Cape Town (Kaapstad)

It turned out to be a beautiful day in Cape Town as we explored the V&A waterfront, a harbor filled with shops and restaurants that are situated with a nice view of Table Mountain. This harbor still remains very functional as you’ll see everything from yachts, tug boats, to massive freighters. Seals also make their home among the piers as they nap and bathe in the sun. The swing bridge and red Dutch style clock tower were other items of interest. However, the clouds rolled in and we decided to hold off on taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain for another day. In the evening we drove out to Blouberg Strand to get a panoramic shot of the mountain at sunset.

We get up at the ridiculous time of 4:30 am anxious and eager for shark diving. Not receiving any texts or calls about cancellation we begin our 2.5 hour drive back to Gansbaai. Skeptical, we decided to call the company about an hour into the drive and hear the devastating words that it would not make. Bright eyed and bushy-tailed no more we make the drive back to Cape Town to figure out our plan for the day. We chose to venture out on another of South Africa’s scenic drives beginning with the small fishing village of Hout Bay. Then we continue to Cape Peninsula National Park via Chapman’s Peak pass. However, the road was closed for maintenance and we backtracked and zigzagged our way down to Boulder beach in Simon’s Town to admire the native Jackass penguins. They are now called African penguins, but originally obtained their interesting name from the donkey like braying they produce, and not because they are jerks. We finally make it to the park and Cape Point, where you can take a funicular up the hill to the light house, but we walked it instead. You are offered spectacular views of the peninsula and we even saw more whales breaching out in the ocean. On the way out we saw a family of Chacma baboons monkeying around.

We tried our drive to Gansbaai yet again the next morning making it to about the same point when we discovered that we would be on the later boat for the day. Exhausted, we drive back and wait until it was time to try again. This attempt we made it half an hour short of arriving to Gansbaai when a text comes through that the waves are too rough. Frustrated, we decided to try our luck with Table Mountain. The cable car was closed for technical problems so we began the potential three hour hike, hoping we would make it in two. About an hour and a half in we inquire how much farther to the top from another climber and he informs us that we are only half way. Worn out and hungry we contemplate whether to turn around but someone else tells us its only 20 minutes. A little more inspired by a 20 minute hike time we decide to continue on. While we only made it to the pseudo summit, it was good enough for us. The “table cloth” cloud cover rolls over top making any view below impossible to see, but for a few minutes we were rewarded as the thick veil drifted away. We scampered our way down and head back to the apartment to pack our bags for the flight tomorrow in case the shark diving makes.