Tuesday, 10.10.06
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Today we were exploring the cape
peninsula being part of the Table Mountain
National Park.
From Hout Bay we used Chapmanīs Peak Drive,
a panoramic road carved out of stone, heading southwards to Cape Point. At Cape Point
it is getting obvious that this is one of the main tourist hot spots. But we had
arrived early in the day and so it was not that crowded yet.
A steep path leeds from the car park
to the old lighthouse. Another possibility is to use the funicular. After
enjoying the views from the lighthouse we walked the trail to the Cape of
Good Hope which takes some 45 minutes. On the way we had been almost alone
but at the Cape itself hordes of tourists swarm out of the buses that carry
them there. Everybody poses for a picture and then they are off again...
By the way the Cape of Good Hope is not the southernmost point of Africa -
this honor belongs to Cape Agulhas further to the east between
Hermanus and the De Hoop Nature Reserve. |
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View of Hout bay from Chapmanīs Peak Drive
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View from Cape Point Lighthouse over Diaz Beach and Cape
Maclear
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Cape Point
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The old lighthouse (next to the transmitter) and Cape Point
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Diaz Beach between Cape Point and Cape Maclear
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At the Cape - the most south-western point of the African
continent
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Afterwards we visited the African
penguin colony at Boulders. As mentioned before the big difference to the
one in Bettyīs Bay is the sheer number of tourists...
There are two viewing platforms and
it seemed the second had not been discovered by the other visitors so we
were quite alone there.
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These little fellows are so curious!
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Boulders at Boulders...
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Getting hungry we drove to the Constantia Valley
at the southern slopes of the Table Mountain and visited another wine
estate - this time Groot Constantia, the eldest estate of South Africa.
Its fame is based upon the
"Vin de Constance" - a sweet wine having been very popular and beloved to
the likes of Napoleon, Bismarck and others. After a snack at the
restaurant we also did some wine tasting again and bought a bottle of
Cape Ruby Port.
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Groot Constantia
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We decided to spend the rest of the day at the Waterfront.
The old run-down harbour of Cape Town has
been restored at the beginning of the 90s and transformed into the Victoria
& Alfred Waterfront. With its shopping malls, restaurants and hotels
now it is one of the main attractions of Cape Town for both tourists and
Capetonians.
One can dine with views of the Table
Mountain, do some shopping, listen to the street bands or watch the seals
playing in the water.
Next to the historic Clocktower is Nelson Mandela Gateway -
a museum that is also the starting point for the Robben Island ferries to the
prison where Mandela spent 21 years of his life.
Clocktower |
Sunset at the Waterfront |
At the tourist information centre we fetched some brochures of township tours
and finally made the tough choice for one of the many companies. =>
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