As promised...
While in Cape Town, South Africa, I did an all-day tour to the Cape Point National Park and Nature Reserve. It was a very interesting trip. There were 5 of us on the tour with one guide: myself, an English woman on a "SKI" vacation (Spending the Kids' Inheritance), a young Swedish guy (quite nice to look at) and 2 young women from Ireland (the photos will be posted soon girls). The bus picked us up at our hotels and I was last.
The guide gave us a running commentary as we went and often stopped for us to take photos and get out for a stretch.
First major stop was at Hout Bay. There we climbed aboard a boat with a large crowd of other tours and were taken out of the bay to Seal Island. Yes, this is where we saw hundreds of Fur Seals. It was fun to watch them playing in the surf, sliding down rock 'slides' into the rough water, diving, jumping and frolicking. But most were lazily dozing in the sun on the warm rocks, lolling and slowly rolling about like tourists on the beach. I got lots of great photos and movies of them, to be posted soon.
Next stop was at False Bay for a photo of the stretch of silver sand beach that stretches from St. James to Fish Hoek. Then a lunch stop in FishHoek for lunch at a restaurant on the beach there. The Austrian family from my guesthouse were in the restaurant at the same time with their German tour. The English woman braved her way to the waters edge where German tourists in bathingsuits only were braving the water for a full-in swim. She returned to report that the water was freezing cold. This is a spot where the water is considered the warmest on the cape (before, of course, you get to the Indian Ocean).
On we went after an hour there to Boulders... the town that the Penguins decided to moved into. There were hundreds of them in this relatively new colony. And they are so cute but reportedly dangerous. Not that I noticed. I went off on my own away from the crowd to another observation platform where there was only one other person. It was here that I got my best photos. It is also here that I found the rookery. There were several penguins sitting on nests both manmade (for the purpose) and penguin built. It was along this path that I got some great close-ups of these lovely little guys. They did not seem to mind at all that I was there taking their pictures. Some even seemed happy to pose. I was so close to a couple of them that I could have reached out and touched them. But that would be wrong as touching them can damage their protective coating opening them up to parasites, bacteria and other infectious threats. I also heard that they have a nasty, sharp beak and have been known to snap at and bite people.
Got a pair of sterling silver penguin earrings at the gift shop on the way out. Yes, they are both the same but for those who were wondering about that you also know that it will change. The rest of you... well, I am known for wearing mis-matched or non-pair earrings.
On our way through the Nature Reserve on the way to Cape Point we passed a couple of groups of baboons. Excellent name for them. The first group was a nice little family of three (pop, mom and babe) and mom was grooming the little one (picking off gnats). Then a female gave out her scent nearby and the male caught a wiff... well the movie I got tells it all. Bad enough that I saw and photoed these behaviours, I won't write about it too. The second group was large with a large number of tiny babies. The babies were leaping into trees and swinging on branches, jumping on the adults and wrestling each other.
We continued on to Cape Point where we witnessed silly tourists not paying attention to the warning signs about the baboons. While searching in the boot (trunk) for something, a man had left both rear doors of the car open while his 2 companions sat waiting in the front seats. A baboon jumped into the back seat and when we stopped to shout warnings to the hapless fools, the baboon took off out the other door. They were lucky we came along as baboons are very dangerous, agressive, strong and have extremely sharp teeth.
We arrived late to the Cape Point funicular (vertical railway) so had to hurry to get up to the lighthouse before the last trip down. I would have walked down if I had know it was such a short trip. One of the Irish girls stayed down below, the other walked up with the Swede and the English lady and I took the funicular. The view was stupendous and I took many photos and movies (again). It was quite a thrill to know that when I looked out over the water here, I was looking at Antarctica. Couldn't see it of course (darn curvature of the earth) but I knew it was out there and not far away, in relative terms. This is the most southwesterly corner of Africa around which many explorers sailed over a period of more than 500 years. Out there are many sunken vessels and many sailors died trying to find 'the new world' and the fastest route to the East. Quite impressive. The air felt 'different' the sky is a different shade of blue as is the water here. We met our guide at the bus waiting for us at the bottom, watched the 'baboon patrol' trying to control a couple of large males (they throw large nuts at them) and headed out again.
