model for the day and Nui sitting behind, warming his kidneys. Downtown we met with the owner of the shop, a South African Indian, who introduced us to the functionality of the bike. Kick hard the clutches, other than that, easy and reliable to ride, Nenad was told. We decided to take a guide to get the benefit riding the absolute most scenic routes
in the Cape in the time available and get sufficient information about the area. And after all, it is more fun riding together and have a local boy portraying the local spirit. Steve our guide gave a briefing where the ride will take us and without further delay, we were off.
First we rode along Lagoon Beach and Sunset Beach in the north of the city. and checked out Bloubergstrad. We found a scenic spot to make pictures with the Enfield, the Table Mountain and us. We wanted to use this motive for our Christmas greetings, which are slowly getting due. Then we rode to the south of the city and focused on the Indian Ocean side. In Simon's Town we stopped for a delicious early seafood lunch, where Nui got her promised shrimp (gung) dose. One of the motivators for being a co-rider. A few kilometers south we found the Penguins at the famous Bolder Beach. It was hatching season and many penguins sat well visible on their laid eggs. Penguins are aquatic flightless birds who live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only one exception, the Galápagos penguin. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins
feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sea life which they catch while swimming underwater, trying not to be eaten themselves by sea-lions, sharks and the likes. They spend roughly half of their lives on land and the other half in the sea. There are about 20 living species of penguins. In the Cape we find a smaller specie called the African Penguin or Cape Penguin, growing up to 50cm in height and 5kg in weight. They are a huge tourist attraction. We chose lunch hour for our visit to avoid crowds.
Riding over Chapmans Peak, a mountain range separating the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean coast was a real treat. Great riding with a winding road high up over the steep cliffs overlooking the vast blue. Following the Atlantic coast we ended the ride in the Royal Enfield shop safe and sound with a huge satisfaction of a special day. Nearby at the Waterfront (a part of town a bit like the Rocks or Darling Harbor in Sydney) and with a cool beer, Nenad followed up on the Swiss flight status and our return arrangements, given the latest Corona problems in Switzerland. Calling the Swiss
office in Johannesburg, they assure us, that the flight on 25 Dec is on as scheduled, despite the Governments flight ban ?!?! Well, we thought, let them debate some more there in Bern, we go for a nice Italian meal with of course South African wine :-).
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