On Saturday two of my friends from the hostel, Greg and Meredith, and I drove down to tip of the Cape. I really lucked out because Meredith decided to rent a car (otherwise I would have had to go down there with a formal tour). Renting (or hiring, as they call it here) a car here is actually really cheap compared to the US! I would have liked to do it myself but 1) almost all the cars here are manual shift, which I can't/don't drive, and 2) I still can't get used to the fact that they drive on the "wrong" side of the road on the "wrong" side of the car here. haha It took Meredith some getting used to shifting with her left hand so it was a bit of an adventure, but she's a good driver, and we made it with no problems.
It takes more or less an hour to get to the tip of the Cape, and it's a beautiful route through the seaside suburbs. First we stopped at Boulders Beach south of Simon's Town to see the penguins, next was Cape of Good Hope, and finally, Cape Point. I have a bunch of great videos from the day but unfortunately the internet cafe I use has recently changed its firewall settings and I'm no longer able to upload videos to YouTube. :( They'll have to wait til I get back to the States.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day! If this was "winter" back in Minnesota, I'd love it!
Penguin colony soaking up some South African winter sun!
Pretty little boardwalk to the penguin colony.
Baby penguins still molting, huddling for warmth. Awwww. :)
Lizard...
The wildflowers are starting to bloom here. Unfortunately their peak is in September, when I'll be gone. :(
On our way down the Cape, we were stopped by a troop of wild baboons. You're supposed to roll up your windows and lock your doors because they are aggressive and can easily gain access to vehicles and look for food. It was quite exciting! haha. There were some baby ones who were really cute too. Little did I know at this first sighting that I would see three more troops before the day was over...
Our fourth and final time seeing baboons, these ones are watching what's going on in the road...
...which is that their comrades are throwing rocks down the cliff at cars below. This is a poor picture, but you can see the rocks and one of the rock-throwing baboons on the cliff on the upper left. There was a car ahead of us that pulled away just before I took this picture.
Cape of Good Hope.
Wild ostrich, just hanging out by the ocean. No big deal.
On the Cape of Good Hope looking eastward toward Cape Point.
It was so windy! haha. This picture is kind of deceiving: I'd guess it's about a 150-foot drop to the ocean below.
Sweet how the rock has been washed away.
Sweet rock formations on the Cape of Good Hope. We hiked up there; the pictures above are from up there.
Amazing beautiful in person - pictures don't do it justice. :(
Beautiful coastline looking down from the Cape Point lighthouse. There's a beach down there that I hear is great in summertime (mind the sharks).
The sun sets in the northwest: definitely in the southern hemisphere. :)
Of course. :)
The Cape Point lighthouse, we hiked up there.
New York City, the city on this sign post closest to Minneapolis, is the farthest city away on this sign post (if that makes sense).
The mountains back on the mainland looked surreal from Cape Point.
Aww, my lens was dirty. :( This is looking back up the Cape peninsula - ocean on either side.
Day's end.
2 comments:
Are Ostrich in S Africa like deer in MN??
LOL. I don't think they're quite so prolific. I doubt an ostrich get hits by a car here as often as deer do in MN. :)
Post a Comment