I set off about 5pm from Windhoek and got into Cape Town 23 hours later, about 4pm the day after. The coach journey wasn't so uncomfortable, and I did manage to get some sleep. Africa isn't small and that's the journey length you are stuck with, so you just have to suck it up!
My last Namibian sunset (for a while).
We went over the border to South Africa about 1am and if I hadn't been so tired I could have been quite emotional about leaving a country that has stolen my heart on so many levels. Like most land borders, especially in Africa, organisation wasn't the number one priority, and we had several offices to go through from the border control, to a room where you had to declare your laptops, iphones, ipads and cameras. I got back to the coach and all the cases had been taken off for dogs to sniff and a few people were questioned, apparently this is fairly standard. Someone told me a story about the last time they took the intercape and they were held up two hours over piles and piles of bedding someone was trying to import.
"When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked if I had any firearms with me. I said, 'Well, what do you need?" - Steven Wright
Eventually we were off again and in SA. Once we had passed the first couple of hundred kilometres we got out of the desert area, and South Africa really came into its own, much greener than Namibia, and almost European in feeling in some places.
"The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" - Pablo Casals
Throughout the journey we had breaks, every 5 hours or so. I knew some of the services we were stopping at were in dodgy areas, so made a point of making a couple of friends on the bus. When we got to the outskirts of Cape Town (Bellville) I got off and tried to get a cab, the man who handles the bags very kindly put me back on the bus, otherwise I would have been an hour outside of where I wanted to be!
On the approach to Cape Town proper I go my first glimpse of the awesome Table Mountain, which was a sight to be seen all over Cape Town and the backdrop to our whole South African holiday, especially as the Table Mountain National Park stretches so far.
One of the new seven wonders of the world.
The clouds rolling over the top are known as the table cloth as they drape over the mountain below.
"What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain." - Victor Hugo
When we finally arrived into the centre of the city, I had no idea where to get a cab from or what a fair price would be, or how safe the cabs were (generally very safe is the answer as I later discovered). I had been chatting to a student from Botswana on and off on the journey so talked him into coming with me and dropping me at my hostel on his way home, in return I paid for the cab for us both.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo Buscaglia
Weirdly I ended up meeting the cabbie again (and using him a few times) and it turns out he was from Rundu (northern Namibia where a lot of the Namibian cabbies are from!).
"Every single moment is a coincidence." - Douglas Coupland
I got to our hostel, Ashanti (in the Greenpoint area) and mum was already there, tired from her flight, but excited to be in Cape Town. The hostel had been recommended and was very nice clean, modern and had friendly staff.
The sign reads 'Your mother is not here!! Please be considerate and wash your dishes and tidy up after yourself.' [aha, but my mother was there and was hard at work washing up ;0)]
We headed down to the V&A Waterfront and had a look around. This is a real touristy area, but also a great area for the locals to come for food and entertainment. This area is a mixture of tourist attractions, bands, jugglers, acrobats, eateries and a working dock. There are plenty of fancy shops in the main centre. This area has the aquarium, a small holistic market and is the home to the Robben Island Museum and the gates to the ferry to Robben Island itself - a must see.
Cape Town is also the World Design Capital for 2014 and the waterfront area is the central hub for this project. According to the site "Winning the bid means that Cape Town gets to play host to a number of World Design Capital Signature Events during 2014, this forms part of a broader vision to transform Cape Town, through design, into a sustainable, productive African city, bridging historic divides and building social and economic inclusion." and we saw some of this in action through projects taking place in the old clock on the waterfront dock.
We spent our first couple of days relaxing, enjoying the waterfront area and planning the rest of the trip.
Shops and restaurants in the V&A Waterfront area.
Swing bridge...
...for someone's yacht.
Some of the more industrial parts...
...dry dock...
...we were enjoying our holiday as these chaps were working on huge tankers.
Back of the V&A shopping mall and Table Mountain in the distance.
View out to sea.
We did spend an afternoon in the Two Oceans Aquarium where they have a variety of marine life - my favourite being the see through jelly fish and the penguins. The penguins we saw were in moult, which is a very stressful time for them as they lose their feathers for a new set and for that period do not have the usual insulation or waterproofing.
Moulting penguins.
A few of the penguins were not moulting and having a great swim, check out the video of this one leaping out of the water...
"It's practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry." - Joe Moore
We met a research student behind one of the information desks who gave us a talk about algae and its role in ecology. It is also possible to go shark diving in the aquarium here, but personally I was unsure of how I felt about shark diving as a whole and shark diving in a confined space, so didn't do this.
After a couple of days to unwind and catch up on depleted sleep from travelling, and a hectic afternoon of booking BnBs online, it was time for our road trip...
We were expecting to be picked up for our car about 9am and they finally arrived around 11am citing that Cape Town was gridlocked after an accident. Luckily for us they actually bought our car to us, so after the paperwork we were on our way. The car hire chap recommended we went the slightly longer route down the cape in order to get the best coastal views, and he was right as we saw some lovely sights.
