Cape Town Day 3: Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Penguins, Saturday, March 23, WTRD 7
On our third day in Cape Town we made our way out to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, and Boulders, home to the African Penguin Colony.
The day dawns, and it is another beautiful blue sky day. We head south to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope.
We drive to the furthest point south on the Cape to climb to the top where the lighthouse warns sailing ships of the rocky hazards that have wrecked many a ship.
The wind on top is fierce and nearly knocks us off off our feet .
The beautiful white beach is hugged by the layered cliffs. The actual southern tip of Africa is Point Agulhas, 90 miles to the south-east.
Elands, springbok, wild ostrich, and baboons are native to this area.
We have the opportunity to see all four while in the Cape of Good Hope National Park. The baboons have adapted to sea living and forage for seafood, along the shores. After our hike, we drive down towards the northern point of the Cape which is actually the Cape of Good Hope.
Originally named by Diaz as the Cape of Storms, the Cape for promotional purposes was renamed to encourage sailors heading around the Cape to the Indies.
The scenery is stunning even with the ebbed tide. Beds of kelp bob up and down in the swells and tide pools, Cormorants, gulls, and sea lions make their homes along these rocky shoals and bask in the sun spray of crashing waves.
Our Friendship Force take a group photo at the Cape of Good Hope sign,
but before we do, our host club photographer offers to take the photo of a solitary young man on a bike, with the bicyclists camera. We were honored to be witness to the end of his successful year and a half ride south from Iceland! Our Friendship Force welcomes him to the Cape with good cheer and applause. Since my hands were busy clapping, I neglected to take a photo of my own. Drat!
Our itinerary for the day included Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope, Penguin Colony, have lunch then walk about the quaint seaside town of Kalk Bay. I looked forward to taking some photos of the town to take photos while walking rather than through the windows of the bus.
The first part of our plan was seamless, but when we got to the Penguin Colony, for whatever reason, most likely having to do with load shading, the credit card machines kept losing power and were timing out before ticket transactions could be completed. The crowds were stuck in line waiting for entry.
Our group was almost to the ticket counter with our host leader at the head of the line ready to pay with credit card for the whole bunch of us. One of the ticket personnel decided to invite cash only people to step over to that window to pay. Good idea, but before we could get our own money out and individually pay with cash, several people started pushing us back from the window. A true one step forward, two step back experience.
It is about 2:00 pm, and our group has yet to have lunch. You don’t ever want to be in a line going nowhere with a bunch of cranky, hungry, tired seniors! There were some tempers heating up. Finally, we were able to see the cute little penguins and all the piss and vinegar evaporated. We saw mating pairs, preening pairs, parent and chicks, molting chicks, and one Penguin Mama lay an egg, then folded around it to keep it warm while Papa Penguin looked on proudly.
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| The product of penguin affection. |
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| Darling, you just laid an egg! |
Lunch was between 3 and 4:00 pm. in an enjoyable seaside restaurant. Needless to say we were hungry and ready for a rest.
We were running so late now that again the walk-about in Kalk Bay was eliminated from our itinerary. Darn!
We returned to Cape Town , went home for a change of clothes and to pickup some dishes Margi had prepared for a potluck bar-b-que.
We traveled back to an area we had traversed earlier in the day, and before entering the home where the bar-b-que was being held, the sun was setting and the lights around the bay were shining.
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I retired the camera for the evening after the sunset, and just enjoyed the BBQ and the people without documenting the dinner,
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