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Published: March 27th 2010
We left Franschhoek yesterday for our last destination, Simon's Town. The roads around Cape Town were far busier than we had seen anywhere. South African drivers don't seem to be a patient lot. They change lanes every 2 seconds if they think that another lane is moving quicker. Earlier in the trip we were stopped on the highway for roadworks. We were only stopped for a minute or 2 but even so people had switched off their engines and were out of their cars trying to find out what the problem was. These people clearly have never been stuck on the M25.
Anyway, on the way to Cape Town we stopped at Kirstenbosch which is Cape Town's massive botanical garden. The gardens were lovely and we spent several hours wandering around. Apparently in the spring it is amazing as there are a lot more flowers in bloom. We thought it was very pretty now. I finally got to see some proteas as well as loads of other interesting plants. There were also loads of helmeted guinea fowls which I am always pleased to see. We had a very nice lunch too.
We got to Simon's Town mid afternoon so
had time for a bit of a explore. The second we arrived we realised that it was VERY windy here. It was odd as it was not windy at all at Kirstenbosch and we were not that far away. Simon's Town is on the Cape Peninsula though which is pretty exposed. The woman who owned the apartment told us it could be a lot windier than this and sometimes it does not stop blowing for 3 weeks!
We were staying at the Paradise View apartments which were a random google find and were great. The apartment was huge and as the name suggested had great views. At the right time of the year I think you can see whales from the balcony.
When we were in town looking for a 7-11 and generally exploring we went onto the beach and guess what - I saw a penguin! I was obviously very excited about this. I nearly didn't bring my camera as we were supposed to be food shopping! I have learnt my lesson - never go anywhere without the camera as you never know what you might see.
Today is our last day! Luckily it was
Sunbird
You don't realise how many photos we took to get this semi decent one!a good one. In the morning we went to the Cape of Good Hope and took the obligatory photo of us by the sign. We also went to the cape point lighthouse and one of the beaches. It was very windy here so we spent the whole time feeling wind swept.
I was desperate to see baboons here as there are supposedly a lot of them around here and there are signs everywhere telling you not to feed them and not to open your car windows when they are close unless you want them in the car with you! Baboons are common all over South Africa but apart from one sitting by the side of the highway, which we passed at 100km/hr, we have not seen any. On the beach I did see their footprints but alas no baboons!
We didn't see that much wildlife in the park even though there are quite a few different types of antelopes here as well as zebra. A combination of fairly dense scrub and the fact that it was so windy made it very difficult to spot anything. Movement usually attracts our attention but this is no good when everything is
moving. We did see 3 tortoises though.
On the road back to Simon's town we realised that everyone was slowing down and several cars had pulled over. Guess what, there were baboons on the road! There were about 15 of them. They all went by the side of the car so I got to get a good look. I was very happy about it.
In the afternoon we went to Boulders Beach penguin colony which was one of the real highlights of the trip for me. I have wanted to come here since I saw it on the TV years ago and it didn't disappoint, it was fab. There were penguins everywhere! We started on a board-walk that takes you to various points on a beach where a lot of the penguins are . There were penguins lying on the rocks, on the beach, swimming in the sea and generally running around. Some of them in the undergrowth were standing right next to the board-walk or looking out under the steps. I was already over excited before I got to the main beach!
The only problem with the penguin colony was the wind. It really was blowing
a gale. The first place we were was fairly sheltered (in relative terms) but the second was not. It wasn't so much the wind but the sand. We were literally being sand blasted! I can see why it is used to remove paint and the like, it really hurt. The fact we had bare arms and legs was not a good thing. Luckily I had my long sleeve floaty top to hand. Putting it on was easier said than done due to the wind but it was worth the effort.
After these beaches we walked along another board-walk (with lots of penguins watching us) to Boulders Beach where you can actually get on the beach. There were lots of penguins on the rocks and every so often a few would run along the beach. They did not seemed bothered by the people at all.
I could have stayed here all day (or all week!) but alas we had to go back to the apartment and put the rest of our stuff in our case before we drove to the airport. At the airport we had time for one last steak before we boarded our flight home.
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