We set off towards Camps Bay (Cape Towns playground for the rich and famous) and the exclusive beaches of Clifton, Hout Bay and down towards Simon's Town.
This is a very pretty scenic route and very easy to drive - tar roads and navigated in a small 4 door car (no gravel unlike in Namibia).
Some of the routes are right on the coast and can be steep or winding, but generally the driving is easy and relaxing as the views are well worth it. We rounded the corner from Hout Bay and headed up Chapmans Peak, there were some roadworks on this stretch of winding coastal path, which made the navigation a little more challenging, but this is a great road (the sort you see Jeremy Clarkeson speeding down in Top Gear).
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" - George Carlin
Chapmans Peak road cuts into the rock face half way down.
If you plan a trip down here and want to drive the route check their website as on bad weather days it can be closed.
The views from Chapmans Peak over Hout Bay and out to sea were spectacular and there are plenty of look out points to stop and enjoy the scenes from.
We passed through Chapmans Peak, through Noordhoek and over to the vast expanse of False Bay, where you can see right across to Hermanus where we were headed to the next day.
We headed through Simon's Town and to Boulders Bay, where there is a colony of 3000 rare African penguins, this colony was set up in 1983 and is one of the only mainland penguin colonies in Africa. They can be witnessed hopping around and trying to cool down in sand burrows, if you venture into the wooded area (there are walkways which enable you to do so) then some penguins might be seen taking a rest in the shade away from the beach and the baking heat of the African sun. Sadly our visit coincided with a large tourist bus, so people were pushing and shoving and vying for position in order to get the best snaps.
You can see why its called Boulders Bay.
This fella had a great spot!
Burying in the sand to keep cool from the African sun. Penguins are really not made for this heat, especially in the middle of the day! Apparently some years very few young manage to hatch as penguins sat on their eggs to protect them from the sun often overheat so much they abandon their eggs. We only saw one juvenile on this beach.
Off for some cool time in the woods.
Ah, that's better!
One of the stewards at the penguin beach told us about how she has been asked by a group of previous tourists what the penguins taste like and how it is best to cook them - the concept of conservation is clearly lost on some people still!
"What's the two things they tell you are healthiest to eat? Chicken and fish. You know what you should do? Combine them, eat a penguin." - Dave Attell
All through the national parks and tourist spots you see signs warning you about baboons, which one couple did not heed as we saw them get an ice cream stolen from them!
'Baboons are dangerous and attracted by food.' - yup!
This fella doesn't look so dangerous as he has a yawn in the sun.
From here we continued to the end of the earth, Cape Point, well to the end of this spot of Africa, but it does really feel like the end of the earth!
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The very tip of the point.
A fair way down.
The terraces at Cape Point and a view of the Cape of Good Hope.
We took the funicular up to the top of cape point and again took in some spectacular sights. Its really rare to be on a piece of land so thin you can see the sea on both sides in two separate bays.
Cape of Good Hope to the left and False Bay to the right
There was a path all the way down to the end of the point, but we didn't have the time to walk down there and get to the Cape of Good Hope and back to Simon's Town to check in in time, also as you can see the sides are quite steep and one wrong move on this windy, winding precipice could end in a watery grave.
We gave the very end a miss and drove on to the Cape of Good Hope - a definite photo opportunity.
"In our passage from the Cape of Good Hope the winds were mostly from the westward with very boisterous weather: but one great advantage that this season of the year has over the summer months is in being free from fogs." - William Bligh
The BnB, was lovely and as we didn't want to be driving round the hilly estate with its twisting roads in the dark and fancied a glass of wine too we chose to walk to town. We got around 200 metres down the road and a couple pulled up who lived close by and offered us a lift. And people say South Africa is dangerous...! Turns out they had lived there for years and he was President at the yacht club, so we got some recommendations for dinner and dropped at the door before they went of to the yacht club to enjoy their evening.
We relaxed by the sea with a couple of cocktails and a seafood platter in a lovely casual restaurant called Bertha's with great views out to sea. After our seafood platter fuel we commenced the walk back up the hill and spent the entire time wishing for that couple to be heading home at the same time!
"The way to Heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel uphill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias of our flesh." - Jonathan Edwards
After a good night's sleep, breakfast was on the upstairs balcony of the house and from here the views over False Bay were even more spectacular. Our hosts, Megan and Roger, had a couple of bird feeders which they kept topped up with sugar water and these attracted stunning sun birds (similar to, but bigger than humming birds) that hover as they drink and pose for pictures from the guests.
We ate our full English breakfasts as we soaked in the sun and snapped away at the birds, before stepping over their beautiful big dog, who was lounging right across the balcony in the hope of attracting attention and pats, and heading off on our way to Hermanus...
Everywhere we drove there were some lovely sights to be seen.....
"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." - Eddie Cantor
Some of the sights on the saltmarsh and lagoon.
Info on the area and for divers.
Old Lighthouse.
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