September 19, 2025

September 19, 2025

This morning we drove south from Cape Town along the western shore. It is beautiful with isolated communities, sandy beaches and towering cliffs that reach to the shore in most places. It looks like a rich pocket of wealth within a third world country.

At one overlook, Aimee bought a beaded Giraffe to use as a zipper pull. The lady vendor selling it was from Zimbabwe. As a reminder that the same problems exist everywhere, most South Africans resent the influx of African immigrants. They blame them for crime and wage pressure.

After more than an hour of this winding coastal road we reach the end of the African world at the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese king changed the name to this in hope that rounding Africa would allow them to reach India by an all-water route. He was right.

After our obligatory photo, we took a funicular to the lighthouse atop a nearby rocky summit. We got more great views from this vantage point.

Along the route we saw some typical African wildlife, including several Eland and Blesbok Antelope. We then saw four Baboons grazing in a grass field. But the best were a couple Ostrich trotting alongside the parkway. You don't see that everywhere!

We then turned north and followed the eastern shore back to Cape Town. In Simon’s Town we stopped for a fish lunch. Afterwards we walked to Boulders Beach to discover a large colony of Cape Penguins lounging on the beach. Some individuals seem to be constantly pecking at their neighbors. It is funny to watch them clumsily enter and exit the water. In the ocean however they become swift and graceful.

Further north we stopped for forty minutes at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. This former farm was bought by Cecil Rhodes and donated back to the state to preserve the eastern slope of Table Mountain from development. It is a beautiful setting made gorgeous with very colorful plants and flowers. The odd Bird of Paradise is native to South Africa. But the most unique are the Fynbos that only grow in the Cape Floral Kingdom. The star of this family is the Protea. We have to climb to the garden’s highest points to find them. It was well worth the effort as the flowers are spectacular. I really like a red and white variety that I thought resembled Peppermint Sprinkles. Aimee and I could have spent most of the day here.

By accident, a birder with a monster-lensed camera alerted us to several Souimanga Sunbirds collecting nectar from a cluster of Protea. These iridescent birds resemble our hummingbirds.

Back at the hotel, Aimee and I share a hamburger for dinner.