Aug 2010 Survey - Cape Town, South Africa

It's a shame that it's taken me so long to write about Cape Town because it was one of my favorite locations. It's a BEAUTIFUL area and I would love to go back and spend more time there. I scheduled in a Sunday and an additional down day and I filled them as much as the weather would allow!! I also enjoyed Cape Town on a personal level as I got to meet Hayley, the girlfriend of a friend in Brussels. She was preparing to move to Brussels in September (one month after I was there) so it was a kind of a pre-introduction to a new friendship :)

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, one of the main tourist areas in town

On the V&A Waterfront, statues of (from L to R): Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela

We did an afternoon drive out to Cape Point, with a stop to see the Boulder's Beach Penguin Colony. I love penguins ever since doing a school project on them in 5th grade. There are paths set up so that you can get very close to the penguins without disturbing them:

Hello Joe!

Hanging out on the beach...

The scenery along the drive was beautiful, and the colors and topography made me think of Chilean Patagonia for some reason. There is a national park that covers much of the National Park, and I would love to go back and explore it (in warmer weather!)

Driving through the National Park

From the lighthouse, looking out to Cape Point

Distances from the bottom of the continent...

Apart from Cape Point, the other two things that I really wanted to do in Cape Town were weather-dependent: take a tour of Robben Island and hike up Table Mountain. I certainly had the time work-wise in my calendar, but for several days it looked like the weather was not going to cooperate. My original ferry ticket to Robben Island was canceled due to wind and rain. I had the option of taking a refund or rescheduling: I held my breath and rescheduled for a morning ferry on my last full day in Cape Town, which turned out to be a gloriously sunny and wind-free day!!

It was only when I boarded the ferry to Robben Island that I remembered that I actually do get seasick... so a lot of concentration went into that ride, watching the horizon constantly shift with the approaching swells and being grateful that this was "good weather". For the ride back to Cape Town, I wanted to go to the upstairs viewing deck to (1) get a better view and (2) breathe in fresh air to avoid vomiting on my fellow passengers. Unfortunately, everyone else also wants to be on the outside decks and so they quickly fill to capacity. But I found out that if you linger by the stairs and exaggerate reason #2, then the deckhand will allow you up the stairs when no one else is looking.

The view of Cape Town, with Table Mountain, on the ferry coming back from Robben Island

The island itself isn't that impressive as there's not a whole lot to see. The ticket includes a tour of the island, passing the limestone quarry where Mandela and others worked, and then of course the prison facility.

Outside the prison walls

What made the tour really fascinating was that all of the guides are former prisoners, each with his own style of story-telling, personal memories, and reasons for being there. It was really fascinating to hear their experiences on Robben Island, and their role in challenging Apartheid. Robben Island is powerful; I left with unexpected optimism and hope.

After a quick lunch, I met Hayley and Debbie for an afternoon hike up Table Mountain. Debbie hikes it regularly and is familiar with the routes; Hayley had never hiked up before and it was something she wanted to do before moving. We accomplished our goal and enjoyed the views from above:

The view back towards Cape Point

These guys were hanging around the top of the mountain and happy to share your food

Our plan was to take the cable car down, which should have been a quick affair. However there was some kind of a power cut, which required them to use a generator. This meant that the cable car was moving at a slower pace, as was the line at the top of Table Mountain to get on to said cable car. We ended up waiting there for 2.5 hours, which on the up-side meant that we got to see the sunset from the top of Table Mountain. The downside was that it gets f*-ing cold after the sun goes down and we were not dressed appropriately. But this turned out to be one of those "I'm kind of glad this happened" travel moments as everyone was very accommodating about the delay. Staff brought around complimentary tea and coffee and ushered us into the indoor waiting areas once the sun went down. We ended up chatting with our neighbors in line and overall enjoyed it, apart from being cold.

The unexpected sunset over Cape Town

And so I leave you with pictures from the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The grounds are beautiful to walk around, right at the foot of Table Mountain. I was there as most plants were on the verge of thinking about blooming and experimented with those that were already peeking out. I believe that these are fynbos, native to the Cape area: