Cape Tour

Today we had probably my favorite day thus far in South Africa, a tour of the cape. For those who aren’t familiar with the geography of Cape Town, here’s a handy map. So Cape Town is up near the top of the map and our tour worked us past Sea Point, along the water to Hout Bay, along the famous Chapman’s Drive scenic roadway past Noordoek to the Indian Ocean side to Simon’s Town and ended down at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope.

Pictures weren’t taken, and couldn’t justify even if they were, how scenic all the roads we went on were. They were carved into the mountain, right along the sea and had beautiful views of all the bays, beaches and little towns along our tour. Our first stop was in Hout Bay, where we went on a seal cruise. We were the first tour of the day, which was great because we got unparalleled views of the sun still coming up over the mountains- the rays of sun streaming through the 12 Apostles mountain chain was breathtaking. The cruise was fun too. It was brief, 45 minutes or so, but it took us out of the bay and to the island where all the fur seals bask in the sun. My personal favorite part was the tour group of nearly 50 Taiwanese on our cruise. Every stereotype you can imagine I witnessed, but they just got so excited about everything. The water was choppy, so the boat ride slightly resembled a roller coaster and they would scream and get so excited. The also found Johannes, a German from our tour and proceeded to take approximately 40 pictures with him as the Jack to their Rose from Titanic. It was absolutely hilarious, mostly because we knew him and they would all just flock to him and constantly ask for photos. As he put it, “I should get tips for this.”

Homeboy was straight putting a fish in his mouth, leaning over, and a seal would jump out of the water and grab it from his mouth. Our tour guide told us later that he used to get one of the seals to actually come up on the dock and would charge for photos with it, and that they've been trying to get rid of this guy for years but he survived numerous arrests and court visits and still comes right back. 

Next stop was on Chapman’s Drive at a lookout that had a beautiful view of the entire Hout Bay. Our tour guides were so friendly and funny, and had muffins and juice waiting for us for a small picnic while we had a brief photo opportunity. The biggest thing I noticed, which isn’t that obvious in pictures, is how very blue the water is. It’s like the Caribbean, but it’s Africa.

Third stop was over in Simon’s Town to see the African penguin colonies. I can’t even explain how adorable they were. They had everything from the eggs/nests to the furry little babies, to the teenagers with half of their baby fur and half slick feathers to the full-grown adults. Some would play in the sand up shore, others in the water and some in the areas with bushes and vegetation.

After the penguins we headed south to Cape Peninsula National Park. Unbeknownst to us when we got onto the bus this morning, we got dropped off at a spot in the park for a 6km bike ride. The ride was great- mostly flat with scenic views and a very nice break from sitting on the bus. We biked to a visitor center where we had a delicious picnic lunch and stalked an ostrich! My first of many ostrich encounters of the day!

After the bike ride and lunch we hopped back into the bus where we arrived at our final stop, Cape Point. We chose to hike up the mountain to the lighthouse at the top, and then after that hiked west and down to get to the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope is the area where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, as well as the most southwest part of the continent. The views were stunning- so much natural beauty and I loved seeing the mountains and oceans. I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone visiting Cape Town. So remember that group of Taiwanese I mentioned from the seal cruise? In an ironic twist, they were at the Cape of Good Hope right when we were coming down the mountain. Johannes literally ran and hid in the bus.

We then boarded the bus for our roughly hour and a half ride back to Cape Town. Along the way we saw wild antelope, most ostriches and finally, after a week’s wait, we saw our first baboon! Baboons be crazy- they absolutely destroy things and are massive. There are signs everywhere in the park warning people about the dangers of baboons and they even have a federal agency who is dedicated to tracking the baboons movements and warning people when they make a sudden directional change. One was walking solo around the road, but then up on the hill we saw a whole clan, from the alpha male to the babies. I don’t know why, but ever since I first learned they have baboons here I’ve wanted to see once and I saw like 15 or so today. Mission: accomplished.