Cape Town Peninsula Tour
Our second full day in Africa began again early in the morning for showers and breakfast… we had an early tour again and this time would be driving down to The Cape of Good Hope with a tour bus and other tourists. We headed out to breakfast after some playful arguments, and then out to meet the driver. Given, it appears this way, but most people who we have encountered so far on this vacation assume that Jen and I are married, and while not true of course the coach driver was no different. He apologized for having to split us between two seats, but given my height he would like to have me sit in the front seat. Jen joked about a fight over breakfast and that she would prefer to be separated anyway, and it was just confusing enough for the guide that we had him a little off-guard all day.
Honestly, I think I ended up with the best end of the deal, I got a pretty clear view of both sides of the coach (really a small, seven-passenger van) while Jen was in the back making friends with our other touring buddies. I’ll let her speak to the interactions in the back of the coach, but from my perspective this was a great chance to get some pictures of the city. I look forward to posting some of these! We started off by heading down through the local western shoreline, and stopped a few places for pictures along the way. I have a map which I will post at some point, but we saw a few shipwreck sites, all sorts of Bays, and took a lot of pictures of the sea crashing against rocks. I know that probably sounds a bit funny, not knowing much about what went on, but it all sort-of ran together today and the coach driver was more about funny jokes than landmarks, and overall it was a great deal of “look at this”, and “look at that”. It was very scenic, and I would do it again, but more for the experience than the destinations.
With that in mind, our first real stop was a shore front where we had the option to see Seal Island, which is a big draw for most people as they tour the country. For Jen and I… we didn’t really feel the need (we’ve both seen seals before), and decided to forgo the trip for a bit of shopping and a coffee house. As it turned out, no one on the tour went to the island, and after a quick water and cream soda run, it was back on the bus. This was my first experience with what I am assuming is actual cream soda. I’m assuming its authenticity based on its color, as it was bright green and tasted delicious! Back on the bus, we started our tour again.
Our coach meandered through a few neighborhoods our driver assured us were some of the most affluent of Cape Town, and some of the cars driving by confirmed this for us as well. We focused on the road, and some of the interesting facts about Cape Town and the route we were taking. The road along some of the Western slope was a toll road, and was built recently. We drove by the soccer stadium erected for the World Cup in 2010, and were told there was serious talk about tearing it down due to a lack of use, and the price of upkeep. The driver told us that even though Apartheid had ended, many of the racial groups were not only still separate, but hostile, and pushing very hard to stay so by pointing out their difference and reaffirming them. It’s interesting, and sure this may just be one of the opinion of one man who grew up here during the segregation period and perhaps preferred it that way, but it is a consideration I’ve never had before. It’s not necessarily bigotry, I think that may be too harsh a term, it seemed more like honest generalization, it seemed as though he believed very firmly what he was saying… and I don’t know that he was necessarily wrong.
There is an undercurrent here that does seem a bit concerning, not necessarily from the people but from the painting that the media and the government here seems to paint for the world. As an outsider it is possible I just missed the point, but on the day we arrived the airport was playing a song with the lyrics “many people, one country”, which struck me at the time as odd. I think after my conversations today, I think I know why. It’s almost like the country’s image is trying too hard. More in this to come, and sorry to delve into the political today, it was just very interesting.
I think this had something to do with the fake breakfast argument…
After a few more bays, and a lot more pictures, we headed off to the Cape of Good Hope, which is listed as part of the Table Mountain National Park… I’m not sure if I understand this, but it seems like everywhere we went today was part of the same national park we visited yesterday. Oh well! Either way, we drove to the parking area for Cape Point, and headed up in a tram car to take a nearly 360-degree view of the area in Cape Town where everything begins to narrow and you see sea on your left side, and sea on your right as well. At the top of the tram ride, steps and more steps leading to a lighthouse with some great opportunities for pictures. From there, we stopped at the Cape of Good Hope, took some pictures just about as far South as you can go in Cape Town. We even saw a few ostrich! We took some pictures, and headed off to lunch in Seaforth, a naval outpost on the Eastern seaboard.
Lunch today was mussels and margarita pizza, with a glass of nice beer and some interesting company. I learned that no matter what age, women seem to like a man in uniform. One of our travel companions was an Australian woman in her sixties, who very confidently told me “I loved Canada because of the Mounties. I tell you, if I ever get one got one of those in my chest I would never let him back out!”. I’m not sure exactly what she meant, I’m pleading blissfully ignorant. Suffice it to say that lunch was interesting, and her husband apparently missed the conversation, or is already planning his Halloween costume.
After lunch, a trip to a Penguin reserve, where were did get to see penguins up close, and they actually are able to roam through town, but there are laws protecting them from harassment, and we did not get the chance to chase them. It was a quick tour walking over a wooden pier, for lack of a better word, while the penguins played underneath and around us. More pictures of this to come, also!
Penguins were supposed to lead to the Botanical Gardens of Cape Town, but there was some contention on the trip and since Jen and I were happy to have some time to explore Cape Town a bit more… we headed back without the trip. We learned that our tour guide also had some choice words for Australians in general. Perhaps he was a bit more bigoted than I’ll admit, but in his defense the couple causing the trouble was more than a little frustrating. They didn’t want to see the gardens, and they weren’t going to take “no” for an answer.
Back again at the hotel, Jen and I took a quick trip to the hotel room, and headed back out to strike out into town on our own. We walked up and down the local streets, ducked into a mall or two, and eventually decided we hadn’t seen anything that really struck our dinner fancy, and perhaps we would head to the wharf again. It was a good decision, and we ended up at Mitchell’s brew pub. The food was very traditional American, though it was the first time my fish and chips ever included both skin and bones. A little odd, but overall delicious! Topping off the beer with an alcoholic chocolate shake, and my day was complete. It was time to head back.
An order of wine to the room, and we’re wrapping things up. Tomorrow more wine, a wine tour in fact! Lets hope I remember enough to write about it tomorrow!