As we headed for the Cape of Good Hope we saw a herd of Ostrich grazing at the side of the road. Then a little further along we saw a lone Bontebok (colourful antelope) that was grazing in a field.
Next stop... Cape of Good Hope. The large cliff you will see behind me in the picture of me at the sign is the Cape of Good Hope and it blocks the view. But now I can say I was there. On our way back up the peninsula we spotted a group of 4 zebras coming through the high scrub to a clearing with a watering hole. We were so lucky to see them less than five minutes after the guide said he had never seen zebras on one of these tours.
The drive back took us to Chapman's Peak via Chapman's Bay and Long Beach (14km) before we were on the Chapman's Bay Driveway, one of the most dangerous stretches of road in South Africa. The rocks are blown off of the cliffs and peaks by the gale force winds and onto unsuspecting drivers, cyclists and runners on the road below. The government has been trying to build protective barriers and rock 'catching' nets. The barriers are iron reinforced concrete canopies over sections of the road that are most notorious. Along other sections are steal cable nets on 1 foot iron/steel poles embedded deep into the ground. It is a wierd and eerie sight. We stopped for photos at a spot at the top of suicide cliff. Guess how it got its name. From here I also got a great shot of the Sentinel, a mountain sized rock at the entrance to Hout Bay.
The rest of the drive back was full of excellent discussions about politics, socio-cultural affairs and the concerns of the people of this country in transition. There was lots of great scenery too.
While in Cape Town I became somewhat of a regular at the Cafe Erte where Wendy's friend Johan works. I met and became chummy with a couple of the staff and regulars too. The owner, Susan, was born on February 12, my birthday (but about 14 years later) so we exchanged notes on being Aquarian and found that we were like minded on a few issues. After my membership expired at the Internet Junction down the street (very slow and MS terminal on a remote ISP) I started using Cafe Erte as my internet cafe. Much more pleasant place, nicer people, vegetarian food & drink on hand and slightly faster connections through Linux boxes. It was sad to say goodbye to Johan.
Johan had taken me along when he and a couple of friends (Laura and Denise) were going to Observatory (a suburb of CapeTown) for the Holistic Fair that is held every Sunday. That was a great day. After the fair closed Johan and I helped the Hari Krishna guys carry their stuff (they do a great vegetarian food stand) to their truck and then got a lift to the temple for satsang. It was OK but I did not enjoy it or find it as spiritually uplifting as I did the Sivanada Ashram's satsang. I found that the Hari Krishna's are very secular and men and women segregate during ceremonies, even when eating after. It is a very patriarchal organization and it was mostly women (though some of the younger men helped) who served the food. The chanting is monotonous and uninspiring, as was the speaker. But it was a good experience and the food was excellent vegetarian fare. Afterwards, Johan and I took a long walk along the Ereste River that took about an hour or more. We walked up a Main Street through another suburb passing the Mendala Estate along the way. We arrived at a shopping and restaurant strip and it was here that we were to meet up with Laura for a lift back to Cafe Erte on the other side of town. We were early so we sat for a half hour and had a coffee/tea in another cafe and waited. Laura drove us back and I had a drink while checking my email before returning to my room. I really enjoyed that day.
I had 2 Boewen Technique treatment from Debbie (wife of the guesthouse owner Jan) while there. It is a very interesting technique and I enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend this for destressing and getting rid of aches and pains. It is great for headaches too. I had never heard of it before but will investigate further and keep an eye open for other practitioners.
Well, that is it for now. I am starving and it is 7:40 pm and I only had a light lunch at 12:30. Next time I'll tell you all about Table Mountain.
Posted by gailene at February 16, 2004 05:09 PM