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.