World Voyage – Cape Town Day 2

April 8, 2023

The weather has changed! The cloudy skies have been replaced with a beautiful blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. I am headed off on an adventure to the most southwest point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and there is a promise of some African penguins….gonna be a great day!!!

We headed down the west side of the peninsula towards the Cape of Good Hope. The view of the rugged landscape including the rock formation called the 12 The Twelve Apostles. We stopped at Chapman’s peak to take a few photos of the bay and the trees that lean to the south due to the strong winds. Then we proceeded through the winding roads carved into the mountains including a section that was held up by pillars. Along the way we encountered a troop of baboons! Picture taken from the coach window is not great but you get the idea of how cute they were!

We reached the Cape of Good Hope that is the southern most point of Africa just as the rain started. The ride up to the top in the vernacular was spectacular even in the rain and as we reached the top the lighthouse came into view. Looking down to the sand on the bay and the rocks surrounding it was overwhelming even as I was getting soaked…another bad hair day for me.

We headed back up the peninsula on the east side and headed for the Bolulders Penguin colony. This is the largest collection of African Penguins!!! They were all nesting awaiting the hatching in just a few weeks. The fuzzy guy was molting which happens when they are about two and for the three weeks it takes them to shed their baby feathers they can’t go in the water so they are in starvation mode. I hiked out to the quiet part of the boardwalk and was able to observe the penguins in the shelters that the community provides and was even able to see eggs when one stood up.

After way to short of a visit to the penguins we headed to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. The gardens contained incredible statues and beautifully gardens that exhibit only plants native to Africa. The Gardens are located in the hills surround Cape Town.

We raced back to the ship since it was 4:30 and all aboard was 5:30 and we still had to go though immigrations. When I entered the terminal building the line for immigrations was very long. It ended up taking over 2 hours to get processed so not only I but about 400 of my fellow passengers and crew were late getting on board….ooops!

I loved Cape Town and it is one of the few places I have visited where I have thought, “I could live here”!!

We are headed to Namibia!