Cape Town - Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope

We had a quick early breakfast so that we could catch the coach leaving at 9am to take us down to the Cape of Good Hope.

There were two coaches and we were on the second one, which had Roger, an Englishman, as our guide. He was now a South African resident. We drove due south away from the waterfront, passing the football stadium and taking the coast road, which went close to the Twelve Apostles.

Approaching the Twelve Apostles

It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive, which ran along the coast, went past miles of sandy beaches.

We went via Hout Bay where we stopped at a lay-by, so we could take photos.

Hout Bay

Will explaining about the bird life

After about 15 minutes, we continued our drive south going over Chapman's Pass, a narrow road cut into the side of the mountain. Coaches and large vehicles are only permitted to go south on the pass, as there isn't room for large vehicles to pass each other.

More stunning beaches

Beautiful surf

At one small resort town, we saw this baboon standing on top of a fence, looking at us.

South African wildlife - a baboon

We finally reached our first destination, which was just inside the Cape of Good Hope National Park. We were met by guides, who took us on a walk to look at the fynbos - the particular flora found in the scrub and heathland of the Western Cape. There were many wild flowers and large protea bushes.

Protea bush

Protea leaves

We spent about an hour on the walk and then took the coaches on to Cape Point, where we were having lunch. On the way, we went past several eland - a kind of antelope.

It was a short ride to Cape Point, where we parked and walked to the restaurant. We had very tasty crayfish and Greek salad, followed by chocolate mousse.

Following lunch, we took the funicular railway that goes up to the lighthouse at the top of Cape Point. There are wonderful views down to the two oceans that meet here, the Atlantic and the Indian. On the western side of Cape Point is the Cape of Good Hope. We saw Bellows Rock, where the Lusitania sank in 1911. This was a Portuguese liner, which was wrecked in fog, not the Cunard ship that went down in Irish waters during the First World War.

Cape of Good Hope

We spent about half an hour at the upper level of Cape Point and then drove the short distance to the Cape of Good Hope. Everyone got off the coach and we took photos by the Cape of Good Hope sign.

Cliff and me in the car park at the Cape of Good Hope

Waves crashing on the rocks of the Cape

We left the Cape and shortly afterwards, just outside the National Park, we saw several zebras grazing by the side of the road.

Our last place to visit was Boulders, where there is a colony of African penguins. They are also known as jackass penguins. It is close to Simon's Town, where the British Navy used to be based, but which now houses the South African Navy.

We walked along the boardwalk which ran through the colony and took photos of the penguins that were all around us.

We spent about an hour at Boulders before driving back to the dock. As we walked to the ship, we were welcomed back by the crew!

It had been a long day, but well worth it. We showered, then went and enjoyed our last dinner on Silver Explorer with Jean and Philip, Dick and Chris, David and Chris and Cliff.

We had to pack our bags ready to put outside the cabin by 11pm, which we managed to do. Our last night on board, how sad!