We arrived to the metropolis of Cape Town after two long (12+ hour) flights and tucked in to our fine and centrally located African Pride hotel, exhausted but ready to explore. The seaside city of Cape Town is known for it's natural beauty, which is punctuated by the Table Mountain National Park, Lion's Head, and Devil's Peak, massive rock outcroppings in the center of the city that create quite a breath-taking backdrop. Much to our delight, our swanky hotel room had a magnificent view of this iconic landscape!
We checked out several of the beaches just west of the city center were we found gorgeous white sandy stretches of coastline, some with large beach boulders strewn between the rocky coves.
In and around the central business district we perused interesting shops and dined in some rather unusual - for us - restaurants (trying grilled warthog, ostrich, springbok, and kudu meat), and we explored the nearby district of Bo Kaap, with it's brightly painted homes during our afternoon walkabout. We also strolled about at the V & A Waterfront area, which is similiar to Fisherman's Wharf in SF, but somewhat more modern and inviting.
On our final day in the Cape Town area we ventured as far south as we could go, to Cape Point National Park all the way to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwesterly point on the African continent. We took a steep funicular up to the lighthouse, and then braved a beautiful, wind-swept walk down to the actual Cape point. One our drive southward, we stopped at spectacular Boulder's beach where we had an up-close look at the small and very cute African penguins. We also encountered several seaside ostrich and a group of Cape Baboons too!
A highlight was taking the cableway tram up to the top of Table Mountain (approx. 3500 ft.) for a stunning view of the city and sea far below. Once on top, we strolled around various rock formations, and took an enjoyable 40-minute hike around the mostly flat "table top." The tram has a floor that rotates 360 degrees during the 5 minute ride straight up the steep and rocky outcropping. We spotted a couple of furry Cape hyrax, affectionately known as "Dassies" here in South Africa, which we learned is "related" to the African elephant, strangely enough.
We checked out several of the beaches just west of the city center were we found gorgeous white sandy stretches of coastline, some with large beach boulders strewn between the rocky coves.
In and around the central business district we perused interesting shops and dined in some rather unusual - for us - restaurants (trying grilled warthog, ostrich, springbok, and kudu meat), and we explored the nearby district of Bo Kaap, with it's brightly painted homes during our afternoon walkabout. We also strolled about at the V & A Waterfront area, which is similiar to Fisherman's Wharf in SF, but somewhat more modern and inviting.
On our final day in the Cape Town area we ventured as far south as we could go, to Cape Point National Park all the way to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwesterly point on the African continent. We took a steep funicular up to the lighthouse, and then braved a beautiful, wind-swept walk down to the actual Cape point. One our drive southward, we stopped at spectacular Boulder's beach where we had an up-close look at the small and very cute African penguins. We also encountered several seaside ostrich and a group of Cape Baboons too!
1 comment:
Yeah! The blog is Up and running. What a cast of characters you have encountered! So many great creatures, pix, and landscapes. It ALL looks amaaaaazing!@ Till the next POST!:-)
Bunglaow or on blogspot (so 2015!)
Burmabab'
:-o
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