Cape Town - Day 1

Cape Town - Day 1


Summary:
1 - Cable Car to the top of Table Mountain (cloud covered, so views were not as hoped)
2 - drove down the Cape Point coast to Simon's Town for lunch
3 - African Penguins!
4 - drove to Cape Point (the farthest SW point of Africa); rode the funicular up and then walked up to the old light house at the top of the point
5 - drove the coast road up False Bay back to Cape Town


Animal Sightings:
baboons
ostrich
penguins


More:
Cape Town is a bustling international city surrounded on three sides by mountains and the fourth side by the Atlantic. This is a beautiful place with many contrasts: sharp mountain peaks so close you feel as if you can touch them; flat open plateaus dotted with rock and shrubbery (no trees); dramatic cliffs rising up out of the ocean with waves crashing like geysers; wide white sandy beaches with surfers and kite surfers galore; heavy clouds and chilly winds atop Table Mountain and hot sun at the beach.


The people are warm and friendly. I have to remind myself that I'm not in New England any more and that it is peoples' nature to share a smile and kind word at every turn.


We are staying in a hotel by the Waterfront - a newly developed part of the city right on the harbor, filled with lively nightlife, restaurants and shops. The restaurants are full of seafood items with a Malaysian influence. I'm looking forward to trying the springbok and the ostrich!


Blessings:
The snafu at the hotel at 2:00 AM upon arrival has been "corrected" and we don't have to change hotels!
Our guide, Norman, is a delightful Christian man and eager to share about his life, family and faith. (And he was assigned to us at the last minute just 2 days before our arrival....)


Photos:
I'll figure out how to upload photos tomorrow.