Southern Africa - Day 3 (Part 2)

Wednesday, 15 January 2020 - Cape Town 

We then stopped for lunch at Cape Point which has the Cape Point Lighthouse built in 1859 and was in operation from 1860-1919. It is 249 metres above sea level. It wasn’t very effective because it was often covered by cloud or mist. After the wreck of the Portuguese liner ‘Lusitania’ in 1911, it was decided to erect the present lighthouse on Dias Point below, 87 metres above sea level. It is about a 15 minutes walk to the lighthouse or funicular (the Flying Dutchman funicular) and I chose to walk of course. Not that old yet.

Then to Simon’s Town and Boulders Beach to see penguins. These are African penguins or Jackass penguins as they make sounds like a jackass. Small fellas with a really weird sound. 

We came back to town the other way around - down the West side and up the East side. So we passed Fish Hoek, Kalk Bay which translates to Chalk Bay, Muizenberg which is another stretch of beach, and we saw Devil’s Peak in the distance. Over the mountain you can see ‘Tablecloth’ which is when cold moisture laden air is blown up from the sea and condenses over the mountain. It evaporates over the mountain and comes down as warm air in what looks like a billowing fabric coming down over the mountain. One legend names an old Dutch pirate, Jan Van Hunks, who was challenged to a pipe-smoking duel with the devil, with his eternal soul as the prize. This is the smoky result of the as yet unresolved match and hence also the name, Devil’s Peak. 

Table Mountain, Signal Hill, Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak are the 4 main mountains that form the backbone of Cape Town. The rest are smaller ones such as the 12 Apostles. 

We also passed Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine producing estate. Finally to 

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where I saw a white squirrel! This was pure luck. Once in a blue moon it comes to me (luck, I mean) and then for minor things such as white squirrels (apologies to the white squirrel). Most of the time I am unlucky. Anyway, at the botanical gardens I saw a plant named Cycads - these are plants that are believed to have existed even during the dinosaurs’ era! Looks a bit like fern, but its tips are sharp almost like thorns. Sometimes they are called ‘living fossils’. 

Then back to the hotel. Across the road from the hotel I noticed a flea market so I took a stroll there and bought some small souveniers. After Europe I decided I will not overdo it. Also, I should say that Cape Town is NOT cheap! For example, for lunch I had a sandwich (the portions here are really huge!) which cost me RM18. I could’ve had a nice chicken briyani dish back in Malaysia for less. But the food is not too bad here. Certainly more flavour than South America and Europe.

Then back to the hotel where I tried more local beers - Castle Light (I prefer this more than the Castle Lager although the lager is more popular here) and Hunter’s Dry, a type of cider. Chatted some more with my new found friends the bartenders and then they mentioned totem. Aha! I was right! They do practice totemic beliefs here, but they are also Christians. I think it’s the same as what happened in South America, the Christians came and had to explain the religion in a way that made sense to the locals, with the result that there is an assimilation of the religion with the local culture. If you ask me, the same thing happened in Hinduism i.e. one had to explain the teachings of enlightenment (the same teachings underlying Buddhism) to a people with rooted beliefs and customs that the 2 have combined and assimilated to become the Hinduism of today.

I would just like to say, that this totemic belief practiced by the Africans is another example of something I would not have known unless I went travelling, and another thing no normal person would be interested in (double roll eyes).