Sunday to Cape Point andHermanus

I'm doing this a bit out of order.


Yesterday we left our apartment in Capetown in our rented Hyundai. We stuck to the highway heading down Cape to give Randy some time to adjust to left-side of the road driving. He kept turning on the windshield wipers when he meant the indicator. I was navigating in the front seat. We passed along the scenic coastline of False Bay to Simon's Town where we had see the South African penguins the day before with Chester. We continued upland to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope which some people argue is where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. The Atlantic side of the Cape is supposed to have freezing water. We didn't get near the water there.

 

We passed an ostrich farm on the way where we stopped to take pictures. there was a pair in each pen. I read today that an ostrich egg is comparable to 24 chicken eggs! I have seen ostrich on a menu but haven't tried it yet.

Just before the most southeasterly point on Africa, we passed a monument no one side to Bartholomew Dias, the Portuguese sailor who first rounded Africa in 1488; he named it Cape of Storms. The king of Portugal renamed it Cape of Good Hope. There is also a cross for Vasco Da Gama the first to travel a water route to the Indies a bit later. We are headed tomorrow to Cape Agulhas (means needles) which is the actual southernmost tip of Africa. Somewhere in between these two points is where the two oceans actually meet.

We rode the funicular car up to the lighthouse on a high point that was replaced in the 1930s because it was usually above the clouds or fog and couldn't be seen by ships. Some great views and pictures!

After a long traffic clogged drive back along the coast, we finally had smooth sailing on the N2 highway around False Bay to Hermanus. It was a Sunday and so far S. Africans haven't had good beach weather this year so people were out in these coastal towns en masse.

Hermanus is a medium sized town known for its right and humpback whales that cruise right near the 12 km long Cliff Walk. Our Host Douglas showed us around our bungalow on Mitchell St.  I told him it was inevitable that we should stay here as my son's name is Douglas Mitchell! He laughed!


The house is called "Quainton" meaning quaint and his house-next-door is Nook. We're the only guests here at the moment. he and his wife retired and bought and renovated cottages that they rent out. They also do exchanges on home

 

stay.org. They have stayed all over the world and have 5 exchanges lined up in Australia and New Zealand coming up. I've got to check that out!

We have a soaking pool in the tiny backyard, a grill and outside eating area, 2 comfy bedrooms upstairs, full kitchen, laundry (we've already done a load each. Clean underwear day!)

Wifi, TV, two bathrooms! The only strange (to us) is there are metal gates at front-and-back doors as well as locked doors, a sliding gate to get off the property. Andrew panic buttons in each of the bathrooms that will promptly bring security. They have serious crime issues, probably the result of the high unemployment rate (40 percent) among blacks here in South Africa. Pat and I went for a walk last evening to look around. Randy could not have gotten out of the house (bars on the window) in case of a fire! Doug was going to bring us a second set of keys today. Otherwise it's absolutely perfect and in a close to downtown location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally have some time!

We have arrived at our little cottage called "Quainton" in Hermanus on the east side of False Bay, because the explorers thought it was Table Bay when they came around the horn from India, only to find a dead end!

Pat and Randy went off to get his morning coffee so I have some time. We are spending ten days in Capetown, SA, before we join our OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) group in Johannesburg next Saturday. We will be flying to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana (check out OAT's website for Ultimate Africa for trip details)

I booked all our reservations on Airbnb.com website. We had an adequate, if sparse, apartment on the 5th floor near the waterfront downtown area of Capetown for 4 nights. The waterfront is where all the restaurants, shops, etc. are so the location was great. On arrival we walked down a and ate a wonderful fish dinner ata Seviga's on the waterfront. We went back on our last night as well, this time with Chester, Pat's distant cousin. His wife Rosemary is in the hospital getting cancer treatment so we didn't get to meet her. Chester was a font of information as he had a lived in SA most of his life. His  father who was much, much older than his mother led a long and adventurous life, making his fortune    Managing copper mines up in Messina near the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe border. He bought thousands of acres along the Limpopo River bordering the two countries (it is now a game reserve bordering Kruger National Park).

Chester gave us a copy of a book his mother Margaret Emery had written on her life in this weekend getaway camp where they stayed in framed little rooms covered only in mosquito netting scattered around the area. Lions and elephants would sometimes come right up to the rooms! One story told of Gus, the father, taking his bath outside and leaving the water in the tub for a morning wash. during the night he thought it was raining as water drops were coming through the netting. Turns out an elephant was sharing his tub and spraying himself with the water! I don't want to get THAT close to wild elephants. Anyway it has made for fascinating reading!

We were warned we might not get to visit the two major sites in Capetown if winds were high or weather was bad. so we spent the first day up on Table Mountain via cable car for gorgeous views off the area. We spotted a family of daisies up there, related to the elephant with the same bone structures but small like a badger.

We cabbed down to the waterfront for lunch and our 3 pm boat ride out to Robbens Island about 20 minutes ride. This is where

Hello from down under - no, I mean South Africa!

  I'm off on another adventure, this time toCapetown, South Africa and then an OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) tour called Ultimate Africa. (You cancheck out their website for details of where we're going)

I'm traveling with Pat Bartlett (see China trip blog) and her husband Randy. We decided to spend ten days first inCapetown. We left Wellfleet on Monday after Tom and Rosemary, Larry and Hope, Rod, and Kerry et. Al. Left after a wonderful Oysterfest weekend.  Oh, I forgot Jackie and Paul were there, too.  FUn! 

Randy drove us down to Fairfield, CT, to friend Judi's house for the night and to leave the car there. After a lovely catchup for Judi and I (we used to work together in my last job), she drove us all to catch the 5 a.m. Train to Grand Central and then a bus to Kennedy. Our 11 a.m. Flight on SAA went pretty smoothly after a few air bumps that I didn't like got us to Johannesburg at 8:30 a.m. And then on another flight to Capetown by noon.

Our taxi driver to town was a tour guide so pointed out a lot of stuff along the way to picking up the key to our apartment. Hospital where Christian Barnard performed first heart transplant in 1967, two of the townships (read slums) where blacks live (many are being replaced by stucco real buildings by the government, Habitat projects by foreigners, other philanthropic groups). He went with us to find the office and then drove us to our apartment high rise in central city, only several blocks from the Victoria & Albert Waterfront district, the top attraction here for tourists.

I made the accommodations reservations for this trip through Airbnb.com (check it out) Go to Cape Town and find "Waterfront View 1bdrm apt501". We have 1bdrm and sleeper sofa, full kitchen for breakfast and lunch or whatever in a great location for about $30/person per night.

After "nesting" we headed down to the waterfront to book tickets for Robben Island where political prisoners (Mandela for 18 years) lepers, and murderers were held during apartheid period. Think Alcatraz - 7 kms off shore.  We got tickets for boat at 3 pm next day. We went up cable car to Table Mountain the next morning as both these sites are weather dependent and people hadn't been able to go for quite a few days before this. We got in both visits the next day!

Tired so will continue later!