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Published: June 12th 2017
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Geo: -33.916, 18.4222
Our next day was again bright and sunny, with temperatures in the 70's. We set out fairly early to make the drive down the peninsula south of Cape Town, leading to the Cape of Good Hope. While Cape Town is on the west, Atlantic Ocean side of the continent, we drove around Table Mountain and over to the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula, along which a coastal highway leads all the way down to Cape Point at the southernmost point.
Our first stop of the day was Boulders Beach, just south of the small village of Simonstown, which abuts a very large African Penguin breeding area. The waves and tides along the point, on both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sides are very rough, but Boulder Beach is completely sheltered by -- you guessed it -- huge boulders, which makes it a safe nesting ground, but also makes for a nice beach for humans. One portion of the beach is a national park and open to the public, who can swim and interact with the penguins. With so many penguins just waddling around, the place almost had a petting zoo feel to it, though I had no desire
to actual touch any of the penguins.
After lunch we continued down to Cape Point, which is operated as part of the larger Table Mountain National Park. As we drove in, the landscape reminded us very much of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, with rolling plains dotted with large rocks and very low vegetation. There is a visitors center lighthouse at the tip, which also happens to be an area where large groups of wild baboons congregate. They were quite content to walk around the cars and up among the people eating at picnic areas. Large signs warned people that the baboons can be aggressive, especially around food, which we learned later the in the afternoon, when Anna had a bag of potato chips snatched from her.
On the drive back, we hit a huge backup of traffic, and eventually reached an electronic sign which advised that a bus was stuck beneath an underpass farther down the road, and that we should expect heavy traffic. Too late. Relying on our rented GPS, who we nicknamed "Woosie," we cut cross country, up over Chapman's Peak, and down to the Atlantic Ocean. While this got us around the traffic, it also gave
us stunning views of the setting sun over the beaches.
After washing up and getting all the traces of penguins and baboons off of us, we drove down to the large waterfront complex in Cape Town proper and had an outstanding seafood meal while sitting on the bay. Several of us had the catch of the day, which was African Butter Fish, which was, without exaggeration, the best fish I have ever eaten. Evidently it is not very common, so we were lucky to have any at all, and never saw it again on a menu during our visit.
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