Southern Africa - Day 3 (Part 1)

Wednesday, 15 January 2020 - Cape Town, South Africa 

Today I do a day tour of the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope! From the hotel we passed Green Point and travelled along the coastline past Mouille Point and Three Anchor Bay, past Sea Point, Bantry Bay, Clifton, down to Hout Bay for a short stop. It is a busy fishing harbour. There were friendly seals coming up from the sea, and souveniers along the beach. 

From here you could see the mountains in the distance - Signal Hill, Lion’s Head and Table Mountain, as well as other lesser mountains known collectively as the 12 Apostles but not individually named (there are actually more than 12 peaks in total). Then down to Chapman’s Peak to take some pictures, it was very very windy - the kind with sudden gusts that could knock you off your feet if you’re not careful. 

We also passed long beach - named because it stretches 8 km across. Do you see a trend here? Long Street, Long Beach, Table Mountain... the only problem with these names is if there are a few long beaches or long streets. Then we passed some wineries, and some farms with horses, and even a farm with alpaca and llamas for their wool. These are not indigenous to South Africa, they were brought here from Peru. Then we passed through some wetlands - the eucalyptus or gum trees were introduced from Australia to stabilise these grounds. These trees have a lot of oil so if it catches fire it burns for a really long time - part of the reason the bush fires in Australia seem to be going on and on.

There were signs along the road everywhere asking us to beware of baboons. People are employed to ‘shadow’ them, meaning to look out for them and if they get too close to the road or to residential areas they are supposed to scare them away with paintball guns or slingshots. This is because they are attracted to food and can get aggressive in order to get some. Baboons are the biggest primates in South Africa and they are a protected species. 

Then through Scarborough which is the border of the nature reserve. We then stopped at Cape Point ostrich farm to see some ostriches. The males are black and the females grey. It’s a vast area for them to roam about, unlike how we keep them here in Malaysia.

Then to the jewel of Cape Town - the Cape of Good Hope. This is the most South West Point of Africa. The most south point is in Cape Agulhas, which is some 200 km away. There is actually some confusion as to where exactly the 2 oceans (Indian and Atlantic) meet - Cape of Good Hope or Cape Agulhas. But I think most people sort of accept that it is in the Cape of Good Hope. Actually from a distance above, you can see the 2 different colours of the sea. Whether it’s the 2 oceans or just the different depths in the water I don’t know.

Anyway. The Cape of Good Hope is also known as the Cape of Storms because there are more than 650 ships, including the ship named ‘The Flying Dutchman’, that have crashed here over the last 400 years due to dense mists, treacherous currents, hidden rocks and shoals and the Roaring 40’s latitudes which is home to a belt of winds that girdle the globe.