14. South Africa Part 2 - Cape Town & Simons Town

14. South Africa – Cape Town & Simon’s Town

From Franschhoek we took the short road to Stellenbosch, passing many vinyards along the way.

We parked in the centre of Stellenbosch where we sat in a street café having breakfast and watching the comings and goings. We were entertained by a street artist who could impersonate any animal and many other sounds.

He would bark like a dog at the ankles of people walking by then look innocent as he indicated that the dog was under the car. It was hilarious.

We carried on with our journey to Cape Town.

It’s not too far but as you get closer the traffic increases considerably. We eventually reached our hotel in the centre of Cape Town.

It was located on Greenmarket Square where there is a daily market selling all kinds of goods. Our room looked out over the market so we were woken up each morning to the sounds of the stalls being set up.

 We took the trip by cable car up Table Mountain where we had a walk across the top of the mountain to get the views from as many angles as possible. 

We could see for miles.

We had dinner with friends Mary, Wullie & Amy who were in Cape Town at the same time.

We ate in an African restaurant where they served local cuisine and had live music from local musicians.

As we were in Cape Town we had to make the trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

Our guide was as ex inmate who had served time during the period that Nelson Mandela was there. They had been imprisoned as political prisoners and kept separate from all other prisoners

He was extremely interesting giving details of daily life in the prison and how the different inmates were treated. Some of the cells show who was incarcerated there and why. The cell above was the one where Nelson Mandela stayed and the garden was also planted by Mandela.

The ferry to Robben Island departs and returns to the jetty at V&A marina. 

This area is filled with entertainment, shopping and restaurants. 

We took the canal cruise which gave us a different view of the area.

This is the area where many of the rich and famous live.

The gardens at Kirstenbosch are well worth a visit. 

It is located on the back of Table Mountain and is filled with local trees and shrubs.

There are lots of beaches around Cape Town.  We stopped at Camps Bay where we spent some time enjoying the sea and sun.

We took a walk through Bo-Kaap. Previously known as the Malay District. This used to be a township situated on the slopes of Signal Hill. It is now known for it's brightly coloured buildings.

After a few days in Cape Town we headed south. 

We stopped at Muizenberg to view the colourful beach huts and watch the youngsters learn to surf before continuing our journey to Boulder’s Beach just outside Simon’s Town. 

We had hired a small apartment for our last few days. It was 50 yards from Boulder’s Beach where the African penguins reside.

There are many daytrips to the area to view the penguins in the visitor’s centre but if you go to the local beaches you can see them there. 

They swim about in all the beach areas and jump up onto the numerous rocks.

You can get up on the rocks with them but have to be wary because they do peck.

The trip to Cape Point took about 30 minutes. The view is breathtaking.

The beautiful beach at the Cape of Good Hope where there are surfers who took to the waves in the Cape of Storms.

Luckily it was quite tame while we were there.
The lighthouses at Cape Point. The lighthouse on the top of the cliff was erected first. But it became apparent that it was hidden by low cloud for a large part of the year and therefore incapable of doing its job.

A second lighthouse was built lower down below the low cloud level. Around the Cape Peninsula there are some gorgeous beaches. 

We came upon one that has beautiful turquoise seas and pristine white sand. 

We were the only people there.

As a treat for Syd’s birthday we decided to view Cape Point from a different angle. 

We took a boat trip down the coast to view the point from the sea. The boat was a rigid inflatable with eight passenger seats. You perched like you were on a horse. It was great. The sea wasn’t too rough but choppy enough for me. Got a bit damp as we sped through the water.

Along the way we stopped to see the penguins from the water side and a small colony of fur seals that were gathered on a rock. Near Cape Point we sailed into a cave in the side of the cliffs.

The cave is about 40 metres long but we didn’t go far in because there are many rocks just below the water. We reached the end just at Cape Point.

The waves were pounding into the point so we admired the view for a while. The boat wouldn’t go any further due to the swirling waters as the atlantic ocean pushed around the Cape. It might have been difficult to get back through the swell.

Our last day in South Africa was a lazy day. Breakfast on the patio, soaking up the sun before taking a trip to the west of the peninsula to stroll along the white sand beaches.

We've had a great trip. South Africa was the perfect final destination. Now time to head home :(