Kuils River, South Africa
After a delicious buffet breakfast at the winery the group split up. A few people headed off to the penguin colony in Simonstown as they had already conquered Table Mountain. The rest of us took on that challenge this morning. We took a gondola to the top of Table Mountain, arguably Cape Town’s most prominent and beautiful feature. It is essentially a massive flat-topped mountain that looks like a table. After a few photo stops, we decided to hike around the entire mountain top. Based on the maps we figured it would take a little over an hour….it took three. The view from the north side of the mountain was quite pretty but the terrain was nowhere close to pretty. It was quite hilly with several challenging areas involving steep ascents and descents on large rocks…..and yet the brave Totos pushed valiantly forward, refusing to turn back. We eventually made it to Maclear’s Outlook (and beacon) where we sat and enjoyed a very large picnic lunch while we gazed out on False Bay and the countryside below. The views on walk back along the north side were absolutely stunning. The walk was again rather challenging but the views afforded by the steep cliffs provided an unparalleled look at the city and surrounding area. After completing the 3 hour walk, we made it back to catch the gondola down. (We were quite proud to have done the hike but our knees and hips may express their displeasure later.) We headed down to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront but, unfortunately, we were too late for a few people to make the boat to see Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years. Arrangements were immediately made to send them tomorrow. We regrouped at the waterfront, grabbed a refreshing rock shandy and headed off to tour Bo-Kaap, the Malaysian area of Cape Town with very brightly coloured houses. We came across a spice store and I stocked up – hopefully my suitcase will,hold the extra weight. The evening was topped off by cracking a bottle of bubbly while we watched the sunset from Signal Hill before heading back to the waterfront to eat at restaurant specializing in South African food called Karibu. A rather full and fulfilling day that provided an overview of what Cape Town has to offer.
2GuysTravel 