Day Trip to Cape Peninsula

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On one of our days in Cape Town, we rented a car, which we would be using to head east and went on a drive down towards the Cape of Good Hope. Like most of our days in Cape Town, we were blessed with good weather, which is a bit unusual at this time of year. Although it was quite windy.

This drive first took us to Hout Bay, which we drove past but stopped to take some pictures of the view. We then drove on towards Chapman's Peak. This is a 9km route, which has 114 curves, sheer drops to the sea below and mountains rising above.

We then drove into Table Mountain National Park and towards the Cape of Good Hope. The flora and fauna in this area is remarkable as is the rugged coastline. It does seem quite unhabitable, but maybe the wind on that day added to that feeling. The views of the ocean at the Cape of Good Hope are incredible and we got the all important photo behind the sign of Cape of Good Hope.

Afterwards, we drove the short distance around to Cape Point, passing some wild ostriches on the way. There is a misconception that this is the southern most point in Africa, but it is in fact Cape Agulhas that has that distinction. The Cape Peninsula is the South Western point though. Again the views of the ocean here are incredible and you can't help but wonder how the first explorers who passed by in ships here centuries ago felt, seeing this menacing coastline.

Later, we drove up the Eastern side of the peninsula, along False Bay. We reached Boulder's Beach and after some lunch, we went down to see all the penguins. A penguin colony was introduced to the area about 20 years ago and they number around 3000 today. It was amazing how close you could get to them without them running off scared. There is also a sign before you leave asking you to check under your cars for penguins.

We drove back to Cape Town through Simon's Town and were back in the early evening. I had done the driving and it all went fine until coming into Cape Town on the highway, the sun shone directly on the windscreen, which was filthy dirty and I pretty much was driving blind for a minute or two, or so it felt. That night I managed to twist Mum and Dad's arms into coming to Addis-in-Cape, the Ethiopian restaurant in town and had them eating with their hands.

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