Hello, Cape Town

The second largest city in South Africa, Cape Town is home to Table Mountain, Robben Island, the second largest port in SA, and an enormous stadium that dominates the skyline in the south.  Cape Town is more cosmopolitan than JoBerg, but crime and unemployment are higher...there's a VERY big gap between the haves and the have nots.

Our travel from Zulu Nyala to Cape Town took most of the day, so we started our tours on September 1.

Day 1:  Our guide, Vince, drove us around the larger part of the city before heading south to the Cape Floristic Region, which has the greatest concentration of indigenous plant species (2,285) in the country.  Even more remarkable is that about 161 of those plants are found no where else in the world.

In the same area, we found the penguins.  I know, right???  Penguins in South Africa?  You bet your flippers.  Tons of South African Penguins make the cold waters of the cape their home.

They're cute, but soooo stinky.  

From here, we drove along the coast to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.  There's a lot of confusion about Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope being the most southern point of Africa.  Actually the Cape of Good Hope is the whole swoop of passage between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom of Africa.  Cape Point is an outcropping that is the most southwesterly point of Africa.  

Cape Point

Lots of baboons

We're a long way from anywhere.  Closer to Sydney than to home.

Cape of Good Hope

 

We headed back up the coast along what could be compared to Pacific Coast Highway.  A beautiful drive full of small beach towns and lovely, long beaches.

In fact, this is called Long Beach

Above Hoet's Bay

Very dramatic and California-like

The next day, Vince took us to wine country and three different wineries.

with a cheese tasting

our benefactors

Outside the prison where Mandela spent his last two years.  The statue commemorates his final release.

best likeness  

beautiful wine country

very much like California

Of course we had to have some beer.

Rabbit statues in the wine garden

some of the haves

 cherry

This is a protea.  It's South Africa's national flower.  It's as big as my hand.

Lovely winery

So, after three wineries, two breweries, two cheese tastings, a chocolate tasting, and some shopping, it was time to call it a day.  Ya think????