Cape Town :”Your past experiences will flavor your future ones, that is human nature”,Deborah Cater

Our second day on   Cape Town we had a tour booked for a full day through Travefy.com.  We covered Simons Town, Boulders Beach and African Penguins, The Cape of Good Hope, Chatmans Peak Drive, Mout Bay Harbour, a scenic drive along the the Atlantic Seaboard, a Funicular Train Ride, lunch at the Food Barn, and then dinner at Golds Restaurant which included drumming.  We paid $160 pp but I have to say it was well worth it and one of my most favorite excursions.  I would highly recommend it.  We had a very large comfortable bus and the food was fantastic. 

Simons Town is one of South Africa’s oldest towns, situated outside Cape Town.  This neighborhood is renowned for its rich maritime history and is home to the Soutb African Navy which holds a festival in the town every April. 

Boulder Beach is also called Boulder Bay and is a popular tourist stop because of a colony of African penguins which settled there is 1982.  It forms part if the Table Mountain National Park. The penguins are only found on the coastline of Southern Africa.  The Cape of Good Hope is a Rocky headland on the Atlantic Coast Peninsula in South Africa.  

A misconception was based on the mid belief that the Cape was the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  This is where we rode the funicular train was. Chapman Peaks Drive on the Atlantic Coast between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in the peninsula and is one of the most spectacular marine drives in the world. This peak is affectionately known as Chappies and a must for anyone who loves the scenery. 

Hout Bay comes alive in an authentic fish factory working Harbour. People of all ages and cultures gather alongside each other to celebrate the unique African Spirit where the hustle and bustle of a boisterous market fills the air. Local traders exchange and banter with each other.  There is an eclectic stylish wonderland of exquisite art, craft, jewelry and fashion complemented with aromas of food including freshly baked bread, spicy seafood and citrus fruits.  

The scenic drive via the Atlantic Seaboard will pass Camps Bay, Clifton and Sea point.  Golds restaurant is indescribable !!!! The dances, drummers, food and atmosphere are one of a kind you can’t go wrong going here and it is very close to the dock.  It’s the only one in the world!  

Sone interesting things about Cape Town are: the Afrikaan language was created by slaves and workers. In 1652the sea route was discovered from India because wars blocked off the land routes to Europe. It took one month by sea to come to Cape Town compared to 6-8 months by land. During a sailing about 100 people would die but just one trip for those that survived could make them enough money to live for two years .

Currently a Saudi conglomerate owns a lot of the newly developed waterfront properties.  The even have a wi e bar in an old slave tunnel where they hauled out stone and rock for building.  The city has a very successful street cleaning program compared to almost all the other cities we have seen in Africa.  They divide up the city into sections and then pay workers a decent salary to keep their sections clean.  They also provided them with housing.  What a great idea and the city reflects their hard work.  

There are some uninhabited islands around the cape like Robin Island where the  Glossy Ibis, the Black I is and the White Sacred Ibis nest.  They have no natural predators and there are no private beaches. Camps Bay used to have a leper colony but now there are million dollar homes and very wealthy people live here. The day is cool and cloudy and we need a light jacket 

The area can have full force winds at times. Hout Bay means wood.  There used to be a huge concentration of large animals here like elephants and giraffes but all were killed as the trees were cut.   They stopped all tree felling but by them most of the forest was gone. One elephant tusk could earn you two years wages. But to kill an elephant you had to have an elephant gun which was not an ordinary gun. 

Currently the country unemployment rate is 32% where in Cape Town it is 17%.   The standard wage is 17,5000 rand per month. Food and drink is very expensive.  Rent and transportation are also high. In the government schools classrooms have 50-60 pupils per class.  Everyone wants their child in private schools but it’s expensive.  

We get a 1/2 hour to explore the commercial working harbor.   Chatmans Peak was named after a ditch man who found fresh water and planted vegetables.   He wanted his legacy to live on so they named the lake and drive after him.   They say this is the second most beautiful drive in the world.  

2nd most beautiful drive in world chapmans peak drive.  Seal Island has over 2000 seals on it   Ostrich farms originated in Africa.  The female is grey and the male is black and white.  The females sit on the nest in the day and the males at night so they are camouflaged.. 

At the Cape of Good Hope we find baboons.  They are only found here and it is a nature reserve. It is most diverse but smallest. There are 1000 different varieties of plants. The soil is shallow and plants have to be hardy with small leaves. They do have Black Eagles here with two breeding pairs.  The Cape Mountain leopards are nocturnal in the area and live in ca es.  They do have lots of snakes.  Basic da Gama landed on the Cape in 1477 in wooden boats with 100 crew per boat. Usually at least 20 people died per sailing. 

Higher dams are being built to hold more water because of the years of drought. In 1960 they became independent from the British.  But the British felt a naval base there for almost 20 years. 

1960 independent from British but kept a naval base for almost 20 years .  In 1995 there was a major oil spill that killed 4 1/2 thousand penguins.  They could only save 100.  Now there are at least 4000 and they have their own protected beach. They used to be called African Penguins.  Penguins mate for life and each year typically hatch two eggs five days apart. The whole company looks after each other. Grey hills and sea gulls are their predators.  They are an endemic species here related to penguins in the Galapagos.  They used to call them Jack Ass penguins because their cries sound like the brat of a jackass 

Our first stop at a small fishing village with a cute restaurant and coffee shop



Betsy and Dan check out crabs and fish in the marina 

Look how lush the area around us is 

Traveling the coastal highway of the south Atlantic 

The area became more sandy and jagged 

Chatmans Peak Park entrance 

Taking the tram up to the top 

A fantastic coastline

Lots of different plants including succulents

This was growing everywhere 


Another photo that displays all the different colors and species 

Looking down from the lighthouse 

Dan found this black lizard and it made his day!

The walk down from the lighthouse

A secluded beauty of a beach 



Cape of Good Hope area



Our first baboon 

Probably 20 of these were on the hiway

This is a female

Our fun lunch spot.  Chuck missed this tour to help a passenger whose husband was critically ill.

On the way to the penguins!



There were so many and so much chatter!!!

I could have stayed a long time here just watching


In and out of the water they went 

Listen to their braying!

The beautiful ladies serving and performing at the Gold restaurant 

The decor

The drummer and dancer

The costumes were gorgeous

Look closely at our painted faces!!

Our dessert of a pudding and Africa cookie!


The restaurant