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Published: September 24th 2006
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Cape Town. Well our first day was occupied by family things so we’ll skip over that as it was great fun but doesn’t exactly count as travel matters.
Day 2 was Monday and it was pretty cold. We set off towards the bus to take us to the water front. Having discussed what we wanted to get out of Cape Town with our four day restriction we headed to the booking office for Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela was held. Unfortunately they were pretty booked up and we had to reserve a place on the Thursday. This messed our plans up a bit but determined to see the sights we then booked a city bus tour.
Well it was cold just walking around but on the top of an open bus it was freezing. We went past some impressive monuments and land marks and as we got nearer to Table mountain the weather became visibly worse. The guide was warning us that if it was this bad down here then on top of table mountain it was going to be 10 times worse…..however determined to see all we came here to see we got off the bus
and headed towards the cable car, shrugging off the tour guides last words ‘we’ll wait for you for 10 mins in case to change you mind’.
Funnily enough about 15 of the 20ish people in our cable car were Brits, uttering under their breath, ‘we never let the weather get the better of us!’.
At the top we came out into some eerie fog, you couldn’t see in front of you and it was bloody cold. Our first stop was the café just to keep warm and after a hot tea we attempted to get out on the mountain again however it was pointless as you couldn’t see any thing at all so we headed for the gift shop and I brought a woolly hat to try and keep in some of the heat. I’m saddened to say after this we just went back down again. There was no way we were going to see any views of Cape Town from the top when we couldn’t even see a person standing a yard in front of us. But at least we got up there.
At the bottom another red bus was there and we hopped right on,
with the new protection from my woolly beanie we headed for the top of the bus again to make sure we didn’t miss any picture opportunities. However even with the beanie it was brass monkeys. Despite being frozen solid and wind whipped we enjoyed the rest of the tour which told us about the rich people and big houses and the huge influx of movies being filmed in Cape Town.
We got off the bus back at the water front and headed to the aquarium in time to see the turtles and rays being fed. I love aquariums, I try and make a point of visiting them where ever I am in the world and this one was just fantastic, a mine of knowledge on environmental issues and some really aesthetic fish displays.
After this we ended the day by going for an early meal at a place recommended to us called quay four. We had the most amazing sea food and wine then headed back to our hotel bar!
The next day began with breakfast in the hotel which was just lovely. Why does every where we have had breakfast on this hol just do it
so well?
We met our tour guide for the day and headed off for what was to be one of the best days of the entire trip.
Our first stop was the botanical gardens. The day was sunny and warm, a complete contrast to yesterday and perfect for appreciating the gardens. After this we headed though a beautiful place called Simons town and towards a place called Fish Hoek (Hoek in Afrikaans means corner) this was mostly a beautiful costal drive and we stopped a couple of times because our guide thought she saw a whale in the waters. As we got out and watched the ocean we saw what was unmistakably movement caused by something huge. As we stood there in awe our guide explained that this time of year whales flock around Cape Town and we were here at the height of their breeding season.
Sarah and I were made up as we really wanted to go on a whale watching tour but we didn’t have time. As we drove further along the coastal road our tour guide stopped to an abrupt halt and said look: there next to the sea wall was a huge
whale that had come in close.
Well to say we got out of the vehicle quickly was an understatement. We crawled over each other, knocking over bags, elbowing each other out of the way and sprinted to the sea wall to look at this huge creature. There really wasn’t any need for the rush as it stayed there for a very long time. We could see all the barnacles on it’s head and every one cheered when it let up spray into the air. After a while it swam away and we drove into Fishhoek for lunch.
During lunch we enjoyed a story about an older lady who was eaten by a white shark as witnessed by a guy drinking coffee in the same place we were eating lunch.
After lunch we headed for the famous boulders bay. Now on our trip I had seen the odd Japanese tourist but for some reason this place was like a Mecca for them. You could hardly move between them. Eventually we got some space to appreciate the little penguins and I got a funny video of one tripping over. Buy I had to feel a little sorry for the
penguins as our visit with them was largely eclipsed by about 5 or 6 whales that were in the sea around them. I don’t know if the whales were in some kind of competition for attention with the penguins but they seemed to be putting on quite a display for us, jumping fully out of the water to cries of wow and ooooh. A woman behind me was getting extremely cross with her boyfriend who kept missing the shot of the whale out of the water…..which was actually almost impossible to get. I think between us all on our tour we had a head, a fin and lots of water between our pictures.
On our way to the final destination for the day, our guide told us she had never seen so many whales like that in one day before so we felt very privileged to have seen them. Before we got to Cape Point we also watched a Baboon breaking into someone’s car which was actually very funny for us but I would have felt quite ashamed if the owner had come back and seen us taking pictures of the event.
Our last stop of the day
did not disappoint. We spent some time taking in the wildlife: Ostriches, baboons and birds and the crashing surf of the Atlantic side before going up to cape point. In case you were not aware Cape point was meant to be the most southerly point of Africa and where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. In reality it is neither! Apparently it is only the place where the Atlantic current meets the Indian ocean current (I have no idea what the difference is) however there is a noticeable difference in the sea either side of cape point, the Indian ocean side is calm and the Atlantic is rough.
Having got up onto cape point if you look to your left in the distance you can see a land mass that reaches further than where you are standing so it clearly isn’t the most southerly point. I think in recent years they have decided to call it the most southerly point of the Western Cape rather than most southerly point full stop.
We ended the day with what was probably my most favourite meal of the entire trip. Recommended by our guide who used to work in the
restaurant (the name eludes me) I had sirloin steak with a blue cheese and cashew sauce. I am still dreaming of this when I shut my eyes, Yum!
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